A pager (sometimes called a beeper) is a simple personal telecommunications device for short messages. A one-way numeric pager can only receive a message consisting of a few digits, typically a phone number that the user is then expected to call. Alphanumeric pagers are also available, and two-way ones can send email or SMS messages as well as receiving.
Until the popular adoption of mobile phones in the late 1990s, pagers fulfilled the role of common personal and mobile communications. As of 2007, pagers have fallen into obsolescence and are preserved only by niche markets consisting largely of emergency service personnel, medical personnel, and information technology support staff.
"The Pager" is the fifth episode of the first season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by Ed Burns from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Peter Medak. It originally aired on June 30, 2002.
