Now we are so accustomed to smartphones that even staying with a stupid “dialer” for a few days is a real test. But there is one interesting, and very long, chapter in the past of telecommunications technology: pagers.
Tiny receivers with black and white screens and meager, by modern standards, capabilities. We'll tell you how these gadgets developed and why they are still in use.
To begin with, it is worth understanding what is hidden under the definition of “ pager" And why modern smartphone, who easily receives SMS messages is not his relatives.
Yes, there are already people who don't know
A pager is a radio frequency receiver that can receive messages broadcast on a specific frequency over a special network of radio base stations.
Messages are sent from a paging center - usually a person would need to call and give the recipient's number to the operator. Later it became possible to use email.
How did pagers come about?
The first pager from Motorola
Initially, a system vaguely reminiscent of future pagers appeared with the Detroit police in 1921. Then the police cars were equipped with primitive radios.
However, the pager's birthday fell in 1949, when the corresponding invention was patented by the inventor Alfred Gross ( the same person had a hand in the development of portable radios). At that time, the name “pager” was not yet used, and the devices were intended for medical personnel.
However, the Federal Communications Commission approved the use of such receivers only by 1958: this is a turning point in their history.
Already in 1956, Motorola gave such gadgets the name “pager”, and at the same time secured its leadership position in this product category - for four decades to come.
However, the first commercially successful pager appeared on the consumer market only in 1974 and was called Pageboy I. It did not have a display, and internal memory to store messages, however it worked - notifying users with beeps.
Because of this feature, devices have been assigned alternative name, beepers. Such modest functionality was enough for that time. Having heard the required signal, the police returned to the department, and the doctors contacted the operators to obtain information.
This is what Pageboy 1 looked like
In the 1970s, pagers learned to receive messages of different tones and even voice messages. But technology continued to develop slowly. By 1980, there were about 3.2 million pagers in the world.
The reason for the relatively low popularity was the limited area in which the receivers could operate - it did not exceed 40 kilometers. Pagers were used by local rescue, medical or police departments.
We also knew about this thing. Only a few
By the way, the first peak in the use of USSR pagers occurred in 1980. At that time, the XXII Summer Olympic Games were taking place in Moscow, and pagers were issued to a narrow circle of office workers. However, the main events took place overseas.
Pagers began to become more complex in terms of functionality. Models with tiny screens appeared - at first it was possible to transmit only numbers, then it was possible to send short messages, in the manner of modern SMS.
In the early 80s, the creators finally overcame the geographical limitations of pagers - they began to work on the scale of cities, states and even countries.
In addition, the sender could order a message to be sent at a certain time or repeated calls - so that the subscriber was sure to receive the message, even if he was temporarily outside the coverage of the paging network.
It was led by Motorola, which in 1986 released the world's most popular pager model - Bravo.
In 1988, SkyTel officially launched a nationwide paging network with support for text messages in the United States, which caused a stir among consumers. By 1990, there were about 22 million active pagers in the world; by 1994, this number had already reached 61 million.
The pager became a status device - in addition to its functional benefits, it brought significance to its owner in the eyes of others. The latest major technological innovation in the world of pagers is the "tweeger", a two-way pager.
They vaguely resembled push-button communicators and were equipped with a folding QWERTY keyboard, with which you could type reply messages.
This is what the popular SkyTel Tweager looked like.
The first Tango tweeter was released by Motorola in 1996, with telecommunications support from SkyTel. However, by that time it was clear - mobile connection And Cell Phones will push pagers back into the professional environment.
By 2001, two leading manufacturers, Motorola and Glenayre, had lost interest in the market.
Phones have won.
Are pagers dead? No
In the United States, pagers continue to be used by doctors, police, rescuers, and a number of private companies, and the leader of the fading market, which brought in $361 million in profit in 2009, was Spok.
By the way, if you look closely at “House” or “Scrubs”, you will notice that all the doctors in the show wear pagers.
