CA2129544A1 - A person paging method - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A person paging method in which a first user wishes to page and transmit a message to a second user with the aid of a paging service. The first user requests paging of the second user at a paging central which offers an alerting service and a message service which supplements the alert with the message. The paging central alerts the second user by means of the alerting service. The invention is characterized in that the paging service is not associated with any particular telecommunication network, but can be performed in at least one telecommunication network chosen from among at least two possible telecommunication networks.
The message service is also made independent of the alerting service, in that the message service is not activated until a request to do so is received from the second user. The alerting service utilizes the aforesaid first telecommunication network while the message service utilizes at least one telecommunication network which is selectively different from the first-mentioned network. The message is not transmitted until the aforementioned request is received.

Description

~ 21295~
WO93tl6564 PCT/SE93/~77 A PERSON PA~ING METHOD

TECENICAL FIR~.n The present invention relates generally to the field of communication services which are performed through se-lected telecommunication networks. The invention relates in particular to a person.paging method.

The present invention is related to the following five patent applications, to which the following description refers:

1) "A Method of Establi~hing an Intelligent Network Service", with Applicant's reference LM 5515.

2) NA Nethod of Establishing a Con~ectionn, with ;~ ~
Applicant's reference LM 5516; -0 3) "A ~ethod of Organizing Communicationn, with Appli~
cant's reference LM 5517.

4) "A Method of Fstablishing Cooperation with a Func~
tionality", with Applicant's reference LM 5518; and 5) "A ~ethod of Supporting Communicationn, with Appli-cant's reference LM 5520; :;~ k ~;~

These applications are enclosed as an annex to the present description and describe ~echanisms which can be used in the ~ethod according to the present invention.

By communication servi~es is meant conventional tele~
phony services, telex services, datapack services, datel ;, : ~, -W093/165~ 212 9 5 4 ~ PCTtSE93/~77 services, telefax services, videotext services, ISDN-services, mobile telephony ser~ices, personal paging services, tele-point-services and general communication between two or more parties. TXe services recited above are only examples of the services possible and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

By telecommunication network is normally meant the telephone networks, telex networks, circuit connected data networks, picture information transfer networks, private telecommunication networks, radio networks, satellite communication networks and general carriers of the comml-nication services, such as analog transmission, ~igital transmission, synchronous, multiplex or asyn-$5 chronous multiplex transmission, ATM, etc., for example.These networks are recited solely by way of example and the invention is not restricted thereto.

By functionality is meant the ability to perform an operation in a teleco~munication network. Examples of functionality include activities and services that can be performed in the telecommunication network. Examples of functionalities include an enquiry to establish a connection path or route between two parties, digit analysis, billing or ticketing. Although not necessary, t~e functionality may require the availability of dedi-cated equipment for carrying out the functionality. For instance, if the functionality is to receive tones and to analyze tones, it is necessary to make a tone re-ceiver accessible. Other examples of functionalitiesinclude voice-controlled speech information, number translation service, conference calls. Other examples of functionality include the functionalities described in the aforesaid five Swedish patent applications, namely communication in the form of a meeting, personal paging, a method of establishing cooperation with a -.

WO93/16~ 212 9 5 4 ~ PCT/SE93/~77 functionality, meeting connection establishment and communication via intermediaries. still another example of f~nctionality is the ability of being able to choose from among several alternatives.
s By connection is meant a circuit-coupled connection or a package-coupled connection. By to establish a connection is meant in the circuit coupled case that a circuit-coupled connection is established between two hardware terminal devices (or equipment) and in the package ~-coupled csse it is ~eant that a package-coupled connec~
tion creates relationships between logic channels on node-interconnecting physical links which. By to oriai-- nate or to ter~inate a connec~iQn, it is ~eant in the circuit-coupled case to connect originating or terminat~
ing equipment to a circuit-coupled connection, and in the package-coupled case to create a session between applications in originating and terminating nodes re~
spectively.
By user is ~eant in the following a human user or a computer-based applica~ion which utilizes communication services..The application ~ay be achieved with hardware, software and combinations thereof. The word "part" is synonymous to the term user.

By terminal is meant equipment which is connected to a telecommunication network and which makes the telecommu-nication services of the network available to a user.
~ -~
The term ort either refers to an access port or to a transit port. An access port is a location where a dedicated terminal is connected to a telecommunication network. An access port is associated with a destination address which goes to an end user. In the case of a standard telephone network, the access ports are located 2129S~
W093/16~ PCT/SE93/00077 in a telephone station. In the case of the ISDN-network and the mobile telephone network, the access ports are found in a terminal. A transit port is a port in a connection between nodes. A transit port is not associ-ated with any particular destination address, and can beused to establish any selected connection with a final destination. The final destination is given by the destination address A transit port can transfer a call to another node or can receive a call from another node.
The final destination of a _~11 is a terminal which is identified by a destination identity. The terminal can be present in the same node as a transit port or in some other node to which the call shall be further connected.
One fundamental feature of present-day communication services is that when a party, hereinafter called A, wishes to communicate with another party, hereinafter called ~, A sends a call to B, whereupon a connection is established between A and B. The call and the establish-ment of a connection route is a coupled sequence. By this is meant that the information which A uses in the call, namely information relating to the identification of B's access point in the telecommunication network, causes a connection route, or path, to be established between the parties. This connection can either be circuit-coupled or, in the case of non-continuous trans-mission methods, a so-called virtual connection, e.g. a package-coupled network, ~N-network (asynchronous transfer ~ode), etc. Traditionally, a connection is established by establishing a route from an origin to a destination. The connection route through the telecom-munication network is controlled by fixed, so-called routing tables which are drawn up when configuring or reconfiguring the network. The routing tables may some-times permit alternative selections, based on local ; -- 2129~44 WO93/16~ PCT/SE93/~77 accessibility information.
::
The traditional co~munication network is encumbered with many drawbacks. A first problem concerns handlin~ of the resources of the communication network. Firs~ly, the communication network is, in itself, a resource which is utilized uneconomically in the traditional method of providing communication services. For example, when party A calls party B, so as to establish a connection through the network from A`to ~, and party B does not accept the call, the network resources have been used unnecessarily. The same applies when party B is engaged.
The case is dependent on the predominant use of present~
day networks of channel-associated signalling. This involves establishing a signalling connection, whicn is then used for speech purposes. With common channel-signalling, which is used primarily in the long-distance ~;
network, the signal connection is establi~`-.~d with the aid of the data package, or packet, where the speech connection, the expensive part of the communication, is ~ -not established until B answers. Common channel-signal- -~
ling i~ scarcely used in local networks. Secondly, the majority of Rll established connections do not require party B to act immediately on the information that A
will transfer. ~-In the aforesaid cases, the network resources are either used unnecessariiy or are utilized in real time, al- -though it would be possible to utilize the resources at a later time.

