In exemplary embodiments, an existing carrier-issued telephone number to be called is received. Subsequently, a status regarding whether the existing carrier-issued telephone number is a registered telephone number in a carrier-independent database is determined. In exemplary embodiments, the existing carrier-issued telephone number may be used as a lookup key in the carrier-independent database. If the existing carrier-issued telephone number is registered, then a corresponding address for the registered telephone number may be determined from the carrier-independent database. The address may be dynamic or static. In exemplary embodiments, the address may comprise, for example, hostname, IP address, SIP address, MAC address, or any other addressing scheme which may be associated with a communication device.

If the existing carrier-issued telephone number comprises a registered telephone number in the carrier-independent database, a call may be established via a peer-to-peer connection using the address associated with the registered telephone number over a carrier-independent network. However, if the existing carrier-issued telephone number is not a registered telephone number in the carrier-independent database, the call is placed via a standard route. The standard route may comprise, for example, a third-party VoIP service which may not be free. In other embodiments, the standard route may comprise a communication over the PSTN 108.