This connection has several advantages:
- highest reliability, incomparable to vulnerable telecommunications networks
- cheap devices
- ability to easily record all sent messages for later use in protocols
- With an average frequency of use, pagers can last up to 30 days on one AAA battery
As for domestic realities, the golden age for pagers was the period from 1993 to 1998. They were a popular way to stay connected without spending over $1,000 on a cell phone.
Pagers were usually attached to a belt - some were literally wrapped in a belt of small black beepers. The market for devices styled after them also flourished: for example, watches in the form of a pager were especially popular among schoolchildren.
At the same time, the necessary telecom infrastructure for pagers was poorly developed. Over all these years, not a single federal paging operator has appeared in the country.
Local companies operated, at best covering the region and surrounding areas. Average subscription fee ranged from 100 to 300 rubles, considerable money at that time. To this should be added the cost of the device itself, which was at least 800 rubles.
Pagers can still be used today
Now most paging operators have closed or changed course: in addition to providing paging services for private security or courier companies, they organize call centers.
However, in Moscow, for example, you can still use the services of “
After several years of calm, the paging operator started working again in St. Petersburg. The Excom-Neda Paging company is confident that the fate of other participants in this once developed market will not affect them.
After several years of calm, the paging operator started working again in St. Petersburg. The Excom-Neda Paging company is confident that the fate of other participants in this once developed market will not affect them. The operator intends to survive through new services and the resuscitation of old, proven services. Cellular communications have replaced pagers in almost all Russian regions: paging operators no longer operate anywhere except Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, analysts believe that paging services still have their own narrow niche, although they will not be able to go beyond it.
In 2007, a merger between PT-Page and Ekskom-Neda Paging took place in St. Petersburg, resulting in the only paging company operating in the city. In 2008, the operator completed the modernization of its equipment and, as the company says, is ready to begin providing the most modern paging services. This in itself sounds strange. However, some organizations still choose pager communication. According to the director of Excom-Neda Paging, Grigory Dubrovin, it is stupid to completely abandon the pager - it is actively used in Europe and the USA emergency services. “Our main clients in St. Petersburg are dispatch centers, emergency and courier services, as well as security companies,” he says. Thus, from the category of mass services, which paging was in the late 90s, the service has become a specialized offer for corporate clients.
Dubrovin noted that over time, the list of services provided by the paging network has been updated. So, now more and more subscribers order to receive messages not on a pager, but on a cell phone (in the form of SMS) or on their email. However, the operator also retains a unique “paging” service, when each subscriber is assigned a separate city number and messages can be transmitted to a pager without the participation of a dispatcher. “In my opinion, there are several reasons why the remaining paging operators closed in St. Petersburg - this is the inability to carry out competent diversification of the enterprise and business processes, as well as the inability or unwillingness to come to an agreement with other companies operating in this segment,” he said.
iKS-Consulting analyst Maxim Savvatin clarified to the St. Petersburg.ru correspondent that today not only the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the police and ambulance, but also the media, public organizations and authorities - “hot lines” are organized for them using a pager. The advantage of a pager in this case is the low cost of communication and extremely high throughput network, exceeding the same one in cellular networks. However, iKS-Consulting emphasizes that paging services have already occupied their niche and do not pretend to be more. Often these companies earn the bulk of their income from other telecommunications services, in particular by renting out the capacity of their call centers.
Representatives of cellular operators refuse to take seriously even the possibility of competition from paging networks. “Once upon a time, operators had a service for sending messages to a pager, but it has been closed for several years now,” said Maria Georgievskaya, press secretary of St. Petersburg MegaFon. According to her, paging has a right to exist as a niche offer, but in the mass market the development of SMS services at one time did not leave pagers a chance. “The telecommunications market does not know any other service that would bring such profit with minimal investment,” Georgievskaya noted.
Operators " Big three" in St. Petersburg provides tariffs with cheap SMS (Red_text from MTS, "Monster of Communication" from Beeline) or ordering packages with SMS, payment for which is made bonus points, like MegaFon. Let us recall that in 2007 the share of SMS and MMS in the total volume of additional services of Russian cellular operators was 54%.
