The best part about two-way paging has always been the ability to send pages during busy meetings. "Will arrive 15m - Beth," my wife pages me. "Busy. Come in 30," I respond.
The worst part about two-way paging has always been the units themselves - behemoths the size of an overstuffed wallet, with batteries that last two weeks or less. How can you covertly send a message when everybody is trying to catch a glimpse of that overgrown piece of electronics in your hand? Rather than carry around one of these monstrosities, many people I know have stuck with their one-way alphanumeric.
Thankfully, Glenayre's new AccessLink II pager doesn't look like a two-way pager. In fact, this unit is actually smaller than my one-way. But it's a full-functioning two-way communications device that can send pages, email, and even faxes in metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Battery life is also boosted - to more than 30 days on a single AA.
AccessLink II has an easy-to-use interface that lets you view incoming pages, forward them to friends, or file them away in folders, and its infrared interface lets you send pages or program your address book from a PalmPilot.
What this pager doesn't have is one of those tiny (and useless) QWERTY keyboards. Instead, you compose messages one letter at a time by picking the characters from an onscreen display. It takes some getting used to, but after a few days you can send messages quite quickly.
Service provider SkyTel's two-way paging has other advantages: guaranteed message delivery and nationwide alphanumeric coverage for $24.95 per month. My only complaint about the AccessLink II is the belt holster, which scratches up the bottom of the pager's four-line screen. Despite this flaw, it's still a huge win.
AccessLink II: $195. Glenayre: www.glenayre.com. SkyTel nationwide two-way coverage: starts at $24.95 per month. SkyTel: www.skytel.com.
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