Method and system for pull communication

A cellular telephone for use in a pull communication system that enables a call from a calling party to a called party to be completed, the call being directed to a pull central office, the pull central office creating a message identification that the pull central office uses to connect the called party to the calling party, thereby completing the call, the cellular telephone comprising:

• a first receiver for receiving from the pull central office via a first signalling channel a call request signal that includes the message identification and a called party identifier identifying the called party;
• means for inputting a user identification code;
• a memory unit that stores the user identification code;
• a transmitter that transmits a call acceptance signal to the pull central office without requiring a separate telephone call via a second signalling channel;
• a pull controller that receives the call request signal, determines whether the stored user identification code matches the called party identifier received in the call request signal and if a match is determined, then the pull controller passes the switching information to the transmitter and enables the transmitter to transmit the call acceptance signal, including the message identification, to the pull central office, the message identification enabling the pull central office to connect the called party to the calling party;
• and
• a second receiver cooperating with the transmitter to allow two-way communication between the called party and the calling party after the pull central office completes the call;

A pull communication system that enables a call from a calling party to a called party to be completed, the called party being one of plural system users comprising:

• a central office including:
• a switch that receives a calling signal from the calling party, the switch including a plurality of switch ports, the switch associating the calling signal with a first one of the switch ports;
• a switch transmitter that transmits a call request paging signal to the called party;
• a switch controller in communication with the switch and the switch transmitter, the switch controller including means for obtaining a called party identifier from the calling party, means for creating the call request signal that includes the called party identifiers means for causing the switch transmitter to transmit the call request signal to the called party, means for receiving a call acceptance signal from the called party at a second port of the switch, and means for connecting the second port to the first port, thereby completing the call;
• a receiving device that receives the call request paging signal from the central office, the receiving device including:
• means for inputting a user identification code;
• a memory unit that stores the user identification code;
• a processor that determines whether the stored user identification code matches the called party identifier;
• and
• a two-way communication device including:
• a transmitter that transmits the call acceptance signal to the central office without requiring a separate telephone call if the stored user identification code matches the called party identifier, and;
• a receiver cooperating with the transmitter to allow two-way communication between the called party and the calling party after the central office completes the call.

A pull communication method of completing a call from a calling party to a called party having a first paging receiver and access to a plurality of telephones, comprising:

• receiving a calling signal from the calling party at a first switch port of a pull central office which has a plurality of switch ports;
• transmitting a call request signal via a first signalling channel to the called party paging receiver in response to receipt of the calling signal at the pull central office, the call request signal including a switching identification identifying a second switch port, and a message identification that identifies the calling party at the first switch port;
• receiving the call request signal at the called party first paging receiver;
• selecting one of the telephones for responding to the call request signal;
• transmitting a call acceptance signal from the selected telephone via a second signalling channel to the second port of the pull central office using the switching information received in the call request signal, the call acceptance signal including the message identification received in the call request signal;
• receiving the call acceptance signal at the second port of the pull central office;
• and
• connecting the second port to the first port to complete the call using the message identification received in the call acceptance signal.