[Omegamania]

I'm a doc and currently use paging notification in my office when patients call after hours and need to get ahold of me. So I carry a cellphone and a pager and I pay for both. I'm getting into a Blackberry and I'd like to ditch the pager and incorporate my cell phone and pager/notification system into this one Blackberry device. How would you recommend I do this? Put my BB email on the message? Can I page my BB from my office phone? Any tips appreciated because I want one device and I'm sick of the pager, it's ancient tech to me to continue using one.

[JSanders]

For one solution, yes, the BlackBerry can be used as a pager.

There are also services which will forward your office voicemail to your BB as well. But if you want ONLY paging from clients (I know how getting so many voicemails could drive you crazy, sometimes it is best to only allow a number to be left on a page).

I don't think you would want your clients having to go fire up the computer to leave you a page? I think on the message, you would simply tell the caller to dial XXX-XXX-XXXX and follow the instructions to page you. Then on your BB, you record a message which instructs the caller how to leave a page.

And, there are other solutions which would require a third party provider.

Thinking about it, this sounds like a great use of something like GrandCentral, where you would get a phone number for ONLY your client use, which the client would call, and then you decide what happens, go to voice mail, turn voice mail into text to forward to your BB, or make it a page.

[Omegamania]

That Grand Central sounds great I could set up a number for my office and on my message, have patients call that number afterhours and forward it to my Blackberry. Does Grand Central accept number input and can that number be forwarded to my Blackberry?

[JSanders]

Yes, it can. I have NOT used it, but have heard raves about it, and even signup for it. You can manage it from any computer with internet. You can forward that GrandCentral number anywhere you want, landline, cell, or Egypt.

If you PM with your email address, I would be glad to forward to an invite from GrandCentral, I believe it still requires that. At least then you can investigate ir further for your needs.

[Riley6905]

My company has created a paging application that allows you to keep your pager # in service so people can still page you and we will route that traffic to your BB device. Please pm and I can give you more information

[The BlackBerry Kid]

no we can't.....just kidding

[bpnaquin]

Something I use at the office in lieu of a pager is this. I set up a Vonage phone number. I can access the account online and see a log of every call rec'd or made.

I have it send me an email everytime a message is left on this vonage number. The email shows the number where the call originated, I can then call my vonage number and get my messages. If you want the actual calls forwarded to your BB, it is easily done on the website.

There is another neat feature, only 10 cents a call, it will transcribe the voice message into a readable email and send it to your BB.

The cost for this phone line is CHEAP probably the same price as the pager. On mine, I never hooked it up to make calls, it is only used as a 'virtual number'. On all vonage numbers, incomng calls are free and access to your account online is great. Besides keeping a permanent record of all the calls comes in really handy when you have a need to know this info. Pagers only store a few of the most recent calls.

Calls can be easily forwarded directly to your office and handled normally then can easily be used as a pager when you need it.

All these options are FREE!

Works great!!

[megaphone]

i agree w/ the vonage

i set up a business - for "backward compatibility" reasons (i moved away from an area code - but alot of my clients know me at that number) i wanted a "new" number so i got a vonage account

set up an 800 number too!



i forward the calls from my "new" area code to my cell phone in my "old" area code and i'm in business!

in fact, i don't even have a phone on the vonage line - it automagically gets sent to my cell phone (forwarded)



no complaints

its $30/month ($25 for the line - $5 for the 800 #)