(09-06-2020, 09:12 AM)jmorris Wrote: If this became popular, i.e. adopted by a major phone hardware maker, cell companies would sign agreements with paging companies and bundle it on "privacy enhanced" service plans with different levels of paging service (local, regional, national) included. Done right your phone could know the paging coverage map and switch between paging and normal cell service as needed.
Back in the 90s there would be a few towers and east/west and all of US plans, the coverage was way better than cellular, it only took a few towers per urban area or highway stretch, think FM radio broadcast coverage good. Paging became super cheap by the 2000s, they even had free service if you would accept a few dozen spam pages a month; voicemail all as well as email to page gateways; you just email your pager number ie 5551212@thepagercompany.com. For a while back then I had no $ for mobile phone service so I used my pager for incoming calls and called back on my amateur radio club's repeater telephone autopatch. Only downside is everyone using the repeater got to hear my phone calls or voicemails if I couldn't find a payphone or landline to call back on.
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Anyways the way I imagined it the incoming page GUI would look like an incoming call or SMS and throw the notification that could be used for a smartwatch or whatever else needs that, maybe with a colored border or something so we knew the phone was safely offline. and instead of an answer button a safety yellow and black striped online and callback button maybe even with an are you sure dialog.
Whatever service used it would need an option to automatically send a caller ID if you phone was called directly but was offline so went to fallback number(this is in many cell carrier settings) but also forward SMSs when offline which is uncommon AFAIK.
A really good paging service with cellular bundle might need to be negotiated somewhere as a test market, possibly not the US/Canada where mobile telephony is an insane monopolistic mess but a smaller more open market somewhere like Eastern Europe or Asia.
here is one example, it requires a US ip address to read but starts around $16-24/mo for text paging cheaper of only numeric service. interesting that it CCs alphanumeric messages to your phone's SMS.
https://pager99.com/rates-99
This is a pretty good answer from one pager company.
From the pager99 faq
linked above)Why are millions of pagers still in use in 2020?
After all, doesn't everyone just use a cell phone with text messaging?
We've seen the articles declaring the death of the pager and we hear it all day long..
"Do they still make those things"?, "Pagers are old school", "What's that???!!!!" "I haven't seen one of those since the 90's!", and last but not least..."Why would anyone use a pager when they can have a cell phone"?
With millions of pagers in use today, Let us be the first to tell you that pagers are not only alive and well, but are THE backup communication source relied upon by people who absolutely have to be accessible.
Pagers provide an easy, inexpensive and reliable way to stay in touch. The main reason pagers have stood the test of time is because they provide privacy and urgency over and above what a cell phone by itself can provide.
Pagers are more reliable and much less expensive. While we would never say a pager is a substitute for a cellphone, just as a motorcycle is not a substitute for a car....Pagers have their place as a dependable wireless communication tool and when used in conjunction with a cell phone, you will not only have a backup communication tool, but you will also have piece of mind.
Paging is speedy and reliable, it is cost effective, it has excellent coverage and building penetration, it is simple, it rarely suffers from congestion, recent events have shown that it works even in times of disaster as opposed to cellphones, and it has a unique facility in Group Calling where large numbers of pagers can be paged simultaneously.
Not everyone is so important that they need backup communication, but when your burglar alarm goes off or your patient needs you or your kids need a ride home and your cellphone is in a dead spot, keep in mind that for under $9/month...you too can have an alternative communication solution for the people who rely upon you as opposed to just not getting the call in time and missing out.