Comment Expensive but worth it. (Score 1) 307
I still carry a pager! I still have to carry a pager, partly because of having multiple institutional/corporate partners that like to have a leash on their "V.P." - it always makes people laugh when they see it come out in board meetings. The reason for carrying it is really two-fold 1) it will wake the dead when it goes off and 2) living in NYC and taking public transportation does not merit 100% cell phone coverage. The pager frequencies are so low that they have been able to reach me in the bowels of the MTA.
They are pricey, a good rechargeable Apollo model goes for $200-300 and nationwide service is nearly double that!
It really depends on why it is needed? For me it is the necessity and immediacy, I have a few hundred servers spread across 50+ data centers and 6 continents; when something is an emergency I need to know.