Telephone repeater station (1937). A “regulating” repeater station in Princeton, NJ, about half way between New York and Philadelphia. Source: Princeton and National Museum of American History.

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Choosing a pager and coverage options

Paging devices come in several variations.  One-way pagers are receive-only devices (just like an AM/FM radio).  Two-way devices can transmit as well as receive, and so can acknowledge receipt of pages and also send messages back.

Paging service providers offer local, regional or national coverage for paging devices that operate on their "wide area" network radio frequencies.  Some pagers use radio frequencies devoted to local paging, and cannot be used for "wide-area" service.

One-way numeric

One-way numeric pagers can receive and display only telephone numbers or numeric codes, which allows them to be small in size but also limits their ability to convey information.  (Numeric pagers are available only as one-way devices.)

Numeric pagers typically use a non-rechargeable AAA battery as a power source.   Battery life is typically one to three months, depending on usage.

One-way voice

One-way voice pagers can receive and play a short audio message.  (Combination voice/data pagers can do this and also display a telephone number or numeric code.)   Voice pagers are typically used for local paging in hospital settings.

One-way alphanumeric

One-way alphanumeric pagers can, as their name implies, receive and display full-text, including email messages (where this is enabled by the paging service vendor).  One way alphanumeric pagers are the standard type for UM affiliates, and the required type for UMMG affiliates.

Alphanumeric pagers also typically use a non-rechargeable AA battery as a power source.  Battery life is typically one to three months, depending on usage.

Two-way alphanumeric

Two-way alphanumeric pagers can receive (and acknowledge receipt of) full text messages, as well as send full-text messages composed on their keyboards.  (Two-way numeric pagers are no longer available.) 

Two-way pagers may use non-rechargeable or rechargeable batteries as a power source.  Rechargeable power is preferable since these devices typically have much shorter battery life than one-way pagers. 

In most cases, persons requiring the message acknowledgement and sending capabilities of a two-way pager should consider a mobile phone with SMS texting enabled instead. 

Local vs wide-area pagers and paging services

Most UM pagers have "wide area" regional coverage -- by default West Palm Beach to Key West.  National coverage options are available for these pagers on special request. 

Note that Jackson also uses "local" voice and voice/data pagers, designed for paging in or near the hospital.  These local pagers use a different paging frequency than wide-area pagers, and so cannot receive wide-area paging signals.   

More information

Pagers (Wikipedia)
Basic information about paging devices and links to much more