a circuit switched telephony gateway that translates control protocols and transcodes media between a circuit switched connection and an IP packet-oriented connection; a session border gateway that performs similar functions as the circuit switch gateway and limits the exposed internal end points; and a proxy server that terminates internal or external sessions, forwards information between the two sessions, and restricts, captures, or enhances the information being forwarded. In an all-IP network, optimizing higher level communications patterns is another platform capability. Some common optimizations include mixing or bridging many media streams into one combined stream that can be sent back to all sources (e.g., mix all real-time audio session in a con- ference, forward the last N active video session frames to all sources in a video conference), caching frequently accessed files near the edge of a network to reduce capacity required over the WAN with a content distribution network, and accelerating perceived application performance by constructing a full web page near the sources of data when the page is composed of many small, separate objects, Transforming a Modern Telecom Network-From All-IP to Network Cloud that would take much longer to assemble from a distant location where each session establishment is delayed by end-to-end protocol exchanges. To support different services in the Network Cloud and react in a coordinated way to real-time events requires an ability to adjust algorithms distributed through the network based on a service, specific cus- tomer, network condition, etc. These capabilities are referred to generally as policy and includes both the capability to define policy rules and to execute these rules at distributed policy enforcement points. The context for communications established in advance of an exchange of information can greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of communication. An early example of this was the capability to provide caller identification for incoming voice 