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`Pager - Wikipedia
`
`Pager
`
`From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
`
`A pager (also known as a beeper) is a wireless telecommunications device
`that receives and displays numeric messages and/or receives and announces
`voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while
`response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknowledge, reply to, and
`originate messages using an internal transmitter.[1] Pagers operate as part of
`a paging system which includes one or more fixed transmitters (or in the
`case of response pagers and two-way pagers, one or more base stations), as
`well as a number of pagers carried by mobile users. These systems can
`range from a restaurant system with a single low-power transmitter, to a
`nationwide system with thousands of high-power base stations.
`
`One of the first practical paging services was launched in 1950 for
`physicians in the New York City area. Physicians paid $12 per month for
`the service and carried a 6 oz (200 g) pager that would receive phone
`messages within 25 mi (40 km) of a single transmitter tower. The system
`was manufactured by the Reevesound Company and operated by
`Telanswerphone.[2] In 1960, John Francis Mitchell combined elements of
`Motorola's walkie-talkie and automobile radio technologies to create the
`first transistorized pager,[3][4][5] and from that time, paging technology
`continued to advance, and pager adoption still continues to expand, as of
`July 2016.[6]
`
`In the 2000s, the widespread availability of cellphones and smartphones has
`greatly diminished the pager industry. Nevertheless, pagers continue to be
`used by some emergency services and public safety personnel, because
`modern pager systems' coverage overlap, combined with use of satellite
`communications, can make paging systems more reliable than terrestrial
`based cellular networks in some cases, including during natural and man-
`made disaster.[7] This resilience has led public safety agencies to adopt
`pagers over cellular and other commercial services for critical
`messaging.[8][9]
`
`A Motorola Advisor alphanumeric
`pager used in Brazil in the 1990s,
`operated by Teletrim
`
`Unication Co., Ltd. Tone-Only Pager
`
`Contents
`
`1 Function and operation
`2 Categories
`2.1 Beepers or tone-only pagers
`2.2 Voice/tone
`2.3 Numeric
`2.4 Alphanumeric
`2.5 Response
`2.6 Two-way
`2.7 One-way modems
`2.8 Two-way modems
`3 History
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`3.1 21st century
`4 In popular culture
`5 Security
`6 Technical information
`7 See also
`8 References
`9 External links
`
`Function and operation
`
`Paging systems are operated by commercial carriers, often as a subscription
`service, and they are also operated directly by end users as private systems.
`Commercial carrier systems tend to cover a larger geographical area than
`private systems, while private systems tend to cover their limited area more
`thoroughly and deliver messages faster than commercial systems. In all
`systems, clients send messages to pagers, an activity commonly referred to
`as paging. System operators often assign unique phone numbers or email
`addresses to pagers (and pre-defined groups of pagers), enabling clients to
`page by telephone call, e-mail, and SMS. Paging systems also support
`various types of direct connection protocols, which sacrifice global
`addressing and accessibility for a dedicated communications link.
`Automated monitoring and escalation software clients, often used in
`hospitals, IT departments, and alarm companies, tend to prefer direct
`connections because of the increased reliability. Small paging systems, such as those used in restaurant and retail
`establishments, often integrate a keyboard and paging system into a single box, reducing both cost and complexity.
`
`The top of a Motorola "Bravo"
`numeric pager
`
`Paging systems support several popular direct connection protocols, including TAP, TNPP, SNPP, and WCTP, as
`well as proprietary modem- and socket-based protocols. Additionally, organizations often integrate paging systems
`with their Voice-mail and PBX systems, conceptually attaching pagers to a telephone extensions, and they set up
`web portals to integrate pagers into other parts of their enterprise. A paging system alerts a pager (or group of
`pagers) by transmitting information over an RF channel, including an address and message information. This
`information is formatted using a paging protocol, such as 2-tone, 5/6-tone, GOLAY, POCSAG, FLEX, ERMES, or
`NTT. Two-way pagers and response pagers typically use the ReFLEX protocol.
