On call when riding.

[paddy]

Does anyone ride while they are on-call? I'm wanting to do the protest ride in the weekend but I am on call this week. I must therefore carry a pager. It's very unlikely that I would be called; however, some of our clients have very tight SLAs (as little as 10 minutes). I have remote access, so really the issue is just how to deal with the pager.

I considering how I could perhaps mount the pager in a clear waterproof box somewhere visible. I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this in the past or if anyone has any good ideas.

P.

[Usarka]

If it vibrates stick it down your daks.

[paddy]

If it vibrates stick it down your daks.

A variation on that approach had crossed my mind. The problem I can foresee is thinking "was that it" every 50 metres and needing to stop all of the time.

[Mully]

If it vibrates stick it down your daks.

+1


Dunno otherwise.

[zahria]

If it vibrates stick it down your daks.

I ride when I'm on call, but my response time is a half hour.
I'll either have the phone in my tank bag ( I can hear it over the bike with the stock pipes on) or in my pocket so I can feel it vibrate.
On call every second week, and I gotta ride when I'm on call.

[KiwiGs]

I have a tank bag with a clear map pocket on the top.
When I am out and about I pop the old iphone in there....

[YellowDog]

I just have the phone on auto-answer with the Bluetooth thingy in my ear.

[zahria]

I just have the phone on auto-answer with the Bluetooth thingy in my ear.

Do they work ok on the bike?

[paddy]

I'm stuck with the pager so bluetooth is out. A tank bag with a clear top I hadn't thought of though. Now I have two ideas to play with. :-)

[one fast tl1ooo]

nope not me........................................ :innocent::wari:

[Grasshopperus]

If you take turns being on-call with someone else can you ask them to cover for you? Maybe take 3 of their days on-call in exchange for covering 2 of yours.
Can you feel your pager when it's in your jacket or pants pocket? Test it out maybe.

I'm on call 2 weeks in every 8 and I've been riding with cellphone in pocket. I can feel it vibrate through my jacket.

[Virago]

I know what it's like, I've dealt with it for the last 20 years. At one stage I did two straight years on call - 24/7/365. Getting time on the bike can be a nightmare.

I've found that having pager and cellphone in the front breast-pocket of my jacket is perfectly audible.

The protest ride will be fairly low speed, you shouldn't have a problem.

Fingers crossed that you won't get called out, eh?

[DarkLord]

Can't you get them bluetooth kits for your phone that sit in your ear under your helmet and you can take calls through that? I'm sure there are some specifically designed for motorbikes?

[Crisis management]

Try clipping it to the inside of the jacket neck, you can hear & feel it activate and it can't be confused with anything else. You might need to make sure it can't fall off, I've always had a lanyard on mine and that worked.

[rainman]

Does anyone ride while they are on-call? I'm wanting to do the protest ride in the weekend but I am on call this week.

No option to swap the roster around for something as important as a protest ride? Damn, you must have an inflexible boss... :devil2:

Don't do what an(other) ex-workmate of mine did - he velcro'ed his phone to the top of his tank. He was crossing the bridge (and on a call as I understand - headset) when he saw the edge lift up and the phone go bouncety smash down the road... :laugh:

Not sure about the "stick it down your daks" advice - that's a shared pager. Maybe "stick it down your daks but don't tell the next guy on call"?

[paddy]

I've found that having pager and cellphone in the front breast-pocket of my jacket is perfectly audible.

The protest ride will be fairly low speed, you shouldn't have a problem.

Fingers crossed that you won't get called out, eh?


Try clipping it to the inside of the jacket neck, you can hear & feel it activate and it can't be confused with anything else. You might need to make sure it can't fall off, I've always had a lanyard on mine and that worked.


I'm on call 2 weeks in every 8 and I've been riding with cellphone in pocket. I can feel it vibrate through my jacket.

Seems to be the general consensus is that it would be audible. I'll get out and give it a try. If it's really obvious then it will be fine. I just checked what the screen does when it's paged and it goes back to a blank screen pretty quick so any visual ideas (tank bags, clear boxes etcetera are out). I might also try the neck thing - I hadn't thought of that. It does have a lanyard so that would be pretty low risk.

It's VERY unlikely that I would be called - I carry the secondary pager so it's really only if the primary is already dealing with another issue, or fails to respond for whatever reason, or the issue is a big one. The problem is, if I do get paged I can't afford to miss it. Our clients are large enterprises (Air New Zealand for example - and no the generator was nothing to do with us although it did take out the datacentre that 50% of our equipment lives in) so if it does go off I can't afford to miss the page and break an SLA.

Thanks for all of the advice guys. It's been really useful. I'll try and experiment tomorrow and report back.

[grusomhat]

Could be a problem if you are in the middle of the protest ride and surrounded by 1000's of bikes. Getting out of the herd and finding a place to stop could be tricky

[paddy]

Could be a problem if you are in the middle of the protest ride and surrounded by 1000's of bikes. Getting out of the herd and finding a place to stop could be tricky

I figure it should be possible. There's always going to be somewhere to go surely. A bit of indicating and some hand-gesturing should give me the space to get to the shoulder or to an exit or to a sideroad etcetera. It is a fair point though. Are we actually expecting 1000s? (Not that it matters, once your surrounded by five it really doesn't matter how many more you add.)

[SPP]

Give the pager to the wife and get her to call your mob if it goes off?

[Gremlin]

Depends on the situation... my mobile is on 24/7/365, but I don't need to respond in 10 minutes on weekends

I have a full comms kit on the bike, so I just flick the bluetooth on, and let it talk to the GPS, and I can see an incoming call. On the other bike, it just sits in my top box and I try to check it now and then.