Neither do present-day teleco~munication services enable a party A t~ call a party B on a telecommunication network and establish communication with party B on another telecommunication network different to the ~;
first-mentioned network. If B has access points in - 2129~4~
WO93/16564 - PCT/SE93/~77 several telecommunication networks, it is necessary for party A to be aware of all these access points in order to be able to utilize alternative methods of communicat-ing with B. If party B does not answer in one telecommu-nication network, it is necessary for party A to attemptto reach party B in another communication network. This ~eans that it is necessary for party A to call on net-work after network before finally reaching party B. Fur-thermore, it is also necessary, of course, for party A
to have in his /her possession a list of party B's access ports in the different networ~s at the disposal of party B.

BACKGROUND PRIOR AR~
Several different paging methods or systems are known to the art, A common feature of these methods is that each method uses its own paging network and its own paging central. The paging network is usually a radio network.
A large hotel and even a large company may use the telephone network as its paging network. ~hose customers whic~ subscribe to or are subject to person paging services have an electronic unit which receives a paging signal broadcasted by the paging central. Depending on the paging method concerned, the electronic unit either responds to the paging signal with solely an alert signal or with an alert signal which is accompanied with a ~essage. The alert signal may ~e an audio signal ("beep"), an optic signal or a combination of the two.
The message may, for instance, be a visual indication of a telephone number which the paged person is asked to call, or a visual indication of a short text ~essage directed to ~he paged person. The ~isual indication discloses what action the paged person should take, normally to ring an indicated telephone number. When the electronic unit responds to the paging signal with -- 2 1 2 9 ~
W093/16~ PCT/SE93/~77 solely an alert signal, the paging central and the paged person will have previously agreed on the procedure that ~-~
is to be followed when an alert signal is received, normally that the paged person shall ring a predeter-mined telephone number.

The drawback with these known person paging methods i~
that the paging service is active only in that paging network which is at the disposal of the paging ._ . - -10- central. This is because the subscriber electronic units are co~prised principly of two units, to wit a paging signal receiving unit and a message presentation unit which receives and presents the messaqe that is to be indicated visually, these two units being mutually com~
bined and integrated with the aforesaid paging network which the paging central has at its disposal. A custom-er, referred to as B, who subscri~es si~ultaneously to a paging ~ervice in a first network and also to a paging service in another network which is separate from the first network cannot therefore page simultaneously in thç first and the second paging networks since the paging centrals of said two networks do not cooperate with one another. m e customer requesting the paging ser~ice, called A, is first necessitated to direct his paging reguest to the operator of the first paging network and inform the operator of B's access point in the first network. If party B does not answer, party A
~ust direct a new paging request to the operator of the second paging network and again inform the operator of B's access point in the second paging network, this latter access point being different to the access point in the first paging network.

Another drawback with the known paging methods is that the reference transmitted with the paging message refers to a person or to a message storage device which deliv-WO93/16564 212 9 S ~ ~ PCT/SE93/00077 ers a message. When seen from the aspect of the personor t~e message storage device concerned, these known methods are unsuitable in those instances when a large number of messages directed to à large number of differ-ent addressees, or destination addresses, are stored inone and the same storage device. When an addressee who has been alerted by the paging network contacts the storage location in which the message is stored, it is necessary for the addressee to prove his/her identity, whereafter a search is made through all of the stored ~essages until the correct message is found, i.e. ~he message that is addressed to the addressee.

The European Patent Specification 140,351 teaches a system for increasing the range of cordless telephones.
A cordless telephone coacts through a radio connection with a fixed or stationary telephone that has access to the telephone network. The range of the cordless tele-phone is restricted to the near vicinity around the fixed telephone. In order to increase the range of a mobile cordless telephone, such that a mobile cordless telephone A-MOBILE which is located within the range of its fixed.telephone A-YIA will be able to establish a connection with another ~obile cordless telephone B-MOBILE which has its own stationary telephone B-FIA
whose range does not overlap the range of the A-FIA
telephone, it is proposed to provide the stationary telephones A-FIA and B-FIA with an additional unit which coacts with a paging system having a range which will reach both A-TEL and B-TEL, via a switch in the tele-phone network. A connection from A-MOBILE to B-MOBILE is established by A-MOBILE making a call and giving the telephone number of the ~-MOBILE. The stationary tele-phone A-FIA of the A-MOBILE adds an A-FIA-ID to the ~
~5 telephone n~mber, this identity reference being trans-mitted to the switch and from there to the paging sys- ;~

2129~4~
WO93/165~ PCTISE93/00077 9 , ~ ;~
tem. A-FIA then releases its connection with the switch or exchange The paging signal reoeived by the B-MOBILE
contains the reference A-FIA-ID, The person served by B-MOBILE can then make a call, via an FIA-terminal, here called B-FIA, and state A-FIA-ID as the destination. The call proceeds from the B-MOBILE via B-FIA, via the switch or exchange, to the idle A-FIA and contact between the parties is established. Roughly speaking, the communica-tion method taught by this~European patent specificationcan be said to involve a conventional A-number trans~is-sion process in which the A-n~mber is transmitted through the paging network. One drawback with this known system is that A-FIA must release its connection with the exchange before it can receive a signal from the B-MOBILE~ This implies the further drawback that any one whomsoeYer can ring to A-FIA after A-FIA has released ~ ;
its connection with the exchange, or switch. Thus, a third party is able to call the A-MOBILE despite the A-MOBILE having ordered a call with the B-MOBILE. The switch is unable to determine which of the calls incom-ing to A-FIA shall be allowed through. The switch is completely unaware of whether there is a prevailing relationship between A-FIA and B-FIA or not, and the switch is even less~able to handle such a relationship.
Another drawback with this known system is that all of the stationary telephones and all of the mobile tele-phones and the whole of the paging system must be de-signed in a particular manner in order to be able to function together. The investment costs required in order for the system to function satisfactorily are therefore considerable.

There is used in Taiwan a communication system in which when a party or subscriber A wishes to talk with a party or person B in the possession of a mobile telephone, WO93/16564 212 9 ~ 4 ~ PCT/SE93/~77 party A requests paging of party B and states his A-number. Party A then releases his connection. In the paging process, the A-number is sent to B's paging apparatus. Party B now rings the A-number on his mobile S telephone. A connection is therewith established from party B to party A. ~ne drawback with this method is that the reference transmitted to party B, i.e. the A-number; points to hardware, i.e. to A's telephone appa-ratus, and that A must release his connection in order for a connection from party B to be coupled to the party A. Another drawback is that party A is not certain that it is party B who is calling when A's telephone rings, since some other subscriber may ring party A before party B has had time to call.
U.S. Patent Application 686,600 filed on the 17th April 1991 and carrying the title "A Communication System for Integrating a Paging System with Cellular Radio Tele-phones" (Ericsson docket LM 5456) with the-same Appli-cant as the present invention, describes a cellular ~obile telephony system having mobile telephones which ~ -include integrated pagers. If the mobile telephone is switched-off but the pager is active, an incoming call to the ~obile telephone will cause a broad range paging network to transmit a paging signal which is receivad by the paging device of the mobile telephone, this paging device, in response to the signal, ~alerting" the mobile telephone and causing the telephone to register itself.
The network then steers the call to the mobile telephone ~ -by repeating the paging process, although now over the cellular ~obile telephone network.