The pager, on the contrary, is configured not to exchange, but to receive messages. This is a paging receiver that receives messages over the paging network. To send a message, you need to contact the dispatcher, indicate the number or name of the subscriber and dictate the text in English or Russian. The paging network is built on the same principles as the cellular network. Reception stability is ensured by base stations.
It is noteworthy that paging communication helps to save frequency resources. Thus, in cellular networks one frequency (with a channel width of 25 kHz) has the resource to serve 25-50 subscribers, and in paging networks - 10-15 thousand subscribers (POCSAG standard) and 40-80 thousand (FLEX standard). The cost of subscription service, which includes a prepaid package of messages (at least 500), largely depends on the pager model. So, for a 1-line pager a subscriber will pay about 200 rubles, for a 4-line pager - 400 rubles. per month. The networks also provide for message transmission without using a pager (from 250 rubles).
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For a personal call. It is designed in such a way that it allows you to receive small text messages using a paging network. The first pager model was released in 1956 by Motorolla. It immediately gained popularity among couriers, taxi drivers, nurses, in other words, among those people who, due to their duty, must always be in touch.
What is a pager and what is its history?
Pagers were the most popular in our country in the nineties. But due to the universal availability and spread of mobile phones, these devices have lost demand and practically disappeared from the lives of citizens.
However, the meaning of the word “pager” has not been forgotten today, and you can easily use it in Moscow - just use the services provided by paging companies that are still on the market today. An example is the company Vessolink, which provides services in Moscow and the region.
How does a classic pager work?
To send a message you need to call the operator, give the subscriber’s number and dictate text message. It is possible to notify several subscribers at once during group transfer. With a modern pager you can send messages to a mobile phone or email. If desired, you can arrange hotline or receiving alerts from different points. In general, even today there are extensive opportunities for using a pager.
Where are these devices used today?
It is possible to use this device in different situations. In addition, a pager is a gadget whose price is much lower than the cost of a mobile phone. Externally, it looks like a rectangular parallelepiped with a pair of buttons. It will be easy for anyone to learn how to operate it. Due to the fact that pagers have long gone out of fashion, they can be purchased through private advertisements or paging network operators.
What other areas of use are known?
In addition, today the meaning of the word “pager” is somewhat expanded and involves various functions.
Thus, certain device models are used in alarm systems. For example, a GSM pager functions in such a way that when the alarm is turned on, a small text message is sent to it. This is convenient because it gives you time to take measures to prevent theft or allows you to store the contents in a safe.
The small size and convenience of the pager make it practical electronic device. It is resistant to shock and mechanical stress. Using the pager in accordance with the instructions guarantees long term his service.
Car alarm pager
With all the complexity of modern car alarms, only the siren is the most effective factor against the thief. Many manufacturers can offer devices that significantly increase this spectrum. To do this, you need to understand what a car alarm pager is.
Central locking allows you to simultaneously lock (unlock) all doors in the car. In some, it is carried out from any front door. It is also possible to control using an alarm and external signals"close" and "open". The kit for installing a central lock consists of 2 or 4 electronic ones with mounting parts and a control unit. They are installed inside, in the cavity of the doors.
These mechanisms provide a reciprocating movement of rods that transmit movement to parts of the door lock. Electrical signals are generated and drive the actuators. The block has inputs to which the corresponding alarm circuits are connected.
The optional hood latch is a useful accessory. After opening the hood, the car thief has access to most of the important components of the car and the alarm system. By turning off the siren, he can quickly remove the alarm and blocking units. If an additional lock is installed for the hood, which is opened with a key, and not just a lever from the passenger compartment, then the actions for opening it by a thief will become very difficult. Among other things, this lock has an electrical circuit that breaks the ignition.
Electric windows are electric drives that are used to lower and raise the windows in car doors. They are controlled from a convenient location in the cabin. You can lower and raise the windows both jointly and separately.
