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Pager use now booming for business, home:
Unique Answering Machine Calls Pagers
Pager use now booming for business, home:
Unique Answering Machine Calls Pagers
one of the largest paging service providers in the U.S. “Business uses aside, consumers are recognizing that pagers are an effective, inexpensive way to keep in close contact with friends and family.”What’s one of the fastest growing “accessories” worn by Americans today? Would you believe, pagers?
Clipped to waistbands, purses and jackets, more than 30 million Americans regularly wear pagers to stay constantly accessible to business contacts, family and friends. In fact, the pager industry is expected to sell 11.7 million units in 1996 alone, an 11 percent increase from last year.
No longer seen as just a business tool to keep in touch with clients and co-workers, pagers are increasingly being used on the home front.
“Demand for pagers has increased dramatically over the past 15 years as the prices of pager service and the units themselves have gone down,” said Gregory Rorke, chief executive officer of MobileComm,
Parents are using pagers so their children can contact them when it’s time to be picked up, or to let them know they’ve arrived home from school. Pagers also let parents stay constantly accessible to baby sitters and daycare workers in case of an emergency.
Expectant mothers can be sure to reach their husbands when labor begins, and spouses can signal one another to stop by the store on their way home.
“Pagers used to be considered the business tool of doctors, plumbers and other people who had to
be on call,” said Ken Hilton, executive vice president of PageMart, 
a
leading nationwide paging carrier. “Now, they’re integrated into our culture and millions of us carry
them. We think of them as the logical extension to the telephone. That trend will continue into the
next century, when nearly one out of 10 of us will likely carry some type of wireless messaging
device.”
With the latest advancements in telecommunications technology, now you can even be paged when a message has been left on your answering machine.
New from CASIO PHONEMATE, the TP-340 combines an answering machine with exclusive Pager LinkTM, which automatically calls your pager whenever a new message is received.
“The TP-340 makes pagers and answering machines more useful and efficient,” said Rorke. “It eliminates the problem of calling your answering machine only to find you have no messages -- or several messages that should have been responded to hours ago.”
For the ultimate in pager convenience, the TP-340 offers unique Pager Learn, which automatically programs your pager number when you call your own pager.
“Pager Learn is the technological breakthrough that simplifies pager number programming to the point where this will be a mass market product,” said Stephen Knuth, president of Torrance, Calif.-based CASIO PHONEMATE.
When you press the Pager Learn button and call your pager, the product automatically remembers all numbers entered and the pauses between dialing the pager company number, any personal identification number and the alert number to display on the pager.
The TP-340 lets you choose between being paged after every new message or only if the caller leaves an important message and enters the pound (#) sign. The pager function can also be turned off completely.
For example, TP-340 owners could leave a greeting on their answering machine that says, “Please leave a message after the tone, and then press pound if you need to page me.” Or for added privacy, you could let only close family, friends and business associates know about the option to press pound for paging. This feature also lets you have people page you without actually giving out your pager number.
The TP-340 also lets family and business associates page you directly from the answering machine by pressing a single button. The machine then sends your programmed number, followed by a “777,” to the pager display -- letting you know instantly that the page is from someone in your home or office. The function operates even when Pager Link is turned off.
"This feature will be a big plus for families because it’s easy enough for even a young child to use,” said PageMart’s Hilton.
Someone can even send a special message from the TP-340 directly to your pager by entering a pre-arranged code, such as 3333, to tell you to “bring home a pizza,” or “stop by the office for a meeting.” The pager will display your programmed number, 777 and the special code.
Pager Link displays the number of all messages on the answering machine, and works with numeric and alphanumeric pagers -- covering the same geographical area as your pager service.
In addition to Pager Link, the TP-340’s answering machine includes tapeless, all-digital technology, allowing users to instantly access messages since there is no tape to rewind or reset.
The product’s synthesized voice announces the time and day each message was received, and verbally confirms machine commands. Users can play, replay, skip, repeat, save and erase messages remotely from most touchtone phones.
With exclusive Playback DirectorTM, controls such as skip, repeat, fast and slow are conveniently located on one large button. Specific messages can be selectively saved or erased during playback. The TP-340 also includes an integrated full-featured telephone and a speakerphone.
What does the future hold for pager technology?
According to MobileComm’s Rorke, in the not too distant future, many Americans will be using pagers as mini-computers to get updates on everything from weather, to sports scores, stock prices and breaking news.
“The question won’t be what type of computer do you own, “ said Rorke. “It will be, what type of computer do you wear?”
The Model TP-340 is available now in Consumer Electronics and Department Stores nationwide for a suggested retail price of $149.00.
CASIO PHONEMATE INC.
P.O. Box 2914, Torrance, California 90509-2914
20665 Manhattan Place, Torrance, California 90501
(310) 618-9910 . FAX (310) 212-6316