The pager has had impressive staying power in medicine. The first alphanumeric pagers were introduced nearly 30 years ago, and most hospitals still use them. To many, pagers seem antiquated. Yet physicians continue to use them well into the smartphone era, not because physicians are Luddites, but rather because of many useful features. Paging systems offer long-range transmission in areas of poor cellular coverage, stable networks even under stress conditions, and easy battery replacement.