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| FRIDAY - FEBRUARY 20, 2004 - ISSUE NO. 99 | ||||||
Dear wireless colleagues and friends of paging, I want to remind everyone that the IWCE (International Wireless Communications Expo) to be held in Las Vegas next month will again have The Paging Zone, dedicated to Paging and Wireless Messaging. Here are the basics:
I will be in the Prism Systems International booth #9077 along with my friends and colleagues Jim Nelson and Ron Mercer. I want to extend a cordial invitation to all of my readers, to stop by to meet us and get acquainted. I expect to see many old friends there and to make lots of new ones. Several other advertisers will be at the show, so I will be visiting their booths as well. Multitone Electronics will exhibit this year and they will be supporting the newsletter with advertising. Welcome Multitone! Occasionally one of my newsletters generates more-than-usual responses from readers. Last Friday's editorial about implementing Instant Messaging over ReFLEX did just that. In this week's follow-up article I have quoted many of the readers' comments that I have received, although some had to be edited at the readers' requests. Opinions are very strong, and just about evenly divided between Wireless IM being the "killer app" to "no, it's a bad idea, we tried it, it won't work, too many technical problems, etc." These messages are not coming from some kids using their parents' computers—they are from presidents, vice presidents, engineers, and senior managers of the companies directly involved. Separating fact from opinion, there were approximately 45 million paging units in service in 1999 and there are less than 12 million in service today. That is a loss of over 33 million subscribers! While we continue to make excuses and argue about relatively minor issues, the trend continues. Are we not like the band playing on the deck of the Titanic? Hasn't anyone noticed that the ship is sinking? I propose that instead of just idle talk, we enter into a meaningful dialog and try to "stop the leak" with some innovative solutions. Henry Ford once said, "Whether you believe you can, or whether you believe you can't, you're absolutely right."
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Keeping Paging Alive
A new issue of the Paging and Wireless Data Newsletter gets posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon Eastern US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the Internet. That way it doesn't fill up your incoming e-mail account. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world's major paging and wireless data companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers, so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. I regularly get reader's comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the paging, and wireless data communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my website. NOTE: This newsletter is best viewed at screen resolutions of 800x600 (good) or 1024x768 (better). Any current revision of web browser should work just fine. Please notify me of any problems with viewing. This site is compliant with XHTML 1.0 transitional coding for easy access from wireless devices. (XML 1.0 / ISO 8859-1) American Association of Paging Carriers A reminder to the paging industry: the Paging Zone will once again be a feature of the IWCE show in Las Vegas next month; it is sponsored by the AAPC. You should plan to come to the Paging Zone at the show, and if you haven't already done so, join the AAPC. It is the only organization that is fighting for the issues affecting our industry.
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| EDITORIAL FOLLOWUP ON WIRELESS INSTANT MESSAGING | |
It's All About Attitude Did you ever wonder why some people accomplish great things in life while others of us just get by? Let's look at some examples in this week's editorial and reconsider this issue of Wireless Instant Messaging. But let me first give you my conclusions. There is a big opportunity for IM over ReFLEX. Sprint and AT&T Wireless are teaming with Yahoo and AOL respectively, to offer new broadband solutions. The two-way paging industry needs to get some of this business—not all of it—just a few million subscribers. There are some non-trivial technical issues to be overcome to make the IM/ReFLEX solution user and network friendly. Surprisingly, solutions have already been worked out and presented to the paging industry but have been rejected, or at least were never implemented, before the big manufacturers pulled out of the business. The new ReFLEX specification solves some of the issues, like latency reduction. The point is that there are people who can solve these problems and make it work. The question is, are we going to let this opportunity pass? When most of us think about solving a difficult scientific problem, the story of Thomas Edison inventing the light bulb comes to mind. He kept on trying until he got it right—thousands of times. His record of obtaining more patents than any other American scientist still stands. Edwin Land is not quite as well known, but his life is just as inspiring. He came in second or third in the number of patents obtained. Edwin Land dropped out of Harvard after his freshman year to develop a polarizing filter. He hired his physics professor and started the Polaroid Company. His next invention was the black and white Polaroid Land instant camera. The color version (the SX-70) came several years later, and it was his most famous achievement. He specified that the new camera must fit inside a suit coat pocket, its prints had to be self-contained (no peeling apart of layers), and develop without human intervention in broad daylight. These ambitious design specs forced Polaroid chemists, engineers, and designers to invent entire new technologies from scratch, like automatic exposure (and, in later models, auto-focusing via sonar), flat batteries (every film pack contained a battery), and developer chemicals that functioned like clockwork and, just as importantly, stopped working once the print was fully developed. (source) The most interesting part of the SX-70 development effort was how he managed the project. There were two development teams of top-level engineers and scientists. One group worked on the camera while the other worked on the film. I think they were in different cities. When he went to review their work, the camera team told Dr. Land that what he wanted was impossible — they just couldn't do it. He told them that they would have to find a way to do it because the film team had just about finished with their part of the project. Then when he met with the film team, they told him that it was impossible to make the kind of instant color film that he wanted. He told them that they would have to do it soon because the camera was almost ready, and what was he going to do with a camera and no film? As we know, the camera and the film were both finally finished and they were technological marvels. His guideline was: "don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.'' Unfortunately some of the people who worked in the development and deployment of two-way paging gave up too quickly. There were some very smart and well intentioned people involved. Much of their work was rejected by their managers who were not so smart. Several of the people involved are friends of mine, so I certainly don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I do know what kind corporate culture they had to work in. This applies to both the manufacturing and the service provider sides of the business. I have worked in both places. Neither one is