They say that if you keep your eyes and ears open, you'll learn something new every day, no matter how old you are. My latest "learn something new" involved hospital pagers.

I'm getting on in years, and I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days in our town's general hospital. Nothing serious, just some plumbing work that needed to be taken care of.  Of course my entire family, from wife to kids to grandkids, had to come and visit.

When they arrived, we chatted for a while. Then nurse came in and said it was time to run some tests of a personal nature. She gave my daughter a hospital pager and suggested the family go get a bite to eat at the restaurant. When she finished taking care of me, she pressed a button on the pager transmitter, notifying my family that it was okay to return.

When they got back, my oldest grandson, who plans to study engineering in college, couldn't wait to examine the hospital pager.

He said that these types of handheld pagers are starting to catch on everywhere - in restaurants, dental offices, and beauty salons. My daughter chimed and said the clerk gave her one last time she tried on some clothes at her favorite department store. I thought had always thought pagers were just for doctors and copier repairmen, so I guess you do learn something new every day.

We recently had a scary incident in our church nursery. But after getting a church nursery paging system, it won't happen again.

Of all places, you wouldn't think it would happen in a church, but it did at ours. One of our parishioners was involved in an ugly divorce, with both sides fighting over the child. The mother ended up with custody, and while she was attending Sunday service, the father came to the nursery and took the child.

The child was happy to see his father, and the attendant didn't know of the custody battle. So the father left with the little boy. As you can imagine, that didn't sit well with the mother, who had to get a court order to get the child back. She also had some unpleasant words for our nursery staff, who had done nothing more than make an honest mistake.

We quickly determined never to make that mistake again, and immediately purchased a church nursery pager system. Now, whenever a parent drops a child off at the nursery, we give them a church nursery pager. This has several advantages.

The church pager allows us to quietly and unobtrusively contact parents during the service at the touch of a button. And with our large church campus, the ability to instantly contact a parent anywhere on the church grounds gives everyone peace of mind.

Most important, it helps to ensure child safety, as our new procedures mandate that only the parent with the pager can pick up a child. This might seem like going a bit overboard, but we don't always know everyone who drops off a child at our nursery. With the church paging system, we feel safer and the parents feel safer.

It's a sad commentary on our society that we need such measures to protect our children. But the safety of our children comes first, and we would all much rather have the church nursery pagers than be without them.

Getting my son, a junior in high school, fitted for his prom tuxedo was an event I'll never forget -- and not in a good way. It would have been a lot easier if the tux rental store had a salon pager system.

As with most teenagers, my son waited until the last minute to rent his tux. So when we arrived at the store, it was teeming with others just like him. It was a small store with only a few people on staff. Which meant everyone had to wait longer than they had planned. Worse, the store did not have a very good system for determining the order of who got fitted.

Believe it or not, they had one of those old-fashioned "take a number" ticket machines, where you pull off a little piece of paper with a number on it. Not everybody took a number as soon as they came in, which led to some snippy disagreements. Plus, one mother didn't hear her number get called. Things really got unpleasant when she realized she had missed her turn.

The store didn't have a TV to watch while we waited. And I knew that if we went outside to window shop and didn't return in time, we would have to start all over again. So we waited it out with a lot of other unhappy folks.

All this could have been easily avoided with a salon pager system. Give every customer a pager, and let them to go wander the mall. When it's time for their son to get fitted, the staff buzzes them on the salon pager and they come back to the store. How simple is that? There's less stress for everyone, and it makes the fitting process go a lot smoother. I've used salon pagers at other clothing stores, and they definitely make for a more enjoyable shopping experience.

My son looked very handsome and grownup in his tuxedo. But I told him that if he plans to wait until the last minute the next time he needs a tux, he'd better find a store that uses a salon paging system!

We employ a lot of first-time food servers in our busy restaurant. Training them got a lot easier since we invested in our restaurant pagers.

My wife and I own a family restaurant close to a major university. We serve good food at good prices, and over the years we've become popular with both students and the hometown folks. Which means that at lunch and dinnertime, things are usually hopping.

Both of us worked our way through college by waiting on tables. We like to hire students because we know many of them depend on a part-time job to make it through school. As employers, we value a strong work ethic and a friendly personality over restaurant experience. So we hire a lot of kids who have never waited on tables before.

During the training process, we've found that one of the hardest things for "newbie" food servers is spending the right amount of time at each table. We want them to be friendly and personable, but sometimes they spend too much time chatting with folks when they should be attending to other tables.

That's where our restaurant pagers have been a huge help. When customers are first seated at a table, the hostess gives them a restaurant pager. It's a simple device they can use to call their food server, and it really helps to improve the service.

