AU1436899A

AU1436899A - System and procedure for directing a short message

Info

Publication number: AU1436899A
Application number: AU14368/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Tuomo Grohn; Juho Huopaniemi; Jari Vormisto
Original assignee: Sonera Oy
Current assignee: Sonera Oy
Priority date: 1997-12-01
Filing date: 1998-12-01
Publication date: 1999-06-16
Also published as: EP1036474A2; IL136457A0; WO1999029125A2; CA2312564A1; WO1999029125A3; FI105305B; FI974384A0; FI974384A; JP2001525642A

Description

WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 SYSTEM AND PROCEDURE FOR DIRECTING A SHORT MESSAGE The present invention relates to a system and a procedure for directing a short message to a virtual subscriber number in a telecommunication network com 5 prising a mobile communication network. The invention also relates to a system and a procedure for directing a short message to a customer-specific VPN subscriber num ber (Virtual Private Network, VPN) in a telecommunica tion network comprising a mobile communication network. 10 PRIOR ART In the GSM system, the subscriber can send and receive short messages in text form. In addition, vari ous intelligent network services have been introduced in 15 the GSM system which allow a call to be directed to vir tual numbers in the telecommunication network. One of such services is virtual subscriber number. Calls made to such a number are directed to the subscriber's actual number. Examples of this service are free numbers begin 20 ning with 0800 and national call numbers of enterprises. In the Virtual Private Network (VPN) service, individual subscribers are so grouped that the network looks like a private branch exchange to the subscriber. Calls can therefore be made from a mobile station to another mo 25 bile station or to an ordinary telephone connected to a branch exchange by using only extension numbers. Al though the above-mentioned intelligent network services have been introduced, it has only been possible to util ise them in conjunction with calls. It has not been pos 30 sible to send short messages to users of intelligent network services utilising virtual numbers. The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks described above. A specific ob ject of the invention is to disclose a new type of sys 35 tem and procedure that make it possible to direct short messages to virtual subscriber numbers.

WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 2 A further object of the invention is to dis close a new type of system and procedure for directing short messages to a customer-specific VPN subscriber number. 5 In short, the object of the invention is to en able short messages to be sent to users of intelligent network services utilising virtual numbers. As for the features characteristic of the pres ent invention, reference is made to the claims. 10 BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The system of the present invention for direct ing a short message to a virtual subscriber number in a telecommunication network comprising a mobile communica 15 tion network, e.g. a GSM network, which comprises a short-message service centre (SMSC) for the reception, storage and transmission of short messages, a routing centre for the routing of short messages from the short message service centre to the mobile station (Short Mes 20 sage Service Gateway services Switching Centre, SMS GMSC), a home location register (HLR) for maintaining subscriber information, a service database (DB) for maintaining subscriber-specific intelligent network service data and a mobile services switching centre 25 (MSC) serving the B-subscriber, comprises a service node implemented in the telecommunication network. It may be implemented as a unit separate from the short-message service centre (SMSC) or it may be implemented as a part of the software structure of the short-message service 30 centre. The essential point is not the form of implemen tation but the functionality accomplished by the service node. The services of this service node are utilised in establishing the international subscriber number cor 35 responding to a virtual subscriber number (Mobile Sta tion Integrated Services Digital Network, MSISDN).

WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 3 In an embodiment of the system, the home loca tion register (HLR) and the routing centre (SMS-GMSC) are connected to each other via the service node so that the service node is transparent both to the home loca 5 tion register (HLR) and the routing centre (SMS-GMSC). Moreover, the service node is connected to an internal or external service database (DB). In an embodiment of the system, the routing centre (SMS-GMSC) comprises means for performing a GT 10 analysis (Global Title, GT) on a virtual number direc tion, enabling the routing centre to route short mes sages sent in a given number direction to the service node. The system of the present invention for direct 15 ing a short message to a subscriber-specific VPN sub scriber number in a telecommunication network comprising a mobile communication network, e.g. a GSM network, which comprises a mobile services switching centre (MSC) serving the A-subscriber, a routing centre for routing 20 short messages from the mobile station to the short message service centre (Short Message InterWorking Mo bile Services Switching Centre, SMS-IWMSC) , a short message service centre (SMSC) for the reception, storage and transmission of short messages and a service data 25 base (DB) for maintaining subscriber-specific intelli gent network service data, comprises a service node im plemented in the telecommunication network. It may be implemented as a unit separate from the short-message service centre (SMSC) or it may be implemented as a part 30 of the software structure of the short-message service centre. The essential point is not the form of implemen tation but the functionality accomplished by the service node. The services of this service node are utilised for establishing the international subscriber number corre 35 sponding to a virtual subscriber number (Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital Network, MSISDN).

WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 4 In an embodiment of the system, the mobile services switching centre (MSC) and the routing centre (SMS-IWMSC) are interconnected via the service node so that the service node is transparent both to the mobile 5 services switching centre (MSC) and to the routing cen tre (SMS-GMSC) . In addition, the service node is con nected to an internal or external service database (DB). In an embodiment of the system, the mobile services switching centre (MSC) comprises means for per 10 forming a GT analysis on the number of the service node, enabling the routing centre to route short messages sent in a given number direction to the service node. In the procedure of the invention for directing a short message to a virtual subscriber number in a 15 telecommunication network comprising a mobile communica tion network, which comprises a short-message service centre (SMSC) for the reception, storage and transmis sion of short messages, a routing centre (SMS-GMSC) for the routing of short messages in the direction short 20 message service centre - mobile station (SMS-GMSC), a mobile services switching centre (MSC) serving the B subscriber, a service database (DB) for maintaining in telligent network service data and a home location reg ister (HLR) for maintaining subscriber information, to 25 which telecommunication network is connected a service node for establishing the international subscriber num ber (MSISDN) corresponding to a virtual subscriber num ber, a short message addressed to the virtual subscriber number is sent from the short-message service centre 30 (SMSC) to the routing centre (SMS-GMSC). From the routing centre (SMS-GMSC), a routing inquiry with the B-subscriber's virtual subscriber num ber as a parameter is sent to the service node. Next, the service node sends to the service database (DB) a 35 service inquiry with the B-subscriber's virtual sub scriber number as a parameter, which is answered by sending the B-subscriber's international subscriber num- WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 5 ber (MSISDN) from the service database to the service node. Next, the service node sends to the home location register (HLR) a service inquiry with the B-subscriber's international subscriber number (MSISDN) as a parameter. 5 In response to this, the home location register (HLR) sends to the service node the B-subscriber's interna tional mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) code and the address of the mobile services switching centre (MSC) serving the B-subscriber, and this information is trans 10 mitted from the service node to the routing centre (SMS GMSC). After this, the short message is transmitted from the routing centre (SMS-GMSC) to the mobile serv ices switching centre (MSC) serving the B-subscriber. 15 From the mobile services switching centre (MSC) serving the B-subscriber, an acknowledgement of receipt of the short message is then sent to the routing centre (SMS GMSC), and from the routing centre (SMS-GMSC) a message indicating successful/unsuccessful transmission is sent 20 to the service node. This message is further transmitted to the home location register (HLR), and the home loca tion register (HLR) responds by sending to the service node an acknowledgement, which is further transmitted to the routing centre (SMS-GMSC) after the global title 25 (GT) has been converted in the service node into the ad dress of the routing centre (SMS-GMSC). In an embodiment of the procedure, an error message is sent from the service node to the routing centre (SMS-GMSC) if no international subscriber number 30 (MSISDN) corresponding to the virtual subscriber number can be found in the service database. In an embodiment of the procedure, the error message received from the home location register (HLR) is transmitted from the service node to the routing cen 35 tre (SMS-GMSC), whose acknowledgement of the error mes sage is transmitted to the home location register (HLR) WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 6 if the service inquiry sent by the service node to the home location register is unsuccessful. In an embodiment of the procedure, communica tion between the service node and the home location reg 5 ister (HLR) and between the service node and the routing centre (SMS-GMSC) is accomplished using standard MAP (Mobile Application Part) protocols. In an embodiment of the procedure, communica tion between the service node and the external service 10 database (DB) is accomplished using database queries of standard intelligent network protocols, such as ETSI CoreINAP, ITU-T CS1 and/or X.500 (European Telecommuni cations Standards Institute, ETSI, Intelligent Network Application Part, INAP, International Telecommunication 15 Union -Telecommunications sector, ITU-T, Capability Set 1, CS1). In an embodiment of the procedure, the mobile communication network is GSM compatible. In the procedure of the present invention for 20 directing a short message to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number in a telecommunication network com prising a mobile communication network, which comprises a mobile services switching centre (MSC) serving the A subscriber, a routing centre for routing short messages 25 in the direction mobile station - short-message service centre - (SMS-IWMSC) , a short-message service centre (SMSC) for the reception, storage and transmission of short messages and a service database (DB) for maintain ing intelligent network service data, and to which is 30 connected a service node for establishing the interna tional subscriber number (MSISDN) corresponding to the subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number, a short mes sage addressed to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number is transmitted from the mobile services switching 35 centre (MSC) to the service node. In addition, the A subscriber has replaced the address of the short-message WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 7 service centre (SMSC) with the address of the service node in the address field of his/her terminal device. Next, a service inquiry containing the A subscriber's international subscriber number (MSISDN) 5 and the B-subscriber's customer-specific VPN subscriber number as parameters is sent from the service node to the service database (DB) . In response, the B subscriber's international subscriber number (MSISDN) is sent from the service database (DB) to the service node. 10 Next, the address field parameters of the short message are changed in the service node in such manner that the B-subscriber's customer-specific VPN subscriber number is replaced with the B-subscriber's international sub scriber number (MSISDN) and the address of the service 15 node is replaced with the address of the short-message service centre (SMSC). After this, the short message is transmitted from the service node to the routing centre (SMS-IWMSC). An acknowledgement of receipt of the short message is 20 then sent from the routing centre (SMS-IWMSC) to the service node, and the acknowledgement is transmitted further to the mobile services switching centre (MSC) after the global title (GT) has been converted into the address of the mobile services switching centre (MSC). 25 In an embodiment of the procedure, the address field parameters of the short message are changed in the service node in such manner that the address of the service node is replaced with the address of a default short-message service centre (SMSC), whereupon the short 30 message is transmitted from the service node to the routing centre (SMS-IWMSC), whereupon an acknowledgement is sent from the routing centre (SMS-IWMSC) to the serv ice node, which acknowledgement is transmitted to the mobile services switching centre (MSC) if the B 35 subscriber's international subscriber number (MSISDN) is not found in the service database.

WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 8 In an embodiment of the procedure, the address field parameters of the short message are changed in the service node in such manner that the address of the service node is replaced with the address of a default 5 short-message service centre (SMSC) , whereupon the mes sage is transmitted from the service node to the routing centre (SMS-IWMSC), whereupon an acknowledgement is sent from the routing centre (SMS-IWMSC) to the service node, which acknowledgement is transmitted to the mobile serv 10 ices switching centre (MSC) if a message addressed to an international subscriber number (MSISDN) has been sent to the service node. As compared with prior art, the present inven tion provides the advantage that it makes it possible to 15 send short messages to users of intelligent network services who utilise virtual numbers, which has not been possible before. In the system and procedure for direct ing a message to a virtual subscriber number, short mes sages can be sent by all users of the short-message 20 service. A further advantage is that, from the user's point of view, there is no difference between virtual subscriber numbers and normal MSISDN numbers. On the other hand, the system and procedure for directing a message to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number 25 make it possible to provide a short message service sup porting the intelligent network VPN service, thus allow ing short messages to be sent to an extension number consistent with the VPN service. A further advantage of the invention is that it allows an independence of the 30 supplier of the short-message service centre (SMSC) be cause the service node is implemented as a unit separate from the short-message service centre (SMSC) . Moreover, a short message sent by the method of the invention can be answered by using a REPLY function. 35 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 9 In the following, the invention will be de scribed by the aid of a few examples of its embodiments by referring to the attached drawing, wherein Fig. 1 presents a physical configuration for a 5 system according to the invention for directing a short message to a virtual subscriber number; Fig. 2a and 2b illustrate the signalling in a procedure according to the invention for directing a short message to a virtual subscriber number; 10 Fig. 3 presents a physical configuration for a system according to the invention for directing a short message to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number; Fig. 4a, 4b and 4c illustrate the signalling in a procedure according to the invention for directing a 15 short message to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Fig. 1 presents an example of a physical con 20 figuration for a system for directing a short message to a virtual subscriber number in a telecommunication net work comprising a mobile communication network, such as a GSM network. The short-message service centre 1, known in itself, takes care of receiving short messages from 25 the sender, delivering them further to the receiver and storing them until they are successfully transmitted. The routing centre 2, also known in itself, takes care of routing the short messages from the short-message service centre 1 to the B-subscriber. A new type of 30 routing centre 2 function provided by the invention is performing a GT analysis on a virtual number direction. The mobile services switching centre 3 is in itself a known mobile services switching centre serving the B subscriber. The home location register 6 is in itself a 35 known home location register and it stores the sub scriber information for the B-subscriber. A completely WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 10 new type of element provided by the present invention is the service node 4. By utilising the services provided by the service node, it is possible to direct short mes sages e.g. to national call numbers of enterprises. The 5 home location register 6 and the routing centre 2 are so connected via the service node 4 that the service node 4 is transparent both to the home location register 6 and to the routing centre 2, in other words, the service node 4 is seen by the routing centre 2 as the home loca 10 tion register 6 and by the home location register 6 as the routing centre 2. The action of the service node 4 is not visible to the user's terminal device. The data base 5 is used to store subscriber-specific intelligent network service data. It may be either an external in 15 telligent network service database known in itself or it may be integrated with the service node 4. Fig. 2a presents a signalling example for a procedure for directing a short message to a virtual subscriber number in a case where the transmission of a 20 short message is successful. The short message has been received at the routing centre 2, which, based on the virtual number of the receiver of the short message, finds the address of the service node 4 representing the home location register 6. From the routing centre 2, a 25 SEND_ROUTINGINFOFORSHORTMESSAGE routing inquiry con sistent with the MAP protocol is sent to the service node 4. The routing inquiry carries the following pa rameters Parameter Description Invoke Id Identifier of the MAP service primitive MSISDN Receiver's virtual number SM-RP-PRI Parameter indicating whether transmission of the short message to the receiver is to be attempted even if the home location register has other short messages waiting SC Address Address of the short-message service centre WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 11 Next, a database query based on the MSISDN pa rameter of the SENDROUTINGINFOFORSHORTMESSAGE mes sage is sent from the service node 4 to the service da tabase 5. If the number is not found in the database 5, 5 then the service node 4 responds with a SENDROUTINGINFOFORSHORTMESSAGEACK message contain ing an "Unknown Subscriber" error message in its User Error field. Otherwise, the B-subscriber's actual inter national subscriber number (MSISDN) is returned from 10 the database 5. Based on the actual international subscriber number (MSISDN) , the service node 4 gets the address of the B-subscriber's home location register 6 and sends it a SENDROUTINGINFOFORSHORTMESSAGE query. In its 15 SENDROUTINGINFOFORSHORTMESSAGEACK response, the home location register returns the following informa rion: Parameter Description [Use Invoke Id Identifier of the MAP serv- Obligatory ice primitive IMSI Code identifying the sub- Conditional scriber MSC Number Address of the mobile serv- Conditional ices switching centre LMSI Local (temporary) code Conditional identifying the subscriber User error Cause of a user-related er reactor Provider error Cause of a system error Optional 20 The SENDROUTINGINFOFORSHORTMESSAGEACK message is transmitted unchanged from the service node 4 to the routing centre 2. The routing centre 2 sends the short message further to the mobile services switching centre 3, which acknowledges receipt of the same.

WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 12 The routing centre 2 sends a REPORTSMDELIVERYSTATUS message to the service node 4, which transmits it further to the home location register 6. The message carries the following parameters 5 Parameter Description Invoke Id Identifier of the MAP service primitive MSISDN Subscriber's virtual number Service Center Ad- Number of the short-message dress service centre SM Delivery Outcome Outcome of the transmission The SM Delivery Outcome parameter has one of the following values: Absent Subscriber, MS Memory Ca pacity Exceeded or Successful Transfer. The home loca 10 tion register 6 sends a REPORT SM DELIVERYSTATUSACK acknowledgement message, which is transmitted to the routing centre 2. At the same time, the service node changes the GT address into the address of the routing centre 2. 15 Fig. 2b presents a signalling example for the method for directing a short message to a virtual sub scriber number in a case where the query sent from the service node 4 to the home location register 6 is unsuc cessful. In this case, the service node transmits an 20 INFORMSC message consistent with the MAP protocol to the routing centre 2 and sends the acknowledgement re turned by the routing centre 2 back to the home location register 6. The INFORMSC message contains the following parameters 25 Parameter Description Invoke Id Identifier of the MAP service primitive MSISDN-Alert Indicates the subscriber of the short I message service centre WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 13 MWD Status Indicates short-message service centres having messages to send to the subscriber Fig. 3 presents an example of a physical con figuration for a system for directing a short message to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number in a tele 5 communication network comprising a mobile communication network, such as a GSM network. The mobile services switching centre 7 is in itself a known mobile services switching centre serving the A-subscriber. As a new type of function provided by the invention, the mobile serv 10 ices switching centre 7 performs a GT analysis on the number of the service node 8. The routing centre 9, also known in itself, takes care of routing short messages from the A-subscriber to the short-message service cen tre 10. The short-message service centre 10, known in 15 itself, takes care of receiving short messages from the sender, delivering them to the receiver and storing them until successfully transmitted. A completely new type of element provided by the present invention is the service node 8. By utilising the services provided by the serv 20 ice node, it is possible to direct short messages to in telligent network VPN numbers. The mobile services switching centre 7 and the routing centre 9 are so con nected via the service node 8 that the service node 8 is transparent both to the mobile services switching centre 25 7 and to the routing centre 9, in other words, the serv ice node 8 is seen by the routing centre 9 as the mobile services switching centre 7 and by the mobile services switching centre 7 as the routing centre 9. The user's terminal device sees the service node 8 as the short 30 message service centre 10. The database 11 is used to store subscriber-specific intelligent network service data. It may be either an external intelligent network service database known in itself or it may be integrated with the service node 8.

WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 14 Fig. 4a presents a signalling example for a procedure for directing a short message to a subscriber specific VPN subscriber number in a case where the transmission of the short message is successful. The A 5 subscriber has changed the address of the short-message service centre 10 in the address field of his/her termi nal device into the address of the service node 8 and sent a short message to a VPN number. The short message is transmitted from the mobile services switching centre 10 7 serving the A-subscriber to the service node 4 8 in a MAPFORWARDSHORTMESSAGE message, whose title fields contain the following information, which is identified by a MAP object in the service node 8 Parameter Description Change Invoke Id Identifier of the MAP serv- Not to be ice primitive changed SM-RP DA User-defined address of the To be short-message service centre changed SM-RP OA Sender's international sub- Not to be scriber number (MSISDN) changed SM-RP UI SM-TP DU, data processed by Certain pa short-message service centre rameters to be changed 15 The SM-RP UI (User Information, UI) contains the following information, which is identified by a SM TP object in the service node 8 from a SM-TP-SMS-SUBMIT message 20 Abbre- Designation Description Change viation TP-MTI TP-Message- Describes type of Not to be Type-Indicator message changed TP-VPF TP-Validity- Indicates whether Not to be Period-Format TP-VP is in use changed WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 15 TP-RP TP-Reply-Path Indicates whether Not to be Reply path is used changed TP-SRR TP-Status- Indicates whether Not to be Report-Request terminal is to be changed informed of deliv ery of message TP-MR TP-Message- Indicates the SMS- Not to be Reference SUBMIT message changed TP-DA TP-Destination Receiver's number To be Address (generally MSISDN, changed now receiver's VPN number TP-PID TP-Protocol Indicates superior Not to be Identifier protocol changed TP-DCS TP-Data- TP-UD coding Not to be Coding-Scheme method changed TP-VP TP-Validity- Indicates how long Not to be Period the short-message changed service centre Not to be keeps the message changed TP-UDL TP-User-Data- Length of TP-UD Not to be Length changed TP-UD TP-User-Data Text by sender of Not to be I short message changed Based on the SM-RP OA parameter (sender's MSISDN number) of the MAP FORWARDSHORTMESSAGE and the TP-DA parameter (receiver's VPN number) of the 5 SMTPSMSSUBMIT message, the service node 8 makes a da tabase query, the response to which is a new TP-DA pa rameter (B-subscriber's actual MSISDN number) and the number of the short-message service centre 10. The service node changes the parameters in such 10 manner that, in the SM-RP DA parameter, the address of the service node 8 is replaced with the address of the short-message service centre 10 and, in the SM-TP DA pa- WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 16 rameter, the VPN number is replaced with the MSISDN num ber. Next, the service node 8 sends the short message to the routing centre 2 in a MAPFORWARDSHORTMESSAGE mes sage. 5 The routing centre 9 acknowledges receipt of the short message by sending the service node a MAPFORWARDSHORTMESSAGEACK message, which is sent by the service node 8 to the mobile services switching cen tre 7 in the form in which the mobile services switching 10 centre 7 would have received it directly from the rout ing centre 9, which means changing the GT address of the message. The parameters of the MAPFORWARDSHORTMESSAGEACK message are Invoke Id and, in the case of an error, User error, which indicates the 15 cause of the failure. Fig. 4b presents a signalling example for a procedure for directing a short message to a subscriber specific VPN subscriber number in a case where a short message has been sent with an ordinary MSISDN number. 20 Based on the TP-DA parameter, the service node 8 identi fies the short message as an ordinary short message sent with a MSISDN number. No database query is needed, but the short message can be transmitted directly to a de fault short-message centre in a 25 MAPFORWARDSHORTMESSAGE message. The service node 8 changes the message parameters in such manner that, in the SM-RP DA parameter, the address of the service node 8 is replaced with the address of the default short message service centre. Next, the service node 8 trans 30 mits in a MAP FORWARD SHORT MESSAGE ACK message an ac knowledgement from the routing centre 9 to the mobile services switching centre 7 which sent the message. Fig. 4c presents a signalling example for a procedure for directing a short message to a subscriber 35 specific VPN subscriber number in a case where the sub scriber is not found in the service database 11. In this case, the service node 8 receives as a return value from WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 17 the database 11 a database error indicating that the subscriber is not found. The service node 8 sends the short message to a default short-message centre in MAP_FORWARDSHORTMESSAGE message after changing the 5 message parameters in such manner that, in the SM-RP DA parameter, the address of the service node 8 is replaced with the address of the default short-message service centre. The present application is based on the earlier 10 Finnish application FI 974384 by the same applicant, said application being included here by this reference. The invention is not restricted to the examples of its embodiments described above, but many variations are possible within the scope of the inventive idea de 15 fined by the claims.