`
`Modern paging systems typically use multiple base transmitters to modulate the same signal on the same RF
`channel, a design approach called simulcast. This type of design enables pagers to select the strongest signal from
`several candidate transmitters using FM capture, thereby improving overall system performance. Simulcast
`systems often use satellite to distribute identical information to multiple transmitters, and GPS at each transmitter
`to precisely time its modulation relative to other transmitters. The coverage overlap, combined with use of satellite
`communications, can make paging systems more reliable than terrestrial based cellular networks in some cases,
`including during natural and man-made disaster.[10] This resilience has led public safety agencies to adopt pagers
`over cellular and other commercial services for critical messaging.[8][11]
`Categories
`
`Pagers themselves vary from very cheap and simple beepers, to more complex personal communications
`equipment, falling into eight main categories.
`
`Beepers or tone-only pagers
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`Beepers or tone-only pagers are the simplest and least expensive form of paging. They were named beepers
`because they originally made a beeping noise, but current pagers in this category use other forms of alert as well.
`Some use audio signals, others light up and some vibrate, often used in combination. The majority of restaurant
`pagers fall into this category.[12]
`
`Voice/tone
`
`Voice/Tone pagers enable pager users to listen to a recorded voice message when an alert is received.
`
`Numeric
`
`Numeric Pagers contain a numeric LCD display capable of displaying the calling phone number or other numeric
`information generally up to 10 digits. The display can also convey pager codes, a set of number codes
`corresponding to mutually understood pre-defined messages.
`
`Alphanumeric
`
`Alphanumeric pagers contain a more sophisticated LCD capable of displaying text and icons. These devices
`receive text messages, often through email or direct connection to the paging system.
`
`Response
`
`Response pagers are alphanumeric pagers equipped with built-in transmitters, with the ability to
`acknowledge/confirm messages. They also allow the user to reply to messages by way of a multiple-choice
`response list, and to initiate "canned" messages from pre-programmed address and message lists. These devices are
`sometimes called "1.5-way pagers" or "1.7-way pagers" depending on capabilities.
`
`Two-way
`
`Two-way pagers are response pagers with built-in QWERTY keyboards. These pagers allow the user reply to
`messages, originate messages, and forward messages using free-form text as well as "canned" responses.
`
`One-way modems
`
`One-way modems are controllers with integrated paging receivers, which are capable of taking local action based
`on messages and data they receive.
`
`Two-way modems
`
`Two-way modems have capabilities similar to one-way modems. They can also confirm messages and transmit
`their own messages and data.
`History
`
`In 1962 the Bell System—the U.S. telephone monopoly colloquially known as "Ma Bell"—presented its Bellboy
`radio paging system at the Seattle World's Fair. Bellboy was the first commercial system for personal paging. It
`also marked one of the first consumer applications of the transistor (invented by Bell Labs in 1947), for which
`three Bell Labs inventors received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956. Solid-state circuitry enabled the Bellboy
`pager, about the size of a small TV remote device, to fit into a customer's pocket or purse, quite a feat at that time.
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`The Bellboy was a terminal that notified the user when someone was trying to call. When the person received an
`audible signal (a buzz) on the pager, he found a telephone and called the service centre, which informed him of the
`caller's message. Bell System Bellboy radio pagers each used three reed receiver relays, each relay tuned to one of
`33 different frequencies, selectively ringing a particular customer when all three relays were activated at the same
`time—a precursor of DTMF.[13] The ReFLEX protocol was developed in the mid 1990s.
`
`21st century
`
`While Motorola announced the end of its new pager manufacturing in
`2001,[14] pagers remain in use today in places where mobile phones
`typically cannot reach users, and also in places where the operation of the
`radio transmitters contained in mobile phones is problematic or prohibited.
`One such type of location is a large hospital complex, where cellular
`coverage is often weak or non-existent, where radio transmitters are
`thought to interfere with sensitive medical equipment and where there is a
`greater need of assurance for a timely delivery of a message. Another is a
`facility handling classified information, where various radio transmitter or
`data storage devices are excluded to ensure security. First responders in
`rural areas with inadequate cellular coverage are often issued pagers.
