7 shocking facts about paging

• Pagers and beepers are often associated with outdated, analog technology.  
• With near-perfect reliability, digital infrastructures, and encryption services, modern pager service consistently demonstrates its value in today’s healthcare.   
• Pager communication serves as a key component of any long-term communication strategy.  

As the largest paging network in the U.S., we’ve heard all of the jokes like “I haven’t seen pagers since I had hair” and “Those are still a thing?”  

We are quick to laugh and explain. Pagers and beepers are still very much “a thing.” For example, in the latest iteration of The State of Healthcare Communications Report, 82% of surveyed health systems include pager communication in their workflows.  

There are many reasons why pagers have lasted so long, especially within industries where seamless information exchanges are paramount. By the time we’re done explaining, we think you’ll be just as surprised! 

1. The reliability of pagers is nearly as sure as the sun rising each day 

Our pager service has a 99.92% reliability rate. Like Superman’s heat vision, wide-area paging signals can penetrate concrete and steel while a mobile phone signal searches endlessly for a connection.  

When you need absolute certainty that messages will be delivered, rely on pagers and beepers.  

2. Modern pager solutions use digital technology  

Don’t group pagers together with cassettes and VHS tapes; this communication technology is 100% digital, not analog.  

Spok has invested in upgrading our pager system to be powered by Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware, which is the same hardware you will find in your own IT network.  

3. Wireless pager devices can be encrypted  

Healthcare organizations will proudly tell us they don’t send protected health information (PHI) with their pagers. They’re shocked—then ecstatic—to find out that you can.   

Our GenA® pager communication devices offer encrypted messaging support via AES-128* encryption.  With display lock, remote data wipe, and display lock clear, your clinicians have a fully HIPAA-compliant communication tool.  

4. Your smartphone can receive messages from your hospital pager system 

If a wireless pager is not your device of choice, but you still need to communicate with your colleagues who use them, you can still receive their messages.  

Pages can be sent through our Spok secure messaging app without changing your original ‘pager’ number.  

5. You probably have a pager communication transmitter in your backyard  

Spok has thousands of paging transmitters installed across the country. A few of them are right on hospital campuses.  

Our Technology Operations Center (TOC) monitors the simulcast technology 24/7/365. If we detect an anomaly in Spok paging services, we dispatch our field technicians to resolve the issue.  

6. Pagers are your best friends during a natural disaster  

It’s true that cellular networks have improved over the years, but they still can’t hold a candle to the reliability of pagers and beepers. 

Modern pager systems operate on a different network than cell phones; if the latter is overwhelmed during an earthquake, snowstorm, or hurricane, your care teams will be disconnected without pager communication solutions in their workflows.  

7. A wireless pager will keep going and going and going  

You probably need to charge your smartphone every day and feel panicked when a charger isn’t readily available.  

On the other hand, pagers and beepers operate on battery power, using relatively little power in a single day. It depends on the exact type, but these communication tools can last up to a month on a single AA battery.  

Many healthcare organizations across the country include a modern pager system in their device mix, playing an essential role in their long-term communication strategy. With these benefits in mind, it makes sense why care teams continuously rely on pagers in crisis situations or as part of their daily work to save patient lives.