blameless. I remember one manager of engineering who was well known for his negative attitude and brow beating. In essence he would say: "the answer is no — now what is the question?" How could anyone get something accomplished when it had to be first approved by someone with an attitude like that? Have you ever met someone who, when presented with an issue they didn't understand, tried to hide their embarrassment by yelling and trying to intimidate you? Well, there are a few of them around. I don't know how they keep their jobs. Following are some of the readers' messages that I have received about Wireless Instant Messaging. I have not included names with most of the comments. I appreciate everyone helping to make this an open and lively discussion. This is for the good of our industry and hopefully it will help foster some positive changes. I must repeat the old sayings, "insanity is believing that the same behavior will produce different results" and "nothing changes if nothing changes." On Wireless Instant Messaging Personally, I completely agree with you on Instant Messaging. It is the "killer app". Especially for these devices which come with a complete keyboard. That said, however, I think that your words are falling on deaf ears. Services for IM over ReFLEX have been developed and have not been moved upon by the carrier community. [name on file] I wanted to respond to your editorial this week. As you may remember, I was personally extremely involved in the development of [an] IM application. . . So, I feel I understand this issue as well as anyone in the paging industry. Here are my current thoughts on the issue: Market issues 1. IM is primarily a consumer application. While some companies are adopting it, it's much slower than earlier projected. Corporate applications of IM might or might not be open, but probably not. 2. Consumers have gone to cell phones, never to return to data only wireless devices. 3. The primary IM providers still have walled gardens. The cell phone guys are able to work out business relationships with the IM providers due to their size and critical mass. Not paging carriers. Given the technical issue #1 below, cooperation on the development is required with the IM provider. So, until the standards are truly open (not just purported to be open), we are blocked from entry. Technical issues 1. The primary value in IM is the status of those on your "buddy" list. In order for this to be updated, it requires a significant amount of back and forth traffic. This is not good for paging. We designed some very involved routines that used codes for user names that were mapped to databases both on the device and server and only sent updates on specified events. While this would provide an acceptable user experience (we think ... not tested), it was very complicated and required significant development on a server middleware. This is something broadband can do well and with minimal development. So the bar is set high by the competition. 2. Latency (I don't know if this is market or technical) - Because it was never really commercialized, customer acceptance of latency of ReFLEX was not known. There again, this is not really a problem for phones, so the competition has us beat. The future of 2-way paging is in businesses and telemetry including AVL, etc. We have to focus on where we have sustainable competitive advantages, deliver with excellence and win those battles. Unfortunately, IM is not one of them. [name on file] Thanks for the letter. As always, it's enjoyable to read through the articles and comments. One comment I'd like to make is regarding your note on Wireless IM and 2-way Paging. I'm not sure if you had already left Motorola when we actually ran a pilot with AOL and [paging carrier] using T-900's. It didn't work too well because of the built-in latency in the ReFLEX systems out there today. It wasn't quite instant enough. Not only that, where AOL ran the test, [paging carrier]'s coverage (inbound as I recall) wasn't what was needed either. We did have an AOL IM app on the A009 that worked really well though. Of course, that was using GPRS. Anyway, keep 'em coming. [name on file] I love your newsletter. Very well written, very informative. I have some feedback for you on the wireless IM via pagers. Something I have been doing since my first beta SkyTel device, then my beta Blackberry and now my second Sprint Treo. It has always been a productivity enhancer for my personal and professional life. I now get e-zines, newsletters and all manner of information pushed to me. Yes I said Pushed!!! That is what made 2-way pagers great. The information came to me like a phone call. But cell phones have come a long way. My Treo now has a great PUSH based e-mail and IM system. I now live with a little less coverage in exchange for carrying a single device. In the long run that is going to be the dominant trend in the developed world. In the developing world however it is a very different picture. The $500 phone cost, poor battery performance and very poor coverage give 2-way pagers the advantage just as they did with cell phones in the 90’s. Now I could see something like SkySites in south America bringing the miracle of world wide instant communication to a huge segment of the population that just can not afford the coverage infrastructure and device cost of anything more. After all, two way pager BOM's are down to $20 now! Just my opinion. Cellular has become the capital juggernaut of the IM market in the US. That is a very hard trend to reverse. Physically Large third world countries with large rural populations are another story all together. They just do not have the capital or revenue opportunity to reach everyone with enough bandwidth for voice. But even that could change if a certain company I know actually begins shipping 200 user microsites close to the $1000 cost. [name on file] PS PS-2 Here are some outlooks on wireless in developing countries. Hope to see you at IWCE !!! About Messaging ??? I believe that the Paging industry as a whole has to approach the FCC about spectrum for a "Paging return channel" on VHF, UHF, and the use of the current ones for ALL 900 MHz. paging. Or the use of some of the one way Part 101 channels on 940 MHz. The Paging industry HAS to evolve into 2-way messaging to survive on a long term basis. We have to be able to send and receive higher speed data on the system, and an "open" format (unlike ReFLEX) needs to be found to allow the transmission of this data. Maybe a TCP/IP type format or something ??? Something that can be encrypted !!! The Terminal manufacturers need to look ahead, and envision a terminal switch that will both transmit and receive data. The switch will need to connect to both the PSTN, and also to the Internet for their interconnections and exchange of data. The Switch will also need to have the capability to know where the "field unit" is in the field, what channel, what frequency, what tower. Field Units will need the capability to look for the switch, and change channels. We need to become the "Providers" of that data system that the cities want to put in for their "First Responders", we can cover the areas that the cities and states can't afford to cover. WE NEED TO START THIS CHANGE NOW !!!!!! The latest from the Cellular industry ???? Alltel is going to be laying off !!! Starting this week. Per an Alltel technician. All at the time that Verizon is now going to be giving away it's airtime "free" to its customers. The Cellular companies will soon be giving away Messaging on their systems as a loss leader. Wireline and Wireless LNP are going to cost the industry far more than it is worth to have the