Editing Pager

{{Short description|Wireless telecommunications device}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{About|the telecommunications device}}
{{redirect|Pocket Bell|the Philippine paging company|PocketBell}}
{{Distinguish|page (disambiguation){{!}}page}}
{{Infobox product
| title            = Pager
| logo             = 
| logo_caption     = 
| logo_alt         = 
| image            = 
| image_size       = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = Swissphone RES.Q Hybrid POCSAG pager with GSM and GPS module
| type             = Wireless telecommunications device
| inventor         = [[Al Gross (engineer)|Al Gross]]
| inception        = {{start date and age|1949}}
| manufacturer     = 
| available        = Yes
| current supplier = Various
| last production  = 
| models           = 
| slogan           = 
| website          = 
| notes            = 
}}

A '''pager''', also known as a '''beeper''' or '''bleeper''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bleeper |title=BLEEPER &#124; meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary |publisher=Dictionary.cambridge.org |date=2022-05-25 |accessdate=2022-05-31}}</ref> is a [[Wireless communication|wireless telecommunications device]] that receives and displays [[Alphanumericals|alphanumeric]] or voice messages. '''One-way pagers''' can only receive messages, while '''response pagers''' and '''two-way pagers''' can also acknowledge, reply to, and originate messages using an internal transmitter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid40_gci212739,00.html|title=What is pager? – Definition |publisher=WhatIs.com}}</ref>

Pagers operate as part of a paging system which includes one or more fixed [[Transmitter|transmitters]] (or in the case of response pagers and two-way pagers, one or more [[Base transceiver station|base stations]]), as well as a number of pagers carried by [[Mobile phone|mobile]] users. These systems can range from a [[restaurant]] system with a single low power transmitter, to a nationwide [[system]] with thousands of high-power base stations.

Pagers were developed in the 1950s and 1960s,<ref name = "Japan Today, 2019" /> and became widely used by the 1980s through the late 1990s and early 2000s. Later in the 21st century, the widespread availability of [[cellphone]]s and [[smartphone]]s with [[text messaging]] capability has greatly diminished the pager industry. Nevertheless, pagers continue to be used by some [[Emergency service|emergency services]] and [[Public safety|public safety personnel]], because modern pager systems' coverage overlap, combined with use of [[satellite communications]], can make paging systems more reliable than [[Wikt:terrestrial|terrestrial]] based [[Cellular network|cellular networks]] in some cases, including during [[natural disaster|natural]] and [[man-made disasters|human-made disasters]].<ref name="fcc-katrina">{{cite web |author=Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks |title=Report and Recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]] |date=12 June 2006 |page=24|access-date=14 January 2018 |url=http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/docs/advisory/hkip/karrp.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019063256/http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/docs/advisory/hkip/karrp.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This resilience has led public safety agencies to adopt pagers over cellular and other commercial services for critical messaging.<ref name="london ambulance procedure">[http://www.londonambulance.nhs.uk/talking_with_us/freedom_of_information/classes_of_information/idoc.ashx?docid=679d5048-2d40-44d8-bf01-60bffb6cf2ac&version=-1 London Ambulance Service – Pager and SMS Procedure] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222015300/http://www.londonambulance.nhs.uk/talking_with_us/freedom_of_information/classes_of_information/idoc.ashx?docid=679d5048-2d40-44d8-bf01-60bffb6cf2ac&version=-1 |date=22 February 2014 }} Section 3.0. March 2007.</ref><ref name="nfpa-1221">NFPA 1221: Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems, 2002 edition, at 1221–23 section 8.4.2.1</ref>
[[File:Skyper-stardado.JPG|thumb|An NEC pager branded by Deutsche Telekom for the Skyper pager service]]

== History ==
{{outdated section | reason=Prevalence of paging systems needs an update |date=February 2023}}
[[File:Motorolaradiobeeper.jpg|thumb|right|Original Motorola "Pageboy II" pager, used in New York in the late 1970s.]]

