Patent ID: 7319880

Claim:
A method of forwarding an SMS (Short Message Service) message in a mobile communication system having at least one MSC (Mobile Switching Center) for providing communication services to a plurality of mobile terminals, at least one MC (Message Center) interconnecting with the MSC for providing an SMS, a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) exchange interconnecting with the MSC, and a voice conversion server interconnecting with the PSTN exchange, comprising the steps of: requesting transmission of an SMS message from a calling mobile terminal to the MC via the MSC; searching for the subscriber information of a called mobile terminal and determining whether a forwarding function is set for the called mobile terminal in the MC; requesting transmission of the SMS message from the MC to the voice conversion server via the PSTN exchange if it is determined that the forwarding function is set and a destination terminal is a PSTN phone; converting the SMS message to a voice message in the voice conversion server and requesting establishment of a path to the destination terminal from the voice conversion server to the PSTN exchange; and transmitting the converted voice message from the voice conversion server to the destination terminal after the PSTN establishes the path.