Cellular telephone system integrated with paging network

Claim 1

A telephone system for establishing a connection between telephone devices of a first and a second user when a location of the telephone device of the second user is not known, comprising: telephone devices of the first and second users, each of the telephone devices having a radio telephone with multiple channels and a pager for providing paging messages; a paging network for transmitting paging messages between the telephone devices of said users, said paging network having at least two paging transmitters each establishing a respective paging range; a cellular network for transmitting telephone calls between the telephone devices of said users, said cellular network having a plurality of base stations each with a receipt area for servicing the telephone devices located within range of the receipt area of said base stations, some of said base stations being located within at least one of said paging ranges; and at least one exchange associated with each of said base stations, said exchange being operative for setting up calls within the cellular network and for storing in a first memory said transmitted paging messages, said exchange storing the transmitted paging message in a first memory in response to an inability of the telephone device of said second user to receive the transmitted paging message when sent by the pager of the telephone device of the first user and thereafter transferring the stored paging message to said telephone device of said second user at a time when said telephone device of said second user can receive said paging message, said exchange comprising means for initiating a call from said telephone device of said second user to said telephone device of said first user by using said stored paging message when said telephone device of said first user has been switched off before connection is established between the telephone device of the second user and the exchange.

Claim 13

A method of operating a telephone system for establishing a connection between telephone devices of a first and a second user, comprising the steps of: initiating a call from the telephone device of a first user to a telephone device of a second user when a location of the telephone device of the second user is not known, the telephone devices each having a radio telephone and a pager for providing paging messages; transmitting said paging messages between said users via a paging network, said paging network having a plurality of paging ranges; accessing a selected cellular network via a selected one of a plurality of base stations, each of said base stations servicing the users located within a predetermined range of said base stations; controlling the set up of said initiated call with at least one exchange associated with each of said plurality of base stations; controlling said paging network by receiving said paging messages at said exchange; storing said paging messages in said exchange in a first memory if the telephone device of said second user cannot receive said transmitted paging message; transferring said stored paging message to said second user when said second user can receive such transferred paging message; and initiating a call by said exchange from said second user to said first user, by using said stored paging message, when said telephone device of said first user has been switched off before establishment of connection between said second user and said exchange.

Claim 14

A method of operating a telephone system for establishing a connection between telephone devices of a first and a second user, comprising the steps of: initiating a call from the telephone device of a first user to a telephone device of a second user when a location of the telephone device of the second user is not known, the telephone devices each having a radio telephone and a pager for providing paging messages; transmitting said paging messages between said users via a paging network, said paging network having a plurality of paging ranges; accessing a selected cellular network via a selected one of a plurality of base stations, each of said base stations servicing the users located within a predetermined range of said base stations; controlling the set up of said initiated call with at least one exchange associated with each of said plurality of base stations; controlling said paging network by receiving said paging messages at said exchange; storing said paging messages in said exchange in a first memory if the telephone device of said second user cannot receive said transmitted paging message; transferring said stored paging message to said second user when said second user can receive such transferred paging message; and initiating a call by said exchange from said second user to said first user, by using said stored paging message, when said telephone device of said first user has been switched off before establishment of connection between said second user and said exchange.