The first telephone pager system was patented in 1949 by [[Al Gross (engineer)|Al Gross]].<ref>{{cite web |title=When Pagers and Beepers Were All the Rage |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-pagers-and-beepers-1992315 |website=thoughtco.com}}</ref> Intended for the use of physicians, there was initial resistance to the idea of being permanently on-call, according to Gross.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kellman |first1=Laurie |last2=Parvini |first2=Sarah |date=Sep 20, 2024 |title=Doctors and first responders are among those who still use pagers |url=https://apnews.com/article/pagers-explosions-lebanon-doctors-security-israel-f35bd0f0e0a57bb5f37c139d1f32926d |access-date=Sep 20, 2024 |website=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> 

One of the first practical paging services was launched in 1950 for physicians in the New York City area.<ref name=":1" /> Physicians paid US$12 per month and carried a {{convert|200|g|adj=on|0}} pager that would receive phone messages within {{convert|40|km}} of a single transmitter tower. The system was manufactured by the Reevesound Company and operated by Telanswerphone.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ZyEDAAAAMBAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ZyEDAAAAMBAJ/page/n105 104]|quote=popular science 1950 can our jets support.|title=Popular Science|first=Bonnier|last=Corporation|date=1 January 1951|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In 1960, [[John Francis Mitchell]] combined elements of [[Motorola]]'s [[walkie-talkie]] and automobile radio technologies to create the first transistorized pager,<ref name=mitchellbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.brophy.net/PivotX/?p=john-francis-mitchell-biography|title=John F. Mitchell Biography|website=brophy.net}}</ref><ref name=giants>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofthecellphone.com/people/john-mitchell.php|title=The Top Giants in Telephony|website=historyofthecellphone.com|access-date=5 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117052435/http://www.historyofthecellphone.com/people/john-mitchell.php|archive-date=17 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=whoinventedcellphone>{{cite web|url=http://www.brophy.net/PivotX/?p=john-francis-mitchell-biography#CELLPHONEINVENTOR|title=Who invented the cell phone?|website=brophy.net}}</ref> and from that time, paging technology continued to advance and pager adoption among emergency personnel was still popular as of July 2016.<ref>[http://www.criticalalertsystems.com/newsroom/UseofPaginginCrisisSituations_V1.pdf ''Use of Pagers in Crisis Situations''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110125070241/http://www.criticalalertsystems.com/newsroom/UseofPaginginCrisisSituations_V1.pdf |date=25 January 2011 }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110125070241/http://www.criticalalertsystems.com/newsroom/UseofPaginginCrisisSituations_V1.pdf Archive])</ref>

In 1962, the [[Bell System]], the U.S. telephone monopoly, presented its Bellboy radio paging system at the Seattle World's Fair. Bellboy was the first commercial system for personal paging. It also marked one of the first consumer applications of the [[transistor]] (invented by [[Bell Labs]] in 1947), for which three Bell Labs inventors received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956. Solid-state circuitry enabled the Bellboy pager, about the size of a small TV remote device, to fit into a customer's pocket or purse, quite a feat at that time. The Bellboy was a terminal that notified the user when someone was trying to call them. Bell System Bellboy radio pagers each used three [[reed receiver]] relays, each relay tuned to one of 33 different frequencies, selectively ringing a particular customer when all three relays were activated at the same time—a precursor of [[DTMF]].<ref name="keller">{{citation | first = A. C. | last = Keller | title = Recent Developments in Bell System Relays – Particularly Sealed Contact and Miniature Relays | url = http://www3.alcatel-lucent.com/bstj/vol43-1964/articles/bstj43-1-15.pdf | publisher = The Bell System Technical Journal | year = 1964 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> When the person received an audible signal (a buzz) on the pager, the user found a telephone and called the service center, which informed the user of the caller's message. 

