Modern Paging Systems Still Offer Fantastic Solutions

Posted by Max Ruby on August 28th, 2019

Paging systems have now been in service for 70 years and it often surprises many people how ubiquitous they tend to be. Even in a world where modern cell phones offer such incredible functionality, there are plenty of industries and businesses where the pager still reigns supreme. Offering an incomparable level of security alongside simple functionality and reliability, pagers show no sign of slipping into extinction anytime soon. Here are a few reasons why they could offer an ideal solution for any organization where simplicity and efficiency are always in demand.

1) Pagers Are Inherently Secure

Many companies have been turning to the likes of VoIP phone networking to solve their telephony needs. While there are many advantages to this - not least the potential for seriously reducing overheads - there is still the awkward fact that securing these networks from hacking attacks requires serious professional expertise and continual monitoring. Plus they can place internet connectivity under quite serious strain.

Pagers are inherently secure and to all extents and purposes 'unhackable'. For someone to hijack a paging network they need physical access to the administrating device - something which is near impossible for most. As they are not connected to data networks and communicate 'one way only', there is zero risks of confidential information being exposed or compromised.

Modern pagers can offer 'two-way' communication which allows the respondent to acknowledge that they have received and understood the message, sometimes even providing an approximate location of the individual. This is one of the reasons why they remain so popular in medical services, especially with clinical experts and first responders. 

2) Extremely Reliable

Phones are pretty much useless if their network service goes down for any reason. As pagers use their own network completely detached from wifi/internet access, their simplicity is another reason why they are favored in emergency situations. Modern pagers will have battery lives that last for several days or longer without needing a recharge. They do not need updating, and as they cannot carry any other applications there is never any risk of their functionality being complicated by incompatible software.

When a message needs to be communicated immediately pagers are pretty much without rival. The same message can be broadcast to not just a single user but to entire teams, groups and even thousands of people at once. Administrators can use a variety of priority protocols that allow urgent messages to leapfrog over other traffic for immediate dispatch. Where phone networks may become confused and suffer from lag/outage during an emergency, the pager is always going to be reliable.

3) Simple & Affordable

Paging systems are preferred by organizations where everyone has a simple and clearly understood role to fulfill. They require barely any training to use and provide simple instructions to be followed. Providing messages are succinct and well informed there is essentially no cause for any confusion. In essence, a message sent to a member of waiting staff that an order is ready for a table is exactly the same as that which is used to instruct a doctor to attend ER as a matter of urgency. Providing people understand their roles then it is safe to presume they will immediately leap to action.

Another advantage for cost-conscious businesses/organizations is that pagers are not affordable but also long-lasting. They require next to no maintenance with modern pagers built specifically for long life and durability. Instead of needing to account for potentially enormous annual communications bills, paging systems can be fairly considered to be a one-off expense expected to last for many years.

Modern Pagers Offer Enhanced Functionality

It surprises many people that modern pagers offer voice messages as well as text communication. These are not necessarily prerecorded - most offer live one-way voice instructions that are ideal for delivering complex instructions immediately.

Alongside their basic security text messages are no longer limited to just a few lines. Most modern paging networks allow for at least a thousand characters to be communicated at once. There are ways to integrate these with Internet of Things (IoT) and GSM to create an additional layer or response.

Last but by no means least, modern pagers can offer some of the best and most reliable forms of encryption available anywhere. Very few hackers even bother to pay attention to paging networks, meaning that your communications are always going to be far more secure than compared to alternative communication methods.

Pagers may feel like an outdated technology but when it comes to the crunch they still offer a fantastic communication resource that can be applied to a wide variety of industries. When a message needs to be sent that is direct to the point, requires immediate action and offers near unparalleled layers of security there is simply no better solution. Expect to see them continue to evolve well into the coming century.