There are two related meanings to the word Paging in telecommunications. The first is the general act of broadcasting a message through a network in order to contact a remote radio system. This is used in cellular networks, for example, and is covered in detail in that entry.

Paging in the other, more widely known sense means the use of a paging device through a paging service. The paging device is a telecommunications device that alerts the user via a sensory message, such as an audible beep, flashing, vibration, or an updated display. The paging service is a service provided by the teleoperator that can be used to send one-way messages to the subscriber of the paging service.

Compared to the cellular phone and text messaging, paging presents a simpler form of communication that was used with older, analog technology. In a typical scenario, the sender of the message dialed a specific paging number and then continued dialing to form a number-coded message to be encoded and displayed on the subscriber's paging device.

First introduced in the USA in the 1960s Paging networks reached their height of popularity in the 1980s in most places. Although they continue to be used quite widely in the USA, they are considered to be practically obsolete in most of Western Europe and Asia where mobile phones are now the standard. Despite the reduction in popularity, the low radiofrequency used by paging systems leads to good coverage which may be advantageous in certain circumstances.

External links

• History of Paging