In the mid-1980s, tone and voice radio paging became popular among emergency responders and professionals. Tone and voice pagers were activated either by a local base station, or through a telephone number assigned to each individual pager.  In the 1990s, pagers became popular among the general public as a cheaper, smaller, and more reliable alternative to [[mobile phone]]s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Perry |first1=Alex |title=Hey Gen Z, this is a pager, and in the '90s they were everywhere |url=https://mashable.com/article/pagers-explained-90s-week |website=[[Mashable]] |access-date=29 September 2023 |date=31 August 2019}}</ref> The [[ReFLEX]] protocol was developed in the mid-1990s.

As prices for mobile phones declined, small form factor phones like the [[Motorola StarTAC]] and the [[Nokia]] [[Series 40]] line came on the market, cellular connectivity expanded, and digital phones adopted [[text messaging]], most pager customers outside of specialist fields migrated to mobile phones toward the end of the 1990s. While Motorola announced the end of its new pager manufacturing in 2001,<ref name=cbctelus>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/telus-may-be-closing-its-pager-network-but-the-beeper-isn-t-dead-yet-1.2929237|title=Why the pager isn't dead yet}}</ref> pagers remained in use in large hospital complexes.<ref name=":0" /> First responders in rural areas with inadequate cellular coverage are often issued pagers{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}.

The [[2005 London bombings]] resulted in overload of [[TETRA]] systems by the emergency services and showed that pagers, with their absence of necessity to transmit an acknowledgement before showing the message, and the related capability to operate on very low signal levels, are not completely outclassed by their successors.<ref name="london ambulance 7 july review">{{cite web|url=http://www.londonambulance.nhs.uk/news/news_archive/response_to_london_assembly_7.aspx|title=London Ambulance Service – Response to London Assembly 7 July Review Committee report|website=londonambulance.nhs.uk|date=7 December 2009 }}</ref> Volunteer firefighters, EMS paramedics and rescue squad members usually carry pagers to alert them of emergency call outs for their department. These pagers receive a special tone from a fire department radio frequency.

[[File:Pagertec_Smart_Stack_Pro,_Groningen_(2019)_02.jpg|thumb|A restaurant pager alerting customers to collect their order]]
Restaurant pagers remain in wide use since the 2000s. Customers are given a portable receiver that would usually vibrate, flash, or beep when a table becomes free or when their meal is ready.<ref name="restaurant-pagers"/> Pagers have been popular with birdwatchers in Great Britain and Ireland since 1991, with companies Rare Bird Alert and Birdnet Information offering news of rare birds sent to pagers that they sell.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/realdata/RBA_Pager_Upgrade.asp|title=Rare Bird Alert&nbsp;— Upgrade to the X3 Pager Today}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birdinformation.co.uk/index.php/products-services/birdnet-pager|title=BirdNet Pager}}</ref>

Today, companies like Visiplex offer similar solutions for onsite pager systems in the medical, education and commercial sectors.

===Decline===
[[File:Pagers.jpg|thumb|Pagers in Canada, 2024]]

By early 2002, pager usage was rapidly declining in places like North America due to the proliferation of cellular telephones.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/11/technology/the-bell-is-tolling-for-the-beeper.html?pagewanted=2 | archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20150527210223/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/11/technology/the-bell-is-tolling-for-the-beeper.html?pagewanted=2 | archive-date=27 May 2015 | title=The Bell is Tolling for the Beeper | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=11 April 2002 | last1=Selingo | first1=Jeffrey }}</ref>

The U.S. paging industry generated $2.1&nbsp;billion in revenue in 2008, down from $6.2&nbsp;billion in 2003.<ref name="paging industry market size">[http://www.anythingresearch.com/industry/Paging.htm AnythingResearch.com report on Paging Industry market size] 2003 and 2008 research data used with permission</ref> In Canada, 161,500 Canadians paid $18.5&nbsp;million for pager service in 2013. [[Telus Communications]], one of the three major mobile carriers, announced the end to its Canadian pager service as of 31 March 2015, but rivals [[Bell Telephone Company|Bell]], Rogers and [[PageNet]] intend to continue service.<ref name=cbctelus/>