The system described also includes a cooperation facili~
ty between the stationary telephone network, the paging network and the mobile telephone network.

WO93/16~ 21 2 9 5 ~ ~ PCT/SE93/00077 DISCLOS~RE OF TH~ INVENTION

The inventor has found that many of the aforesaid draw-backs can be avoided with the aid of a novel type of communication system in which party A communicates with party B indirectly, via an intermediary M. The desired communication between party A and party B can then be handled by the network as two separate communication processes, namely one com-munication process from party A to the intermediary and another communication process from the intermediary to party B. In this case, it is applicable to both A and B that respective parties communicate with the intermediary, such as A to M and B
to M respectively, and consequently the intermediary M
need not be aware of how party A and party B can ke reached. The intermediary can, in turn, be comprised of a chain of mutually co-operatiag intermediaries. In its basic for~, this prin-ciple can be used for indirect communication, although the possibility of direct interactive communication between A and B is then lost. The intermediary is able to communicate with party B without party A needing to -know the access port of party B. However, if party 8 fails to contact the intermediary, A's co~munication requirement remains and party A must make a new call. ~ -~
~ndirect co~munication between the parties concerned implies that party B can call the intermediary in order to check whether there iæ a message addressed to B for collection. Party A knows that the ~essage shall be sent -~
to the intermediary, but need not know the location from which party ~ has called the intermediary. The interme~
diary is, in this case, passive and has the role of a called party both from party A and from party B. When this communication principle is applied via an interme- -~
diary in a person paging process, it is the paging central which functions as the intermediary.

~- - . . .. .. .

WO93/16~ 212 9 ~ ~ ~ PCTISE93/~77 One characteristic feature of the inventive concept on which all of the aforesaid patent applications are based is that the communication service is divided into a separate negotiating phase and a separate connection establishing phase. The connection establishing phase i~
f~rst initiated when both of the parties have accepted that communication shall take place and also when the respective access points of the parties concerned have been confirmed to the parties. By separate is ~eant here that the coupled sequence between calling and establish-ing a connection route is interrupted or broken in time and in space. By interruption of the switched sequence in time is meant that the negotiating phase of a commu-nication service is separated from the establishment of a connection route. A connection route is not estab-lished until both parties are agreed that the communi-cation phase of the connection shall take place. As a result,.the time at which a connection route is estab-lished is delayed with respect to the time at which the call was made, although the invention does not exclude the time at which the connection route is established from coinciding directly with the time at which the call was ~ade,-provided that certain conditions are fulfil-led.
By interrupting the switched sequence in space is meant that the connection route between the parties need not -~
necessarily be es~ablished over the same telecommunica-tion network or networks as that or those over which the negotiating phase takes place. However, the invention does not exclude maintaining the space switching pro-cess, i.e. by using the same telecommunication network or networks over which the call was made for communica-tion between the parties concerned.
Another characteristic featUre of the inventive concept WO93/16~ 212 9 ) ~ ~ PCT/SE93/~77 that forms the ~asis for all said six patent applica-tions is that a first party manifests its wishes by establishing communication with a second party by making a call to a third party, this third party being called either a meeting broker, meeting organizer, service requesting central, paging central or electronic secre-tary, depending on the service requested, and registers the call, assigns an identification reference to the call and negotiates with, or has already negotiated wit~, the first and the se~ond parties with regard to those conditions or terms on which a connection shall be established therebetween. ~he terms or conditions nego-tiated include, among others, an appropriate ti~e at which a connection route shall be established between the parties in order ~o therewith initiate the communi-cation phase of the connection. The third party ~ay also send the identification reference to each party, so as to enable each party to establish contact with the other party on a later occasion.
Because the third party is aware that the first and the -~
~econd parties are prepared to begin the communication phase, the third party can assist in ~electing the place at which the first and the second parties shall meet. -~
This ~eeting place may be located at ~he access point of the first party in a communication network, an access point of the second party in another communication network, ~r in access points in a telecommunication ~ -network to which the first and the sec~nd parties both have access. The access points of the first and the ;~
second parties are ~utually connected in this common telecommunication network. This provides a large degree of freedom in the ~election of a meeting place. A route between the first and the second parties need not be established in aqreement with fixed routing tables, but can be selected with regard, for instance, to prevailing WO93/16~ 2 12 9 ~ ~ ~ PCT/SE93/~77 traffic conditions in the common telecommunication networks at the disposal of both parties.

When the invention is practiced in conjunction with a S paging process in which a first party, party A, wishes to page a second party, party B, and to deliver a mes-sage to the latter party by utilizing a paging service, the message service of the paging service can be made independent of the alerting service by not activating the message service until requested to do so by the second party B. The advantage of this is that ~he paging service can ~e carried out in several paging-telecommun-ication networks at the disposal of the called party, party B, without the calling party, party A, needing to be aware of the identity or access identity of the ~ -called party, party B, in the various paging networks.

One obj~ct of the present invention is to utilize exist-ing networks and the resources of existing networks more effectively than has been achieved hitherto.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paging method which will enable the paged person to be alerted at one and the same time over selected telecommunication networks at the disposal of the paged person.

A f~rther object of the invention is to provide a paging method in which a call implies a request for an alerting service. The request is made by a paging central which sets the alerting service in motion, by sending an alerting signal over the aforesaid selected telecommuni-cation networks. The request is made either by the called party or by the called party's agent.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a paging method in which a call doe~i not unconditionally W093tl6~ 21 2 9 ) ~ ~ PCTISE93/~77 trig~er activation ~f a network with the intention of transmitting a message to the called party.

The inventive paging method shail also render it unnec-essary for the network in which the message is switched between the parties to store and update the users' access points in this network.

` Another object of the invention is to provide a paging ~ethod in which it is not necessary for the calling p~rty to have knowledge of the access points of the called party in all of the teleco unication networks at the disposal of the called party.
; .'~' -A further o~ject of the invention is to provide a paging method in which the p~ging message includes a reference to a separate message and also to the loca~ion or place of the storage device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paging method in which information relating to the paging party ~
is ~tored ~ogether with the message, so that the paged -party is ~ble to use this information when wishinq to lsave an answer message.
one characteristic feature of the invention is that the ~essage service is ~ade independent of the alerting service, by not activating the ~essage ~ervice until requested to do so by the paged party.
According to one feature of the invention, the message which the first party, i.e. the party requesting the paging service, desires to send to the paged party is (a) ~ent to the paging central, (b) is stored in a first storage location and (c) is provided with the aforesaid reference called the calling identity, which relates the -~
. ~

WO93/16564 2 1 2 9 ~ ~ ~ Pcr/sEg3/00077 ` 16 message left by the first party to the paged party.

