Paging is a convenient, easy, and discreet way to contact someone via an
electronic paging device, or pager.
Uses for Pagers
Pagers and paging systems are an efficient way to communicate with
individuals like doctors, executives, and family members. Pagers are also used
in many types of businesses to contact employees and customers.
Hospitality and Food Service - Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs use
paging systems to summon servers for order pickup and to contact guests waiting
for tables.
Entertainment Venues - Large entertainment
centers like theme parks, cinemas, and bowling alleys use pagers to stay in
touch with their employees.
Day Care - Pagers provide a reliable way for
childcare centers in churches, shopping malls, and health clubs to contact
children's parents.
Industrial - Paging systems are used to contact
employees in large facilities, and can be tied into building security systems to
automatically page personnel if an alarm is tripped.
Retail - Large
businesses use pagers to contact employees without annoying public address
announcements. Pagers can also be provided to customers who are free to continue
shopping while they wait for assistance.
Personal - Pagers are an easy
way to contact someone. Satellite pagers and global paging services make it
possible to contact an individual anywhere on the planet.
Types of
Pagers
There are many kinds of pagers suitable for different uses.
Various types may beep, vibrate, emit a tone or flashing light, or play a
pre-recorded voice alert.
Coaster - The coaster style pager is intended
for retail businesses to provide to their customers. The coaster can be
customized with the business name and logo.
Paddle - The paddle pager is
also designed for retail use and is customizable.
Numeric - The numeric
style pager is designed for individuals. This type generally has a single line
readout that displays the caller's number.
Alphanumeric - This type is
similar to the numeric, but has a multi-line readout than can display a brief
message.
Advanced - More advanced pagers may include keypads, joystick
navigation, large LCD display screens, and the ability to send as well as
receive messages.
Paging Services
The pager itself may be
purchased or leased, but requires a subscription to a paging service. Rates vary
with the type of services provided, but typically range between $10 and $40 per
month. Some pager services provide additional features like voice mail, news,
sports scores, stock prices, and weather and traffic updates.
Paging
services have a specific coverage area within which the pager will function.
Coverage can be local, regional, national, or global.
How Does a
Pager Work?
When someone calls your pager, the call is received by a
paging terminal. The caller inputs their message, and the paging terminal
encodes it and sends it to a transmitter network. The transmitter sends the
signal out over its entire coverage area. Each transmission consists of two
parts, the address and the message. The address specifies the exact pager for
which the message is intended.
Pagers are like radio receivers with only
one channel. Each paging service broadcasts over its own separate frequency. The
transmitter's signal is picked up by all the pagers on that frequency. Each
pager looks at the address data. If the address is for that particular pager,
then the message is decoded and displayed. If the address is not for that pager,
the message is ignored.
Since pagers operate by receiving radio signals,
they may not function in places like elevators, basements, or areas shielded by
mountains.
By Carla Wakeman
