Cell Phones

Paging to a cell phone.

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  • Feb 23rd, 2009 11:53 pm
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Member
Feb 22, 2009
294 posts
88 upvotes

Paging to a cell phone.

I'm with Rogers, looking at Koodo. I carry a pager, which I want to replace with a Samsung flip phone, probably a U410, since that's the only one they carry.
MY office sends pages out on software: MS Quick Office, Commander Version 3.46. Some people receive text messages, some email. People using Telus had been having trouble receiving pages, but neither they, nor the secretaries sending out the pages, have the knowledge to know where the problem lies. So, the question is this: using that software, should it be possible to send a text message to a Koodo/Telus phone? Is there any reason why it would be any different than sending to a Rogers or Bell phone? I need to nail this down, since it is a crucial part of my buying decision.

Thanks very much for any suggestions.
4 replies
Deal Addict
Sep 5, 2003
2555 posts
156 upvotes
I see the potential problem there. That commander software utilizes a modem to dial into the carrier's TAP server (which is used for paging and SMS) Problem with that is that it's quite old technology and many providers have started phasing out support so it's possible either Telus has started shutting it down or the number it's dialing is in a busy state or it's going to the wrong gateway. The major downside is that you can't guarantee reliability. If you are in a state of evaluation, I would find a software package that utilizes a SMS gateway (over the internet), it would probably cost more since you would have to pay per message but it would certainly be much more reliable and you wouldn't have to worry about individual carriers.
Member
Feb 22, 2009
294 posts
88 upvotes
Thanks very much for that. I spoke to a secretary at our other office, who tells me that they use the same software, they have a Telus user on their system, and that "all the pages go out as email, and we don't have any problems with it."

One of the Telus users - who knows even less about this stuff than I do - told me that he was having trouble getting his pages "until I got the Blackberry, and I now I get pages as email and I don't miss any."

So, this stuff is sent as email and not as text messages? Does this mean that I would have to pay for an "email package" to receive pages?

I would have thought that a text messaging system would be cheaper.
Deal Addict
Sep 5, 2003
2555 posts
156 upvotes
razorboy wrote: So, this stuff is sent as email and not as text messages? Does this mean that I would have to pay for an "email package" to receive pages?

I would have thought that a text messaging system would be cheaper.
From the brief information I have on the product it seems to be able to do text messaging and email. It may or may not be cheaper factoring in the blackberry server, licensing, email server etc. but it's easier to manage. If you go that route you'll need a data plan for every employee and licensing a BES server per user if you choose to run it on a corporate email system. Also if you get enough employees, the carrier may be able to offer you a significant discount on hardware and data plans.
Member
Feb 22, 2009
294 posts
88 upvotes
Thanks again. I just spoke to a Telus user on our system, who receives her pages as text messages, is not charged, and has no problems receiving them.
[In fact, she chose Telus because they have the best reception at her home, which is right beside a large radio station's transmitting tower. which I suppose can be problematic, but I don't know.....] I take it then that the people who have had problems, did so because of some programming glitch or other. I think I am going to forge bravely ahead. If I have problems, I have the above to refer to.

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