`
`The 2005 London bombings resulted in overload of TETRA systems by the
`emergency services, and showed that pagers, with their absence of
`necessity to transmit an acknowledgement before showing the message,
`and the related capability to operate on very low signal levels, are not
`completely outclassed by their successors.[15] Volunteer firefighters, EMS
`paramedics, and rescue squad members usually carry pagers to alert them
`of emergency call outs for their department. These pagers receive a special
`tone from a fire department radio frequency.
`
`Restaurant pagers are in wide use in the 2000s. Customers are given a
`portable receiver that usually vibrates, flashes, or beeps when a table
`becomes free or when their meal is ready.[12] Pagers have been popular
`with birdwatchers in Britain and Ireland since 1991, with companies Rare
`Bird Alert and Birdnet Information offering news of rare birds sent to
`pagers that they sell.[16][17]
`
`The U.S. paging industry generated $2.1 billion in revenue in 2008, down
`from $6.2 billion in 2003.[18] In Canada, 161,500 Canadians paid $18.5
`million for pager service in 2013. Telus, one of the three major mobile
`carriers, announced the end to its Canadian pager service as of March 31,
`2015, but rivals Bell, Rogers and PageNet intend to continue service.[14]
`In popular culture
`
`A dual-frequency Unication pager for
`use by EMS units
`
`A Skyper pager that is in use for ham
`radio
`
`Original Motorola "Pageboy II"
`pager, used in New York in the late
`1970s.
`
`As is the case with many new technologies, the functionality of the pager
`shifted from necessary professional use to a social tool integrated in one's personal life. Within a short time span,
`pagers evolved from a tool for "technocratic elites" to a tool used by "kids living in the projects."[19] During the
`rise of the pager, it became the subject of various forms of media; most notably in the 1990s hip-hop scene.
`Upcoming mainstream artists such as Ice Cube, Method Man, and A Tribe Called Quest began referencing
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`forthcoming mobile technologies, in particular the pager. A Tribe Called Quest's single 'Skypager' directly speaks
`of the importance of such a wireless communication device. Q-Tip conveys that the skypager "serves an important
`communicative function for a young professional with a full calendar".[20] Three 6 Mafia's "2-Way Freak" and
`"Bug a Boo" from Destiny's Child also make reference to pagers. These references relate directly to illicit drug
`trade. Illicit drug dealers used pagers to great effect during the 1990s to conduct commerce, using them to arrange
`meetings with buyers.
`
`The character Bob Pataki from the show Hey Arnold! was a successful example of a pager salesman, as the head of
`the emporium chain Big Bob's Beepers. The character was designed to be a firm representative of 1990s capitalist
`culture, explaining his love for a Wheel of Fortune clone and his ownership of a Lincoln Continental and a
`Hummer in later seasons. Pagers were a featured segment on the "1991" episode of I Love the '90s: Part Deux. The
`segment explored the device's entrance into mainstream pop culture; it also discussed the humorous use of
`calculator spelling to send messages through the devices. A pager is used to deliver a message from God at (716)
`776-2323 in the cinematic release of Bruce Almighty; the home video replaces this with a 555 number. The 30
`Rock sitcom character Dennis Duffy attracts disdain and mockery for his career as a pager salesman.
`
`Associate superintendent for Dade County Public Schools in Florida James Fleming once called them "the most
`dominant symbol of the drug trade" and schools have previously forbidden students from carrying them because of
`the ease with which they could be "used to arrange illegal drug sales".[21] The use of pagers by the Barksdale crew
`of drug dealers in Baltimore features prominently in the first season of the HBO cop drama The Wire. Several
`Grand Theft Auto video games up to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories utilized pager communication primarily
`for receiving instant messages during missions. A pager-like device was used in Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
`and London 1961 as a portable device that receives telegrams.
