K5MAR said:
I use USA Mobility (formerly MetroCall) and
StormNow.
Another vote for Stormnow. I have an Arch Wireless, now USA Mobility, alpha-numeric pager and subscribe to Stormnow. Using the SNPP/WCTP paging protocol, Stormnow's service is a flat $6.00/month. USA Mobility is charging me about $20/month for their paging service.
My experience is that the service is fast and reliable. I get pages on weather warnings about the same time my NOAA weather radio goes off, sometimes before. Stormnow's configuration system is a little clunky, but you can narrow down the weather products you get to type of product, county covered by the product, and the time of day.
Paging seems to be a dying communications method. The service that paging companies provide is gradually being phased out in favor of email or SMS messages to cellphones. However, go read some of the messages on cellphone user forums, like
http://howardforums.com, and read the complaints about cellphone messaging. Paging just seems to be more reliable. And keep in mind that alpha-numeric paging still seems to be the messaging system of choice for a lot of public safety agencies.
It may be hard to find someone locally who will sell you a pager. Luckily, you can order from some companies, like USA Mobility/Arch via their web sites or by phone.
Bob...