Patent ID: 7020458

Claim:
In a telecommunications network having at least one subscriber terminal corresponding to at least one subscriber at a subscriber location, a message waiting indication service including a method of indicating the presence of an electronic mail message corresponding to the at least one subscriber in a data message platform, the method comprising the steps of: receiving the electronic mail message at the data message platform; generating a message waiting signal at the data message platform; transmitting the message waiting signal to an Advanced Intelligent Network of the telecommunications network, wherein the Advanced Intelligent Network includes at least one of a service control point and a service node intelligent peripheral; generating a message waiting indication signal at the Advanced Intelligent Network of the telecommunications network; determining if the at least one subscriber is a subscriber to the message waiting indication service by checking the electronic mail message; and transmitting a message waiting indication signal to the subscriber terminal in response to the message waiting signal only if the at least one subscriber is a subscriber to the message waiting indication service.