Two Way Pager Gives You E-Mail on the Run
by Lawrence J. Magid
I'm accustomed to sending e-mail while I'm on the road. I've been carrying a notebook PC around with me for years. Lately, I've even gotten used to the idea of wireless e-mail thanks to the Megahertz Allpoints Wireless modem, the Ricochet wireless modem and service and other wireless solutions. And I've long been accustomed to getting e-mail on my pager. Skytel and other major paging services allow you to receive Internet e-mail via one-way pagers. But now I have a two-way e-mail system clipped to my belt.
Wireless Access (408 653-1555) is about to release a new two-way messaging device called AccessLink. The device is basically a two-way pager but, unlike other two-pagers, this one has a virtual keyboard that allows you to generate e-mail message. Messages are sent and received via the Skytel service.
AccessLink 2-way Personal
Communicator
The device, which is only slightly larger than my Motorola one-way alphanumeric pager, has only three buttons but one of them is a Nintendo like controller that lets you scroll up, down, left and right. With it you can pick out letters from a virtual keyboard on the LCD screen. While it's not as convenient as a real keyboard, it is easy to use. I was able to check and send messages with hardly any learning time. There is also a menu of canned responses that you can pick out like "Yes," "No," "I'll be late," and so on. In fact, every time you generate a message it remains available to use again to select and edit should you want to modify it.
The device has 128K of memory so there is plenty of room to store outgoing and incoming messages. It also has a place to store addresses of people you send messages to.
The company has an optional serial cable, which will allow you to program the pager from you PC. Although it's not yet available, there will be software that will allow you to transfer phone numbers, addresses and other data stored in popular personal information management programs like Starfish's Sidekick and Microsoft Schedule Plus. Once this software becomes available, you'll actually be able to use this pager in lieu of a hand held organizer since it will be able to store the basic data you need. You can also send data to the pager via the Skytel network.
Skytel charges $24.95 a month for nationwide two-way paging. That includes 100 free (80 character) messages. Additional messages will be 25 cents per 80 characters. You can get a personal 800 number for an additional $5 per month. The pager unit can be leased for $15 a month or purchased for $395.
Links
This article has been reprinted from Voltage a newsletter of the
Prodigy Service.
© 1997 Prodigy Services Co.
