A system for voice-activated dialing including means for initiating a call through a first connection between a user's phone and a switch at a central office; responsive to the first connection, means for initiating a second connection over the implicit trunk between the switch and a voice over internet protocol gateway; responsive to the second connection, means for initiating a third connection between the voice over internet protocol gateway and a voice-activated dialing platform; responsive to a keyword sent from the user's phone to the voice-activated dialing platform, means for disconnecting the implicit trunk and signaling the switch to connect to the voice-activated dialing platform over the explicit trunk; and responsive to a dialed number sent from the user's phone to the voice-activated dialing platform, means for handing the call off from the internet protocol gateway to the switch at the central office to process through call the implicit trunk.