BRIE~ DESCRIPTION OF TH~ DRAWINGS :~
S
Various e~emplifying embodiments of the invention will now be described in ~ore detail with reference to the ~ ;
accompanying drawings, in.which FIGURE 1 illustrates`schematically a first envi-ronment in which the inventive paqing : ~ :
~ethod is applied;

- FIGURE 2 illustrates schematically a second envi-ron~ent in which the inventive paging method i5 applied;

FIGURE 3 is a block schematic illustrating the terminals which are included in a commun- ::
ication ~ystem that uses the inventive paging method in the environment illus-trated in Figure l;

FIGURE 4 is a block schematic similar to the block schematic of Figure 3, illustrating an inventive paging method which can be used ~y a party which lacks a ter~inal unit but which has access to such a unit, the environment in which the paging method is used being the environment illustrated in FigNre l;

FIGUR~ 5 is a block schematic which illustrates schematically the terminals that are in~
cluded in a telecom~unication system :~
which utilizes the inventive paging - :
.::~:.': ~-:
.. .": ~.

W093/16564 212 9 S 4 ~ PCT/SE93/~77 method when it is used in the environment -shown in Figure 2;

~IGURES 6-12 are different constitu~ional diagrams for asynchronous, switched sequences and il~
lustrate those processes which are used in the inventive paging method; and FIGURE 13 illustrates an exa~ple of the invention lQ when the invention is applied in a ~ulti-network environment together with tele-phony, personal paging and ~obile tele- .
phony.

15 Figures 1 and 2 are block schematics showing two differ-ent environments in which the inventive communication method is applied. E~ch of the environments includes a paging central 1, sbown to the right of the broken line in Figure 1, while a customer or user of the paging central is shown to the left of the broken.line in Figure 1. The custo~er in the Figure 1 illustration may be either a user A or a user B, or an agent AG of the user A or-the user B, the agent ~eing in connection with the paging central via a telecommunication network N. In the Figure 2 illustration, the client is a user A or B
who is in connection with his agent AG(A) or AG(B) via a .
network n. In turn, the agent AG(A) or AG(B) is connect~
ed to the paging central 1 via a telecommunication network N, which may be different to or the same as the network n.
~ ' When a party, referred to below as party A, wishes to establish communication with another party, referred to as party B, the party A~ the customer, requests paging .
of party B and leaves the message he wishes to deliver to party B. ~he request, or order, is delivered by an W093/16~ 212 9 5 4 4 PCT/SE93/~77 intermediary, the paging central 1. It is then the duty of the paging central to page B and initiate transmis-sion of the message and also to transmit any reply message from B to A.

Figure 3 is a block schematic which illustrates an environment according to Figure 1 in which two users A
and B subscribe to services in different telecommunica-tion networks Nl-N5. The network Nl is the standard telephone network, the network N2 is a telex network, ~he network N3 is a packet-switching data network, the network N4 is a car telephone network, and the network N5 is a paging network, for instance a radio network.
The user A subscribes to ser~ices in networks Nl and N3, whereas the user B subscribes to services in all net-works Nl-N5. The user A thus has a conventional tele-phone and a terminal unit which affords user A access to the packet-switching data network. This terminal unit is illustrated symbolically and comprises a central unit 3, a keyboard 4 and a display screen 5. The user B also has : ::
a telephone, a telex 6, a terminal unit to the packet-switching data network, this terminal unit also being shown sy~bolically and co~prises a central unit 3, a keyboard 4 and a di~play screen 5. The user B has a mobile teiephone 7 which is connected to the mobile telephone network N4. Finally, the user B has a paging receiver 8 which is connected to the paging network N5.
In the illustrated embodiment, the paging receiver is of the kind which, when party B is paged, generates a tone and shows a destination address plus a message reference on a presentation window. When the tone sounds and the destination adaress is shown, the user B ~nows that a message having the reference stated is found for collec~
tion at the stated destination address.
The paging central 1 includes a number of terminal units : - .: .
: .: - -: ~ :

~ 2 1 2 ~
W093/t65~ PCT/SE93/~77 19 ~ .
Tl, T2 ... T5, a central processor 9 which i5 controlled by a number of program modules shown schematically at 10. The terminal unit Tl is connected to the network Nl, T2 is connected to ~he network N2, and so on. Since each terminal unit Tl-T5 shall originate, and in applicable cases also terminate, thousands of connections at one and the same time, these terminal units Tl-T5 differ from the terminal units used ~y the users A and B in respective networks. For instance, the terminal unit Tl is a telephone exchange, whereas the terminal units of respective users comprise conventional telephones.
Similarly, the terminal unit T2 is a switch, whereas corresponding user terminal units are conventional telex apparatus. It will be understood that the terminal units Tl-~ may, in turn, include software-controlled proces-sors. Th~ -entral processor 9 has software for executing the inve ive paging method and therewith coacts with one of the terminal units Tl-T5.

20 Each user A, B has its respective access point to res-pective networks. These access points are shown by a round ri~g in the ~igure. The access point is normally a terminal ~nit interface and is associated with user identification, such as a telephone number, a mobile telephone roaming number, etc.

All users who/which subscribe to the paging service are registered at the paging central 1. The paging central also has information concerning the telecommunication network N at the disposal of respec-tive users. This information is obtained when respective users subscribe to the paging ser~ice. The paging cen-tral 1 also has information concerning the access points of eac~ user in respective telecommunication networks.

3~ All of this information is stored in a database ~not shown) to which the central processor 9 has access. In W093/16 ~ 212 9 5 4 ~ PCT/SE93/~077 ord~r to o~tain knowledge of the roaming number of an individual mobile telephone, the central processor 9 turns to the home location register iBLR (not shown) of the mobile telephone network. This register contains information as to the whereabouts of the base station within whose covering range the mobile telephone is located at the prese~t time and also information con-cerning the roaming number that has been assigned to the mobile telephone by said base station.
~ ~ , When the user A wishes to establish communication with -the user B by means of the inventive paging method, the user A requests psging of B at the paging central l, by using one of the networks at the disposal of user A, in the illustrated csse either the telephone network or the packet-switching data network. The paging central 1 offers an alerting service and a message service. The alerting service functions to produce an alerting signal which alerts the paged user B to the fact that he is being sought. In the case of the preferred embodiment of the invention, this alerting signal is supplemented with a reference to the place at which a message is stored -~
and another r~ference to the actual message itself. The message service supplements the alert function with the -~
message t~at the user A wishes to deliver to the user B. -The message may, for instance, be a telephone number, which is shown in the display window of the paging receiver 8, a voice-controlled message which B receives on the mobile telephone, an alphanumeric message which B
receives on the packet-switching networ~, an alphanumer- -ic message which B receives on the telex apparatus, or a voice-controlled message which B receives on his tele-phone.