customer, due to porting costs for "each" phone call. The Cellular industry will try to "cram" every type of communications they can on their systems to get the "edge", all in the end to give them away. Cellular's true calling will end up to be wireless "live" video phones. Why just talk, or message, when you can look somebody in the eye !!! Hopefully by that time, as their spectrum gets smaller, they will abandon the messaging and data services that they were providing for "free" to use the spectrum for paying video service. [name on file] OK, Brad, first of all, thanks for your weekly update on the paging industry. It's very informative. However, I happen to be [edited], and your continual bashing of MBA degreed people has "forced" me to send you a response (all good humor intended, here). I have both an MBA and a BSEE. While many marketing and MBA people don't fully understand or appreciate technology like we engineers do, it is only through marketing that companies can engage and excite customers about products and services. Sure, sales people, engineers and others can talk to customers, but when they talk to a customer about all the wonderful things product/service xyz can do, and how this can make their lives better, they're engaged in marketing activities. In my experience, unless you're Google or some other <0.01% of the population that gets free PR, publicity and other word of mouth advertising, the notion of "if you build it, they will come" is fiction, best left for Hollywood movies staring Kevin Costner. Marketing is the creation of new and better ways to describe and sell existing and emerging technologies. If marketing is left to engineers, then great things will be built but nobody will create a "slick" and powerful "on target" marketing message to engage the consumer. If marketing is left to the executives of a company, you'll get things like "Voice Paging" that suck the limited resources out of Motorola when they should be working on 2-way paging with integrated IM. Marketing is looking into the crystal ball and putting product A together with service B and creating a buzz about how A+B makes people's lives better. Of course, it's always up to the engineers to tell the marketing people that the marketing idea is either absolutely crazy, or hopefully, just crazy enough to work. In short, it's we MBA types that "should" have the perspective of the engineering community AND the consumers in order to determine what will work and what won't. It's unfortunate that you've had to work with Harvard MBAs because I've never met one that could do what I've just described - maybe you should talk with more Northwestern/Kellogg MBA students or SMU Cox School of Business graduates. I know plenty of these marketing MBA people and they mostly "get it". By the way, I've been "sold" on your 2-way paging IM message for the past four years - it's all about execution at this point, and since 2-way paging doesn't have 100 million worldwide subscribers, it's hard to get the attention of AOL, MSN and/or Yahoo! It's an uphill battle for sure, but I agree with your comments about the oasis - we're so darn close that we, as an industry, should be able to make it happen. Again, thanks for publishing your newsletter. I also hope you take my rebuttal about MBA bashing in the tongue-and-cheek manner in which it was intended. [name on file] PS I don't know if you recall that IM was totally hot on IM and 2-way paging at RTS and later at Aether. My engineering team under my direction created the IMP over-the-air protocol for efficient over-the-air transmission of IM data, and pushed to have a special FLEXsuite code established for IM in order to further minimize the number of bits sent over the air. Motorola licensed the IMP protocol from us and was in the midst of integrating it into the T900, when that product was terminated. If it had been successful, IMP was planned for Motorola's GSM two-way pager. RTS worked with AOL when it implemented IM on a RIM pager and was planning to do one for a ReFLEX pager. We did some of the infrastructure for AOL at that time a tried to consult with AOL on the OTA protocol. But they didn't allow us to participate in the OTA portion. I later found out through my contacts at Bell South Wireless Data (now Cingular), that AOL's IM was killing them on airtime inefficiency. Our IMP was dramatically different in efficiency, being designed by paging people not wired communications people. We were close to signing a deal with Yahoo to implement Yahoo Messenger using IMP. We even extended the protocol to address certain privacy issues that Yahoo wished to address. The major problem with IM and ReFLEX was that the ultimate volume of messages over the air per IM session is tremendous and the turn around time is rather tight. Compared to regular messaging, IM is very cost inefficient. New pricing models needed to be established to insure that IM could be offered on a fixed price basis, but then the carriers had to ask themselves if they would be getting the best return on their investment if wireless IM took off wildly. With the new ReFLEX pagers coming out now. Perhaps it is time to revisit issues. Aether owns the rights to the IMP protocol but probably has no knowledge of it. They might provide a waiver to allow those manufacturers to deal directly with the original designers of the protocol, so they could always approach my company, Wireless Marvels. Jay Moskowitz PS What we need in the paging industry is to sell more than basic messaging services. We need applications that have added value where the carrier will share in the generated revenue. For example, an automobile manufacturer pays a lot of money on a per subscriber basis to bring a potential customer to its door. GM has gone as far as asking people to sit in one of their cars and hit the ON*Star button to see if they have won a new car. Manufacturers will pay an advertiser for each lead brought to them. Broadcast advertising could generate revenue if leads can be generated. An eCommerce/mCommerce application involving the purchase of an item, can provide a percentage of billable revenue to the carrier. Allowing someone to make a remote purchase of a product via there ReFLEX pager could generate revenue based on the value of the purchase to the carrier, not just the revenue of a single message. I fear that the most serious problem facing IM in the ReFLEX world is its low perceived value. In the "desktop world", where IM is very successful, most people are not "always on-line" and the ability to know when "buddies" are in fact on line (and thus available for the exchange of messages) clearly has value. ReFLEX devices, however, are essentially "always on" and available to exchange messages at any time. Given this difference, I have long doubted that most people would feel that ReFLEX IM added significant value and thus be willing to pay a charge commensurate with the costs of providing IM service. The service could probably be given away or "sold" at a very low price. But the capital and operating costs involved in facilitating the service, the bandwidth consumed and the necessary adjustments to improve ReFLEX latency are very real and it is doubtful that a business case can be built for the service. Ron Mercer On Taxing the Internet Just my opinion, but I believe the unrestricted "free" aspect of the internet (especially e-mail) is what leads to the excessive abuses. I would gladly pay a small "TAX" for each e-mail I send if that would help curb SPAM. I believe that a one cent charge per each recipient on a message would be enough to make a significant reduction to SPAM. I know it may be very difficult to administer, but so are all the SPAM control laws that I have heard about. Would you pay $10 to send your weekly newsletter to 1000 people? You probably would if you knew that a spammer would have to pay $10,000 to send a million email messages for some hair-brained scheme! Years ago, I felt the same way when the major Internet Service Providers (like AOL) announced "unlimited" access. All of a sudden, the phone companies were caught in the middle having to deal with "free" local phone calls that lasted hours, and consumers had to deal with lots of busy signals until the phone companies caught up. If there had been a penny per minute charge, people would have disconnected instead of staying online all day (or night) because it was "free." Something to think about. . . [name on file] More Background Material The biography of Edwin Land: Insisting on the Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land, was written by Victor K. McElheny. Comments from the publisher:
