Referring now to FIG. 5, a diagram illustrating an exemplary call connection process is shown. When a carrier-issued telephone number is dialed at the network device 110, a request may be made via a data connection to the relational database 206 using the dialed carrier-issued telephone number as a lookup key. A status of the dialed carrier-issued telephone number is then returned by the routing instruction module 210. If the carrier-issued telephone number is not in the relational database 206, the call is routed via the standard third-party routes chosen by the user (or their administrator). The standard third-party route may comprise, for example, a third-party VoIP service, which may not be free. In other embodiments, the standard third-party route may comprise a communication over the PSTN 108. If the carrier-issued telephone number is in the relational database 206, a peer-to-peer VoIP connection may be initiated, connecting the call via the IP network 106 using the mapped address, which circumvents the PSTN 108 completely.