In order to reduce the traffic on the paging channel, the system for reducing paging channel occupancy for message waiting indication in mobile switching centers allows the Message Waiting Notification process to determine a last zone in which the Mobile Subscriber was located and only transmit the Message Waiting Indication to the cells within that zone. This eliminates message transmission on the paging channel of cells which are not likely to have the Mobile Subscriber Station residing in their service area. Multiple retries can be attempted and if the last retry is being activated, the paging can be extended to cover all zones in the Mobile Switching Center. The sharing of information about when a mobile has responded to a message waiting count between the Serving MSC and the Home MSC also reduces the paging channel occupancy. The method of not sending a message waiting notification when a mobile has already acknowledged the message count greatly reduces the impact of Message Waiting Notification on the paging channel occupancy. In particular, border cell areas where the Mobile Subscriber Station can bounce between MSCs is where the biggest benefit can be derived.