Source: http://www.2think.org/land.shtml If you want to read more, here is the rest of the story about the Polaroid Company and how they eventually failed because they didn't watch their market. There is another good story about everyone wanting to give up except for one or two people. You will find it in chapter 13 of the Book of Numbers. | |
| PAGING AND WIRELESS DATA NEWS CLIPS FROM THE WEB | |
Wireless Merger Brings Smiles To The Street February 18, 2004 Yesterday's announcement that Cingular Wireless inked a $41 billion deal to acquire AT&T Wireless not only gave AT&T Wireless' stock a shot in the arm, but helped lift other wireless carriers as well. The deal, which follows long-time speculation that the wireless industry was headed for consolidation, left wireless carriers' stocks on the uptick at the end of the trading day yesterday. As expected, AT&T Wireless' stock got the biggest boost, ending the market day up 17 percent at $13.78. Cingular was able to out maneuver fellow bidder Vodafone by upping the ante and offering shareholders $15 a share to acquire AT&T Wireless. It was that more than $3-per-share premium (AT&T Wireless stock closed at $11.87 a share on Friday) that gave the Street something to smile about and sparked buying. AT&T Wireless rivals Sprint and Nextel Communications Inc. also saw a surge in their Nasdaq stock prices yesterday. Sprint's PCS stock closed out the day up nearly 8 percent at $9.95 a share, while Nextel rose 6.1 percent to end the day at $28.77 a share. Things were beginning to settle down this morning with Sprint and Nextel's stock both trading down slightly as of mid-day Eastern time. Many in the industry expect the Cingular-AT&T Wireless merger to pass regulatory requirements. CTIA President and CEO Steve Largent said the move will be beneficial to consumers. "Greater consolidation has long been expected in the wireless industry and should bring important benefits to consumers. We have consistently delivered competitive prices, better service and new innovations to wireless customers," Largent said in a prepared statement. Source: Wireless Week |
| FEATURED ADVERTISERS | |||||||||||||||||
| Advertiser Index | |||||||||||||||||
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Motorola Introduces Two New Pagers Ideal for Health Care, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and Utilities Markets Motorola's newest one-way pagers—the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager—are ideal for users in demanding business environments who need a convenient and cost effective way to stay in touch. Both the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager were developed for use in hospitals and medical facilities, manufacturing environments, utilities, hospitality applications, campus settings, and for businesses that own and operate their own paging systems.
Both the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager are available in POCSAG, UHF or VHF models and ship with a one-year standard warranty. As part of the continued support of these pagers, Motorola offers a two-year Express Service Plus program. This feature provides hardware repair coverage for two years beyond the standard one-year warranty for a total of three years of pager repair coverage. Both pagers are available through Motorola Authorized Resellers. MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2003. | See you at the IWCE show in  | ||||||||||||||||
For more information on advertising click here. | |||||||||||||||||
A fast and reliable alarming system is an indisputable prerequisite for emergency fire and rescue services to respond successfully and efficiently. State-of-the-art paging enables groups as well as individuals to be alerted. The Quattrino Voice and Memo two tone pagers are suitable for everyone, even for those working in an emergency during severe weather conditions. Continual further development of previous popular models has resulted in a practical, reliable and user-friendly device, innovatively housed with ergonomic operating controls. Design elements include a very long standby function and weather proofing to the European IP54 specifications. I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Swissphone. Please contact me directly for any additional information. |
Advanced RF Communications is a proud sponsor of the: American Association of Paging Carriers Our System design and installation services integrate all the "boxes" and deliver fully operational one or two-way paging "system". We can also "tune-up" that existing paging system with our diagnostic and troubleshooting services to restore System performance that has deteriorated over time.
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Need a good paging engineer? Jason Loefer is looking for a job. Atlanta Area Download his resumé here. | |||||||||||||||||
 Authentium's COMMAND Antivirus™ COMMAND Antivirus™ is used by leading education institutions, Fortune 500 companies and government agencies for one simple reason - it works. Based on the proven F-Prot engine and developed continuously over a period of more than ten years, COMMAND Antivirus™ deploys more easily, detects more viruses (and potential viruses), handles more file extensions, and returns fewer false positives than competing antivirus products. Authentium's new representative for Mexico: Enrique Llaca Enrique Llaca | Advertise Here Your company's logo and product promotion can appear right here for 6 months. It only costs $500 for a full-size ad in 26 issues—that's $19.23 an issue. Details about the NEW 2004 advertising plans can be read here. | ||||||||||||||||
 AAPC’s Mission Statement Defines Purpose
Our industry must move forward together or we will perish individually. If you want to get involved, please click here. Come and join us! The AAPC "newsroom" is a great source of information. The AAPC also hosts the Paging Technical Committee site. There is a lot of good paging industry information here. Click on the logo above to get a membership application. | High-speed simulcast paging with protocols such as POCSAG and FLEX™ requires microsecond accuracy to synchronize the transmission of digital paging signals.  Zetron's Simulcast System uses GPS timing information to ensure that the broadcasted transmissions between the nodes of the Simulcast System and associated transmitters are synchronized to very tight tolerances. This system is ideal for public or private paging system operators that use multiple transmitters and wish to create new paging systems or to build out existing systems into new regions. For more information about Zetron's High Speed Simulcast Paging System, the Model 600 and Model 620, go to: www.zetron.com/paging.
