After several years of lull, a paging operator is back in operation in St. Petersburg. Excom-Neda Paging is confident that they will not be affected by the fate of other participants in this once-developed market.
After several years of lull, a paging operator is back in operation in St. Petersburg. The company "Excom-Neda Paging" is confident that they will not be affected by the fate of other participants in this once developed market. The operator intends to survive by means of new services and reanimation of old, proven services. cellular displaced pagers in almost all Russian regions: paging operators no longer operate anywhere except in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Nevertheless, analysts believe that paging services still have their own narrow niche, although they will no longer be able to go beyond it.
In 2007, PT-Page and Excom-Neda Paging merged in St. Petersburg, as a result of which the only paging company operates in the city. In 2008, the operator completed the modernization of its equipment and, according to the company, is ready to start providing the most modern paging services. This sounds strange in itself. However, some organizations are still opting for pager communication. According to the director of "Excom-Ned paging" Grigory Dubrovin, it is stupid to completely abandon the pager - in Europe and the USA it is actively used emergency services... "Our main clients in St. Petersburg are dispatching, emergency and courier services, as well as security companies," he says. Thus, from the category of mass services, which paging was in the late 90s, the service has become a specialized offer for corporate clients.
Dubrovin noted that over time, the list of services provided by the paging network has been updated. So, now more and more subscribers order the receipt of a message not by a pager, but by a cell phone (in the form of an SMS) or to their e-mail... However, the operator also retained a unique "paging" service, when each subscriber is assigned a separate city number and messages can be sent to a pager without the participation of a dispatcher. "In my opinion, there are several reasons why other paging operators have closed in St. Petersburg - this is the inability to properly diversify the enterprise and business processes, as well as the inability or unwillingness to negotiate with other companies operating in this segment," he said.
IKS-Consulting analyst Maxim Savvatin told the St. Petersburg.ru correspondent that today not only the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the police and Ambulance, but also the media, public organizations and authorities - for them with the help of a pager, "hot lines" are organized. The advantage of the pager in this case is the low cost of communication and the extremely high throughput a network that exceeds that of cellular networks. However, iKS-Consulting emphasizes that paging services have already taken their niche and do not pretend to be more. Often these companies earn the bulk of their income from other telecommunications services, in particular, they lease the capacity of their call centers.
Representatives of cellular operators refuse to take seriously even the possibility of competition from paging networks. "Once the operators had a service of sending a message to a pager, but for several years now it has been closed," said Maria Georgievskaya, press secretary of the St. Petersburg MegaFon. According to her, as a kind of niche offer, paging has the right to exist, but in the mass market, the development of SMS services at one time did not leave the pager a chance. "The telecommunications market does not know any other service that would bring such a profit with minimal investment," Georgievskaya said.
Operators of the "Big Three" in St. Petersburg provide tariffs with cheap SMS (Red_text from MTS, "Monster of communication" from "Beeline") or ordering packages with SMS, the payment for which is made with bonus points, like MegaFon. It should be reminded that in 2007 the share of SMS and MMS in the total volume of additional services Russian mobile operators accounted for 54%.
The pager, on the other hand, is configured not to exchange, but to receive messages. It is a paging receiver that receives messages over the paging network. To send a message, you need to contact the dispatcher, indicate the number or name of the subscriber and dictate the text in English or Russian. The paging network is built according to the same principles as the cellular one. Receiving stability is ensured base stations.
It is noteworthy that paging communication helps to save the frequency resource. So, in cellular networks, one frequency (with a channel width of 25 kHz) has a resource for servicing 25-50 subscribers, and in paging networks - 10-15 thousand subscribers (POCSAG standard) and 40-80 thousand (FLEX standard). The cost of a subscription service, including a prepaid message package (at least 500), largely depends on the pager model. So, for a 1-line pager the subscriber will pay about 200 rubles, for a 4-line pager - 400 rubles. per month. The networks also provide for the transmission of messages without using a pager (from 250 rubles).
Natalia RYZHKOVA
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Curious electronic devices that make our life easier began to appear in the middle of the 20th century.
Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge - technologies are developing at a crazy speed. However, thousands of people around the world still use pagers, dot matrix printers and landline telephones... Why are all these obsolete things still popular today? site to understand this issue: we present to your attention a list of technical devices from the last century, which people still use with pleasure.
Photo: pixabay.comMany American hospitals still have huge fax machines. Electronic transfer of documents, X-rays and other papers between some medical institutions in America (and even within the same clinic) is still impossible, as it is supposedly "unsafe", according to retrogrades. personal information can be intercepted in case sending e-mail while fax provides complete confidentiality.
Photo: I, Kevster / wikipedia.org
The archaic text messaging device was very popular in the 90s. A pager in Russia was considered an indicator of the success and coolness of its owner. But, indeed, then it was a real curiosity. So who, and most importantly, why is using pagers now? In the UK, these gadgets are popular with paramedics and rescuers. The pager has been working for a very long time. offline and can receive a message even in a place where it does not "catch" a cell phone. Ornithologists and wildlife enthusiasts also use it - the latter subscribe in advance to a regular mailing from a special service.
16-bit game console
Photo: pixabay.com The days of the cult 16-bit video consoles Sega and Nintendo have sunk into oblivion. Modern computer games amaze with the beauty of graphics and the realism of what is happening on the screen. However, true fans still remain true to their "first love". A similar set-top box can now be bought in the online store. For mere pennies, you can have yourself some awesome nostalgic evenings. Plus, if you play Street Fighter or beat Mario in half an hour, you can take part in a special tournament. Similar competitions take place all over the world, and the real masters of 16-bit consoles live in Asia.
Push-button cell phone
Photo: Larry D. Moore / wikipedia.org Now many people do not quite understand who might need an old-style push-button mobile phone. However, they continue to be released. The reliability of touchscreen smartphones still leaves much to be desired - they are quickly discharged, and may refuse to work in cold or hot weather. At the same time, a cell phone with buttons can work for almost a whole week without recharging, it does not care about temperature changes and even falls from a small height. Moreover, these gadgets are very popular with the elderly. Well, really, why do people who really do not want to change their habits and their comfort for absolutely unnecessary functions, a fancy smartphone?
Matrix printer
Photo: pixabay.com Yes, he's very noisy. Of course, he is very slow at typing. But the dot matrix printer is on this moment the most reliable and economical printing device. The resource of even the simplest is simply incredible - about 30 million characters can be printed on a dot matrix printer without replacing parts that eventually become unusable. Basically, these squeaking and squeaking units are now used in the printing of tickets, passes and labels.
Photo: pixabay.com
At one time, cassettes with magnetic tape "opposed" vinyl, and later the compact disc was invented, which, it would seem, was supposed to destroy the record industry. But it was not there. The fact is that analog recording has always been appreciated by music lovers much higher than digital. And in fact - music from vinyl sounds much cooler than from a laser disc. Almost every popular Western band continues to release new albums on vinyl records. Turntables are also being produced now. This has only one drawback. A turntable, an amplifier, good speakers and the systematic purchase of records are really very expensive.
“Pepsi, pager, MTV” - this phrase of Decl, the idol of the youth of the 2000s, best characterizes the period of the late 90s - early 2000s. At that time, cell phones were just beginning to capture the Russian market, and mobile connection was quite expensive. Pagers served as an alternative to mobile phones. These are miniature radios that could receive text messages thanks to the company's operators. paging.
We explain the principle of their work: you need to call the operator's room, name the subscriber's number (each device in the system is assigned an individual code), and then dictate the desired message. It will be delivered in a few seconds.
Ask: "How do you respond to a message?" No way. Of course, you can remember the so-called tweigers, two-way pagers that allow you to send messages in response, but now we are not talking about them.
In the USSR, paging devices appeared in the late 60s. They were used in the ambulance, as well as in some government agencies, such as the KGB. However, pagers became widespread in the run-up to the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Then the British company Multitone launched the Radio Search network in Moscow, which helped the officials to quickly coordinate their actions.
