In telecommunications, message switching was the precursor of packet switching, where messages were routed in their entirety, one hop at a time. Message switching systems are nowadays mostly implemented over packet-switched or circuit-switched data networks .

Hop-by-hop Telex forwarding and UUCP are examples of message switching systems. E-mail is another example of a message switching system.

to do: commercial message switching and routing systems

See also

• SMS
• circuit switching