Negotiated routing in telephony systems

A telephone call distribution system for determining destination for an incoming telephone call in a telephony network (100) including a service control point (SCP) (101) operates with a plurality of workstations (361, 362) each comprising a telephone (131, 132) coupled to the telephony network (100) and a proximate computer station having a video display unit (PC/VDU) (331, 332), the PC/VDU (331, 332) connected to the SCP (101) via a wide range area network (WAN), and a personal router (207) associated with each PC/VDU (331, 332). The SCP (101) broadcasts data pertaining to the incoming telephone call and a request for a destination to individual ones of the PC/VDUs (331, 332) via the WAN, and the personal routers (207) negotiate a destination based on individual routing rules and the data pertaining to the call. At least one of the individual routers responds to the SCP (101) with a destination for the call.