In a communications system implementing Signaling System No. 7, the system comprising a link, a transmitter for transmitting digital data on the link, and a receiver; a communications method comprises: coupling to the link for receiving data; receiving data from the link; detecting an error condition of SS7 requiring the receiver circuit to operate in an octet counting mode; and initiating the counting of received octets, the counting beginning after detecting the error condition. The method can be implemented in a variety of ways, including without limitation, as a specially dedicated stand alone unit, as an adapter card in a computer system, or as a computer-readable medium such as a diskette or a digital transmission.