In complex communication systems, such as traditional telephone, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), session initiation protocol (SIP), and/or the like, messages typically must pass through a variable number of hops, in order to reach their final destination. For example, in a SIP environment, the total time (end-to-end time) that it takes a message to be processed through the plurality of hops often determines as to whether or not the message is ultimately successful in reaching its final destination through the environment. In order to attempt to manage the volume of messages through their environment so they are successfully transmitted, communication system carriers typically allocate a fixed time for each hop of the network (or, system). In this manner, the overall time for the furthest (or, maximum) path (i.e., largest quantity of hops) does not exceed the allotted time, and the overall time equals merely the quantity of hops multiplied against this “per hop” fixed allocated time. This rigid and crude management of messages through the system does not account for message-specific items and is both inefficient and inflexible. For example, there is no prioritization of messages based on any other factors beyond merely allocating the fixed per hop time.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists to overcome one or more of the deficiencies in the related art.