Method and apparatus for restoration signaling of multiple telecommunication link for shared signaling channel

A communication switching system has a plurality of switch nodes each of which is responsive to a failure of the primary signaling channel (421) providing the common signaling channel in a facility access service (FAS) group to immediately switch to the secondary signaling channel (420) of the FAS group. This switching occurs quickly so that no calls are dropped within the FAS group. Any logical links being communicated on the primary signling channel are transferred to the secondary signaling channel with no data packets being irreplaceably lost. A first physical object (412) is established to control a physical protocol on the primary signaling channel, and a second physical object (417) is established to control the physical protocol on the secondary signaling channel. A single software object (400) is established to always control the first layer of software protocol on the common signaling channel whether that is the primary or secondary signaling channel. When failure of the primary signaling channel is detected, information for the common signaling channel is routed from the second physical object to the software object, thereby preserving the common signaling channel.