Pager as part of a car alarm
There is a possibility remote control alarm when a signal is sent to a separate input. There are two types of window regulators. For external installation, on the surface of the protective card on the door, and for installation inside, in the door cavity. Preference should be given to one or another of them, taking into account the tastes of the owner and the design of the doors. Most often, the least labor-intensive option is to install window regulators from the outside.
In a car alarm system, a pager is a small receiver, the size of half a cigarette pack, which the car owner always carries with him. When using the device, a transmitter is connected to the alarm and is activated when the alarm is triggered.
Radio signals from the transmitter are picked up by the receiver, and if its code and the transmitter match, it is issued by a pager.
Signaling pagers - which one is better?
The working distance in urban conditions is from 300 meters to 1 kilometer. Certain manufacturers indicate a distance of up to 5 kilometers, but this range refers to the desert. The pagers tested by specialists operated in two ranges - 27 megahertz and 300 megahertz. The transmitter power was 1.5 W and 0.5 W.
The Enforcer Cop group provided a longer operating distance, but also had antenna installation requirements. Another Road Star group had more reliable, but also more modest characteristics.
Pagers from model range Secopage-35 not only records the alarm, but also determines its cause (opening the hood, doors, shock sensor) based on the color of the indication.
When using the pager, it is important to turn the receiver off and on regularly due to fast discharge batteries. When the pager is turned on, as a source of radio waves, it can interfere with some types of alarms. It is difficult to turn off the alarm using the key fob when it is triggered and the pager is turned on. Thus, the best alarm systems with pager come in a variety of models.
For fishing
Fans of bottom fishing use various tricks to see the bite in a timely manner. After the appearance of the feeder, this became easier - now, whenever a fish touches the bait, the bite can be seen on the top of the rod. The difficulty is that the fisherman does not spend all his time near the fishing rod. An assistant in this case will be an electric bite alarm. Light or it will inform the fisherman that the bait has already been swallowed by fish. Nowadays it is possible to purchase a set of alarms with a pager various types. What a fishing pager is should be considered separately.
Choosing the best pager for fishing
All alarms operate on the principle of sensing the twitching of a fishing line. When purchasing a signaling device, a pager may be available as an additional convenience. It serves for sound signaling and for remote monitoring of bites. Thus, a fishing pager is a gadget that allows you to determine the presence of a bite from a distance.
There are many benefits to adding a pager to your alarm system. For example, when you have several tackles and you need to quickly determine which of several fishing rods is biting. Using a pager, the required fishing rod and the nature of the pull are accurately determined. By setting the signal for the line to move from one shore to the other, you can determine what is happening underwater.
Pagers can be purchased in two types:
- Wired.
- Wireless.
Sometimes electric alarms are connected by wires to a pager. Paging will be the best solution. Its range, depending on the company, can be up to 200 meters. Thanks to this opportunity, the fisherman, without missing a bite, can move away, cook food, light a fire, etc. The pager (photos are presented in this article) is configured simultaneously with the signaling device. If desired, you can lower the volume on the alarm and set the volume on the pager as required.
The best choice would be models with a charging indicator for timely detection of energy shortages. It is very convenient to purchase sets of signaling devices, a couple of pieces, complete with a pager. You can purchase such a device both in specialized retail outlets and in various online stores.
Like cell phones, electronic pagers transmit and receive signals using radio waves. A call from a paging device first arrives at a base station, where it is analyzed and temporarily stored. Several base stations then simultaneously send signals to the paging device, which picks up the signal closest to it.
In most cases, the pager will beep or vibrate when it receives a signal, alerting the owner to call the station for a message. These tone pagers are gradually giving way to devices with displays on which phone numbers and short messages.
Call by electronic pager
- When you dial a pager number, you first contact the base radio station. After the answer tone, the caller dials his own number.
- On base station the message is processed and sent to several peripheral stations via radio along with the identification number of the paging device to which the message is transmitted.
