Through pagers, you can remain in touch with your colleagues, clients, partners or suppliers. Small enough to fit in comfortably in your pocket or purse, pagers are small wireless devices containing a small display that shows a phone number or a text message. You will find three types of pagers: numeric, alphanumeric and two-way. Numeric pagers can only display numbers or numeric codes. These devices can indicate a phone number to call, or a code for a particular pre-planned message (for example, "22" means you have a voice mail message, "33" means you should call the office). Alphanumeric pagers can receive not only phone numbers, but also text messages. Some alphanumeric systems are also capable of receiving news or sports headlines, or even weather and traffic information. Voice pagers are closely related to alphanumeric pagers, and are capable of displaying a phone number and playing a short voice message. Two-way pagers are so called because they can not only display a message, but allow the recipient to send a reply as well. Two-way paging is mainly offered in large metropolitan areas. Every paging service has varying coverage areas over which your pager can receive a transmitted signal from the paging transmitters. You can find paging services that offer local, regional or national coverage. If the coverage area is larger, your pager or paging service will be costlier. If you opt for national coverage, it will cost you some more money but ensure that you will have service when you travel. As is the case with cellular phones, pagers have become more and more of a commodity these days, with service becoming the key. Many dealers now waive the pager activation charge or sell the units at a loss to lure new customers. Monthly service fees can range from $10 to $40 per month, with payment on a quarterly or annual basis. A pager costs $30 to $150 depending on the type of pager and accompanying features. You can also lease a pager for a small fee. |