In 2017 the UK [[National Health Service]] was thought to have been using over 10% of the remaining pagers in the world (130,000),<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/09/old-technology-nhs-uses-10-of-worlds-pagers-at-annual-cost-of-66m|title=Old technology: NHS uses 10% of world's pagers at annual cost of £6.6m|newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=9 September 2017}}</ref> with an annual cost of £6.6&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite news |title=NHS still reliant on 'archaic' fax machines |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-44805849 |access-date=12 July 2018 |publisher=BBC News |date=12 July 2018}}</ref> [[Matt Hancock]], (then) [[Secretary of State for Health and Social Care]], announced in February 2019 that the 130,000 pagers still in use were to be phased out.<ref>{{cite news |title=NHS told to ditch 'outdated' pagers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47332415 |access-date=23 February 2019 |publisher=BBC |date=23 February 2019}}</ref> [[NHSX]] announced plans in May 2020 to replace pagers and bleepers with "more modern communication tools," accelerated by the pressure placed on the service by the [[COVID-19 pandemic in England]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pandemic spurs NHS to 'urgently' speed up elimination of pagers |url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/technology-and-innovation/pandemic-spurs-nhs-to-urgently-speed-up-elimination-of-pagers/7027593.article? |access-date=28 June 2020 |publisher=Health Service Journal |date=11 May 2020}}</ref> In August 2020, a new procurement framework for clinical communications was launched which was intended to phase out pagers by the end of 2021, replacing them with "dedicated clinical-facing communication and tasks management tools" from 25 approved suppliers.<ref>{{cite news |title=New procurement framework helps phase out archaic pagers |url=https://www.buildingbetterhealthcare.com/news/article_page/New_procurement_framework_helps_phase_out_archaic_pagers/168536/cn164706 |access-date=19 September 2020 |publisher=Building Better Healthcare |date=3 August 2020}}</ref>

In Japan, more than ten million pagers were active in 1996.<ref name = "Japan Today, 2019" /> On 1 October 2019, Japan's last paging service provider shut down radio signals and terminated its service.<ref name = "Japan Today, 2019" >{{cite web | url = https://japantoday.com/category/tech/Pager-services-to-end-Tuesday-in-Japan-after-50-years | title = Pager services to end Tuesday in Japan after 50 years | access-date = 1 October 2019 | date = 30 September 2019 | website = [[Japan Today]] | language = en | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191001193801/https://japantoday.com/category/tech/Pager-services-to-end-Tuesday-in-Japan-after-50-years | archive-date = 1 October 2019}}</ref>

In Russia, the last paging provider was closed in November 2021.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://4pda.to/2023/09/07/417896/v_rossii_prekraschaetsya_podderzhka_pejdzhingovoj_svyazi/ | title=В России прекращается поддержка пейджинговой связи }}</ref>

== Design ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2009}}
[[File:Timex Datalink Beepwear Pro.jpg|thumb|Timex Datalink Beepwear Pro: a wearable pager/watch featuring alphanumeric paging capability. Part of the [[Timex Datalink]] family of watches]]

Many paging network operators now allow numeric and textual pages to be submitted to the paging networks via email. A significant convenience for users given the widespread adoption of email, and commonalities in [[Email#Tracking of sent mail|delivery assurances]]. This can result in pager messages being delayed or lost. Older forms of message submission using the [[Telelocator Alphanumeric 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 service]]s personnel.

Common paging protocols include [[Telelocator Alphanumeric Protocol|TAP]], [[FLEX (protocol)|FLEX]], [[ReFLEX]], [[POCSAG]], GOLAY, [[ERMES]] and NTT. Past paging protocols include Two-tone and 5/6-tone. In the United States, pagers typically receive signals using the [[FLEX (protocol)|FLEX protocol]] in the 900&nbsp;MHz band. Commercial paging transmitters typically radiate 1000 watts of [[EIRP|effective power]], resulting in a much wider coverage area per tower than a mobile phone transmitter, which typically radiates around 0.6 watts per channel. Although {{nowrap|900 MHz}} FLEX paging networks tend to have stronger in-building coverage than mobile phone networks, commercial paging service providers will work with large institutions to install repeater equipment in the event that service is not available in needed areas of the subscribing institution's buildings. This is especially critical in hospital settings where emergency staff must be able to reliably receive pages to respond to patient needs.