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WHAT WE DO. . . Prism Systems International designs and manufactures the Prism Message Gateway™ Series of products—modern communication systems for radio paging, voice messaging and e-mail messaging. With several models of PMG's available you can choose a conventional radio paging terminal, or add voice mail and email to provide all of your messaging requirements in a single integrated system. Some of our products include:
Prism Systems International, Inc. |  MAXPage
Commtech Wireless introduces MAXPage, a desktop paging terminal packed with features. Alpha, Numeric, Tone, & Voice Serial Interface Telephone Interface Alarm Inputs Features*
*Some of the features listed are optional and are not supplied as standard For more information, simply fill out the feedback form or contact us on the details below.
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The RIM 957 has a large, high-resolution display screen. This data-only handheld also offers:
Wynn & Associates is offering a special discount on these RIM (data only) units to readers of this newsletter. Please call 301-292-3030 or e-mail and mention The Paging and Wireless Data Newsletter to receive this special offer. | |||||||||||||||||
 ISC Technologies is the industry leader in the pre-owned Paging equipment marketplace. We specialize in purchasing, reconditioning, reconfiguring and sales of quality paging infrastructure. We can customize and configure equipment at a fraction of the cost of new. All equipment carries a standard warranty to insure your trouble free operation. At ISC Technologies we service what we sell and more. Our factory-trained technicians repair most Quintron, Glenayre, Motorola, and Skydata equipment. All of our repairs are done on a Time and Material basis, saving you money over flat rate repair. From vacuum tubes to surface mount equipment, we are ready to handle your repair needs quickly and cost effectively.
Web: www.4isctech.com |  Wireless Communication Solutions Hark Systems has provided the wireless industry with innovative products for over 20 years. The Omega family of products continues that tradition. The Omega Gateway performs the function of a TAP Concentrator, a TNPP Router, and an Internet Paging Gateway. This allows the paging operator with TAP and TNPP connections to their paging network to offer e-mail and Internet based paging services. Any message coming in via any supported protocol (SMTP, SNPP, TAP, TNPP, HTTP) can be converted to another protocol and sent. Pages can also be sent to e-mail boxes for safe keeping. Subscribers can log on with a web browser and view stored alpha messages. The TNPP router function has the most extensive routing and filtering capabilities in the market today. The Internet Gateway also has extensive anti-SPAM and other selective filtering options to protect your system. The Gateway is available as a turnkey system or software only. The Omega Unified Messaging Platform gives you the competitive edge by offering the ability to bundle a variety of services that can include Voicemail, FAXmail and e-mail as part of customized subscriber packages. Subscribers can view faxes, listen to voicemails, and modify features using a common browser. System administration can also be performed remotely as well as locally. This robust set of features allows the system operator to build a profit center with low initial expense and expand as needed
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Mark Hood mehood@cox.net Paging Field Engineer/Electronic technician in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area. | |||||||||||||||||
Paging and Wireless Solutions Come visit us in Las Vegas
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Daviscomms USA Inc. is your direct connection to Daviscomms (S) Pte Ltd., the leading pager manufacturer in the world with many years experience in Engineering, Design, and Manufacturing of highly-reliable, premium-quality FLEX and POCSAG Alphanumeric and Numeric pagers. Daviscomms offers unparalleled quality, features and functions. We perform our own stringent quality testing as well as certification by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to meet all of their standards. All of our paging products meet FCC and IC Standards for use in the USA and Canada. Our manufacturing facility, located in Malaysia, is a 40,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility. Customers, globally, choose Daviscomms for our QUALITY, RELIABILITY, ON-TIME DELIVERY, COMPETITIVE PRICING and our TOTAL COMMITMENT to providing the best value for their needs.
At Daviscomms, we are proud to provide our customers with end-to-end manufacturing solutions while delivering superior quality and support. Daviscomms is at the forefront of the industry with its commitment to leading-edge technology, cost-effective manufacturing and the highest degree of customer service. Daviscomms delivers low cost, high volume manufacturing solutions to our customers. We help maximize time-to-market objectives while minimizing procurement, materials management, and manufacturing costs. For information about our contract manufacturing services or our Bravo-branded line of numeric and alphanumeric pagers, please call Bob Popow, our Director of Operations for the Americas, 480-515-2344. (Scottsdale, Arizona) or visit our website www.daviscommsusa.com. |
RTS Wireless ADVX System Programming Concepts, Inc. provides authorized RTS ADVX Wireless Gateway Support & Enhancements. Our RTS lab includes source code control, development tools, and test beds for all deployed RTS systems. Call now to sign-up for our first class support of your aging RTS system. More info ... PCI (www.programmingconcepts.com) has been in business for 24 years providing custom application programming for medium to large businesses. PCI's primary business segments include web enabled application development, financial industry systems, telephony (IVR, CTI, and Wireless), Secure Enterprise Instant Messaging System, Microsoft Customer Relationship Management (MS-CRM) Applications, and a wide variety of commercial applications. Contact Sales sales@programmingconcepts.com | ||||||||||||||||
DX Radio Systems, Inc. manufactures high quality, high specification type communications products. The following is a list of products that DX Radio Systems, Inc. manufactures or supplies as a single supplied product and can be included as part of a turnkey system:
Performance that is tough to find anywhere at a price you can afford.