The "golden" era of pagers in Russia began in the 90s. In 1994, the first Russified pager MIT-472 went on sale (by the way, from the aforementioned Multitone). The device cost about $ 380 and could receive messages up to 7500 characters in Russian and Latin alphabets.
On average, the subscription fee was $ 40-60, connection - $ 10-20, although some companies did it for free. Subscribers were also offered to connect services such as exchange rates, city weather, traffic conditions, and even a program of evening clubs.
With the advent of cell phones, the popularity of pagers began to decline. Prices for mobile phones have become more affordable, and the need for one-way sending of messages has disappeared over time - it has been replaced by SMS messages. Nevertheless, pagers continue to be used to this day. For example, in the United States, hospital workers (hello, Clinic and House Doctor), police and rescue workers have them. Let's say more, the producer of the site, Kristina Zadorozhnaya, discovered that even the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, has his own pager, to which anyone can send a message.
Photo chronicle TASS / Rogulin Dmitry
There are still two paging companies operating in the capital - Telecomt and Inform-Ekskom. The first has been on the market since 1991, and the second has been operating since 1992. Unfortunately, firms no longer sell miniature radios. Inform-Ekskom simply continues to serve old subscribers (although they get calls once or twice a month with a question about purchasing). Telecomt, on the other hand, is the only company on the Russian market that provides services for the creation of paging systems.
In an interview with the site, Telecomt's general director Leonty Ogarok noted that the devices are now used mainly by doctors (for example, in the Kremlin hospital to instantly call an employee) and operatives. They also found a place in the corporate sphere and nuclear energy, where fire brigades, technicians and other personnel receive notifications by pager.
Ogarok named the main advantages of paging communication simplicity, reliability and speed. Messages are received almost instantly, which is why they continue to be used where this parameter is critical. As for the security forces (the American FBI), there are pros and cons. It is not difficult for attackers to intercept messages from pagers (although they are usually encrypted in the classical way), but they do not emit radio waves, which means that it is almost impossible to detect a person. In addition, until the pager sends a message, it is not fixed on the network. This allows you to act stealthily and quickly.
Now we are so used to smartphones that even staying for a few days with a stupid “dialer” is a real test. But in the past of telecommunications technology, there is one amusing, and very long, chapter: pagers.
Tiny receivers with black and white screens and scanty, by modern standards, capabilities. We will tell you how these gadgets evolved and why they are still in use today.
To begin with, it is worth understanding what is hidden under the definition “ pager". And why a modern smartphone that easily receives SMS messages is not related to it.
Yes, there are already people who do not know
A pager is a radio frequency receiver that can receive messages broadcast on a specific frequency over a dedicated network of radio base stations.
Messages are sent from a paging center - usually a person needed to call and tell the recipient's number to the operator. Later it became possible to use email.
How did pagers come about?
The first pager from Motorola
Initially, the system, vaguely reminiscent of future pagers, appeared with the Detroit police in 1921. Then the cars of the guards were equipped with primitive radios.
However, the pager's birthday fell on 1949 when the corresponding invention was patented by the inventor Alfred Gross ( the same person had a hand in the development of portable radios). Then the name "pager" was not yet in use, and the devices were intended for medical personnel.
At the same time, the Federal Communications Commission approved the use of such receivers only by 1958: this is a turning point in their history.
Already in 1956, Motorola gave such gadgets the name "pager", and at the same time secured its leadership position in this product category - for four decades to come.
However, the first commercially successful pager it appeared on the consumer market only in 1974 and was called Pageboy I. It did not have a display, and also internal memory to store messages, however it worked - notifying users with beeps.
Because of this feature, an alternative name was assigned to the devices, beepers. Such modest functionality was enough for that time. Having heard the necessary signal, the police returned to the department, and the doctors contacted the operators in order to obtain information.
This is what Pageboy 1 looked like
In the 1970s, pagers learned to receive messages of different tones and even voice messages. But technology continued to evolve at a leisurely pace. By 1980, there were about 3.2 million pagers in the world.
The reason for the relatively low popularity was the limited area in which the receivers could work - it did not exceed 40 kilometers... Pagers were used by local rescue, medical or police departments.