Claims

1. System for directing a short message to a virtual subscriber number in a telecommunication network comprising a mobile communication network, which com 5 prises a short-message service centre (1) for the recep tion, storage and transmission of short messages, a routing centre (2) for the routing of short messages, a mobile services switching centre (3) serving the B subscriber, a service database (5) for maintaining sub 10 scriber-specific intelligent network service data and a home location register (6) for maintaining subscriber information, characterised in that the system comprises means (4) for establishing the international subscriber number (MSISDN) corresponding to the virtual 15 subscriber number.

2. System as defined in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said means (4) are implemented as a service node separate from the short-message service centre. 20

3. System as defined in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said means (4) are implemented as a service node in conjunction with the short-message serv ice centre.

4. System as defined in any one of claims 1 - 3, 25 characteri sed in that - the home location register (6) and the routing centre (2) are connected to each other via the service node (4) in such manner that the service node (4) is transparent both to the home location register (6) and 30 to the routing centre (2); and - the service node (4) is connected to an internal or external service database (5).

5. System as defined in any one of claims 1 - 4, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the routing centre (2) 35 comprises means for performing a GT analysis on the vir tual number direction, so that the routing centre is WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 19 able to route short messages sent in a given number di rection to the service node.

6. System as defined in any one of claims 1 - 5, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the mobile communication 5 network is GSM compatible.