`Security
`
`Pagers also have privacy advantages compared with cellular phones. Since a one-way pager is a passive receiver
`only (it sends no information back to the base station), its location cannot be tracked. However, this can also be
`disadvantageous, as a message sent to a pager must be broadcast from every paging transmitter in the pager's
`service area. Thus, if a pager has nationwide service, a message sent to it could be intercepted by criminals or law
`enforcement agencies anywhere within the nationwide service area.
`Technical information
`
`Many paging network operators now allow numeric and textual pages to be submitted to the paging networks via
`email. This is convenient for many users, due to the widespread adoption of email; but email-based message
`submission methods do not usually provide any way to ensure that messages have been received by the paging
`network. This can result in pager messages being delayed or lost. Older forms of message submission using the
`Telelocator Alphanumeric Protocol involve modem connections directly to a paging network, and are less subject
`to these delays. For this reason, older forms of message submission retain their usefulness for disseminating
`highly-important alerts to users such as emergency services personnel.
`
`Common paging protocols include TAP, FLEX, ReFLEX, POCSAG, GOLAY, ERMES and NTT. Past paging
`protocols include Two-tone and 5/6-tone. In the United States, pagers typically receive signals using the FLEX
`protocol in the 900 MHz band. Commercial paging transmitters typically radiate 1000 watts of effective power,
`resulting in a much wider coverage area per tower than a mobile phone transmitter, which typically radiates around
`0.6 Watts per channel. Although 900 MHz FLEX paging networks tend to have stronger in-building coverage than
`mobile phone networks, commercial paging service providers will work with large institutions to install repeater
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`equipment in the event that service is not available in needed areas of the
`subscribing institution's buildings. This is especially critical in hospital
`settings where emergency staff must be able to reliably receive pages in
`order to respond to patient needs.
`
`Unlike mobile phones, most one-way pagers do not display any information
`about whether a signal is being received or about the strength of the
`received signal. Since one-way pagers do not contain transmitters, one-way
`paging networks have no way to track whether a message has been
`successfully delivered to a pager. Because of this, if a one-way pager is
`turned off or is not receiving a usable signal at the time a message is
`transmitted, the message will not be received and the sender of the message
`will not be notified of this fact. In the mid-1990s, some paging companies
`began offering a service, which allowed a customer to call their pager-
`number, and have numeric messages read back to them. This was useful for
`times when the pager was off or out of the coverage area, as it would know
`what pages were sent to you even if you never actually received the page.
`Other radio bands used for pagers include the 400 MHz band, the VHF
`band, and the FM commercial broadcast band (88-108 MHz). Other paging
`protocols used in the VHF, 400 MHz UHF, and 900 MHz bands include
`POCSAG and ERMES. Pagers using the commercial FM band receive a
`subcarrier, called the Subsidiary Communications Authority, of a broadcast station. On-site paging systems in
`hospitals, unlike wide area paging systems, are local area services. Hospitals commonly use on-site paging for
`communication with staff and increasingly for contacting waiting patients when their appointment is due. These
`offer waiting patients the opportunity to leave the waiting area, but still be contacted.
`See also
`
`Timex Datalink Beepwear Pro: a
`wearable pager/watch featuring
`alphanumeric paging capability. Part
`of the Timex Datalink family of
`watches
`
`Alfred J. Gross
`Motorola Minitor Voice Pager
`Plectron
`Simple Network Paging Protocol (SNPP)
`Text messaging, also known as texting
`Wireless Communications Transfer Protocol (WCTP)
`References
`
`1. "What is pager? - Definition from WhatIs.com".