[Big Dog]

Does anyone ride while they are on-call? I'm wanting to do the protest ride in the weekend but I am on call this week. I must therefore carry a pager. It's very unlikely that I would be called; however, some of our clients have very tight SLAs (as little as 10 minutes). I have remote access, so really the issue is just how to deal with the pager.

I considering how I could perhaps mount the pager in a clear waterproof box somewhere visible. I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this in the past or if anyone has any good ideas.

P.

Never missed a call while on vibrate and it was in inside my chest pocket.
Not while on call anyway.
Others I know use wired handsfree with some success.

[Horse]

Not helpful for the OP with a pager, but for the benefit of others: I'm on call 1 week in 2, only need a 30min response time. I have a Blueant Interphone bluetooth unit fitted to my helmet, it works very well. Audio is clear and the mic gives better audio quality than the handsfree kit in my car. When you're not using the Blueant in intercom mode the battery lasts for days.

[Insanity_rules]

If it vibrates stick it down your daks.

This really works, no joke.

[p.dath]

Does anyone ride while they are on-call? I'm wanting to do the protest ride in the weekend but I am on call this week. I must therefore carry a pager. It's very unlikely that I would be called; however, some of our clients have very tight SLAs (as little as 10 minutes). I have remote access, so really the issue is just how to deal with the pager.

I considering how I could perhaps mount the pager in a clear waterproof box somewhere visible. I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this in the past or if anyone has any good ideas.

P.

I put my phone on the inside pocket of my jacket, and can easily feel it vibrate. The vibration is very distinctive, so no mistaking it.

[firefighter]

Does anyone ride while they are on-call? I'm wanting to do the protest ride in the weekend but I am on call this week. I must therefore carry a pager. It's very unlikely that I would be called; however, some of our clients have very tight SLAs (as little as 10 minutes). I have remote access, so really the issue is just how to deal with the pager.

I considering how I could perhaps mount the pager in a clear waterproof box somewhere visible. I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this in the past or if anyone has any good ideas.

P.

How big is your pager? You could as a one-off put it in your lid in front of your face if you have the space.....mine fits in both of my helmets

[sunhuntin]

I figure it should be possible. There's always going to be somewhere to go surely. A bit of indicating and some hand-gesturing should give me the space to get to the shoulder or to an exit or to a sideroad etcetera. It is a fair point though. Are we actually expecting 1000s? (Not that it matters, once your surrounded by five it really doesn't matter how many more you add.)

maybe stick to the left of the lane if you can. that way, if you have to move, its a bit easier to get off the road.

[CookMySock]

I just have the phone on auto-answer with the Bluetooth thingy in my ear.Yeah this works well, if a little uncomfortable. They cant hear me over the wind noise at speeds over 70k, but I can hear them very well so I just pull up or slow down.

Perhaps leave your pager with someone reliable who can telephone you.

Steve

[Headbanger]

Hit the fuckin thing with a hammer.

Turn it into work on Monday and ask for a replacement.

[Squiggles]

Plastic bag + Duct Tape

[Stormer]

I`m on call every second week (24/7).
Keep the pager on continual alarm, so when you stop anywhere you should hear it.
Also I stop every so often and check for any messages/missed calls on the cell.
I`ve got a 20 min/30 min response time, so plan the checks around this.
It`s a pain, but beats sitting at home waiting for the pager or cell to go off.

[Matt_TG]

I'm another one cursed with a pager. I put it and my phone in my magnetic tank top bag and check it often, it has gone off when there and I have heard it at open road speed. It's one of those sounds you get atuned to I guess, a high pitched beeeep beeeep beeeeep. I reckon I could hear it in a rock concert, it's that sort of pitch that jars the soul .. especially when it goes off at 3am :(

I've also put it in a snap lock bag and taped it inside my wetsuit when surfing. Didn't go off but gave me piece of mind - usually the wife does the two-handed wave above her head if she's on the beach holding it when I'm in the waves :)

If you think about it, it will go off...

[paddy]

Thanks for all of your advice guys - it was really helpful.


Try clipping it to the inside of the jacket neck, you can hear & feel it activate and it can't be confused with anything else. You might need to make sure it can't fall off, I've always had a lanyard on mine and that worked.

Well, I went with a little bit of a test. I set the pager to vibrate followed by beep. I put it in my outside jacket chest pocket. I found I couldn't feel the vibration through my jacket at all (you have to understand that my bike is a single cylinder thumper with no fairings so I tend to vibrate a lot anyway). I could hear the beeping but only at speeds below 50 km/h. Next I tried attaching it inside my jacket collar. Perfect, I could feel it vibrate and hear it beep at any speed that I am likely to ride. Thanks Ian.


How big is your pager? You could as a one-off put it in your lid in front of your face if you have the space.....mine fits in both of my helmets

It's the smallest model of pager (Bravo 600) but I'd hate to crack open my visor and loose the pager onto the road...


maybe stick to the left of the lane if you can. that way, if you have to move, its a bit easier to get off the road.

I was figuring I will stick to the left lane if we are in more than one lane. It should be fairly easy to get out if I need to.


Hit the fuckin thing with a hammer.

Turn it into work on Monday and ask for a replacement.

As much as that made me laugh, I don't think it would fly. :-)


I`m on call every second week (24/7).
Keep the pager on continual alarm, so when you stop anywhere you should hear it.
Also I stop every so often and check for any messages/missed calls on the cell.
I`ve got a 20 min/30 min response time, so plan the checks around this.
It`s a pain, but beats sitting at home waiting for the pager or cell to go off.

Not a bad plan generally, but I was hoping to do the protest ride tomorrow. People might get annoyed if I keep stopping. :-)