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| NEWS RELEASES | ||
Multitone Opens US Office & Launches BEST Reseller Program Multitone Electronics plc, a major UK manufacturer and the largest manufacturer and supplier of wireless business solutions in Western Europe is expanding the US distribution network for its solutions and is selectively seeking resellers. Multitone opened a US marketing office to support the introduction of its wireless solutions to the US Market. The Atlanta location will be spearheading the establishment of Multitone’s BEST (Business Enterprise Solution Team) distribution and service organization. The new office will also provide factory liaison, conduct training seminars, coordinate national marketing and provide system financing program assistance. There are two major product lines. PowerPage - a mid to large-scale private radio paging solution complete with terminal equipment, transmitters and a complete line of voice and digital pagers. PowerPage is a world-class product unequalled by any other manufacturer-domestic or overseas. Potential markets are healthcare and manufacturing. PowerPage is FCC & NTIA approved and has potential in both Commercial and Government markets, particularly in the Veterans Administration which must upgrade or replace all its hospital systems in the next several years with narrowband paging. FuturePhone is an advanced line of wireless telephone systems, the latest business tool for improving mobility and communications. FuturePhone systems, also FCC approved, are available for small businesses needing as few as several phones or for larger businesses having in excess of one hundred phone users. FuturePhone is license free (spread spectrum) and simple to install. Both PowerPage and FuturePhone can be integrated to work together and may be easily interfaced to alarm, monitoring, automation or other computer based systems. Major target markets are healthcare, retail and hotels. Multitone’s BEST is a premium program for re-sellers and features:
Requirements of resellers are a commitment to invest in demonstration equipment, training of personnel as well as promoting Multitone solution to current customer base, in addition to leads generated by its marketing program. For further information call 404-255-8399 or e-mail: steven.beeferman@multitone.com or visit www.multitone.com. Paging, Wireless Phones Adapting to Trends in the Healthcare Industry By Ron Wray Multitone Electronics plc February 2004
Private Paging Lives On Since then, private wireless on-site paging has evolved to be one of many healthcare applications using RF technology, but it still stands alone as a form of communications where voice and text information is delivered virtually instantaneously with a minimum delay — a factor that is still recognized by hospitals and other patient care facilities around the world as vital to first-rate care. For this reason alone private paging is undergoing a renaissance — an acknowledgement that despite all the hype over newer technologies, private paging is hard to find an alternative for. That kind of responsiveness is not guaranteed with a public system — particularly in times of emergency and in light of the well publicized economic woes of paging carriers. The face of private paging has changed for other reasons as well — to adapt to the changing needs of the user, to become better integrated with other information systems, to utilize technical advances in the design and manufacture of paging products and last, but not least, to comply with regulatory trends such as spectrum refarming. Meeting Healthcare Needs The driving factors behind the communication needs of medium and large healthcare institutions are those same factors that create the trends in private paging technologies i.e., response time improvement, cost containment, greater demands on limited (facility and human) resources and, of course, timely information to maintain life and facilities. However, it is not as simple as "more for less" — such as technology and offshore manufacturing driving down prices. If that were the case, then we'd still be back in the 1950s, functionally speaking. What's at issue and what is driving paging trends is more about system communication effectiveness, reliability (availability), integration with the information technology (IT) world and allowing hospital staff to operate more efficiently, which translates into better care and keeping costs down. Today’s paging solutions have evolved and matured over a number of years to be exactly what is needed to be absolutely "fit for purpose," which means you get the best return possible on your investment. Trends Follow Needs The most powerful feature of private paging, and one which is essential to quick communications, is the delivery of voice messages or voice and text combined. The spoken word is sometimes preferred as more urgent and powerful than any text message under certain circumstances. Cardiac arrest teams in hospitals will not settle for just a tone alert or clearly displayed text. In an emergency, people do not have time to read a message. A spoken message can tell users and team members what has happened and where to go in detail saving valuable time in the process. The voice feature also best supports the uses of multiple languages that are now increasingly present in our diverse culture. In either case, the ability to store that message (voice or text) can assure redundancy and improve communication effectiveness as well as convenient and useful reference information. With the advent of low-cost memory and digital technology, this feature will lead the trend in new paging receiver designs. Another trend is the integration and connectivity with other realms of the enterprise IT network. The trend is toward connecting computer-based devices and systems to enable fully automated messaging from life support systems. A simple "pull-cord" alarm approach doesn't suit today's high-tech monitoring and reporting technologies. The same holds true for facility (building) management systems, security and other types of equipment ranging from drug and culture storage to biohazard detection devices. Today, virtually all such systems have an RS232 communication port and related software to export messaging to external systems. In addition, the modern paging system design will incorporate the facility to activate calls and generate pre-defined text messages from simple contact closures (or openings), a very handy method for rapid deployment of alarm notification for high-security and specially protected work areas. Similarly, all larger healthcare enterprises have a local area network (LAN) computer system. The ability to send a voice or text message from any workstation or server is an important feature that any new private paging infrastructure will support. Changes in U.S. radio regulations are also dictating new trends. Existing and new networks must be able to operate on channels created by the FCC's "refarming" of the private (including government) radio spectrum. Pagers will need to be improved in performance to operate effectively in the new 12.5-kilohertz narrowband channel spacing environment. Reliability Above All Above all, a reliable private paging system depends upon a design that is not only comprehensive in function and expandable but one that does not suffer from a single point of failure. One trend is distributed hardware and software systems that do not rely on a central point for continued operation. For example, a one box PC-based solution, which at first blush may appear to do everything