- Having reached several peripheral stations, the message spreads in the form of a radio signal. The peripheral stations can form a radio network over two hundred miles in diameter.
- Many paging devices can pick up the signal, but only the pager with the specified number will respond to its own number, register the message and alert the owner of the incoming call.
Base stations repeat the signal every 20 seconds. In order to save batteries, pagers are designed in such a way that they can recognize their own numbers once every 1.4 seconds, being synchronized with the waves emitted by the stations.
Paging device
The pager in the illustration at the top of the article records and displays the caller's number and a few words of the message. In the future, the size of pagers will become even smaller. Someday, any digital wristwatch will be able to function as a paging device.
The era of pagers is long gone, only memories remain. At least in Belarus. In many countries with a developed telecommunications market, these means of communication are still used. Why? They are more resistant to failures and significant loads, for this reason pagers are used by rescue services, doctors, service departments, and so on.
We can only remember these squeaking boxes, appearance which will most likely cause the younger generation to ask the question “what is this?” Or, as in the case of a cassette player, “why is it needed when you have a mobile phone?” Yes, Cell phones, and then smartphones replaced “warm tube” pagers from our lives, but there’s no escaping nostalgia.
“Necks”, “Motorolas”, cool 4-line pagers, 7-line ones that didn’t catch on, memes (in the past they were called “pearls”), born while dictating messages to operators, and then broadcast on the radio... A whole layer of culture that has become history .
"You forgot your pager at home"- a loving mother or a vigilant spouse could send something else.
Onliner.by decided to remember how it was: the hardest thing was to find the person who was at the origins of the “Belarusian pagers” and to gain consent to remember the past. Some former employees paging companies occupy high positions in companies providing cellular communication services and have difficulty finding time to communicate, some do not want to bring up the past.
However, we still managed to contact Igor Krivonos, who worked as the general director of one of the most advanced paging companies of that time - RadioPage. Much water has passed under the bridge since then: after all, the era of paging in Belarus ended more than 10 years ago, but there is something to remember.
“Officially” pagers appeared in Belarus in the mid-90s of the last century - later than in the rest of the world, but they managed to find their audience. “Like everything advanced, the pagers reached us late,”- our interlocutor recalls.
At a certain point, there were seven companies operating in the country, which is a lot for the local communications market. Before velcom entered the market in 1999, everything was going as well as possible, and with the start of this operator the situation did not change much: mobile phones were expensive, as was communication. Well, “BelSel” was “the first” and at the same time “an operator for the elite”.
Pagers became a symbol of a business person and technological progress - the devices were a more mass-produced product than telephones, they gave a new sense of mobility, and ensured constant communication with the world. Now it sounds funny and even ridiculous, but in those distant times everything looked different.
“Yes, in 2000 there was already some decline, but it was not particularly noticeable: the price for paging remained more attractive than for cellular communication. But starting in 2003, that is, after the arrival of MTS in 2002 with its 30 rubles per minute - and this is without VAT, there was a sharp decline.”
Paging rates were low and much more affordable; you had to pay $15-40 for the device itself. Some companies took marketing steps or other tricks: some sold “used” devices from a neighboring country, others rented out devices. Be that as it may, the “personal call receivers” seemed more practical than mobile phones: they were more compact and could go without recharging for a long time - especially in comparison with the “brick” phones of BelSel.
“Maybe this sounds strange, but then there was a large category of people who fundamentally wanted to have a pager,- says Igor. - One-way communication had its own charm. Imagine: a specialist who should only receive information, nothing more. Nowadays people just talk on the phone. And in the pager there is an element of freedom: the message could be “not noticed” (“didn’t reach”, “did not reach completely” - underline what is necessary), which cannot be done with a mobile call.”
Despite the recession, the system remained profitable and profitable. According to the expert, in Canada, the USA, Australia and China there was a boom in paging, while in Belarus it was losing relevance. The explanation for this is simple: using this technology you can cover large areas. The tower installed in Minsk on Partizansky Avenue, for example, reached Baranovichi - a radius of about 120 km.
