My work demands a pager, otherwise I would throw it far, far away .. It has a difficult to read display, requires multiple clicks to delete a message, and most aggravating to me, makes me jump when it goes off. So, Anybody know of a pager that either has soft, low pitch alerts; or even better, allows me to set the volume or starts out low, and increases in volume if unanswered ? Vibrate oddly enough is not acceptable, because it makes a terrible racket on some surfaces.
Most modern mobile phones have a "pager capability". People can send me a message by sending to [email protected] (not my real number) and I get a text message. If they call the number and I don't answer, then can enter a call-back number that comes as a text message. If you need an 800-number pager, get an 8xx number and direct it to your mobile.
As we will probably hear . . . EricGo probably works in some sort of emergency services field. I have a friend who works for the California Office of Emergency Services. Her pager may as well be surgically implanted on her hip. Cell phones are too unreliable for highly critical applications. Non-cell pagers have a much better message delivery speed and rate. Using the internet to send a page is subject to internet traffic and router problems. Use of a cell phone in a disaster area is not guaranteed. Some pagers are intrinsically safe for use in hazardous locations, such as around explosives or chemicals. Large numbers of people can be alerted much quicker by pager. Those are probably some of the reasons EricGo’s work “demands a pager.†Either that, or they are stuck in the ‘80s. :huh:
Yes, pagers are still around. The satellite pagers are the main ones still kicking... You will get your page anywhere on the western hemisphere of the planet. Calling back may be a problem... Nate
Thanks for the suggestion Bill I was pleasantly surprised to find that my messaging service was happy to page to my phone instead of a pager, and have gone ahead and set it up that way. The single downside apparent so far is that my phone will only alert me to a message once. I asked cs@tmo if my moto300v can be programmed otherwise, or if any other phone they offer can be set to periodic alerts until viewed and was told no. spe -- I emailed text to my phone three times. From the time my email program said it had sent the email, it took up to 10 seconds for my phone to notify me. More than good enough for my use. I will have to look into the question of failed reception (or if the transmitter even *knows* that the phone failed to receive the message). Addendum: I asked tmobile how messages that fail to reach the phone are dealt with, and could not get a straight answer .. grrr.. maybe the supervisor who should call back might know. I did shut off the phone and send it a message. After I turned the phone back on, the message arrived about a minute later, which leads me to think that the phone acknowledges receipt -- pretty cool. I remain unsure how frequently the service provider would try to get a message through, and for how long, but this is surely provider specific. And, I'd imagine more than a pager does, which nicely makes up for overall poorer reception on cell phones than the pager network.