that is required, cannot guarantee the same degree of reliability, performance or redundancy that is achievable with a networked element type of architecture. In many cases, the distributed networking approach is preferable for developing a modular approach to potential expansion. As with all mission critical systems, the solution must be capable of supporting fault tolerant operation. That means an advanced private system must be capable of being automatic hot or cold standby configurable, so that on detection of a fault the system will automatically or manually switch over to a backup system. There is also a trend today for one institution to be the hub and manage other related sites. That requires management from a distance that needs to be reliable and deal in real time for back-up or disaster recovery. Why Not Wireless Telephones? Another wireless innovation that has appeared on the healthcare scene in the United States is the wireless telephone system (WTS). Known as DECT in Europe and other parts of the world, the technology already has over 70 million users worldwide. WTS is to business what cordless phones are to residential phone users. Essentially, they are full featured phones capable of being worn on the person and operating within the coverage of a private radio network. Wireless telephone systems are a new tool to improve business and government operations and customer service. They can have a significant cost and performance impact on the administrative side of healthcare. Everyday, people call a switchboard or direct dial a number and 60 percent are unable to contact the person they want — in operations, support or management. The call is often unanswered, may go to voicemail or a colleague answers the call and leaves a note on the called person's desk or in their voice mail. WTS systems have proven themselves to be very helpful wireless tools in improving organizational efficiency, response time and convenience for users. In hospitals and other healthcare facilities, WTS phones have greatly enhanced the communications between medical and nursing staff and management and supporting personnel. Because of their portability they promote the mobility of personnel to tend to more tasks while being able to walk and talk and, generally, be more effective in their job. Based on a spread spectrum wireless platform, the WTS technology available today is relatively easy to apply from an implementation point of view as well as in the operation of the system. Interfacing to existing telephone networks for traditional voice communications can take place through simple analog connections at the extension level to a PBX or they can be connected to LANs and communication with technologies such a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Beyond this there is the potential for machine-to-man communications. Several types of WTS systems and handsets are capable of delivering text messages to mobile users. Computer-based devices can generate the text, or the message can be generated by a human on a networked PC. Likewise, WTS handsets can generate control messages to turn equipment on and off, open doors, authorize transactions and a host of other applications that can make modern healthcare facilities more effective in operation, as well as improving safety and security. You can even send a paging call from your WTS to pager-only equipped personnel. But why do some institutions prefer paging and yet others will adopt WTS as their platform of choice? We believe that it comes down to exactly that – Personal choice! Some users do not like the intrusive nature and immediacy that answering a phone necessitates. This enforces behavioral change on users. With a pager you can decide which is the most immediate need, returning a call or dealing with your current action. This is why modern trends are leaning toward having a phone that acts as a pager, allowing users to make that all-important choice. Trends Provide Opportunity While the foregoing is only a brief view of paging and WTS trends and how they will affect the healthcare community, it points out that private wireless innovation offers a great opportunity for user and supplier alike. Like any other new technology or product, it will take education and experience to reap the rewards of better service, greater profits, greater patient safety and security as well as customer and employee satisfaction — a trend that is sought by any growth minded industry. Author BIO— Source: Private Wireless Magazine, February 2004 issue (pdf) |
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 ProfitPlus by Netflow—the software that streamlines pager billing and system maintenance. ProfitPlus interfaces to your Zetron terminals allowing easy changes to pager settings and billable services. Zetron Interface: Multiple Zetron Series 2000 terminals supported. Default pager settings. Terminal/phone number association. Future activation/deactivation dates. Easy group maintenance. Automatic Billing Records: Point of Sale transaction automatically enters pager airtime into monthly billing cycle. Contract pricing. Recurring and one-time billing capabilities. Tracking: Agent commissions. Phone number inventory/analysis. Product inventory transfer from stockroom to sales locations to customer. Capcode usage reports. Duplicate capcode detection.
Contact Netflow, Inc at: 800-236-5861 | GL3000 Cards
Transmitters
Motorola PURC UHF RF Trays & UHF 110W PAs, tested and ready to ship. Motorola PURC Advanced Control Units, tested and ready to ship.
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Supports both current and future radio paging network needs. Offers both analog (2-tone, 5/6-tone, Quick-Call I and II) formats with voice and digital (Golay, POCSAG and FLEX™) paging formats. Can be tailored to meet special operating requirements of your organization. Features redundant AC and DC power supplies, plug-in hard disk drives, standard MS Windows 2000 operating system, voice prompts, caller password screening, direct connection to your dispatch console and more. You can use common time source for logging. Supports PURC transmitter control or can be connected to existing transmitter control system. Redundancy option with geographic separation is available to provide additional protection for critical message control points. Let us discuss your specific needs. Other PMG models are available with more features and capacities. Also inquire about TGA’s Special Network Application Platform (SNAP)* featuring e-mail messaging inbound and outbound with Web Site Hosting, and don't forget:
* TGA SNAP is a trademark of TGA Technologies, Inc. | Developers and Manufacturers of Paging and Mobile Data Equipment Selective is a developer and manufacturer of intelligent paging receiver/decoders and mobile data equipment. The PDT2000 Paging Data Terminal is a large display pager designed for desktop or in-vehicle mounting and it, along with our range of other Paging Data Receivers provide a significant message processing capability. The PDT and PDR range have multiple uses and capabilities including:
Our mobile data equipment includes a range of Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) which may be interfaced to a variety of wireless networks including trunked and conventional radio, paging, GPRS & CDMA cellular, Mobitex etc. Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and GPS solutions, Dispatch & Messaging software. Local area paging systems, paging interception and message reprocessing software, field force automation and mobile dispatch solutions. We export worldwide.
