Eli5 how do pagers work?

Question

As a late 2000s kid I always see pagers in TV, how do you setup and use one and how do they work?

In: 12

Answer 1

As an early 90’s kid, this is how they worked.

Your friend’s pager would vibrate and beep, and it would have a number on the display. They would go over to a pay phone in the mall and call their mom to explain that “Yes, they were still doing their homework at their friends house.” and then we would go back into the arcade.

I wasn’t part of the cool pager crowd.