An alerting signal transmitted over the telephone net-work may, for instance, have the form of a very short W093/16564 212 9 S 4 ~ PCT/SE93/~77 ringing tone transmitted at regular intervals, for instance every five seconds. The alerting signal in the telex network may, for instance, be a short ringing signal on the bell of the telex apparatus and/or a flashing optical signal. The alerting signal in the packet-switching data network may have the form of a flashing optical signal from a light-emitting diode mounted on the outside of the central unit 3. The alert-ing signal ~ay be generated in the ~obile telephone network in the form of a short "beep" transmitted at regular intervals, for instance every five seconds, on the calling channel of a base station. Combinations of optical and acoustic signals can also be used.

A number of acti~ities, described ~elow, are performed when the paging central receives a paging request, whereafter the paging central sends an alerting signal to the pag~d user A. The alerting iignal ~an either be transmitted on all networks Nl-N5 simultaneously or may be transmitted in sequence from network to network among those networks at the disposal of user B. The paging process may also be effected in a given order of priori-ty, for instance by always beginning with the paging network, and then switching to the telephone network, and then the mo~ile telephone network, and then the packet-switching data network and, finally, the telex network. The alerting signal ~ay also be transmitted once or several ti~es in each network~ In principle, nothing happens thereafter. The user B has either no-ticed the alerting signal ~ut does not wish to answerimmediately, or the user B has not noticed the alerting signal. It is assumed, however, that user B finally receives the alerting signal and t~at user B is thus aware that he is ~eing paged.
At the first suitable opportunity, the paged user B

W093/16~ 21 2 9 ~ ~ ~ PCT/SE93/~77 responds to the alerting signal by contacting the paging central 1 via one of the telecom~unication networks at ~ ~-the disposal of user B, with the intention of requesting collection of the message which user A asked to be ~ ~-delivered. In an alternative embodi~ent, user B does not have access to the whole of the message, but only to a short title under which the message is stored. The user B informs the paging central of the network over which he wishes the message to be sent. If the message is stored in the paging centràl, the paging central will then transmit the message on the network requested. When the alerting signal is supplemented with a message reference, user B will also state this message reference when making contact with the paging central.
As will be described in more detail below, the message may ~e stored in some other place and the paging central will then give the paged user B a directive as to where the ~essage can be collected, i.e. in which network and on which access point in said network the message is found. When applicable, the paging central will also qive a message reference. When the paged user B has collected-the message, the paged user will send to the paging central l an acknowledgement to the effect that he has received the mes~age. The paging user A can check with the paging central as to whether the acknowledge~
ment has been received or not, or, alternatively, the paging user A may reach an agreement with the paging ~ -central that the paging central forwards the acknowl-edgement to user A upon receipt of the message.

The paged user B may also send a reply message to user A, together with the acknowledgement. ~

The inventive communication process is finalized when ~-the paging user A is in receipt of an acknowledgement to WO93/16~ 212 9 ~ 4 4 PCT/SE93/~77 the effect that his message has been received by user B.
If the user A does not receive any such acknowledgement, he can repeat his request for paging of user B.

In conjunction with a request by user A to the paging central to page user B, the paging request, or order, is given an updating identity AI and the paging central and the user A negotiate with regard to the place where the ~essage that user A wishes to deliver to user B shall be stored. This storage place`~ay either be located in the paging central, with the user A or at some other loca-tion in a specified telecommunication network. The message may be given a short title which is transmitted to the user ~ when the user B requests a ~essage trans-fer. The user B ~ay have received several messages and is able to choose those ~essages which he wishes to collec~.from the storage place on the basis of these short titles. The short title of the ~essage ~ay be stored at a place which is different from the place at which the actual message is stored. One suitable proce-dure is to store the short title in the paging central and to store the message section with the paging user A.
When the paged user B requests transmission of the message, the paging central cends only the short title to user B together with information that the remainder of the ~essage can be collected at user A. Alternative-ly, the paging central and the user A may have agreed that the paging central will not transmit the ~essage stored at user A to the paged user B until user B re-quests transmission of the message section of said message.

A destination address which is general for all paging requests and which leads to the paging central may be used as updating information. Alternatively, a geograph- -ically differentiated destination address which leads to W093/16~ 21 2 ~ ~ 4 ~ PCT/SE93/00077 24 -~
a paging central within respective geographic regions may be used as updating information. This will enable the paged user who uses the updating information as a destination address when calling the paging central to S be connected to the paging central which is located in the geographic region from which the paging request came. As another alternative, the updating information may be individual to each incoming paging request. In this case, the individual destination address, which leads to the paging central and which is used by the -;~
paged user when communicating with the paging central, is chosen from among those individual destination ad~
dresses which are included in the num~er series to the node in which the paging central is located in that telecommunication network in which it has been elected to communicate.

The acknowledgement of receipt of a message is sent to the paging central optionally together with a reply ~
message. According to an alternative embodiment, the ~ ~ -acknowledgement can also be sent to the message storage place.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the ac-knowledgement sent by the paged user B together with any reply message is presented to the user A together with the aforesaid updating identity AI for use by the user A
when he next contacts the paging central, i.e. after the paging request. This informs the paging user A that a message has been received by user B.

Figure 4 is a block schematic similar to the block schematic of Figure 3, but with the exception that the paged user B has no terminal equipment but has neverthe-less subscribed to the paging service. In this case, it suffices for the user B to have access at some time to W093/16~ 21 2 9 ~ 4 ~ PCT/SE93/00077 one of the networks Nl-N5. For instance, the user B may borrow ~r hire the terminal equipment of another user and in this way communicate with the paging central l to enquire w~ether any messages have been left for him. It can be said that in this case the service used by user B
is similar to a poste restante service~ If messages addressed to user B.are found at the paging central, the paging central delivers the message, or messages, to user B and user B acknowledges receipt of the message or messages in the usual way.

It will be evident from the aforegoing that the user A
need not have knowledge of the access ports of the paged user in any of the networks. All this information is stored in the paging central l. Neither need the paging central have knowledge of the access ports of the paged user when the paged user utilizes the message transmis-iOn service according to Figure 4. When the paging user B avails himself of the ~essage transmission service according to Figure 4, it i5 unnecessary for the paging central to send an alerting signal to user ~, since user B has no terminal equipment.

