A central system can quickly pass on job requests intended for remote
systems with minimal costs and delays. When a job request for a remote
system is received, the central system initiates a conventional telephone
call to the remote system. At the remote system, a communications
terminal logs the incoming call without allowing it to be completed. When
the call is refused, the central system terminates the call attempt. The
remote system analyzes the logged call information to determine whether
the call originated with the central system. If it did, the remote
system, generates an HTTP request which is transmitted to the central
system via a public computer network such as the Internet. The central
system responds to the HTTP request by retrieving the job request from
storage and passing it on to the remote system via the public computer
network in the form of an HTTP response.