Point-to-point communications: pagers, two-way radios and GPS.

• Author: Held, Shari
• Position: Communications

WHILE IT SEEMS LIKE everyone is carrying a cellular phone these days, they aren't necessarily the best communication tool for businesses. For one thing, they are still pricey--especially for businesses that need to communicate with many employees. Pricing aside, sometimes cellular phones are simply not the best option.

Pagers, two-way radios and global positioning system (GPS) devices have benefits that go beyond point-to-point communication. In addition to lower costs they may offer better coverage, reliability and even provide features such as instant invoicing. And customer service is often Indiana-based rather than located at huge, out-of-state call centers.

Here is a look at some new and not-so-new technologies that offer alternatives to cellular communication.

Pagers. Pagers have been around for years, and even though usage peaked in 1999 and has been declining every year since then, they are still widely used in the health-care industry, by MIS or computer departments, in manufacturing environments and in the public-safety and government sectors.

"One of the big things that differentiates pagers from cellular is the reliability of signal," says Bill Reid, vice president of sales and marketing for Indiana Paging Network Inc. (IPN) in LaPorte. "Pagers work, literally 99.9 percent of the time if you are in a coverage area."

IPN's strategy is to ensure reliability by providing blanket coverage throughout Indiana. IPN's 75,000 Indiana customers are served by 140 transmitters that cover even remote rural areas.

"Paging frequencies not only go further than cellular, the signal penetrates buildings much better," says Reid. "You'll often see people near a window talking on their cell phones, but a pager will work even in the middle of the building."

Pagers are very inexpensive. Numeric pagers that display phone numbers or company-specific codes have a one-time cost of approximately $35. Alphanumeric pagers that can send messages of up to 240 characters cost approximately $80. Monthly airtime fees range from $2.50 to $8. One downside: Pager numbers are not portable.

IPN customers with Internet access can send free alphanumeric messages through the IPN Web site by simply entering their pager numbers and typing in their messages.

"Since most people in the business environment have access to the Internet, that has increased the usage of alphanumeric pagers," says Reid. "Nearly 40 percent of our users now are alphanumeric."

Pagers can also be used...