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 pager number and have numeric messages read back to them. This was useful for times when the pager was off or out of the coverage area, as it would know what pages were sent to the subscriber even if the subscriber never actually received the page. Other radio bands used for pagers include the 400&nbsp;MHz band, the [[VHF]] band and the FM commercial broadcast band (88–108&MHz). Other paging protocols used in the VHF, 400&nbsp;MHz [[UHF]] and 900&nbsp;MHz bands include [[POCSAG]] and ERMES. In Canada and the United States, pagers that use the commercial FM band receive a subcarrier, called the [[Subsidiary Communications Authority]], of a broadcast station. On-site paging systems in hospitals, unlike wide area paging systems, are local area services. Hospitals commonly use on-site paging for communication with staff and increasingly for contacting waiting patients when their appointment is due. These offer waiting patients the opportunity to leave the waiting area, but still be contacted.

== Operation ==
[[File:NumericPager.jpg|thumb|The top of a Motorola "Bravo" numeric pager]]

Paging systems are operated by commercial carriers, often as a subscription service and they are also operated directly by end users as private systems. Commercial carrier systems tend to cover a larger geographical area than private systems, while private systems tend to cover their limited area more thoroughly and deliver messages faster than commercial systems. In all systems, clients send messages to pagers, an activity commonly referred to as ''paging''. System operators often assign unique phone numbers or email addresses to pagers (and pre-defined groups of pagers), enabling clients to page by telephone call, [[Email|e-mail]] and SMS. Paging systems also support various types of direct connection protocols, which sacrifice global addressing and accessibility for a dedicated communications link. Automated monitoring and escalation software clients, often used in hospitals, IT departments and alarm companies, tend to prefer direct connections because of the increased reliability. Small paging systems, such as those used in restaurant and retail establishments, often integrate a keyboard and paging system into a single box, reducing both cost and complexity.

Paging systems support several popular direct connection protocols, including [[Telelocator Alphanumeric Protocol|TAP]], TNPP, [[Simple Network Paging Protocol|SNPP]] and [[Wireless Communications Transfer Protocol|WCTP]], as well as proprietary modem- and socket-based protocols. Additionally, organizations often integrate paging systems with their [[Voice-mail]] and [[private branch exchange|PBX]] systems, conceptually attaching pagers to a telephone extension and set up [[web portal]]s to integrate pagers into other parts of their enterprise. A paging system alerts a pager (or group of pagers) by transmitting information over an RF channel, including an address and message information. This information is formatted using a paging protocol, such as 2-tone, 5/6-tone, GOLAY, [[POCSAG]], [[FLEX (protocol)|FLEX]], [[ERMES]], or NTT. Two-way pagers and response pagers typically use the [[ReFLEX]] protocol.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sagharbor.com/files/127838779.pdf |title=The Future of Mobile Data |publisher=SAG Harbor Group |date=2002-02-01 |accessdate=2023-07-31}}</ref>

Modern paging systems typically use multiple base transmitters to modulate the same signal on the same RF channel, a design approach called ''[[simulcast]]''. This type of design enables pagers to select the strongest signal from several candidate transmitters using [[Capture effect|FM capture]], thereby improving overall system performance. Simulcast systems often use satellite to distribute identical information to multiple transmitters and GPS at each transmitter to precisely time its modulation relative to other transmitters. The coverage overlap, combined with use of satellite communications, can make paging systems more reliable than terrestrial based cellular networks in some cases, including during natural and human-made disaster.<ref name="fcc-katrina"/> This resilience has led public safety agencies to adopt pagers over cellular and other commercial services for critical messaging.<ref name="london ambulance procedure"/><ref name="nfpa-1221"/>

== Categories ==

Pagers themselves vary from very cheap and simple beepers, to more complex personal communications equipment, falling into eight main categories.