Our customers understand that our food servers have a lot of tables to wait on, and can't always be there exactly at the right time. But they know that if they need to get their food server's attention, they can simply press a button and the pager will signal their food server with their table number.

Our customers appreciate the restaurant pagers because they get more control over their dining experience. Our employees love them because they can provide better service, which means better tips. And my wife and I like them because they help our employees manage their time and their tables more efficiently. As far as training goes, the pagers are probably the best investment we've ever made.

I don't know what it is about our hospital. It must be located in a no cell-phone reception zone or something. Fortunately, the nurses and staff are fully equipped with a hospital pager system that makes life easier for patients and their families.

I'm getting up there in years, and my health isn't quite what it used to be. As a result, I've been in and out of hospitals the last few years. Not my idea of a good time. But better than the alternative, if you get my drift.

Anyway, sometimes when the family is visiting, the doctors have to come in and do their thing. Which means my relations have to go for a walk, visit the cafeteria, or something like that. When the doctors or nurses asked them to leave, they used to say, "No problem. Just give us a call on the cell phone when we can return."

Only problem was, it was a problem. For some reason, there's a lot of spots in and around our hospital that don't good cell phone reception. Often, my family would be left waiting because my calls wouldn't get through. And of course they worried that maybe something bad had happened.

Finally, I mentioned it to the nurse and she replied, "Why didn't you say something!" Then she showed me a hospital pager.

I asked, "Wow, I get direct access to my doctor now? I'll show him who's boss!" 

She laughed and said, "No, only we get to do that. Next time your family comes in, though, we'll give them one of the pagers. Then, when your doctor is through with the procedure, we can buzz them to let them know it's okay to return."

We tried it the next time and it worked great. My son was a bit miffed that a simple pager worked better than his brand new iPhone. But everyone was glad to have a system that worked no matter where they were in the hospital.

It's like that old Verizon commercial where the guy keeps walking around saying, "Can you hear me now?" With a hospital pager, the answer is always yes!

A growing congregation is a sign of a healthy church. Since we got our church nursery pagers, our congregation has definitely grown.

In many ways, running a church is like running a business. Just as a business needs new customers to stay profitable, a church needs new members to remain healthy and vital. So as pastor of a small, nondenominational church, I'm always looking for ways to attract new members and make our church more relevant to the needs of our community.

Last year, I accidentally stumbled upon a good one. I was invited to be the guest preacher at a church across town. I knew the pastor well, and gladly accepted. I showed up early to get a tour of his church, and when we got to the nursery, it was already getting busy. Since we weren't getting a lot of children in our nursery at the time, I asked him what made his so popular.

He smiled and handed me a small device. Turns out it was a church nursery pager, just like you see repairmen and service technicians wear. When parents drop their children off at the nursery, they get a pager to take with them during the service. If the nursery staff needs the parents for any reason, they use the pager to buzz them during the service.

My colleague said the church nursery pagers were surprisingly affordable, and that his congregation loved them. It seemed worth a try, so started off with a few at our church. However, the response from parents and staff was so positive that we soon purchased an entire system. 

That was over six months ago, and our congregation has definitely grown thanks to the church nursery pagers. We have more children in the nursery every Sunday morning, and we have more parents attending service.

If people ask about the change, I jokingly say that it must be my sermons. But then I mention the church nursery pagers, and they nod their heads in agreement. Sometimes, a little technology can go a long way.

Shopping for clothes can be a challenge for those of us with a physical disability.  But I've found it goes a lot easier in stores that use salon pagers in the dressing area.

A few years ago, I had the misfortune to be in a serious car accident. I'm lucky to be alive, but I suffered permanent nerve damage to my left leg, leaving me somewhat disabled. On good days, I can walk for a short while with the use of a cane.  But most of the time, I depend on a wheelchair.

I may not get around like I used to, but I still like to look good. So although it's more challenging than it used to be, shopping for new clothes is still one of my favorite activities. I like to try on a lot of clothes before buying something, and make it easier I now shop only at stores that offer salon pagers in their dressing rooms.

As you might imagine, being in a wheelchair makes it difficult to get in and out of the dressing rooms, even the larger ones that are designed for disabled people.

So these days, when I go into a store's dressing area to try on clothes, I always ask for a salon pager.  That way, I don't have to go in and out all the time to get new clothes to try on. Instead, I buzz the store clerk and she takes away what I don't want and brings in different sizes or styles. If I have a hard time getting something on or off, I can also use the pager to call for assistance.

At first, I was a little hesitant to use the salon pagers. It felt like I was taking advantage of the store clerks. But I quickly found out they like the salons pagers too because it allows them to deliver good customer service. And it helps them track who comes in and out of the dressing area.

