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Text messaging vs.pagers
most of us use either minitor pagers or cell phones to receive calls.I've found both good and bad on this.The pager you can hear the initial call come across,but if you are in a bad area like in a store it come's in staticy.With the text you can read the message and not miss the call over the pager.Know the thing that I have a problem with is some of the time dispatch does not put the call over the phones.what if that is the only thing you have to depend on if you do not carry a pager or you left or forgot to bring it with you.That has happened to me quite a few times.I just wanted to know you're opinions on this.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Firegal77 on
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I hated my pager(Motorola)...it would go off and I couldnt understand it, and I had to have a radio to respond to it anyway, so it seemed useless to have to carry an extra piece of equipment with me when they could just as easily page out over the radio. I can see that the phone could be more practical for some, not only because most people have one anyway, but because you could read the message over and over if you wanted to. But again, you still have to respond over the radio, so why make it be so many steps...Let's face it, you are gonna be tied to the radio...lol. Yes, it is bulky and awkward, and if you want to leave it in your truck and carry a pager or phone, then you will need to be good at sprinting back to the truck to get the radio, course you will be doing that anyway, so in reality...it just depends on user preference. I prefer to minimize the number of devices I have to keep charged and with me. Just my thoughts...
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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It's awful hard to read a text message while driving... you have to pull over and stop to really do it safely. FYI, NY State has drafted a law prohibiting texting over cell phones and will probably become law over the next year or two.
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Permalink Reply by Brad Carlson on
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I have to agree with you guy's on you're inputs.The only one's who carry radio's are the chief's or if you respond on the truck but a very good point.nys does have a law against reading the text and cell use while driving but ppl do it anyway's.I always pull over or dont answer it while driving i'm not only putting myself at risk but other driver's as well.I carry 2 pager's and a cell.Why?1 is for fire and has both alert and the 2nd freq.which you can hear what is going on and who is responding.And my other is my own for HazMat,which has all call freq's installed into it.Yah I know gunho firefighter.lol.Thanks guy's.
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Yeah, almost whacker material Brad! Same here, 1 voice fire pager and one text pager for haz mat. And the cell phone on the other hip.
The NYS bill actually covers phones and not text pagers but it's really the same thing - a safety hazard. Of course that didn't stop me over the summer when I was responding to a haz mat incident and updates were coming over the text pager.
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We used text pagers for the ambulance squad that I used to belong with.They were ok.I also had the phone and of course the pager.All of the HazMat calls come over the cell,but alot of our f.d calls dont.But now there stepping up on that.Thanks Joe.
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Permalink Reply by Nikki C. Saunders on
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I like that idea with the text messages. We've always had problems with our pagers not working properly. I will bring this idea up with our fire chief. I will let you know on what he says about it.
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You have to set it up with the county dispatch.But yah do that. let me know.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Ellen Shea on
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Considering the loss of five young girls in a horrendous MVA last month, attriubuted to texting while driving, I think it's a no-brainer about whether text-messages are safe or not.
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I can see you're point on the pager and the text.I have the same problem. I like using the pager to monitor whats going on and what apperatus is enroute,and the updates.And the texting I also have the same problem with reading it at night or if it is someone texting me.
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and if your eyes are on your crackberry and not on the road? You might be the best driver since Petty, but all it takes is three seconds of inattention to end in disaster.
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Permalink Reply by ee779 on
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Oky Doky, Now we're gonna see all the whacker comments! Our dept. uses alpha pagers, well the 1 does the other uses voice. So I carry both, as far as I know our county doesn't dispatch anyone by phone! I carry the Alpha and voice on 1 hip the cell on the other along with the zippo and as far as getting the call while driving that's what the scanner is for! Oh by the way in both the companies I run with, only chiefs and captians have radios.
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