Client/server based architecture for a telecommunications network

The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications and, in particular, to a client/server based architecture for a telecommunications network. A telecommunications network is provided. The network includes a packet network. The network also includes a plurality of multimedia channel banks. The multimedia channel banks are coupled to the packet network over a communication link, and are configurable to have a plurality of ports that are each capable to receive signals from user equipment in one of a variety of formats. The network also includes a multimedia resource manager communicatively coupled to the packet network. The plurality of multimedia channel banks and the multimedia resource manager are associated in a client/server relationship to control attributes of the multimedia channel banks and to control allocation of bandwidth in the communication link between the multimedia channel bank and the packet network.