Restaurant Pagers | Restaurant Coaster Pagers

Cool Blue Coaster Call by Long Range Systems

The coaster pager caused a small-scale revolution in the restaurant industry when first pioneered in the mid-1980′s by Long Range Systems. Now, no longer did customers have to wait for their table to be called out over a loud speaker or need to anxiously watch a small LCD display in anticipation of their table number being announced.

Coaster pagers have come a long way since their debut, although the outward design is still pretty much the same in most on the market today – essentially an over-sized plastic coaster with wireless technology and a buzzer and/or lighting built in to alert customers that their table is ready.

Like most other restaurant paging systems, it works quite simply – guests are handed one of the coasters and are free to perhaps go to the bar whilst they wait for a table to be ready. When the table is ready, the restaurant staff alert the guests by entering the coaster ID into the base station. The signal is typically sent wirelessly, meaning a good range can be expected – dependent of course of obstacles such as walls etc.

The coaster also doubles as, you guessed it, a coaster for redting drinks and advertising can also be incorporated in some models.

Some of the main players in the coaster pager market today are JTech Communications, NTN Hospitality Technologies and Long Range Systems. Packages can generally be bought with anywhere between 5 and 60 coasters, plus a base station.

Genrally the battery charge on the coaster lasts around two days, with a life expectancy of around about two to three years. Most charge automatically when returned to their stack.

The are, however, some potential downsides to restaurant coasters that you should be aware of too.

Like other restaurant paging devices, there is a loss rate to be expected. I’ve heard reports of anywhere between one to disappearing in a month. Many customers may not take them intentionally, but coasters with some of the newer features such as games are more likely to be intentionally pilfered. However coasters can be programmed to beep consistently if taken outside a pre-designated range.

There is also a move in the restaurant paging industry to better utilise cell phone technology, as generally most people have one these days. A cell phone paging system increasingly looks to be a cheaper and more efficient solution for restaurant operations.