Hi all... Okay...I'm moving back in the era of wireless, which is why I need help...I found out yesterday that I'm going to have to get a pager for my business as they got some back-___ paging system that won't page to my 909 area-code cell phone without incurring all these extra charges that my boss won't pay for...they're in a 714 area code and will charge me all these extra monthly fees to hook my "out-of-area-code" phone up for my pages to go directly to my phone... Really, all I need is a numeric pager, but what do I look for? How do I know what rates are better than others?? what type of pager is more reliable and smaller without paying an arm and a leg?? Any feedback would be helpful...thanks in advance everyone!!!
Hmm, since I have never owned a pager I cannot tell you much, but a few companies I know offer paging services. The ones I know of off the top of my head are MetroCall and Verizon Paging, but I don't know which ones work in your area, and I'm sure there are more.
Look into skytel as well. I know someone here who is currently with metrocall but his company is moving everyone to skytel. There are all kinds of pagers and plans, one-way, two-way, numeric/alphanumeric, pay per page or unlimited, etc. You will have to figure out what is the best fit for you.
This is going to sound stupid but, I didn't know that pagers were still being sold and activated just kept.
Cell phones have definitely supplanted pagers for most people, but there are still areas where pagers are useful. For example, in hospitals and various industrial labs where cell phone use is prohibited, one way pagers are in extensive use. Jodi, you may also want to research Arch wireless. I know folks in Portland who have switched from Metrocall to Arch, but they are using 2-way pagers with Arch - don't know if Arch has the basic one-way numeric ones.
Ya...pagers still exist...unfortunately the market for them has gotten smaller, so choices are more limited....but I'm stuck and need to get the pager so I can connect with my clients...if we ever get a new page system, I'm going to make sure that my 909 phone won't be penalized!! But I'm not willing to give up my cell number to accommodate a new job...
Another good thing about pagers is that you don't have to give out your cell number to all and sundry.
A while back I had Arch paging too. It was like 8.95 a month. That was in Salem around 1997-98. My step dad had ATT... I'll have to look and find the pager. He had just a regular numeric Motorola Pager that I bought for him with service for 49.00 from Futureshop. I have a purple Motorola pager that I still have. I love that thing.. I just use it for a timer/alarm clock, etc.. It was activated with Arch paging. Good luck Jodi :wink: By the way I forgot to mention that my step dad's plan was only 4.95 a month for like 300 pages.
Well, I wouldn't have to give out my number to anyone but the paging service. The clients call a business number, press the # key corresponding with who they want to talk to...they leave a message and the answering service pages me if I have any messages... the problem is the guy who owns the business won't pay for the extra charges incurred because their in a 714 area code and my cell is 909....hence the need for a pager!!! Blah!!!
Is Pagenet still around? if not just try one of those small pager shops, they will usually give you a big discount if you pay for a whole year upfront.....
I want to try one of those shops, but they are becoming few and far between....I'll have to start keeping an eye out though, because I'm gonna need one soon!
That's good you won't have to give out your pager number. Most people that I know of have to give out their number except for one who used to use Skytel. For him it was calling an 800 number and choosing his name from a list and then the page/message would be forwarded to him.
Well...I found an online company who covers my area...free pager...free activation...$6.95/mo for unlimited pages and a 1-yr contract... Sounds like the best deal I'm getting with such limited resources.... thanks for all the feedback everyone!!! I'll let youknow how it turns out...
I had 2 Motorola pagers die on me at my old County position...as much as I like Motorola in general, this time I'm going to have to pass on the pager...
Hmmm weird.... I've had pagers of one kind or another for 15 years - always Motorola. The only time one died on me is when I dropped into 10 feet of water when I went rafting. Should never have taken it along, but I was on call
Yep, same here, i try some of those Korean pagers and none of them lasted a year, in the end i would always end up with a Moto pager....as a matter of fact i think i still got one lying around somewhere...
Guess you were luckier than me then...I got another one, "E-Diva" or something...but if it breaks down, I had to pay for a year's worth of service/maintanence....so I'll deal with it then...hopefully nothing will go wrong with it...only one or two people will actually be paging me (one a company and the other my spouse)
According to the website where I got my pager (www.directpage.com), there's diva, Odyssey, Nixxo, Sun Telecom, and Motorola...
Update (Re: Needing a pager...) Hi all.. Well...got the pager...I'm impressed with directpage.com so far...the pager is compact and light...battery was already installed...number was provided...and it was already activated when I opened the box! Since it's just a numeric pager, it was relatively easy to read the 10-page 2x3 booklet and maneuver my way through... So far so good...
