Pagers

Until recently, pagers have been the preferred solution for professional response services. They provide a reliable method of contacting many people at once in a very short time. However, they have three major disadvantages.

• Cost

Pagers have a significant purchase price, especially if many pagers are required with the same number (these have to be specially ordered). This can be a problem for volunteer/charity groups. Some networks also charge monthly fees.

• Occasional Use

A Pager is normally used much less often than a mobile phone. It is therefore more likely to be forgotten, and any problems (e.g. flat battery) are less likely to be noticed.

• No confirmation

Pager coverage is generally good, but there will always be some places where it is not, e.g. basements or remote locations. And basic Pager systems do not know if the message has been received or not. Unlike an SMS message, if the owner is out of range for long enough when the message is sent they will not receive it when they get back in range.

The business community has largely switched to phone SMS or email via mobile devices. If a mobile phone mast has a problem then economic pressure will ensure it is solved as soon as possible. With a declining numbers of users the same may not always be true for Pagers.