Patent ID: 7774006

Claim:
A method for improving short message service (SMS) dependability in a mobile telephony network having a short message service center (SMSC) that can provide for persistently storing and forwarding of short messages (SM) to respective addressees and a router that first receives the SM and mitigates the number of SM forwarded to the SMSC by attempting to deliver a portion of the SM received, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a SM from a submitter; creating a first log entry, including a copy of the SM, in a log store; acknowledging receipt of the SM to the submitter; attempting one of a first delivery attempt (FDA) of the SM to an addressee and a forwarding (FWD) of the SM to the SMSC; on recovery from a failure, determining that a second log entry is not found, indicating that the one of the FDA and the FWD failed; re-attempting the one of the FDA and the FWD using the copy of the SM included in the first log entry; and on successful completion of the one of the FDA and the FWD, creating the second log entry, including an indication of the successful completion, in the log store; wherein the log store is a survivable storage medium whose contents can survive a failure of the router and wherein the step of creating a first log entry occurs before the step of acknowledging.