Conference 7.286::digital

    Just to throw gas on the fire, I wouldn't be to sure that you'll get
    country wide coverage.  A friend of mine has a Skytel pager, here in
    Greenbelt, MD., whose coverage doesn't extend 50 miles from here.
    
    Sounds like Cellular One coverage.  Put an antenna on in Washington DC,
    one in Des Moines, IA. and one in L.A. and you have country wide
    coverage.  My pager (not Skytel) has OPTIONS for statewide, regional,
    and country.  Mo Money...
    
    .02

Sounds like you had a lot of fun!!!

BTW, two points.  My FIRST Skytel pager DID have problems in some areas (like 
my client office where I spend >1/2 my time). After I got that replaced, I've 
had VERY few (but not none) problems.

Secondly...WHAT SW CAN I GET, AND HOW, FOR WINDOWS TO SEND ME A PAGE!!! (I 
bet your going to tell me to call the laging office and use VTX :-)  I would 
love to have my voicemessaging system (on a PC) tell me when I have a 
message, instead of leaving an overly long message with pagin instructions.

IMHO, Skytel does a good job if you travel much.

SteveS

>Secondly...WHAT SW CAN I GET, AND HOW, FOR WINDOWS TO SEND ME A PAGE!!! (I 
>bet your going to tell me to call the paging office and use VTX :-)   

No I'm not that mean. The name of the software is SkyWord Access For Windows.
I've been using it on Windows95 and it works like a champ. It's from Mtel
Technologies. 800-sky-user might be able to help. Or maybe an altavista search
for Mtel technologies? 

Tim

    "Lordy Lordy Lordy....the things we go through...."
    
    Someone, anyone tell me why we have an office of paging?  Is this now
    one of our new core competiencies?  Now I know what you're going to say
    next.  That we have to have a control point because before everyone was
    just "out there" cutting their own deals on pagers.  And I agree,
    controling costs is an important attribute of setting up any
    outsourcing arrangement.  But geez whilikers folks, how many hours do
    we spend wandering around our internal systems and web sites fiddle
    futzin' around on this stuff when we should be servicing our clients,
    building computers, selling solutions, you know that bidness stuff?
    
    Why is it soooo hard to do business with ourselves?  Can't we get that
    streamlined and then take it externally and apply what we learned to
    simplify our business practices with our customers?  Hmmmm...might be
    onto something here.  
    
    If I had this experience, I'd be launching a copy of this notes file
    right up to Mr. Ferrales or whoever owns this mess and say, "Excuse me
    I need some help with this process so I can just get on with my tasks 
    at hand."  You know, nice and professional and all but let's just get
    on with it, 'cause this is not the time to be running out of bullets in
    the trench.
    
    Mav

> Someone, anyone tell me why we have an office of paging?

Because someone noticed we had an office of swapping, and what with the new
virtual workforce, it seemed natural at the time.

___Pete

    re: .5
    
    Touche' mon amis

    
    I didn't have any trouble ordering my pager, and I got it in 2 days. 
    But, I can't get the darn thing to work!  I have had 2 pagers and none of
    them work, infact my whole group got them and out of 10 pagers, 3
    worked.
    
    We gave up, until Digital gets a better service then SkyTel
    
    lkp

Well this notes file entry paid off! I just gat a call from skytel. They
have enabled my pager and I successfully sent myself a page over their
web browser. http://www.skytel.com/Paging/

Thanks to whoever took the initiative to fix this! I hope we can put the same
effort in to fixing the process for everyone else.

Regards,

Tim

    SkyTel pagers DO work country-wide but ONLY in/near metropolitan areas.
    If you're in the boonies (folks in my group cover Maine/New Hampshire/
    Vermont) reception is spotty at best. I also notice I'll get my 
    'out-of-range' readout when I'm in certain parts of certain buildings.
    
    							Thom...

On the other hand, only ALPHANUMERIC pagers function with the web based service
from SKYtel, and not plain NUMERIC pagers... bummer.

I suppose the display (I don't really know) tells who sent the page, by
inserting the e-mail address of the sender. But than again, it is the sender
that inputs the address - and they couldn't lie, could they?

 -dg

MobileMedia Communications also offers a Web Page Page (har har)
at http://www.mobilemedia.com/wwwpage/wwwpage.htm

-stephen

    I too have a pager from SkyTel via the "Digital Pager Program Office". 
    I have also found it very difficult to get in touch with someone at
    this office.  I have found that the service works well (I am located in
    PKO).  I recently wanted to change my service to the new 2-way pager
    service that SkyTel offers.  I was able to get the order in via VTX but
    then never heard anything.  I finally gave up on the pager program
    office and was able to get directly in contact with the SkyTel
    representative assigned to Digital.  She was very helpful. 
    Unfortunately, after much effort, it was determined that this level of
    service does not work in the Maynard area.  Apparently the transmitters
    in the 2-way pagers are not strong enough to reach the SkyTel towers in
    the area.  I had to switch back to the standard alphanumeric 1-way
    pager.
    
    I do not want to post the SkyTel representatives name/number here but
    if you are still having problems give me a call.

    Re. Back a few... The SkyTel paging software is available free to
    SkyTel subscribers. I called 1-800-SKY-USER to get my copy. I have it
    on my laptop and also have a copy installed at home so that my wife can
    send me messages while I'm on the road.
    
    The only complaint I've got is that it doesn't support dailing in from
    multiple locations (ie, Dial 9 to get and outside line, or Dial 8 or
    just dial the number). You have to manually select "Modem
    configuration" and edit the dial string, depending on the requirements.
    
    Harry
    

    Not to be a wet blanket and actually complement something inside
    Digital, but...
    
    When I moved to AZ from CA last summer, I was (a) 7 months pregnant and
    (b) in the midst of my busiest work season.  I could not be out of
    touch for very long.  I already knew about the VTX thing, from
    registering my old pager when we switched from local to national pager
    management.  I went in to the VTX application, and couldn't get my
    change order to go through.  I called the pager office number, and
    received a return phone call next a.m. (remember the 3 hr. time
    difference, and that doesn't sound so terrible...).  I explained my
    problem.  They said they weren't aware that the system wasn't working
    properly and would check into it.  Called me back same day and told me
    to try again.  I did, it worked.  I got my new SkyTel pager in less
    than a week, and it worked, bang, first time.  End of story.
    
    The only time I've gotten an out of range message was in an airplane.
    
    M.
    

    Tips for Skytel pager users
    
    All Skytel ALPHA nationwides should be shipping with the PC software
    and set up for internet paging. The format of your internet address
    is your pin no. @skymail.com or [email protected]
    
    This service is free on activation an DOES NOT require any transaction
    in the Pager system if it isn't functioning. I recommend calling
    Kim Morse at 800-757-4453 and she will help with all issues. She is
    our Digital rep. ( note she is in CA so you may have to leave a message
    but Kim is excellent). She can also get you a copy of the software
    for your PC and there is no charge for that.
    
    Be aware though that the Email function has a limit of 2000 characters
    per month at no charge and .02 a character after that. Avoid sending
    verbose messages as it does add up. 
    
    
    

    I don't have a nationwide skytel pager, but the california-wide paging
    service I received through VTX PAGER (finally) from airtouch is also
    directly reachable from email- no special software required, anyone who
    wants to send me an alphanumneric message can send it to
    [email protected].  Works a champ.
    
    DougO