Wireless on-call communication system for management of on-call messaging and method therefor

In a wireless on-call communication system having a plurality of wireless communication devices, a query protocol for communicating an on-call message, the query protocol comprising:

• an address portion, wherein the address portion comprises a message address;
• and
• a data portion, wherein the data portion comprises:
• a system information control flag,
• a message type,
• an on-call device identification,
• a repeat flag,
• an accept flag, and
• a respondent device identification.

In a wireless communication device for receiving and processing an on-call message, the wireless communication device including a message memory for storing the on-call message, an address memory for storing a plurality of addresses and a plurality of identifications, and an on-call application having an on-call schedule, a method for processing the on-call message comprising:

• receiving the on-call message including an address portion and a data portion, wherein the address portion comprises a message address, and further wherein the data portion comprises a message identification, a system information control flag, and a message data;
• matching the message address with one or more addresses stored in the address memory;
• matching the message identification with one or more identifications stored in the address memory;
• storing the message data of the on-call message in the message memory when the system information control flag is false;
• and
• modifying the on-call schedule using the message data of the on-call message when the system information control flag is true.

In a wireless on-call communication system having an on-call server for managing an on-call schedule, at least one radio frequency transmitter for transmitting an on-call message including the on-call schedule, and a plurality of wireless communication devices including an on-call wireless communication device and a replacement wireless communication device, wherein the on-call wireless communication device is active and the replacement wireless communication device is inactive, a method for management of on-call messages comprising:

• generating a change to the on-call schedule by the on-call server;
• transmitting the on-call message including the change to the on-call schedule by the radio frequency transmitter to the plurality of wireless communication devices;
• deactivating the on-call wireless communication device;
• and
• activating the replacement wireless communication device.

In a wireless communication device for receiving and processing an on-call message, the wireless communication device including a message memory for storing the on-call message, an address memory for storing a group address and a unique identification, and an on-call application having an on-call schedule, a method for processing the on-call message comprising:

• receiving the on-call message including an address portion and a data portion, wherein the address portion comprises a message address, and further wherein the data portion comprises a message identification, a system information control flag, an on-call flag and a message data, wherein the system information control flag is set to true;
• matching the message address with the group address stored in the address memory;
• matching the message identification with the unique identification stored in the address memory;
• and
• activating the wireless communication device when the on-call flag is set to true.

In an on-call wireless communication device having a receiver for receiving and processing a reply message, a device transmitter for transmitting a query message, an address memory for storing a group address and a unique identification, and an on-call application for activating and deactivating the on-call wireless communication device, a method for deactivating the on-call wireless communication device comprising:

• transmitting the query message;
• receiving a reply message from a respondent wireless communication device;
• and
• deactivating the on-call wireless communication device in response to receiving the reply message.