Two Way Pager Views
A pager (sometimes called a page, beeper, bleep or bleeper) is a simple personal telecommunications device for short messages. A one-way numeric pager can only receive a message consisting of a few digits, typically a phone number that the user is then expected to call. Alphanumeric pagers are available, as well as two-way pagers that have the ability to send and receive email, numeric pages, and SMS messages.[1]
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 Telocator Alphanumeric input Protocol 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.
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 pagernumber, and have numeric messages read back to them. This was useful for times when the pager was off/out of coverage area, as it would know what number paged you even if you never actually received the page.
A service based on the Iridium satellite constellation uses satellites to deliver short text messages to one-way pagers similar to those used by terrestrial paging networks. Despite the fact that the network provides world-wide coverage the messages are only sent to pre-selected message delivery areas which can be set on a web-based interface or by binding the service to a satellite phone. Messages can be sent in the form of SMS, email or from a web interface.
Two Way Pager Images