; Beepers or tone-only pagers: Beepers or tone-only pagers are the simplest and least expensive form of paging. They were named beepers because they originally made a beeping noise, but current pagers in this category use other forms of alert as well. Some use audio signals, others light up and some vibrate, often used in combination. The majority of restaurant pagers fall into this category.<ref name="restaurant-pagers">{{ citation | last = Tyson | first = Jeff | title = How Restaurant Pagers Work | date = 6 July 2001 | url = http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/restaurant-pager.htm | access-date = 17 January 2010 }}</ref>
; Voice/tone: Voice/Tone pagers enable pager users to listen to a recorded voice message when an alert is received.
; Numeric: Numeric Pagers contain a numeric [[Liquid-crystal display|LCD]] display capable of displaying the calling phone number or other numeric information generally up to 10 digits. The display can also convey pager codes, a set of number codes corresponding to mutually understood pre-defined messages.
; Alphanumeric: Alphanumeric pagers contain a more sophisticated LCD capable of displaying text and icons. These devices receive text messages, often through email or direct connection to the paging system. The sender must enter a message, either numeric and push # or, text & push # or a verbal message. The pager does not automatically record the sender's number; the pager will beep but no message can be seen or heard if none has been entered.
; Response: Response pagers are alphanumeric pagers equipped with built-in transmitters, with the ability to acknowledge/confirm messages. They also allow the user to reply to messages by way of a multiple-choice response list, and to initiate "canned" messages from pre-programmed address and message lists. These devices are sometimes called "1.5-way pagers" or "1.7-way pagers" depending on capabilities.
; Two-way: Two-way pagers are response pagers with built-in [[QWERTY]] keyboards. These pagers allow the user to reply to messages, originate messages and forward messages using free-form text as well as "canned" responses.
; One-way modems: One-way [[modem]]s are controllers with integrated paging receivers, which are capable of taking local action based on messages and data they receive.
; Two-way modems: Two-way modems have capabilities similar to one-way modems. They can also confirm messages and transmit their own messages and data.

== Security ==
Pagers have certain [[privacy]] advantages and disadvantages compared with cellular phones. Since a one-way pager is a passive receiver only (it sends no information back to the base station), its location cannot be tracked. However, this can also be disadvantageous, as a message sent to a pager must be broadcast from every paging transmitter in the pager's service area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pagersdirect.net/pages/can-you-track-a-pager |title=Can you track a pager? |publisher=Pagers Direct |accessdate=2023-07-31}}</ref> Thus, if a pager has nationwide service, a message sent to it could be intercepted by anyone anywhere within the nationwide service area.