We also knew about this thing. Only a few
By the way, 1980 saw the first peak in the use of pagers in the USSR. Then the XXII Summer Olympic Games were held in Moscow, and pagers were given to a narrow circle of employees. However, the main events developed overseas.
Pagers began to get more sophisticated in terms of functionality. Models with tiny screens appeared - at first only numbers were transmitted, then it was possible to send and short messages, in the manner of modern SMS.
In the early 80s, the creators finally overcame the geographical limitations of pagers - they began to work on the scale of cities, states and even countries.
In addition, the sender could order the sending of a message to certain time or repeated calls - so that the subscriber will surely receive the message, even if temporarily outside the coverage of the paging network.
At the head was Motorola, which in 1986 released the world's most popular pager model, the Bravo.
In 1988, SkyTel officially launched a nationwide paging network in the United States with support for text messages, which provoked a stir among consumers. By 1990, there were about 22 million active pagers in the world, by 1994 this number had already reached 61 million.
The pager became a status device - in addition to its functional benefits, it brought importance to its owner in the eyes of others. The latest major technological innovations in the world of pagers are tweigers, two-way pagers.
They vaguely resembled push-button communicators and were equipped with a folding QWERTY keyboard, with which it was possible to type reply messages.
This is what the popular SkyTel Tweiger looked like.
The first Tango tweager was released by Motorola in 1996, with telecom support from SkyTel. However, by that time it was clear that mobile communications and cell phones would replace pagers back into the professional environment.
By 2001, two leading manufacturers, Motorola and Glenayre, had lost interest in the market.
Phones won.
Are the pagers dead? Not
In the United States, pagers continue to be used by doctors, police officers, rescuers, and a number of private companies, and Spok became the leader of the dying market, which in 2009 brought in $ 361 million in profit.
By the way, if you look closely at "Doctor House" or "Clinic", you will notice that all the doctors in the show wear pagers.
This connection has several advantages:
- highest reliability, incomparable with vulnerable telecommunication networks
- cheap devices
- the ability to easily record all sent messages for later use in protocols
- with an average frequency of use, pagers live up to 30 days on one AAA battery
As for domestic realities, the period from 1993 to 1998 became the golden age for pagers. They were a popular way to stay connected without spending over $ 1000 on a cell phone.
Pagers were usually fastened to a belt - some were literally wrapped in a belt of small black beepers. The market for devices stylized for them also flourished: for example, among schoolchildren, watches in the form of a pager were especially popular.
At the same time, the required telecom infrastructure for pagers was poorly developed... Over the years, not a single federal paging operator has appeared in the country.
Local companies worked, at best covering the region and adjacent territories. The average subscription fee ranged from 100 to 300 rubles, a lot of money at that time. To this should be added the cost of the device itself, which was at least 800 rubles.
Pagers can still be used today
Now, most paging operators have closed or changed course: in addition to providing paging services for private security or courier companies, they organize call centers.
However, in Moscow, for example, you can still use the services "
Now I have already begun to forget what a pager is. And just 15 years ago, he was a symbol of success. Those who did not have enough money for a cell phone, which cost more than $ 1000 in those days, plus considerable expenses for paying for calls, acquired pagers. However, rare owners of mobile phones did not neglect them either.
What is a pager
A pager is a small one-way communication device that displayed short messages (no longer than SMS) on the display. The peculiarity of this type of communication is that only specialized paging networks could transmit signals. Messages were sent to the apparatus from the paging center, where the operators typed them on a regular keyboard and sent them to the addressee.
To send a message to a pager, one had to call the operator on a specific phone number, give the subscriber's number or his pseudonym, and dictate the message. It was also possible to indicate the time when this message had to be sent. The operator sent the dialed message on the air, preceding it with a special code signal, unique for each pager, which caught the message intended for him, like a radio receiver.
If the owner of the pager was at the moment “out of reach” (for example, in the subway) or simply turned off the device, then he could have missed the message. To prevent this from happening, it was possible to order multiple sending of the message. In the absence of cell phones, this connection was very convenient. It was possible to send an order to a pager, ask to call, warn about something, give a signal, etc.
