The United States has seen its share of economic recessions before and will undoubtedly see them again. However, the current economic crisis facing this country has caused many people in government and private industry to face the real problem of running out of money. Typically, when faced with looming budget deficits and deficits, the first solution to turn to is to cut jobs. Unfortunately, in the economy we find ourselves in today, the elimination of jobs is only fueling the problem of unemployment and, as a result, further damaging our economy. A better plan before jumping off the pink slip bridge is to adjust budgets and budget for spending. Many cities, municipalities, and governments have ample scope to cut costs and keep people employed. One of the areas to consider for a review is communications and the use of cell phones.
With the growth of the cell phone industry, many city and state governments did what many private companies did and began supplying cell phones to employees. Little did they realize that with the expansion and improvement of phone technology and capabilities, the likelihood of cell phone abuse also increased. Employees use the phones for personal use, web searches, text messages, and any other available functions without regard to additional charges for using these functions. One answer may simply be to restrict what is allowed for cell phone use by employees. While that may seem like a logical solution, it probably won’t eliminate the problem or the need for someone to monitor the use of potentially hundreds of employees, review invoices, identify the problem and the employee, confront the employee, and try to find a solution. That process, in itself, is a waste of time and resources. It also doesn’t eliminate the base cost per person for each phone, which can be very expensive. A better solution would be to go back to something that has proven to be reliable, efficient, durable, and cost-effective, and that is the pager.
Pagers are an easy way to cut expensive budgets and maintain the necessary communication with employees. The advancements in pagers in recent years are incredible and today’s pagers are no longer simply “pagers.” Today’s pagers are capable of making a confirmed delivery even with basic one-way communication, which may be all that many employees need. In addition, pagers with two-way communication capabilities, the Internet, and email are some of the options on the market today. Pagers also allow easy distribution of mass messages to all employees or groups of employees. With pagers there is no fear of reception problems encountered with cell phones, as pagers operate on a radio frequency rather than cellular service networks. This will eliminate the problem of an employee being out of range and not receiving a critically important message. Unlike cell phones, pagers require no charging and run on a battery with usage times in months and years, not hours like many of the newer cell phones on the market today. This not only eliminates the problem of a dead phone, but also reduces the use of electricity to charge phones, which in our environmentally conscious age is a very good thing for everyone. Imagine the reduction in electricity use multiplied by the large number of employees working in government offices, it is significant. Pagers are also less intrusive in the workplace as there are no obnoxious songs blasting out with every call, pagers are much more discreet and less distracting, creating a more work-friendly environment.
Motorola conducted a study that showed that nearly 75 percent of all communications had to be one-way, things like “I’m late,” “Pick up milk on the way home,” or “Meeting time has been changed to 3:30.” . Not only would pager use simplify message delivery for many employers, but it would also eliminate another real problem for businesses today, which is the use of cell phones for personal time. Employees have been shown to spend an average of one hour a day on personal cell phone calls. Add to that another hour of personal internet use on cell phones and the employer just donated two hours of company time and money to the employee per day just to make sure the employee’s Facebook status is updated correctly.
Pagers are making a comeback in the business world these days as employers find cell phones expensive, intrusive, and counterproductive to the workplace – and just another way for employees to waste time playing with the many functions. . There is no risk of an employee abusing a pager to send excessive text messages, surf the Internet, Twitter, Facebook, personal calls, or unauthorized charges. Friends and family are also less likely to reach out for an employee rather than call them on a cell phone, ensuring that frivolous phone calls will end and productivity will increase. The other major financial benefit of switching to pagers is the base cost of the equipment and the monthly charges. Providing pagers to employees works much less than providing a cell phone and eliminates the possibility of abuse and overcharges as is currently the case with cell phones. Pagers are also less expensive and easier to repair.
In this increasingly restrictive economy, it is wise to go back to basics of balancing a budget and eliminating overspending so that money is available to run programs and perform the functions the government intended to perform, in addition to keeping people employees. Rather than exasperate the economic hardships this country is facing, why not be proactive in trying to save jobs and cut costs where it makes sense by eliminating cell phones and returning to proven, practical, cost-effective, and reliable use of a pager. ? It only makes economic sense.
