A method, system and a network element for routing at least one data stream in a telecommunications network, the network having at least one transmitting node providing at least one data stream, at least one receiving node receiving the at least one data stream, and zero or more processing nodes, and at least one link connecting said nodes. All nodes communicate their capabilities to a system database on a database server which receives at least one request with at least one condition for sending at least one data stream between two nodes. For or each request, a measure is calculated for at least one route between said two nodes, and instructions are provided to use only the at least one route having measures compliant with the at least one condition in the request. An optimal route can be determined using at least one heuristic rule or linear programming.