Pagers spawned a wave of anecdotes:
“Pull in your stomach, I'm suffocating! Your pager "(in Russia, the pager was often worn on the belt)
"Uncle Gogi, Uncle Vakhtang asked you to call him back!" - Thank you Pager-jan.
Yesterday I reread my pager. I thought a lot.
The invention of the pager
The first paging devices appeared in the United States in the late 1920s. They were invented by radio engineer Charles Niirgard. Legend has it that when he was in the hospital, he was terribly tired of the intercom calls, which were looking for doctors. It was these loud calls that prompted him to come up with such a "quiet" connection. In the 1930s, pagers were actively used by the police.
But the spread of these devices was slow. A more modern version of the pager was created in England in 1956 by Motorola... In those years, the number of network subscribers could not be more than 57, and the range did not exceed 200 m. Nevertheless, it was very useful inside hospitals, large offices, etc. At the same time, the name appeared - pager - from the word "page" (servant, page).
The first devices could only emit a beeping signal, due to which another name appeared - beeper. Hearing the signal, the doctor knew that he had to run to the operating room, the military man hurried to the headquarters, the firefighters were preparing to go to the fire.
Then pagers became more sophisticated: they got the ability to send audio messages. Having heard the beeper signal, the subscriber brought it to his ear and listened to the message transmitted by the dispatcher. Thanks to the system of circuits inside the pager, he could only receive the signal that was intended specifically for him. Other signals are not available to him.
Quite quickly, the beepers were equipped with small screens, on which at first only digital, and then alphabetic information was displayed. This information was not only displayed, but also remembered. Thus, the subscriber could re-read the message at any convenient time. Some departments in England and the United States still use pagers: they are very convenient and economical when two-way communication is not needed.
Modernization of paging communication
The heyday of paging in the United States and Europe came in the 1980s, when it became possible to transmit text information. The transmitted message, which was transmitted by the user, the operator hammered into the computer where it was stored. The transmission over the Motorola FLEX protocol was carried out either immediately after ordering, or at a time specified by the user. Repetitions were possible at a certain interval so that the subscriber was guaranteed to receive the signal and did not forget about it.
Pagers Motorola Advisor and equipped with an 80-character 4-line display with backlight, battery indicator, built-in clock, alarm clock. The memory capacity in Advisor is 52 messages at 6400 characters and in Maxima 231 messages at 18480 characters. In the 90s, Motorola created a two-way pager based on the ReFLEX protocol, the so-called “two-way paging”. But at the same time, cell phones began to proliferate, and the paging star went down.
Pagers in the USSR and Russia
Pager clock.
Having appeared in the USSR in the late 70s, pagers did not become the property of the broad masses. They were used mainly by doctors in the ambulance. The spike in paging activity came in the 1980s, when it was used by many services. But mostly pagers have already spread in Russia since 1993.
Then, in the 90s, pagers are on a par with rare cell phones, were a sign of the owner's wealth. Even a cheap Chinese watch has appeared in the form of this communication device. Many fanciers bought this watch to demonstrate their imaginary "coolness".
Operators of paging networks did not accept messages with obscenities, much to the chagrin of profanity. Even then, euphemisms like "6 la" were invented. And the operators obediently typed "lyalyalyalyalya".
A little later, some operators organized the transmission of messages via e-mail or a website where the user himself typed the message. True, a variety of spam immediately fell on the mail.
Pager sunset
Perhaps two-way paging - tweading - would have allowed pagers to live and develop further, but 1998 broke out. Then, on the brink of ruin, cellular operators reoriented from the middle class, which we have in Russia and today the cat cried, to the bulk of the population. Mobile phones and tariffs began to fall rapidly. The final blow was struck by the development of the SMS service.
Today, pagers are used only in some places, in local departmental networks, since pager communication and the devices themselves are much cheaper than mobile phones. In addition, the messages sent to the pager remain in computers, and this is already a document, but a conversation on a cell phone "cannot be put to work." But all this is only the remnants of the former glory.