I don't know who came up with the idea of using salon pagers in retail store dressing rooms, but I'm glad they did. It makes my shopping easier and more enjoyable.

I've worked as a food server for a long time, and I strive to provide the best service to our customers. Recently, my attitude paid off when my recommendation to use restaurant pagers earned me an employee recognition award.

For diners, the measure of a good restaurant is the quality of the food and service.  For those of us who work in restaurants, it's how management treats the employees. Some dining establishments go out of their way to take care of their employees. Others treat them like dirt. Needless to say, food servers prefer to work where we're appreciated by those who run the show.

I'm fortunate to work in a classy restaurant where the managers treat us well and make us feel like part of the team. They truly care about delivering a memorable dining experience to our customers. And they're always open to ideas from the staff about how we can improve our service. That's where the part about restaurant paging systems comes in.

I eat out on a regular basis -- partly because I like good food, and partly because I'm also looking for new ideas to bring back to our restaurant. Recently I dined at a new steak house that uses restaurant pagers, and I couldn't wait to tell my boss about it.

With a restaurant pager, people who were waiting for a table could sit in the bar or wander around the mall without worrying about not hearing their name called when a table came ready. During the meal, they could discreetly summon their server at any time. And if they were in a hurry to get the check, one touch of a button and the server arrived in no time.

On my next shift, I mentioned the restaurant pager idea and my manager jumped on it right away. That was a few months ago. Since then, our dinner meals have definitely picked up. All of us food servers are making more tips because we're providing better service. And best of all, I won an iPad for best idea of the year at our annual employee recognition banquet!

I wonder what new idea I'll discover next!

As a mom, one of the worst things is not being there when your child needs you. Recently, a medical pager given to me at our children's hospital saved me from a ton of guilt.

I don't know what it is, but ear infections seem to run in my family. My parents had them when they were young. I had them as a kid. So it came as no surprise when my two-year old began complaining of earaches. I took him to the doctor and, sure enough, he had an ear infection.

In the old days, we just took aspirin and suffered through it. These days, doctors like to put tubes into the ear to drain the fluid causing the infection. I think it's a good idea. But the procedure, which requires sedation with an anesthetic, can be traumatic for the child and the parent.

Even though it's a simple procedure, I was a nervous wreck. I couldn't sit still in the waiting room, and wanted to go for a walk to deal with my nervous energy. But I also wanted to be there as soon as my baby woke up from the anesthesia.

Fortunately, the receptionist knew what to do. She handed me a medical pager and said, "Go take a walk or get something to eat. We'll page you as soon as the doctor is finished with the procedure."

What a relief! I grabbed the medical pager and headed out the door. Twenty minutes later a buzzing noise in my purse got my attention. I hurried back, and was let into the room just as my son was becoming aware of his surroundings. The smile on his face when he saw me made me feel like the best mom in the world.

It's funny how you see people walking around with pagers all the time. But unless you use one for work, you never think how they might apply to your life. Well, now I can say from personal experience that medical pagers are a great idea. I don't plan on my child having any more procedures any time soon. But if he does, I'll make sure to get a hospital pager so I'm there when he needs me.

If you think fussy children are the biggest problem in church nurseries, think again. Fortunately, church nursery pagers can help to resolve the real problem.

My kids have grown up and moved out of the house, but they haven't blessed me with any grandchildren yet. So I volunteer in the church nursery because I enjoy being around little children. They make me feel young again. And I know how much it means to busy parents to have some time to themselves, even in church.

When I first started volunteering, I thought the hardest part would be putting up with bratty children. To my surprise I found that what annoys me the most is dealing with "helicopter" parents - those (mostly moms) who feel compelled to come in every ten minutes or so to check up on their kid.

A lot of kids get upset when mommy first drops them off at the nursery. But a little love and attention will usually quiet them down in a few minutes. I can't tell you how many times I've just gotten a child settled down, only to have mommy swoop back into the room to make sure her child is okay. Of course, this gets the kid all worked up again. Which means as soon as mommy leaves, we have to quiet him or her down again.

Fortunately, we finally convinced the budget committee to spring for a church pager system. It don't cost that much, and it makes all the difference in the world, especially with the helicopter moms.

Now, when a parent drops a child off at the nursery we give them a church nursery pager and say, "Your child is in good hands here. If we need you for any reason, we'll buzz you and you can come right away. So relax and enjoy the service."

Most parents think church pagers are a great idea. Some of the clingier moms hesitated at first.  But once they try it out, they usually come around pretty quickly. We spend less time calming down fussy children, and the parents get to relax and enjoy the service. And one day (hopefully soon!) my children will get to experience the benefits of church nursery pagers when they have their own kids.