Figure 5 is a block schematic illustrating how the in~entive paging method is applied in an environment of the kind illustrated in Figure 2. Reference Kl identi-fies conversion equipment which enables signals in the network Nl to be converted to signals that are under-stood by network N2, and vice versa. Reference K2 iden-tifies conversion equipment which enables signals fromthe network N2 to be converted So signals that are understood by the network N3, and vice versa. Reference K3 identifies corresponding equipment for converting signals from network N3 to network N4, and vice versa, i.e. from N4 to ~3. In the illustrated case, the pa~ing user A does not himself request paging by the paging WO93/16S64 21~ 9 :~ ~ 4 PCT/SEg3/~77 central, but assigns this task to his agent 11. The paged user B is also represented by an agent 12. Respec~
tive agents handle all communication with the paging central 1. The agent ~ contacts his agent 11 when wish-ing to order paging of user B. This contact is effected -over one of those networks found between user A and his agent 11. In turn, the agent 11 contacts his employer A
only when he has received acknowledgement that the paged user B has acknowledged the paging message. If user B
has left a reply message, the agent 11 sends this mes-sage together with the acknowledgement. According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the agent 12 of the paged user B requests the transfer of a message immediately the paged user B is alerted. The agent 12 then stores the message. In this way, several messages can be stored with the agent 12. When the paged user B
wishes to check whether or not ~essages are found ad-dressed,to him, the user ~ contacts his agent 12 and the agent 12 informs user B of any messages which are found and the paged user B then requests his agent 12 to send him those messages which he wishes to receive. No ac-knowledgement of the receipt of a message is sent from -agent 12,-together with any reply messages from the user B, until the user B has received the message or messag-es. As with the earlier case, an acknowledgement can be `~
sent either to the paging central or to the message storage place.

The possibility of storing the message with the sender and the short title with the paging central is benefi-cial in the following situations: Two users are ini-tially located in the same country and have a common paging central. One user then moves temporarily to another country or to another continent where he can still ~e reached by the common paging central. When a user on the new continent or in the new country wishes . ..- : ~.

~ 2129~4~
WO 93/16~64 PCr/SE93/00077 to send a message to the user who is in temporary resi-dence in said continent or said country, it is conve-nient to store the short title in the common paging central while storing the actuai message with the sender in the new country or on the new continent. This obvi-ates the need to transmit the message unnecessarily over long dlstances.

The situation is synonymous, for instance, to two long trailers which have a common paging central in one country and are journeying to another country, perhaps even along the same route and separated only 20 m apart, where one long trailer wishes to transmit a message to the other. Under such circumstances, it is more suitable for the paging user to himself store the message while storing the short title in the paging central in the home country.

Figure 6 is a diagram which illustrates the asynchro-nous, switched sequences or activities that occur in the paging central and with a user respectively. The proce-dure that takes place in the paging central is shown at the top of Figure 6 while the procedures that take place with a user are shown at the bottom of Figure 6. The double horizontal lines 13, 14 represent a basic state of the paging central and of the user respectively.
Although the paging proc~ss is activated in the basic state, no activity takes place at either the paging central or at the user. The paging central may receive a user alert request, i.e. a request to page a user. This is shown in box 15 in Figure 6. The paging central then puts through an alert, box 16. The ~anner in which this alert is put throuqh is described below with reference ~ ;~
to Figure 10. The paging central may also receive an enquiry from an alerted user, box 17. In this case, the paging central discloses an updating identity AI which W093/16564 212 9 5 ~ ~ PCT/SE93/~77 relates the stored message to the alerted user. The paging central then monitors the situation in order to ascertain whether or not the alerted user makes a mes-sage request, ~ox 18. The manner in which this takes place is illustrated in Figure 11. Finally, the paging central may receive an enquiry as to whether a ~essage is found for collection, this enquiry coming from a non-alerted user, i.e. a user who wishes to avail himself of the paging process in a manner si~ilar to a poste res-tante procedure. This process could be referred to as a tele-restante process. This enquiry is shown in box l9 and, similar to ~ox 17, means that updating information is transmitted to the user. The paging central shall then monitor the procedure so as to ascertain whether or not the user makes a request for the message to be transmit-ted, box 20. The manner in which this takes place is illustrated in detail in Figure 12.

Three different ~ypes of user activities can be carried out, as illustrated at the bottom of Figure 6. For instance, the user may wish to request a paging process, box 21. This results in the user making an outgoing request, box 22. The ~anner in which this request is ~ade is ~hown in Figure 7. Another user activity is one ;~
in which the user is alerted in the aforedescribed man~ n~
ner. This alert signal may arrive from an external source and is shown in box 23. The alert incoming from the paging central, box 24, is processed in the way illustrated in Figure ~. Another user activity is one in which the user wishes to check whether or not a message -addressed to the user is found stored in some storage place, i.e. the tele-restante activity. This activity is shown in box 25 and the ~anner in which the check is made is illustrated in Figure 9.

W093/16564 21 2 9 ~ 4 ~ PCT/SE93/~77 Figure 7 illustrates the sequence of events that take place when the user makes an outgoing request. The user requests an alert at the paging central, box 26, and gives his own identity and the identity of the paged S person, e.g. by stating the paged person's access point in one of those networks at the disposal of the paged person. The requesting user may also inform the central of those paging networks in which paging shall take place. The customer then awaits directives relating to the paging request concerned, box 27. The requesting user obtains these directives from the paging central, which informs the user as to where the message shall be stored in that case when t~e paged user and the paging central ha~e previously agreed on a specific storage place. Directives in this respect are obtained in box 28. The requesting user then stores the message at the place s~ated by the paging central, box 29. The request-ing user has then only to await the result of his re-quest, box 30, in other words the requesting user waits for an acknowledgement of the receipt of the message.
This acknowledgement may be accompanied by a reply message from the paged user. The procedure then reverts to the ba~ic state 14.

Figure 8 illustrates the sequence of events that take place when a user is alerted by the paging central. This alert is stored, box 31, either in a memory associated with the user's terminal or in the user's head. Several alerts may arrive from the paging central. These alerts ~ ~ -~ay all have different origins or some of the alerts may arrive from the same origin. At this stage, the paged user need not take any particular measures, but may contact the paging central at some time which is conve-nient to him and request to be informed of those messag-es about which he has been alerted. Box 32 indicatesthat the user shall wait before commencing his own :.

