I think there are some valid concerns in the article, and with any technology there's always room for improvement. There is one statement in the article I just have trouble understanding and maybe I'm missing something but I've been in public safety for getting close to 23 years now and I'm struggling to understand:
"The pagers are bulky and not designed for everyday use, according to the letter, and many firefighters are not carrying them at times because they are concerned about losing or damaging them."
Yes they're bulky, much more than the Minitor 5 & 6. I've got a G1 and I'm still adjusting to the size lol. But the part of them not carrying them at times because they are concerned about losing or damaging them? That just doesn't make sense to me. When we go to a structure fire we don't leave the TIC in the truck because we're concerned about losing or damaging it, our turnout gear doesn't get left in the locker because we worry about getting damaged, we don't leave those $7,000 Motorola APX radios in the truck or at home because we're worried about losing or damaging them. With the premise of the article being about the operation, or lack thereof, that would seem to me why the guys wouldn't want to carry them. Saying being concerned about losing or damaging them is just an excuse to add to the list because they don't like them. Maybe I'm wrong or missing something but that just stood out to me............ And I don't see how the station alerting system still being offline falls back on the G5 issues unless they were trying to rely on the amplified charger to activate and trip the relays. The rest of the points made I can agree with 100%. In this field, especially when it comes to notification of calls, missing a page could literally mean the difference between life and death.