The coverage was of high quality (with certain reservations, of course), but it was necessary to use additional devices to amplify the signal. And if there were special antennas, the highly educated Kulibins came up with their own version, or, as they say now, a life hack: wrap the pager with wire and pull the end up - inductive coupling does its job. Students had their own “life hacks”: they used pagers to take exams - the days of high-tech cheat sheets began.
Today it takes a lot of effort to unsubscribe from a bunch of information services and mailing lists, but even in the days of pagers, there were also various providers of content that could be received both for free and for money. Weather forecast, sending jokes...
Paging subscribers were happy to subscribe to them and rejoiced at the squeak that was heard when a message arrived. The main thing is that this happens in front of everyone, and then you can pretend to be a smart business person (of course, really business people treated the device differently). “We even had an agreement with the “sorceress” - that’s what we called her. She drew up horoscopes for us."- Igor grins. Operators offered their own “goodies” for corporate clients. For example, a big boss could announce a general meeting, organizing a “spam” mailing for all subordinates with one call.
How many subscribers did the paging companies have? Nowadays it’s difficult to find such statistics, but the same “RadioPage” gave out numbers starting with 120 thousand. Add the subscriber bases of other operators to this and you’ll get a considerable audience. It's hard to imagine what they were doing...
“The most fun time began in the evening. The husband should return home, but he is still not there. The wives began to look for their men - and whatever they dictated... We saved the most interesting messages[laughs - approx. Onliner.by] ».
It’s hard to imagine, but at the peak of its activity, the company’s call center employed up to 120 operators who heard a lot of funny things. At the same time, they tried to avoid sharp corners with all accessible ways: there were individuals fueled by alcohol (or emotions) who were not at all shy in their expressions, but the addressee might not appreciate all the subtleties of such a speech.
“‘Let’s replace the word “cattle” with “you are a bad or dirty animal,”’ we had to get out of difficult situations something like this,- Igor explained. - Simply put, it was necessary to seek a compromise between legal requirements and the interests of the client. Of course, sometimes it was difficult to prove to the caller that writing “bastard” is not very polite. “What a ‘bad person’ he is - he’s a real bastard!”
By the way, only girls worked on the telephone: this work was not particularly suitable for guys for a number of reasons, and clients were more comfortable talking with girls.
Why did pagers become extinct in Belarus?
It’s interesting, but the operators themselves understood that uncontrolled competition could ruin the entire business: excessive dumping, for example, would have a bad impact on the business as a whole. Those who ignored the unspoken rules were gently pointed out the mistake. “It was necessary to avoid extremes - monopoly and thoughtless competition when there are too many market participants.”
“Around 2004, I can’t say more precisely, a provision was adopted according to which strict rules were introduced for payment for the used frequency resource,”- says our interlocutor. At that time, two cellular operators were working at full speed, which probably pushed the regulator to take certain steps. However, what was not taken into account was that paging operators had disproportionately lower profits and did not operate a wide frequency range.
“The calculation formula was such that almost all the money was spent on paying for the frequency resource and the companies began to close. MDF was the first to close, small operators who didn’t even have time to break through left, we were one of the last.” It was also not possible to push through the idea of two-way paging - it was nipped in the bud, and mobile operators were probably actively promoting their interests.
There were attempts to reorient the business, but no one achieved much success. Some services - for example, GPS tracking of cargo and cars - did not take root (although there were positive results in “catching” stolen cars). Probably, the market at that time was not ripe for such technological solutions, and the price for the equipment seemed high. Some went to Internet providers, others took up delivery entertainment content for cellular subscribers. But what happened, happened.
Today in Belarus there are companies that operate internal paging; probably someone provides services to a limited circle of clients: a license for this type activities can be obtained, technical support is also not a problem.
The question remains: how soon will mobile phones die out and what will replace them?
Reprinting text and photographs of Onliner.by is prohibited without the permission of the editors. [email protected]
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