I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Selective. Please contact me directly for any additional information. | |||||||||||||||||||
 TRANSMITTERS AND RECEIVERS PAGING EQUIPMENT EMERGENCY TRANSCEIVER SEA AIR AND LAND COMMUNICATIONS LTD I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for SALCOM. Please contact me directly for any additional information. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Paging Training Course
This is a one-day training course on paging that can be conducted at your place of business. Please take a look at the course outline to see if you think this might be beneficial in your employees: Paging training course outline. Although it touches on several "technical" topics, it is definitely not a technical course. I used to teach the sales and marketing people at Motorola Paging and they appreciated an atmosphere where they could ask technical questions without being made to feel like a "dummy" and without getting a long convoluted overly-technical answer that left them more confused than before. A good learning environment is one that is "non-threatening." Let me know if you would like to receive a quotation, or if you would like to have any additional information. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Signal Pro Test Equipment For Sale
This equipment is used for monitoring, optimizing, and capturing paging data which includes full messages, capcodes, times, frame information, and other technical data. For more information click here. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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For more details, and pricing on the 2004 advertising options please click here LOOK — more poster options • PATRON • All these terms mean the same thing: "people and companies that want to help keep the newsletter publication going with weekly news about business trends and technology in paging and wireless data." | Examples of New Poster Ads
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Satellite Uplinking Service
Glenayre Technical Support
Call or write today to learn more Alan Carle, Dir of Engineering 888 854 2697 x272 or | CUSTOM APPLICATIONS
Please call me so we can discuss your need or your idea. Or contact me by e-mail for additional information. | |||||||||||||||||||
| WI-FI NEWS | |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ZigBee™ Positioned to Drive Wireless Networking in Building Automation, Industrial and Residential Control and Sensors Markets in 2004 Alliance Membership Momentum, Successful Interoperability Testing and Positive Market Projections Set Stage for Adoption of ZigBee Specification in 2004 San Ramon, Calif. – February 17, 2004 – The ZigBee Alliance, an association of companies working together to enable wirelessly networked monitoring and control products based on an open global standard, reported today that it has achieved its 2003 objectives and is on course to meet its 2004 objectives. As of today, the ZigBee Alliance has grown to more than 62 member companies spanning semiconductor manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), embedded software providers and service providers. The organization also reported significant advancement of the ZigBee specification with successful interoperability testing by member companies. This progress will allow ZigBee to deliver a robust specification in 2004, which will enable developers to design interoperable, reliable and secure products targeted at the building automation, industrial control, residential-lite commercial control, and consumer electronic markets. The ZigBee Alliance entered 2004 with strong momentum from last year, highlighted by the more than 350 attendees at the group's open house in San Jose, California, during the fourth quarter of 2003. At that event, multiple vendors, including: Chipcon, CompXs, Ember, Figure 8 Wireless, Helicomm, Motorola, Sensicast and ZMD, showcased products visibly exceeding the performance estimates and firmly laying the foundation for ZigBee-enabled applications. Member companies are already moving to sample ZigBee-ready silicon, and OEM member companies are developing prototype products based on that silicon. According to West Technology Research Solutions (WTRS), by 2008, there could be more than 300 million ZigBee chipsets shipped annually in the home automation segment alone. By the end of 2004, the ZigBee Alliance expects to deliver the networking protocol specification and application profiles, built on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, to enable broad-based deployment of wireless networks. To ensure interoperability within these wireless networks, ZigBee recently held its first internal interoperability-testing event. Several member companies participated in the interoperability testing, which was conducted on two levels: the first was designed to test the 802.15.4 radio frequency (RF) functionality, specifically with the Physical Layer (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC), and the second was designed to test ZigBee network functionality. Test participants were extremely pleased with the level of success realized, especially given this was the first such testing event. Because the ZigBee Alliance has defined multi-vendor interoperability as a key objective to achieving reliability and ease-of-use for installers and consumers, this test event represents successful completion of a significant milestone toward that end. "The interoperability testing exceeded our expectations and sets a solid foundation for ZigBee as we work to deliver the ratified specification,“ said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "The result clearly illustrates that building automation developers will soon be able to take advantage of the ZigBee technology to build and deploy scalable wireless monitoring networks. These low cost, low power ZigBee wireless networks will help to centralize building management and home control systems. As a result, developers will benefit from reduced installation and remodeling costs, and end users will benefit from significantly reduced power consumption and cost savings." Already industry analysts are recognizing the potential for ZigBee, which is the only standards-based technology to address the unique needs of low-cost, low-power, wireless sensor networks for remote monitoring, home control, and building automation network applications in the industrial and consumer markets. In the recent WTRS ZigBee Market Report and Analysis, Kirsten West said: "In the not-too-distant future, it will be common to find as many as 100 ZigBee chips around the house. These will be found in light switches, fire and smoke detectors, thermostats, appliances in the kitchen, video and audio remote controls, landscaping and security systems. The same principles and models apply to networks in industrial, building automation and medical markets. "The ZigBee Alliance includes over 62 member companies from a broad spectrum of industries, working to help shape the wireless market by defining the specification, collaborating on new standards-based technology for monitoring, automation and control products, and leveraging their collective world-wide market presence to bring a new low-cost, low-power wireless communication solution to the market. "This is an opportune time for leading companies who want to have input on developing the ZigBee specification and create ZigBee products to join the ZigBee Alliance at the ground floor," said Heile. "Member companies are in a unique position to influence the direction of the technology." For more information on joining the ZigBee Alliance, visit http://www.zigbee.org/join/. ZigBee: Wireless Control That Simply Works # # # All company, brand, and product names may be trademarks that are the sole property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. For further information contact: Kari Hanson, Lois Paul & Partners |
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FLEX, ReFLEX, FLEXsuite, and InFLEXion, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola, Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| THE PAGING INFORMATION RESOURCE | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Advisor II pager's alphanumeric four-line display and expanded functionality incorporate many of the most advanced paging features available. A major advantage of the Advisor II pager is that it is synthesized which enables the user to program the pager to a specific frequency in the field. Other features of the Advisor II pager include:
The LS355 numeric pager enables users to receive a "call-back" number that can be returned at the user's convenience. This pager has a one-button design for ease of use. Features of the new LS355 pager include:
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Advanced RF Communications offers a complete line of products and services to support your new or existing paging system. Our RF and System engineering team utilizes the latest technologies and techniques to deliver reliable high-speed digital data messaging or tone/voice paging for local or wide area simulcast one-way or two-way paging systems.
TWO-WAY PAGING
If you see someone in the field (like salespeople, technicians, and delivery people) using paper forms, their company could probably save a pile of money, and get much better timeliness, accuracy and efficiency, by using converting to Outr.Net's Wireless Forms. Custom applications for as little as $995, delivered in just a few days.Outr.Net has a web page on Wireless Forms for Timeports at:
