Method and apparatus for network-assisted automatic confirmation of short message service delivery

1. A method of operating a short message service center comprising:

receiving a short message service request from a sender;

determining delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;

transmitting through a mobile network a short message to a mobile unit in accordance with the short message service request;

receiving a signal from the mobile network acknowledging delivery of the short message to the mobile unit; and

transmitting a delivery acknowledgement in accordance with the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;

wherein the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender comprise at least:

a type of acknowledgement the sender desires,

an indication of whether the sender wishes to have each short message service message acknowledged by default or on a message-by-message acknowledgement, or

a location to send the acknowledgement.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the delivery acknowledgement preference is stored in a database.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the delivery acknowledgement preference is encoded in the short message service request.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the delivery acknowledgement is an e-mail transmitted to the sender's e-mail address.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the delivery acknowledgement is transmitted using a short message service.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the delivery acknowledgement is a page in a paging system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the delivery acknowledgement is transmitted to a wireless application protocol proxy server.

8. A short message service center comprising:

a first interface to a mobile network;

a second interface to an external short message entity;

a central processing unit connected to first and second interface for executing computer program instructions, the computer program instructions causing the central processing unit to perform the following:

receiving a short message service request from a sender;

determining delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;

transmitting through the mobile network a short message to a mobile unit in accordance with the short message service request;

receiving a signal from the mobile network acknowledging delivery of the short message to the mobile unit; and

transmitting through the external short message entity a delivery acknowledgement in accordance with the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;

wherein the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender comprise at least:

a type of acknowledgement the sender desires,

an indication of whether the sender wishes to have each short message service message acknowledged by default or on a message-by-message acknowledgement, or

a location to send the delivery acknowledgement.

9. The short message service center of claim 8 further comprising a storage device and wherein the delivery acknowledgement preference is stored in a database on the storage device.

10. The short message service center of claim 8 wherein the delivery acknowledgement preference is encoded in the short message service request.

11. The short message service center of claim 8 wherein the external short message entity is an e-mail gateway and the delivery acknowledgement is an e-mail transmitted to the sender's e-mail address.

12. The short message service center of claim 8 wherein the external short message entity is a paging system and the delivery acknowledgement is a page in the paging system.

13. The short message service center of claim 8 wherein the external short message entity is a wireless application protocol proxy server.

14. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for performing the following in a short message service center comprising a first interface to a mobile network, a second interface to an external short message entity, and a central processing unit connected to the first and second interface:

receiving a short message service request from a sender;

determining delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;

transmitting through the mobile network a short message to a mobile unit in accordance with the short message service request;

receiving a signal from the mobile network acknowledging delivery of the short message to the mobile unit; and

transmitting through the external short message entity a delivery acknowledgement in accordance with the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;

wherein the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender comprise at least:

a type of acknowledgement the sender desires,

an indication of whether the sender wishes to have each short message service message acknowledged by default or on a message-by-message acknowledgement, or

a location to send the delivery acknowledgement.

15. A network node operable to communicate with at least one mobile communication device, the network node comprising:

a processor configured to perform at least the following:

receiving a short message service request from a sender;

determining delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;

receiving an SMDPP acknowledgement message as a result of attempting communications with the mobile communication device; and

responsive to receiving the SMDPP acknowledgement message, transmitting a delivery acknowledgement receipt to the sender, according to the determined delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender;

wherein the delivery acknowledgement preferences of the sender comprise at least:

a type of acknowledgement the sender desires,

an indication of whether the sender wishes to have each short message service message acknowledged by default or on a message-by-message acknowledgement, or

a location to send the delivery acknowledgement.

16. The network node of claim 15 wherein the SMDPP acknowledgement message indicates an acknowledgement status related to the mobile communication device.

17. The network node of claim 15 wherein the network node is further operable to communicate with at least one short message entity, the processor further configured to perform at least the following:

receiving an SMS message from the short message entity;

transmitting an SMDPP message addressed to the mobile communication device;

wherein the SMDPP acknowledgement received acknowledges transmission of the SMDPP message addressed to the mobile communication device.

18. The network of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform at least the following:

associating an email address with the SMS message; and transmitting, in the transmitting step, an indication of the delivery acknowledgement receipt to the email address.

19. The network node of claim 17 wherein the delivery acknowledgement receipt is sent to a pre-specified destination.

20. The network node of claim 19 wherein the pre-specified destination is stored as destination preferences modifiable by a user of the short message entity.

21. The network of claim 15 , wherein

the short message entity is a mobile communication device in communication with the node; and

the delivery acknowledgement receipt is transmitted to a mobile communication device in communication with the node.

22. The network of claim 15 , wherein

the processor is further configured to perform at least the following:

capturing the SMDPP acknowledgement message.

23. The network of claim 15 wherein the SMDPP acknowledgement message indicates unsuccessful communication with the mobile communication device.

24. The network of claim 15 wherein the SMDPP acknowledgement message indicates the mobile communication device is inactive.

25. The network of claim 15 wherein the SMDPP acknowledgement message indicates the mobile communication device is incapable of receiving SMS.