Calls are routed in a distributed mobile switching center environment in response to receiving a call to be routed from a first switching mode (310(1) to a second switching node (310(2)). An inter-switch mute for the call from the first switching node to the second switching node is identified. The inter-switch route includes an intermediate switching node (305) having multiple media gateway (320). An intra-switch route within the intermediate switching node is selected from multiple possible intra-switch routes for use in establishing the inter-switch route. Each of the intra-switch routes includes one or more interconnections (330) between media gateways. The call is connected using the identified inter-switch route and the selected intra-switch route.