7. System for directing a short message to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number in a telecom munication network comprising a mobile communication network, which comprises a mobile services switching 10 centre (7) serving the A-subscriber, a routing centre (9) for the routing of short messages, a short-message service centre (10) for the reception, storage and transmission of short messages and a service database (11) for maintaining subscriber-specific intelligent 15 network service data, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the system comprises means (4) for establishing the interna tional subscriber number (MSISDN) corresponding to the subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number.

8. System as defined in claim 7, c h a r a c 20 t e r i s e d in that said means (4) are implemented as a service node separate from the short-message service centre.

9. System as defined in claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said means (4) are implemented as a 25 service node in conjunction with the short-message serv ice centre.

10. System as defined in any one of claims 7 9, characteris ed in that - the mobile services switching centre (7) and the 30 routing centre (9) are connected to each other via the service node (8) in such manner that the service node (8) is transparent both to the mobile services switching centre (7) and to the routing centre (9); and - the service node (8) is connected to an internal 35 or external service database (11). WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 20

11. System as defined in any one of claims 7 10, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the mobile services switching centre (7) comprises means for performing a GT analysis on the number of the service node (8), enabling 5 the routing centre to route short messages sent in a given number direction to the service node.

12. System as defined in any one of claims 7 11, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the mobile communica tion network is GSM compatible. 10

13. Procedure for directing a short message to a virtual subscriber number in a telecommunication network comprising a mobile communication network, which com prises a short-message service centre (1) for the recep tion, storage and transmission of short messages, a 15 routing centre (2) for the routing of short messages, a mobile services switching centre (3) serving the B subscriber, a service database (5) for maintaining sub scriber-specific intelligent network service data and a home location register (6) for maintaining subscriber 20 information, characteri sed in that a service node (4) is connected to the telecommunication network to establish the international subscriber number (MSISDN) corresponding to the virtual subscriber number, and that the procedure comprises the steps of 25 - sending from the routing centre (2) to the serv ice node (4) a routing inquiry containing the B subscriber's virtual subscriber number as a parameter; - sending from the service node (4) to the home lo cation register (6) a service inquiry containing the B 30 subscriber's international subscriber number (MSISDN) as a parameter; - sending from the home location register (6) to the service node (4) the B-subscriber's subscriber iden tity code (IMSI) and the address of the mobile services 35 switching centre (3) serving the B-subscriber; WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 21 - transmitting from the service node (4) to the routing centre (2) the B-subscriber's subscriber iden tity code (IMSI) and the address of the mobile services switching centre (3) serving the B-subscriber; 5 - transmitting the short message from the routing centre (2) to the mobile services switching centre (3) serving the B-subscriber, which transmits the short mes sage to the B-subscriber.

14. Procedure as defined in claim 13, c h a r 10 a c t e r i s e d in that - a service inquiry containing the B-subscriber's virtual subscriber number as a parameter is sent from the service node (4) to the service database (5); and - the B-subscriber's international subscriber num 15 ber (MSISDN) is sent from the service database (5) to the service node (4).

15. Procedure as defined in claims 13 - 14, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that an acknowledgement of re ceipt of the short message is sent from the mobile serv 20 ices switching centre (3) serving the B-subscriber to the routing centre (2).

16. Procedure as defined in claims 13 - 15, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that a message indicating suc cessful/unsuccessful transfer of the short message is 25 sent from the routing centre (2) to the service node (4) and transmitted further to the home location register (6).

17. Procedure as defined in claims 13 - 16, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that an acknowledgement of the 30 message is sent from the home location register (6) to the service node (4) , said acknowledgement being trans mitted further to the routing centre (2) after the gen eral title (GT) has been converted in the service node (4) into the address of the routing centre (2). 35

18. Procedure as defined in any one of claims 13 - 17, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that, if no interna- WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 22 tional subscriber number (MSISDN) corresponding to the virtual subscriber number can be found in the service database (5), then an error message is sent from the service node (4) to the routing centre (2). 5

19. Procedure as defined in claims 13 - 18, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that an error message received from the home location register (6) is transmitted from the service node (4) to the routing centre (2) and the routing centre's (2) acknowledgement of the error mes 10 sage is transmitted to the home location register (6) if a service inquiry sent from the service node (4) to the home location register (6) is unsuccessful.

