1. A method for handling a call in a class 4 long distance softswitch network comprising: receiving a call at an edge device of a class 4 softswitch network; accessing a core routing engine to determine whether the call requires class 5 services; querying a class 5 application server of the class 4 network to process the call according to class 5 services, wherein the class 5 application server comprises at least one active class 5 application server and at least one standby class 5 application server; querying a session initiation protocol (SIP) redirect server to identify the active class 5 application server; and querying the active class 5 application server of the class 4 network to process the call according to class 5 services.