With the ever increasing networking infrastructures being seamlessly integrated to business today, you might think that in fact there would never be any need for ‘old fashioned’ paging systems within today’s environment. Well it is true to say that those computer networks are getting more and more complex and offer more communication than you can shake a stick at.

But actually, that’s part of the problem in any busy business.

Often there is simply too much to handle, what with emails, instant messages, online communications and many more options in this plethora of technological garbage. Indeed, are all of these ‘tools’ available to us simply a distraction to business itself? Often the answer can be a big YES!

So if we take a step backwards for just a moment and think about the real problems that business communications have it can be easier to simply see ‘the wood for the trees’ in an otherwise very cluttered business environment. But thankfully those networks are here to stay. And it’s easy to integrate a system that removes twenty technologies and replaces them with just one simple screen – available from almost anywhere. Now one enterprising company has developed a ‘networked pager system’ for the masses.

Someone developed exactly that. At first sight you may well think that pager systems are not what we need in our business. But consider this, if you have customers that wait, if you have staff that could be in any one of numerous buildings on your site, if you have staff you simply cannot find or even know if they are at work – then you really do NEED that software and system stuff.

Let’s consider that product a little further then it gets a little clearer why a company would indeed consider that product as a solution for their communications to customers and staff alike. Firstly, the system runs on your existing network infrastructure, whether Linux, Windows or Apple it makes no difference. It comprises of a ‘server’ component and that ‘server’ can be connected to from any client with a simple internet browser – and most are supported.

What can it do? where customers or patients are concerned the software offers a pager to recall the customer, a facility to show who has been paged and who has or has not returned and the system operates very simply so for customers guests or patients it’s a really useful tool. In fact customers and patients get a far better and efficient service than with any other product you could name – the bottom line for that is higher efficiency, increased quality of service and ultimately higher throughput with increased bottom line or more efficient use of budgets.

Of course, staff is a different matter. Imagine all the reasons why you cannot communicate with someone in your company? Not on site, not logged in, not even at work, can’t locate etc. The reasons go on and on – and you don’t even have to be a large company to benefit. The software for staff use offers, email, SMS, direct paging, Kiosk communications and even indicates if the staff are contactable at work today. Here’s an example of how it can work. You have a central console screen for each user which is via a browser on your PC. From there you can immediately see who is logged in – employees are listed on your screen by individual and it’s possible to see if they are on site (by use of a login system when the user arrives at work). However if that employee is not on site they have an ‘orange’ light by their name (as opposed to a green light if they are on site). You can see immediately who is on site.

Now, if you ‘page’ an employee, but he happens to be off site then a few things can happen depending on the way the system has been set up within the business. Firstly, the ‘page’ can be translated automatically in to either an SMS or email for delivery right now. In the case of SMS that communication will happen when the user is within the operational condition of his phone supplier and will be delivered – usually very quickly indeed. Alternatively he will receive an email when he next logs in. There is also an option to send messages to him which appears on his ‘console’ screen within the software. But there is even more to this software. Integrated in to the system is a ‘Kiosk’ facility.

This basically allows a user (administrator or designated employee) to develop a task list within the software and to apply that task list to users, groups or everyone. That task list can be viewed (and acted upon) from anywhere there is a browser with internet connectivity – in the example I saw it was an iPad being used through Wi-Fi in a Hotel. The cleaners used the iPad and ‘ticked off’ the tasks as they were complete and the system was updated in real time throughout the Hotel. Of course you could apply that Kiosk mode to any business where tasks need to be given out and followed up on a regular basis to ensure they are completed in time. Yet another feature available within the software environment is the ability to use ‘pagers’ over multiple buildings, areas of the country (in different offices) or even to ‘page’ someone in an office in a different country! And all without cost once the system is in place.

Typically with on-site paging systems, the range is limited and it’s usually very difficult to extend the range of a system beyond a mile or so. But this system uses the network itself to ‘send’ a ‘page’ to a pager without (for the most part) using the wireless transmission which is inherent in this type of system. Furthermore, the manufacturer has developed a way in which the effect of multiple transmitters affecting each other’s transmission is eliminated.

The system uses a type of ‘family’ of transmitters and because it is aware of your location within the organisation, the system will only page the employee from the nearest transmitters – thus eliminating the biggest problem with on-site pagers from ANY company.

Needless to say it is a manufacturers patent and other companies will not be selling that solution sometime soon.

So next time someone says to you ‘hey those paging systems are long out of date – we don’t need them’ just consider all of what this system has to offer the business, hospital or other environment where communications is essential.