The invention relates to a distributed virtual PSTN (Public Switched
Telephone Network) switching method based on a P2P (Peer-to-Peer)
route, comprising the following steps of: upgrading a PSTN switching office into a P2P switching node; setting
telephone number prefixes administrated by the PSTN switching office into P2P covering resources by the PSTN switching office and adding to a P2P
routing table; when the PSTN switching office accepts a call, if the call is from a P2P switched network, directly transmitting to a terminal user or transmitting the call in a
circuit switching way by the PSTN switching office, and if not, sequentially inquiring a full-code covering
routing table, an area office covering
routing table and an area code covering routing table by the PSTN switching office; if matching, transmitting the call to a matched P2P node switching office, and if not, transmitting the call in the
circuit switching way. The invention solves the problem of
bottleneck of the traditional PSTN and effectively partially loads telephone traffic to end offices; the invention permits two ways, i.e.
circuit switching and P2P switching, to be both in the PSTN, thereby saving the setting of the PSTN and reducing the maintenance cost; and in addition, the invention is easy to move user numbers.