==Attacks==
On September 17, 2024, a [[2024 Lebanon pager explosions|massive attack]] against [[Hezbollah]] members in Lebanon and Syria was committed by Israel,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berman |first=Lazar |date=10 November 2024 |title=Israel carried out pager attacks on Hezbollah, Netanyahu said to acknowledge for first time |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-carried-out-pager-attacks-on-hezbollah-netanyahu-said-to-acknowledge-for-first-time/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref> who simultaneously detonated pagers that they were using. Lebanese Health authorities confirmed 42 deaths and over 3,000 injuries as a result of the explosions. In February 2024, Hezbollah leader [[Hassan Nasrallah]] had told the group's members to use pagers instead of cell phones, claiming that Israel had infiltrated their mobile phone network.<ref name=":82">{{Cite web |date=2024-09-17 |title=Hundreds of Hezbollah members wounded in Lebanon in mass pager hack |url=https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-820536 |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":92">{{Cite web |last=Kent |first=Lauren |date=2024-09-17 |title=Hundreds injured in attack targeting pagers of Hezbollah members, Lebanese security source says |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/17/middleeast/lebanon-hezbollah-pagers-explosions-intl/index.html |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref name="reuters12">{{Cite news |last=Bassam |first=Laila |date=2024-09-17 |title=Hezbollah members wounded in Lebanon when pagers explode |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dozens-hezbollah-members-wounded-lebanon-when-pagers-exploded-sources-witnesses-2024-09-17/ |work=Reuters}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
As is the case with many new technologies, the functionality of the pager shifted from necessary professional use to a social tool integrated in one's personal life.<ref name="importance-of-a-sky-pager">{{cite book|last=Heckman|first=Davin|year=2006|chapter="Do You Know the Importance of a Sky Pager?": Telecommunications, African-Americans, and Popular Culture|title=The Cell Phone Reader: Essays in Social Transformation|editor1=Anandam P. Kavoori|editor2=Noah Arceneaux|publisher=Peter Lang Publishing|isbn=978-0-8204-7919-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/cellphonereadere0000kavo}}</ref>{{rp|175}} During the rise of the pager, it became the subject of various forms of media, most notably in the 1990s hip-hop scene. Popular artists from the era, including [[Ice Cube]], [[Method Man]], and [[A Tribe Called Quest]], began referencing newly developed mobile technologies such as the pager. A Tribe Called Quest's single "Skypager" directly speaks of the importance of such a wireless communication device, with group member [[Q-Tip (musician)|Q-Tip]] stating that the Skypager "serves an important communicative function for a young professional with a full calendar".<ref name="importance-of-a-sky-pager"/> [[Three 6 Mafia]]'s "2-Way Freak,"<ref>{{Cite web |title=2-Way Freak Lyrics |url=https://genius.com/Three-6-mafia-2-way-freak-lyrics?referent_id=2029612#note-2029612 |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Genius}}</ref> [[Sir Mix-A-Lot]]'s "[[Beepers (song)|Beepers]]"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sky Pager looks like a Phaser |url=https://genius.com/Sir-mix-a-lot-beepers-lyrics?referent_id=7705012#note-7705012 |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Genius}}</ref> and "[[Bug a Boo (song)|Bug a Boo]]" from Destiny's Child<ref>{{Citation |title=Destiny's Child – Bug a Boo |url=https://genius.com/Destinys-child-bug-a-boo-lyrics |access-date=2025-04-11}}</ref> also make reference to pagers.

Illicit drug dealers used pagers to great effect during the 1990s to conduct commerce, using them to arrange meetings with buyers. Associate superintendent for [[Miami-Dade County Public Schools]] in Florida Gul James Fleming once called them "the most dominant symbol of the drug trade" and schools have previously forbidden students from carrying them because of the ease with which they could be "used to arrange illegal drug sales."<ref name=Drugs>{{cite news|last=Sims|first=Calvin|title=Schools Responding to Beeper, Tool of Today's Drug Dealer, by Banning It|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/25/us/schools-responding-to-beeper-tool-of-today-s-drug-dealer-by-banning-it.html|access-date=16 February 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 September 1988}}</ref>

In season one of the TV show [[The Wire]], the drug dealing crew of [[Avon Barksdale]] uses pagers to exchange coded messages and coordinate their activities.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0749450/plotsummary/ |title="The Wire" The Pager (TV Episode 2002) - Plot - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-04-11 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Telecommunications|1990s}}

* [[Minitor]]
* [[Plectron]]
* [[Simple Network Paging Protocol]]
* [[Text messaging]]
* [[Wireless Communications Transfer Protocol]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Pagers}}
* [http://www.notepager.com/support.htm Note Page technical support]—Technical information on protocols, carriers, etc.
* [http://www.800beepers.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=25&zenid=f081fb7631873c12bf1fdddc007ec50d 800Beepers User Manuals]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://archive.today/20130116021507/http://www.800beepers.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=6&zenid=f081fb7631873c12bf1fdddc007ec50d 800Beepers Enhanced Options / Services]

{{Telecommunications}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pagers| ]]
[[Category:Radio paging| ]]
[[Category:Consumer electronics]]
[[Category:Obsolete technologies]]
[[Category:Telecommunications equipment]]
[[Category:Telecommunications-related introductions in 1949]]
[[Category:American inventions]]
[[Category:20th-century inventions]]