MESSAGE WAITING ALERTING METHOD

MESSAGE WAITING ALERTING METHOD An automatic message waiting alerting arrangement in a telephone switching system. Messages for parties served by the system are automatically and manually generated and stored in a database. A message waiting indicator associated with a station is automatically activated only when the database contains an unaccessed message for the station, even though other accessed messages may be retained in the database for the convenience of the station owner. An "accessed" indicator included with each stored message is set to an "unaccessed" state when the message is initially stored. The indicator is set to an "accessed" state when the corresponding message is accessed by an authorized party. At the termination of an access session, the data base is searched for unaccessed messages for the station and the message waiting indicator is activated only if at least one unaccessed message for the station is found.