Cellular one cell phone

Andrew Chonoles, Partner in the Manhattan law firm Zukerman, Gore & Brandeis LLP, was heading out on a weekend ski trip with a couple of clients. His cell phone rang. It was a client in the middle of a last-minute dispute, desperate for advice. Chonoles was able to walk his client through the dispute and save the day. "The last thing I expected was to do business that afternoon," he says.

More than 34 million Americans use cell phones today, up from only 16 million in 1993. The only problem is, most people leave their cell phone off. They don't realize much of the anytime, anyplace power a cell phone offers is useless unless it's turned on.

The use of pagers is also growing faster than ever imagined. There are 34 million people carrying pagers today, compared with 20 million in 1993. The units they clip on are no longer simple, annoying beepers, but complete message centers. They offer full-text messages and voice messaging on your pager and store them for later review. You can even get two-way paging and respond to the sender with the touch of a button on your pager. You can get news on your industry, and even pick up your e-mail. Service can be citywide, regional, or national - critical to the entrepreneur who spends much time on the road. Prices typically vary from $10 to $60 per month, depending on the features and coverage. It's a small price to pay to save one deal or close one extra piece of business. And prices are expected to drop this year as more companies get into the paging business.

"Cellular used to be a status symbol," according to USA Today reporter Melanie Wells, who covers the frenzied world of advertising. "Today, it's the price of admission."

Match the Service to the Tools

Just as people are jumping on the cellular -and-paging bandwagon, the service choices are getting more confusing. Not only do you have the two traditional cellular providers in each city, but MCI and AT&T are moving into cities all over the country, providing cellular service and paging in service, either on their own or with PageNet, SkyTel, and a host of other local and national providers. Prices are being driven down, so now is not the time to sign long-term contracts.

Soon a new technology called PCS (Personal Communications Services) will burst onto the scene and send cellular prices plum-meeting. It happened in Washington, D.C., when the first PCS service was rolled out several months ago. PCS will provide paging and cellular-like services on a digital network, at a much reduced price.

Chicago was hit by a massive ice storm, and Mike Nikolich, president of public relations firm Tech Image Ltd., found himself out in the cold. His office was without power or phones for 48 hours.

Just after the lights went out, an editor in New Jersey reached Nikolich by pager. He returned the call on his cell phone. The editor needed a manuscript from Nikolich, and he needed it now. But the East Coast was socked in even worse than Chicago. "Because road conditions were so bad in New Jersey, traditional overnight delivery services wouldn't guarantee delivery for one week - that obviously wasn't an option," according to Nikolich. "In panic, I called a friend on my cellular phone and asked if he had a cellular modem. He did. I hooked up my laptop to his car phone and completed transmitting die story just as the power drained from the PC. We made our deadline and received a cover story to boot!"