Entities who normally are financially responsible for calls made by them have their calls paid for by a sponsor when they are selected by the sponsor to be included in a "family ring" and they make calls to other entities that are included by the sponsor in the family ring. This capability is achieved with the aid of a database node which maintains information about the identity of members in the family ring. Operationally, in accordance with one embodiment, any member of the family ring who wishes to call another member of the family ring calls a pre-designated number that connects the calling party to a database node. The database node interacts with the calling party by first determining whether the calling party is a member of the family ring, and when the calling party is authenticated, the database node responds to information that identifies a selected called party who is also a member of the family ring. The database node performs a translation, as necessary, and informs the telecommunication network of the destination desired by the calling party. In response, the telecommunication network connects the calling party to the called party.