20. Procedure as defined in any one of claims 13 - 19, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the communication 15 between the service node (4) and the home location reg ister (6) and between the service node (4) and the rout ing centre (2) is accomplished using standard MAP proto cols.

21. Procedure as defined in any one of claims 13 20 - 20, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the communication between the service node (4) and the external database (5) is accomplished using database queries of standard intelligent network protocols, such as ETSI CoreINAP, ITU-T CS1 and/or X.500. 25

22. Procedure as defined in any one of claims 13 - 21, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the mobile communi cation network is GSM compatible.

23. Procedure for directing a short message to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number in a telecom 30 munication network comprising a mobile communication network, which comprises a mobile services switching centre (7) serving the A-subscriber, a routing centre (9) for the routing of short messages, a short-message service centre (10) for the reception, storage and 35 transmission of short messages and a service database (11) for maintaining subscriber-specific intelligent WO 99/29125 PCT/FI98/00936 23 network service data, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that a service node (8) is connected to the telecommunication network to establish the international subscriber number (MSISDN) corresponding to the subscriber-specific VPN 5 subscriber number, and that the procedure comprises the steps of - transmitting the short message, which is ad dressed to a subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number and in which the A-subscriber has replaced the address 10 of the short-message service centre (10) with the ad dress of the service node (8) by manual operation via his/her terminal device, from the mobile services switching centre (7) to the service node (8); - sending from the service node (8) to the service 15 database (11) a service inquiry containing the A subscriber's international subscriber number (MSISDN) and the B-subscriber's subscriber-specific VPN sub scriber number as parameters; - sending the B-subscriber's international sub 20 scriber number (MSISDN) from the service database (11) to the service node (8); - changing the title field parameters of the short message in the service node (8) in such manner that the B-subscriber's subscriber-specific VPN subscriber number 25 is replaced with the B-subscriber's international sub scriber number (MSISDN) and the address of the service node (8) is replaced with the address of the short message service centre (10) ; and - transmitting the short message from the service 30 node (8) to the routing centre (9).

24. Procedure as defined in claim 23, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that an acknowledgement of receipt of the short message is sent from the routing centre (9) to the service node (8), said acknowledgement being 35 transmitted further to the mobile services switching centre (7) after the general title (GT) has been con- WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 24 verted in the service node (8) into the address of the mobile services switching centre (7).

25. Procedure as defined in claim 23 or 24, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the title field parame 5 ters of the short message are changed in the service node (8) in such manner that the address of the service node (8) is replaced with the address of a default short-message service centre, whereupon the short mes sage is transmitted from the service node (8) to the 10 routing centre (9), whereupon an acknowledgement is sent from the routing centre (9) to the service node (8), which acknowledgement is transmitted to the mobile serv ices switching centre (7) if the B-subscriber's interna tional subscriber number (MSISDN) is not found in the 15 service database (11).

26. Procedure as defined in any one of claims 23 - 25, characteri sed in that the address field parameters of the short message are changed in the serv ice node (8) in such manner that the address of the 20 service node (8) is replaced with the address of a de fault short-message service centre, whereupon the mes sage is transmitted from the service node (8) to the routing centre (9), whereupon an acknowledgement is sent from the routing centre (9) to the service node (8), 25 which acknowledgement is transmitted to the mobile serv ices switching centre (7) if a message addressed to an international subscriber number (MSISDN) has been sent to the service node (8).

27. Procedure as defined in claims 23 - 26, 30 c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the communication between the service node (8) and the mobile services switching centre (7) and between the service node (8) and the routing centre (9) is accomplished using standard MAP, SM-TP and SM-RP protocols. 35

28. Procedure as defined in any one of claims 23 - 27, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the communication WO 99/29125 PCT/F198/00936 25 between the service node (8) and the external database (11) is accomplished using database queries of standard intelligent network protocols, such as ETSI CoreINAP, ITU-T CS1 and/or X.500. 5

29. Procedure as defined in any one of claims 23 - 28, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the mobile communi cation network is GSM compatible.