W093/165~ 21 2 9 ~ ~ ~ PCT/SE93/~77 activities, while box 33 indicates the event in which the user makes contact with the paging central and re-quests for messages to be transferred. Figure ll shows the activities of the paging central upon receipt of this message request. Among other things, the paged user receives message collection directives, box 34, these directives including~ among other things, transmission of the updating identity toge~her with a short title of the message. If the message is stored at some other place, the user is also infor~ed of the address of the message to be collected. If the user has had several alerts, several updating identities will be found and these can then be transmitted to the paged user together with corresponding short titles. On the basis of these short titles, the paged user is then able to inform the paging central of those ~essages which the paged user wishes ~o be sent to him. If the messages lack short titles,.the updating information may also contain infor-mation relating to the sender and the paged user can decide which messages shall be sent to him, on the basis of this updating information. The updating information may also include a time stamp. After having read the;~
~ransmitted mes~age, the user will then send an acknowl~
edgement confirming receipt of the ~essage, together ~ ~-with any reply message, to the paging central or to the message storage place or to both, depending on how the system is designed. This i~ shown in box 36. The activi- ~-~
ties are then terminated and the paged person returns to the basic state 14.
Figure 9 illustrates the last of those activities which can occur on the user side, namely the activity in which the user wishes to check whether or not a message or messages addxessed to the user is/are to be collected.
This may apply when a user is aware that an important --message can be expected. This situation may also apply 2:l29~
.
WO93/165~ PCT/SE93/00077 when a user who lacks his own terminal equipment and who uses or hires someone else~s terminal equipment for communication with the paging central and sends to the paging central an enquiry as to whether there is a message addressed to the user for collection, box 37.
Similar to the manner described with reference to box 34 in Figure 8, the user obtains message-collecting direc-tives, box 38. When the user has read the message, box 39, he sends an acknowledgement, together with any reply message, to the paqing central, or to the message s'or-age place, or to both, depending upon the ~esign of the system. This checking activity is then terminated and the user returns to the basic state 14.

Figure 10 illus~rates the activities carried out by the paging central in conjunction with performing an alert-inq process: The paging central must first create a "meeting individual" and store the wishes of the re~
questing user, box 41. By meeting individual is meant a data structure. The meeting individual is unique to precisely this individual alert process and includes -data relating to the requesting user, updating ID, the receiver,-the wishes of the requesting user, information relating to ackno~ledgement of a received message, any alert and ac~nowledgement time stamps used and, when applicable, also the ~essage delivered by the requesting user. By "meeting" is meant that both parties meet in an intermediary, namely the paging central. After creating the meeting individual, the paging central asks the requesting user where the ~es~age shall be stored, box 42. If the paged user has earlier informed the paging central of a desired message storage place, the where-abouts of this storage place is disclosed to the re- -questing user. If the requesting user desires a special st~rage place, the paging central registers this place, box 43 In the absence of any particular wishes with ~ 21%9~
WO93/16~ PCT/SE93/~77 . , regard to the message storage place, the message can be stored in the paging central. Optionally, only a short title is stored in the paging central while the message itself is stored with the requesting user. When the S ~eeting individual is complete and the storage place has been decided, the paging central broadcasts an alerting signal on that netwqrk or those networks which i~/are at the disposal of the paged user. As described in the introduction, the alerting signal can be sent on all networks simulta- ~
neously, or in sequence from network to network, or ~ ;
first in solely certain priority networks and then in other networks of lower priority. The paging central ~-returns to the basic state 13 when transmission of the alerting signal is complete. ~ ~

Fiqure 11 illustrates monitoring of a message request in -the paging central. When the destination user B sends an ~ ~
enquiry asking whether a message is found for collec- -tion, box 37, or sends a message request in accordance with box 33 0 the paging central receives a reply from the destination user. This is represented by box 45. The paging central now issues directives to the destination user, in accordance with the information stored in the meeting individual or meeting individuals relating to the destination user. Among other things, the paging central states the updatinq identity AI, which in acc-ordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention is an alphanumeric sign or character which indicates the name of the requesting user. When the message is stored with a short title, the paging central will also send the short title of the message associated with the updating identity. The paging central also infor~s the destination user from where the me~sage can be collect-ed. All these ~essage collecting directives are shown inbox 46. As a result of the message collecting process, .

4 212 9 5 4 ~ PCT/SE93/~77 the destination user sends a message received acknowl-edgement, box 47. This acknowledgement may possibily be supplemented with a response ~essage. The acknowledge-ment is stored in the meeting individual together with any response message. Depending on how the system is designed, the acknowledgement may be sent to the re-questing user, box 48, either in conjunction with the paging central receiving the acknowledge~ent from the destination user or on ~he next occasion that the re-questing user calls the paging central. The pagingcentral then returns to the basic state 13.

Figure 12 shows the last sequence carried out in con-junction with the ~onitoring of a message request at the paging central. A user enquires as to whether a message addressed to the user is found for collection. This is represented by box 49. The pat~ing central now pages all ~eeting~indi~iduals in order to establish those updating identities which have the enquiring user as their desti-nation. The paging central transmits all updating iden-tities and optionally short messages and optionally also information concerning the message storage places. This ~
is represented by box 50. Box 51 represents those activ- ~-ities which occur subsequent to the enquiring subscriber having collected a message. Among other thin~s, the paging central receives an acknowledgement and possibly also a reply message. The acknowledgement and the reply message are stored in the ~eeting individual fropm which the message was collected. The paging central then sends this acknowledgement and ~he pos~ible reply to the requesting user, box 52. Similar to the afore~
described, this acknowledgement may be sent the next ~-time the requesting user calls the paging central, or the acknowledgement can be sent to the requesting user ~ n~
~5 without said user needing to take any other activity.
The paging central then returns to the basic state 13.

~-- -. . . . . .

WO93~l65~ 212 9 5 ~ ~ PCT/SE93/~77 Figure 13 illustrates the invention as applied in asso-ciation with the standard telephone network, referenced 53, the mobile telephone network, referenced 54 and the paging network, referenced 55. A ~obile telephone 56 ;~
having an integrated pager 57 is of a kind similar to that described in our aforementioned U.S. Patent Appli-cation 686,600. As symboiized by the arrow 1, a user A
makes a call in the telephone network 53 to a user s who is equipped with the combined car telephone and pager 56~57, bereinafter called a paging ~obile. The user A
gives the mobile telephone number of user B when making the call. Subsequent to routing in the telephone network 53, the call arrives at a mobile telephone station MSCA, referenced 58. The mobile telephone station functions as a paging central and has information relating to the mobile telephone subscribers, among other things, their paging numbers. The mobile telephone station 58 assigns to the incoming call an updating identity AI which is an interaction number of the kind described in our cotermi-nous patent application having the title "A Method ofEstablishing Cooperation with a Functionality", with Applicant's reference LM 5S18. Among other things, this implies that the updating identity is chosen from the number series of the mobile telephone station 58, ~ore specifically from among those numbers to which no equip-ment is c~nnected. In conjunction with receiving the call from user A, there is initiated in the mobile telephone station an assign~ent process which creates a -meeti~g identity in the form of a data record which contains several data fields, there among a data field which refers to the meeting individual, another field in which the updating identity is found, and a third data field in which that port on which the call from A ar-rived is noted. The assignment process parks the call from A and then searches the register in which ~ is found and in which the paging number of B is given. The next step in the process, symbolized by the broken arrow 59, involves the mobile telephone station sending a request for paging of user B via the paging network. The updating identity is sent together with B's paging request. The paqing re-quest goes to a paging central 60 which transmits a paging message together with the updating identity. This paging message is shown symbolically by the ~roken arrow 61. The paging apparatus 57 in B's paging ~obile re-ceives the paging message and alerts the mobile tele-phone 56. The mobile telephone 56 now makes an outgoing call, symbolized by the full arrow 62, giving the updat-ing identity AI as the destination address. This outgo-ing call is seized by a ~ase station (not shown) which sends the call further ~o a ~obile telephone station 63 which serves the base station in which the call is seized or captured. The ~obile telephone station 63 treats the call as a conventional outgoing call and sends the call further to the telephone network 53, where the call is routed through different switching stations until a main ~witching station finds, ~y num~er analysis, that the call is concerned with a mobile telephone-call and that the call shall, in fact, be directed to the ~obile telephone station 58, since the updating information states this node as the destination address. This routing of the call in the telephone network is shown by the full arrow 64. When this outgo-ing call arrives at the mobile telephone station 58, the mobile telephone ~tation discovers the presence of an incoming call which refers to the updating identity AI.
The mobile telephone station 58 then looks for the purpose for which this updating information was assigned and finds that the information is associated with the meeting identification created by A's incoming call. The mobile telephone station 58 now connects A's parked call with the outgoing call 64 from B, and A and B are able 2129S~
W093t165~ PCT~SE93/~77 -to converse. When either party replaces his telephone receiver, the connection is disconnected, the meeting individual is annulled and the updating identity AI is released. The released updating identity AI can then be reused for future paging processes.

