Talking to Tom Jackson, President of Midwest Paging in Joplin, Missouri, you can't miss the edge of emotion as he describes what he saw and retells the stories of death and destruction following the horrid Joplin tornado. He was in the thick of things because his company provides paging services to the bulk of the emergency personnel, hospital and first responders who were responsible for coming to the aid and assistance of the citizens of Joplin when the massive tornado devastated their town last Spring.

For many people in this country right now, pagers seem like an archaic and out-of-date technology which should be replaced by smart phones that contain all the bells and whistles. However, Joplin is just one example of the absolute necessity for pagers and how they proved once again to be the most reliable and dependable messaging system for those on the front lines and caught in this monster tornado and other deadly natural disasters.

When the tornado hit Joplin, cell phone towers which cover approximately 2-4 miles per tower, were taken down. Estimates of the number of towers destroyed range from 13-20, which rendered cell service virtually useless and non-existent in the pit of the destruction. In contrast, Midwest Paging had two towers, one on top of the hospital and another tower several miles away. Unlike cell phone towers, paging towers can be located 25-30 miles away from the site they cover which provides the security of less terrestrial failure in these weather catastrophes. Even if the two closest towers to the hospital had been destroyed, the paging system would have remained functional from the remote transmitters.

Full article here:

http://voices.yahoo.com/article/9351892/paging-survives-joplin-tornado-10926584.html?cat=9

 

 

Pagers are an easy way to decrease costly budgets and still maintain the communication needed with employees. Advancements in pagers over the past several years are incredible and today's pagers are not simply "beepers" anymore. The pagers of today are capable of confirmed delivery even with basic one-way communication, which may be all that is needed for many employees. In addition, pagers with two-way communication, internet and email capabilities are some of the options on the market today. Pagers also allow for easy distribution of mass messages for all employees or groups of employees. With pagers there is no fear of reception issues found with cell phones since pagers operate on a radio frequency instead of the cell service networks. This will eliminate the problem of an employee not being in range and not receiving a message with critical importance. Unlike cell phones, pagers do not require charging and operate on a battery with usage times in the months and years, not hours like many of the newer cell phones on the market today. Not only does this eliminate the problem of a dead phone, it also cuts the electricity usage for charging phones, which in our environmentally conscious day and age is a very good thing for everyone. Imagine the reduction in electricity usage multiplied by the vast number of employees working in government offices, it is significant. Pagers are also less intrusive into the workplace as there are no obnoxious songs blaring with every call, pagers are much more discreet and less distracting, creating a more work-friendly environment.

Today is September 11, 2011, which marks the tenth year since America was attacked on our own soil and thousands of lives were lost.  In those ten years there have been steps and misteps as the country tried to make sense out of something senseless and we did the best we could to come to terms with our vulnerabilities and make sure we never had this experience again.  There are many commemorations today of the lives lost, many of whom were first responders who are the men and women first on the scene and charged with the fateful duty of trying to protect and save innocent lives.  Sadly, many of those champions became the victims and left behind broken and torn lives of loved ones.  As we remember those lives lost today, we would like to pay special tribute to the first responders, the second responders and all of those men and women who sacrifice their safety each and every day to make our world just a little bit safer. To the families of the innocent who died as they went about their business, their jobs and living their lives as they did every day, we send a prayer to you as well.  From every tragedy inevitably we learn and grow as people and a nation.  Hopefully, as we remember those lost we can also acknowledge lessons learned and know those lessons are helping make our first responders and our citizens safer and more aware of the world around us.  In remembrance today for lives lost and our country we pause and say, thank you.

 

 

There are many reasons pagers have existed and been used by individuals who depend on them in life and death situations for more than fifty years. Pagers can be easily carried, will function in the worst of situations whether natural or man-made, will get critical information to the people who need it most and won't break the bank in doing so. Pagers will work when you need them to work and can provide the type of benefits that serve its user time and time again in a very functional and necessary way. Maybe pagers aren't the sexiest technological toy on the market today, but should employees be on the job playing with their smart phones, or working and doing their job efficiently, effectively and economically? That is the real question! And we all know the real answer!

For the full article and the 411 on Pagers go to  http://EzineArticles.com/6107274