Buzz
A technology that allows customers to wait comfortably, whether by shopping or roaming, and be notified when their table or food is ready. Bruce Gifford / Getty ImagesDining out is a popular activity. How often have you arrived at a restaurant and had to wait for a table? In the past, a staff member would take your name and call you over an intercom or shout when your table was available. While some places still do this, many have switched to using restaurant pagers.
You’ve likely come across these small devices. The pager is a compact, plastic box that the hostess hands over when you check in. This lets you wander around the immediate area of the restaurant. Eventually, the pager will light up or buzz, signaling that your table is ready. You return the pager to the hostess and follow her to your table.
In this edition of Mytour, we will dive into the world of pagers and uncover how they function. You’ll learn about the master transmitter and get a close look at the straightforward technology behind the pager. Before that, let’s go over the fundamentals of paging.
What does a Pager do?
A Motorola pagerA pager is essentially a simple radio that is always tuned to one station. A radio transmitter sends out signals on a particular frequency. All the pagers within that network are designed to receive the signals from that transmitter. As long as the pager is powered on, it continuously listens for signals from the transmitter.
Each pager is assigned a unique identification number called a Channel Access Protocol (CAP) code. The pager constantly searches for this distinct CAP code. Once it detects the code, it notifies the user and may display extra information depending on the type of pager.
There are five main types of pagers:
- Beeper - The simplest and earliest form of paging, beepers provide a basic alert. The name comes from the sound the original device made, but today’s beepers use various types of signals, such as sound, light, or vibration. Many restaurant pagers fall into this category.
- Voice/Tone - These pagers allow the user to listen to a recorded voice message when a page alert is received.
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Numeric - These pagers send a numeric message, like a phone number, along with the page alert.
- Alphanumeric - These pagers allow for sending a text message along with the page alert.
- Two-way - These pagers let you send and receive messages.
Paging networks, both regional and national, utilize towers similar to those used for cell phones to provide coverage over large areas. On the other hand, on-site paging systems used in places like restaurants operate with a small desktop transmitter. In the following section, we’ll dive deeper into this device.
The Main Transmitter
The main transmitterOperating the pagers used in on-site paging systems requires a master transmitter. The master transmitter emits the signal that the pagers pick up. A simple comparison would be to think of the master transmitter as a radio station and the pagers as radios tuned into that station.
The specific frequency used by the master transmitter varies depending on the model and manufacturer. Its coverage area can range from a few hundred feet to several miles, depending on the transmitter’s power. To alert a customer, the hostess enters the pager’s unique numeric code into the master transmitter. The hostess can also choose specific options like the code for "table is ready" or "lost pager."
Most master transmitters keep a record of the last few pagers contacted. Some systems can support up to 10,000 individual pagers—far more than any restaurant would ever require! A common feature is connecting the master transmitter to the restaurant’s telephone system, allowing the hostess or other staff members to initiate a page from any phone in the network.
A stack of pagers charging upThe pagers typically run on rechargeable batteries. A recharging station is used to conveniently recharge the pagers. For example, the JTECH pagers shown in the image above have metal contacts at the bottom of each pager. These contacts are connected by screws to metal plates on the pager's circuit board, which in turn lead to the battery pack. The screws also thread into exposed metal balls on top of the pager. These balls touch the metal contacts at the bottom of the pager stacked on top of it, transferring power through to each pager in the stack.
Exploring the Inside of a Restaurant Pager
The internal components of the pagerA typical restaurant pager contains a simple circuit board with only a few essential components:
- Batteries
- Speaker
- Light-emitting Diodes (LEDs)
- Motor
- Radio antenna coil
- Microprocessor
A basic radio antenna, consisting of a wire coil wrapped around a metal core, captures the signal sent by the master transmitter. This signal is then passed to the microprocessor, which compares it with the pager’s unique CAP code. When a match occurs, the pager notifies the user using one of three methods: sound, light, or vibration.
An audio notification typically emits a tone or a sequence of tones through a small piezoelectric speaker located directly on the pager’s circuit board. Some pagers even play a recorded voice message, such as "Your table is ready." In many cases, a series of LEDs blink rapidly or simply illuminate when the pager receives an alert.
For the pagers that vibrate, there’s a small DC motor inside:
The motor drives a small weight.This weight is attached off-center to the motor’s spindle. When the motor spins the weight (at speeds of around 100 to 150 rpm), the off-center placement creates a strong vibration.
So, the next time you're waiting for a table and the hostess gives you a pager, you'll gain a whole new appreciation for the simple yet effective technology that allows you to roam while you wait.