`2. Pocket Radio Pages Doctors Night Or Day, January 1951, Popular Science (https://books.google.com/books?id=ZyEDA
`AAAMBAJ&pg=PA104&dq=popular+science+1950+can+our+jets+support&hl=en&ei=4n2-TJmUBNnhnQfCvvGJDg&s
`a=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=true)
`3. John F. Mitchell Biography (http://www.brophy.net/PivotX/?p=john-francis-mitchell-biography)
`4. The Top Giants in Telephony (http://www.historyofthecellphone.com/people/john-mitchell.php)
`5. Who invented the cell phone? (http://www.brophy.net/PivotX/?p=john-francis-mitchell-biography#CELLPHONEINVEN
`TOR)
`6. Use of Pagers in Crisis Situations (http://www.criticalalertsystems.com/newsroom/UseofPaginginCrisisSituations_V1.pd
`f) (Archive (http://www.webcitation.org/6GJEQgzUy))
`7. US. FCC. Report and Recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission. FCC, 12 June 2006, pg 24. Web.
`14 Apr. 2013. <http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/docs/advisory/hkip/karrp.pdf> (Archive (http://www.webcitation.org/6GJEg
`yvUq)).
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`8. London Ambulance Service - Pager and SMS Procedure (http://www.londonambulance.nhs.uk/talking_with_us/freedom_o
`f_information/classes_of_information/idoc.ashx?docid=679d5048-2d40-44d8-bf01-60bffb6cf2ac&version=-1) Section
`3.0. March 2007.
`9. NFPA 1221: Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems, 2002
`edition, at 1221-23 section 8.4.2.1
`10. US. FCC. Report and Recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission. FCC, 12 June 2006, pg 24. Web.
`14 Apr. 2013. <http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/docs/advisory/hkip/karrp.pdf> (Archive (http://www.webcitation.org/6GJEg
`yvUq)).
`11. NFPA 1221: Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems, 2002
`edition, at 1221-23 section 8.4.2.1
`12. Tyson, Jeff, How Restaurant Pagers Work, retrieved 17 January 2010
`13. Keller, A. C. (1964), Recent Developments in Bell System Relays -- Particularly Sealed Contact and Miniature Relays
`(PDF), The Bell System Technical Journal
`14. "Why the pager isn't dead yet".
`15. London Ambulance Service - Response to London Assembly 7 July Review Committee report (http://www.londonambula
`nce.nhs.uk/news/news_archive/response_to_london_assembly_7.aspx)
`16. "Rare Bird Alert - Upgrade to the X3 Pager Today".
`17. "BirdNet Pager".
`18. AnythingResearch.com report on Paging Industry market size (http://www.anythingresearch.com/industry/Paging.htm)
`2003 and 2008 research data used with permission
`19. Heckman, Davin (2006), ‘Do You Know the Importance of a Sky Pager?: Telecommunications, African-Americans, and
`Popular Culture′ (p.175)
`20. Heckman, Davin (2006), "‘Do You Know the Importance of a Sky Pager?’: Telecommunications, African-Americans, and
`Popular Culture."
`21. Sims, Calvin (1988-09-25). "Schools Responding to Beeper, Tool of Today's Drug Dealer, by Banning It". The New York
`Times. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
`External links
`
`NotePage technical support (http://www.notepager.com/support.htm)
`—Technical information on protocols, carriers, etc.
`800Beepers User Manuals (http://www.800beepers.com/index.php?m
`ain_page=page&id=25&zenid=f081fb7631873c12bf1fdddc007ec50
`d)
`800Beepers Enhanced Options / Services (http://www.800beepers.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=6&
`zenid=f081fb7631873c12bf1fdddc007ec50d)
`FCC Proceeding 92-100 - Global Enhanced Messaging - June 1992 (http://ecfsdocs.fcc.gov/filings/1992/06/
`01/102739.html)
`Gold Apollo A06 Guest Paging IP67 Testing Report (http://www.gapollo.com.tw/index.php?page_id=9f614
`08e3afb633e50cdf1b20de6f466&wk_stage=3&wk_t_key=164)
`Use of pagers for hospital patients (http://www.pagercall.co.uk/portfolio/patient/)
`
`Wikimedia Commons has
`media related to Pagers.
`
`Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pager&oldid=751831288"
`
`Categories: Pagers Radio paging Consumer electronics Mobile technology Telecommunications equipment
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