subject: Pagers: Are they Relevant in Technology Today? [print this page] Pagers: Are they Relevant in Technology Today?
We have come a long way in the technology field in the last twenty to thirty years. In the mid-nineties we thought pagers were a technology that would be around and utilize for years before anything new came around, until cell phones became so popular even children were using them. However, pagers are not an obsolete technology and may not be popularly used in everyday life but do prove to be useful in workplace environments.
Types of Pagers
- Traditional Beeper: The Traditional beeper was the first of its kind. It is the simplest model pager and originally made a beeping noise as a notification. As it advanced it was given other notification features such as lighting up, vibrating, and the ability to make other sounds.
- Voice: This type of pager gave users the ability to listen to a voice message after they have received an alert.
- Numeric: The Numeric pager displays a set of numbers at the top of the pager when an alert is received. These numbers would represent what is referred to as a pager code.
- Alphanumeric: The Alphanumeric pager is a more sophisticated version of the numeric pager with the ability to display actual text.
- Two-Way Alphanumeric: The Two-Way Alphanumeric pagers are the most advanced of pager and are able to receive e-mails and text codes. To be able to send a message to one of these pager the sender must have access to a keyboard. As technology is advancing so are the features on these pagers. For example a built in GPS has become one of the latest add on for these pagers. The GPS allows organizations who utilize paging technology to track any employee if needed. That feature helps increase safety in hazardous workplaces.
One of the most popular places to use a paging system is in hospitals. Cell phone use is typically prohibited in these facilities because their signals can interfere with special equipment. Pagers however, still prove useful to send important and urgent alerts to doctors, nurses, and other hospital personnel. Of course pagers are also used in other types of systems such as man-down and lone worker systems. These systems send notifications when employees are stuck down, knock unconscious, or have suffered other types of injuries and are in need of medical assistance while on the job.
