Pager suffered epilepsy today

[Gary D.]

Wobbles and I are enjoying ourselves at out local coffee house today when the pager goes off. One right after another and my cell starts ringing. I answer it and one of the team guys asks what was going on. DUH, I tell him I don’t have a clue.

Call waiting signals a call coming in so I grab it and it’s another team member wondering what was going on. All the time the pager is going from one page to another with each team member’s phone number on it.

Another call waiting so I grab it and it’s our Captain who wants to know WT nasty is happening. Another DUH followed closely by another DUH. Why is everyone asking me call flippin (that was a substitute for the actual word) dispatch.

OK, that’s it, I grab Wobbles and head for the patrol car until we get this sorted out. If it is a call I’m on my way. If it isn’t, no big deal.

I call dispatch and they didn’t have a clue. So it turns out that out pager host company decided to do some testing with out telling anyone. They don’t have a clue as to how many Adrenalin overloads they caused. I got a total of 9 pages for a total of 16 pages of text and phone numbers.:mooner:

We got enough pages that it could have been a 747 that hit the lake.

Gary D.

 

[diven'-larry]

Sorry, Gary, I've read almost every post you've written and this is the first I've heard of "Wobbles". I'm guessing that's either your favorite fill-for-free coffe mug...or your pet rat. Please clarify so that I might continue to enjoy the ever-entertaining/informative Adventures of Gary and Wobbles!

 

[diven'-larry]

...and now I see that I've "stepped on it" quite hugely . Sorry Mrs. Gary D. (Wobbles) I didn't mean to imply you were either a coffee-mug or a rodent.

I'm guessing I will NOT be invited to dive with you should I be in your neck of the woods.

Again, my sincere apologies. (Note to self: look at member's profiles before responding, especially when it concerns the mention of loved ones )

 

[Gary D.]

My wife has MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and Wobbles when she walks. So our license plate on the van is Wobbles, the dive boat is Wobbles and her nick name is Wobbles. We have to laugh about it to keep from going stir crazy.

But you are the first one to refer to her as a Coffee-Mug or a Rodent. You are more than welcome to come dive with us.

Gary D.

 

[diven'-larry]

Gary and Wobbles, thanks for taking my massive faux pas with humor. I really enjoy reading your posts and appreciate the insights you offer.
If I make it out there, I'd say a cup of coffee at your local coffee house should be on me, no?

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Hey Larry I was confused too but I thought he was calling the pager by its pet name "Wobbles" (that's what they do when they vibrate )
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Gary D.]

Hey guys she did it not me. Her web site is www.mswobbles.com

Your on with the coffee house and we might have to throw in a dive or two.

Gary D.

 

[Boater Dan]

Gary:

With the alpha-numeric pagers, do you have any delay in the post after dispatch? We had considered A/N pagers, but we were advised that there can be a delay in the time from when it is sent and when it is received! Have you ever checked the timing?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Gary D.]

Gary:

With the alpha-numeric pagers, do you have any delay in the post after dispatch? We had considered A/N pagers, but we were advised that there can be a delay in the time from when it is sent and when it is received! Have you ever checked the timing?

Thanks,

Dan

We are very critical about timing. The pagers aren't the problem is't the lose nut behind it.

We have some cars with MDT's in them. So just the other night another Deputy saw a call come in and let me know. I drove 4 miles (normal), got to the location, sat for 4more minutes chatting door to door and said that's enough we checked out there. The dispatcher says "What are you out there for?" Our responce was, "The call thats been on your screen for over ten minutes". "Copy" with a snotty tone to it.

I guess the pizza delivery boy was there delivering in a thong.

Gary D.

 

[dittrimd]

It is important to know what type of alpa paging Gary is using. If it is a commercial service then yes it is prone to delays for many reasons and should only be used for administrative purposes only not emergency call. If Gary's system is a system owned an operated by some public safety organization then it may be suitable for emergency calls. If it is used for calls then you have to accept the fact that you may get the message late or not at all.

My dispatch center is part of a regional alpha paging system. It operates on 150 mhz simulcasted POCSAG 512K. All the sites are on public safety towers with battery/generator backup. The system is fully redundant and meets NFPA standards. The dispatcher center sends the message directly out over the system hardware so messages are sent within seconds plus they have a reader which will display the messgae ensuring it went out the way the sent if. If for some reason the message was garbled they can just resend it.

This is the type of system you want to utilzed for public safety emergency call notification.

Mark