A method, system and apparatus in a wireless communications system
selectively utilizes the Internet for the transmission of information. In
a first embodiment, a subscriber can activate an Internet call forwarding
(ICF) supplementary service (SS). From the subscriber's Mobile Station,
an ICF message is transmitted to and stored in the subscriber's Home
Location Register (HLR). The ICF message may optionally designate an
Internet protocol (IP) address destination and may optionally activate
other features pursuant to the data type received. For example, the ICF
message may request that only fax/data calls or only calls that would
otherwise incur a long distance charge be forwarded over/through the
Internet. In operation, an incoming call to a Gateway Mobile Services
Switching Center (GMSC) causes the GMSC to interrogate the called party's
HLR. The information in the incoming call is then forwarded either
over/through the Internet or over the PSTN based on the features
activated by the ICF message. In another embodiment, conventional
telecommunication signaling commands such as the Initial Address Message
may be transmitted to the target telecommunications node over the
Internet.