It will be noted th~t the paging mobile 56/57 differs from the paging mobile described in our aforesaid U.S.
patent application, in that the mo~ile telephone 56 itself rings-out instead of being rung, subsequent to the paging apparatus 57 being alerted.

It is thus evident that the inventive paging process separates the message service from the alerting service, in that the message service is first activated upon the request of the paged ~ser. The paging process also enables-an alert to be sent over several networks. It is also possible for the paged user to obtain access to the updatings over several networks. It is thus the paged user who decides when his messages shall be transmitted.
Furthermore, it is also possible to acknowledge not only the receipt of a message but also the receipt of an alert and~to deliver a message to the user requesting the paging service. The paging service is therewith a high-class service.

The inventive paging method can be combined with the meeting updating service described in the aforesaid patent application "A Method of Organizing Communica-tion", with Applicant's reference LM 5517. When aninteractive meeting is to be orqanized between two parties, the meeting broker can use the paging method according to the present invention.

Claims (18)

?O 93/16564 PCT/SE93/00077

1. A person paging method in which a first user (A) wishes to page a second user (B) and deliver a message to said second user with the aid of a paging service that requires:
- the first user (A) to request paging of the second user (B) at a paging central (1) which provides a user alerting service and a user message service which supplements the alert with a message; and which further requires the alerting service used by the paging central (1) to alert the second user (B) through a telecommunication network (N1-N5);
c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that - the paging central (1) elects to perform the paging service in at least one telecommunication network (e.g. in N1 and N5) which is chosen from among at least two possible telecommunication networks (N1-N5), hereinafter referred to as the first telecom-munication network (N1 and N5);
- in that the message service is performed indepen-dently of the user alerting service;
in that the message service is activated first upon request from the second user;
- in that the user alerting service uses said first telecommunication network (N1 and N5);
- in that the message service uses at least one tele-communication network referred to hereinafter as the second telecommunication network (N1-N5) and being separate from the first network (N1 and N5);
and - in that the message is transmitted in response to said request.

2. A method according to Claim 1, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - the first user (A) is selected from the group com-prised of a first party (A) and an agent (11) serv-ing said first party; and - in that the second user (B) is chosen from the group comprised of a second party (B) and an agent (12) serving said second party.

3. A method according to Claim 2, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - the second telecommunication network or networks is/are chosen from among those telecommunication networks (N1-N5) with which the paging central and the second user (B) can establish communication.

4. A method according to Claim 3, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - said first network (N1 and N5) in which the alert-ing service is activated is/are chosen from among those networks (N1-N5) over which the second user (B) disposes; and - in that the alerting service is activated until said request is received.

5. A method according to Claim 4, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - said request for transmission of a message is sup-plemented with information concerning the telecom-munication network over which the message shall be transmitted and also with information relating to the access point of the second user (B) in the desired telecommunication network.

6. A method according to Claim 5 in which - the first user (A) requests the paging central (1) to establish a connection with the second user (B) over a telecommunication network available to said first user (A); and in which - the paging central (1) sends the alerting signal via the alerting service in response to this re-quest for a connection;
c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that - the first user's (A) message is - transmitted to the paging central;
- stored in a first storage place; and - is given an updating identity (AI) which re-lates the second user (B) to the message;
- in that after receiving the alerting signal and at a time convenient to the second user (B), the sec-ond user (B) requests the paging central to update the message; and - in that upon receiving the updating request, the paging central initiat? presentation of the stored message to the second user (B).

7. A method according to Claim 6, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that when alerting the user, the alerting service transmits a destination address which leads to the message storage place and also transmits the aforesaid updating identity.

8. A method according to Claim 6, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that the destination address is a geographically differentiated destination address which leads to a paging central within respective geographical regions.

9. A method according to Claim 6, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that when alerting said user, the alerting service transmits for each paging request an individual destination address which leads to the paging central; and in that each individual destination address is selected from the number series relating to the node in which the paging central is found in the selected telecommunication network.

10. A method according to Claim 6, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - the message is stored in the paging central.

11. A method according to Claim 6, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - the message is stored at the first user (A).

12. A method according to Claim 6, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - the message is stored in any selected node in a selected telecommunication network (N1-N4, with which the second user can establish communication.

13. A method according to Claim 6 in which the message includes a short title and a message section, c h a r -a c t e r i z e d in that - only the short title is transmitted in response to said updating request; and - in that the message section is not sent until requested to do so by the second user, this requ-est, or order, being referred to below as the mes-sage section request.

14. A method according to Claim 13, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - the short title is stored in a first storage place in the paging central (1);
- in that the message section part is stored in a second storage place with the first user (A); and - in that the message section part is not presented to the second user (B) until a message section request is received.

15. A method according to Claim 6, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d - in that subsequent to presentation of the stored message, the second user (B) sends to the storage place an acknowledgement (K) related to the pre-sented message; and - in that the acknowledgement is stored together with the updating identification (AI).

16. A method according to Claim 15, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - the second user (B) sends to the storage place, in addition to said acknowledgement, a reply message intended for the first user (A); and - in that the reply message is stored at said storage place.

17. A method according to Claim 16, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - the updating identification (AI) and the acknow-ledgement (K) are presented to the first user (A) when said first user makes a new call to the paging central, whereby the first user is informed that the message has been received by the second user (B).

18. A method according to Claim 16, c h a r a c -t e r i z e d in that - when this new call is made, the reply message in-tended for the first user (A) and also said acknowledgement are presented to the first user (A).