System and Method for Pushing Information from a Host System to a Mobile Data Communication Device in a Wireless Data Network

1 . A method of redirecting data to a mobile communication device from a messaging server, comprising:

setting a redirection flag configured for a user associated with the mobile communication device to enable continuous redirection of data items received at the messaging server to the mobile communication device until the redirection flag is reset to indicate cessation of redirection of the data items;

upon automatically detecting that a data item is received at the messaging server, redirecting the data item to a store-and-forward server associated with a wireless packet data network with which the mobile communication device is registered; and

upon determining that a valid IP address is associated with the mobile communication device, transmitting the data item from the store-and-forward server to the mobile communication device over the wireless packet data network.

2 . A system for redirecting data to a mobile communication device from a messaging server, comprising:

means for setting a redirection flag configured for a user associated with the mobile communication device to enable continuous redirection of data items received at the messaging server to the mobile communication device until the redirection flag is reset to indicate cessation of redirection of the data items;

means, responsive to automatically detecting that a data item is received at the messaging server, for redirecting the data item to a store-and-forward server associated with a wireless packet data network with which the mobile communication device is registered; and

means, upon determining that a valid IP address is associated with the mobile communication device, for transmitting the data item to the mobile communication device over the wireless packet data network.