System and method for providing an early notification when paging a wireless device

A server capable of handling push-to-talk (PTT) communications in a communication network and configured with software instructions to:

• receive a call request message from an originating wireless device for a PTT communication-identifying at least one target wireless device in response to receiving the call request message;
• transmit a testing message to determine whether the at least one target wireless device is online to a base station before allocating resources to the PTT communication;
• allocate resources to the at least one target wireless device;
• transmit an announce message to the base station in response to receiving the call request message and after allocating the resources to the PTT communication after transmitting the testing message, but before receiving an acknowledgement receipt of the testing message;
• and
• receive, after transmitting the announce message, at least one message acknowledging receipt of the testing message and the announce message from the at least one target wireless device.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions configured to cause a server to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a first message from an originating wireless device, wherein the first message is a call request message;
• identifying at least one target wireless device for a push-to-talk (PTT) communication in response to receiving the first message;
• transmitting a second message, in response to receiving the first message, to a base station to determine whether the at least one target wireless device is online, the second message having a header with an empty message body and being transmitted before an announce message is sent by the server to the base station;
• transmitting the announce message to the base station in response to receiving the first message and after transmitting the second message, but before receiving an acknowledgement receipt of the second message;
• and
• receiving, after transmitting the announce message, at least one message acknowledging receipt of the second message and the announce message from the at least one target wireless device.