Patent ID: 8738046

Claim:
A method for intelligently transmitting a short message system (SMS) message to a destination device, the method comprising the steps of: at a functionally integrated home location register and short message service center (HLR/SMSC), receiving the SMS message from a sending device; at the functionally integrated HLR/SMSC, determining a serving mobile switching center (MSC) to which the SMS message should be forwarded; forwarding the SMS message to the serving MSC; at the functionally integrated HLR/SMSC, in response to forwarding the SMS message to the serving MSC, receiving a failure notification from the serving MSC; in response to receiving the failure notification, updating an integrated HLR/SMSC database at the functionally integrated HLR/SMSC to reflect a status of the destination device to prevent additional delivery attempts to the destination device until the status changes; in response to the status changing, attempting a delivery attempt to the destination device; and sending a message to a serving visitor location register (VLR) instructing the serving VLR to cancel the destination device from the records of the serving VLR, wherein canceling the destination device ensures that the serving VLR notifies the functionally integrated HLR/SMSC when the destination device is available to receive the SMS message, thereby conserving network bandwidth by preventing additional attempts to deliver the SMS message to a destination device when the destination device is unavailable to receive the SMS message.