1. A telecommunications system having a network services processor (NSP) for handling telecommunications in conformance with a predefined signaling system and for distributing processing tasks including call handling and routing to a plurality of resources, comprising: a plurality of packet managers (PMs) for accessing, processing, and distributing packetized call data over a packet network; a plurality of media control platforms (MCPs) for accessing, processing, and distributing application tasks (MCTs) transmitted from the NSP; and a plurality of interconnect controllers (ICCs), each for interfacing the NSP with the plurality of resources including the PMs and the MCPs, wherein the processing tasks are handled by the plurality of resources by concurrent and decentralized processing, and the ICC includes a centralized maintenance platform (CMP) for monitoring the plurality of resources via centralized messaging and for determining resource failures by processing responses to the centralized messaging from each of the plurality of resources.