Wireless

Pagers
By Keegan

What are pagers?

Pagers are RF (radio frequency) devices that get messages from specific radio frequencies or channels. These messages usually are telephone numbers that the pager user is supposed call back. Some pagers may also display extra information like the caller's name.

Paging systems use special radio station frequencies to send signals out to the correct pager. Pagers have started to be replaced by cell phones that also have paging functions, but there are still millions of pagers in use.

In other words, pagers are small radio receivers that only receive messages intended for them.

What is the history of pagers?

You may have read about Al Gross, the inventor of the walkie-talkie and a wireless radio pioneer. Mr. Gross is also credited with inventing the pager, which was patented in 1949. His first paging system was installed in Jewish Hospital in New York City in 1950. There also was a similar system used by the Detroit, Michigan Police Department starting in 1921. This system was much different from the system used for pagers today.

The system installed at Jewish Hospital was only for doctors while they were on site. It let them know to call back other hospital staff when help was needed. This device was not available to consumers, and the FCC did not approve paging devices until 1958.

In 1959, the term “pager” was first used. This was for a device sold by the Motorola Radio Company. It was a small radio receiver that simply delivered messages to the person carrying the device.

Finally, in 1974, Motorola introduced a consumer pager. It was called the Pageboy I. Unlike pagers today, it had no display to show the number, and it had no way to store messages. This device was also known as the “beeper” because of the sound that it made. When it beeped, it would prompt the user to call an answering service to receive the phone message.

How are messages sent to pagers?

When you page someone, you do not actually call their pager. You are actually calling the main terminal for the pager service company. When you call their number, you are prompted to enter the pager number you want to contact. These terminals can handle from 200 to 500,000 calls at one time. Many paging companies also use satellites to transmit pages. This allows them to have the messages sent almost anywhere in the world.

The equipment at the paging terminal converts the phone message into radio form, and broadcasts it over their transmitters. All messages are broadcast over the coverage area, but they are only received (or “picked up”) by the pagers that they are intended for. Each page has its own codes that match the individual pagers.

Pagers can now display messages in addition to beeping or simply displaying the number called. These messages are broadcast to the pagers in the same way as the number pages.

Some pagers also can send messages back to the terminal. These messages may be as simple as a notification of getting the message or a text message with more information. These are known as two-way pagers.

Citations

Online Resources

"Al Gross Inventor of the Walkie-Talkie." Inventor of the Week Archive. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 3 March 2005 <http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/gross.html>.

Burstein, Danny. "Pagers FAQ." Egyed.com. <http://www.egyed.com/faq/pagers.html>.

"History of Pagers." Federal Communications Commission. FCC Kids Zone. 3 March 2005 <http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/kidzone/history_pager.html>.

"How Pagers Work." ProBeep. 3 March 2005 <http://www.probeep.com/products/pagers/howpgrwrk.html>.

Rappaport, Ted . "Al Gross Remembered." IEEE Communications Society. 3 March 2005 <http://www.comsoc.org/socstr/org/operation/awards/remport.html>.

Images

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