Monday, October 11, 2010

Church Paging Systems

It’s never pleasant. To see a once-cute baby transform into a demonic banshee. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But, we’ve all been in a position where a crying baby has made the situation uncomfortable for all parties. Whether you’re the parent or an innocent bystander, being around a crying baby is far from pleasant. And, it’s especially unpleasant when you’re in a reverent setting like church. Between a wailing baby and that toddler who just rammed his Hot Wheels into your foot for the sixth time, you might find yourself questioning that whole forgiveness thing. So, God bless daycare, right?

These days, most churches offer some sort of daycare. However, as you probably know, just because you put your child in daycare doesn’t mean they’ll behave much better. Aside from some religious teachings, a church daycare isn’t much different from any other daycare. Parents still want to be kept in the loop and know what’s going on. If their child gets sick, they want to be reached. If their child is terrorizing teachers and other children, they want to be informed. But, a worker shuffling through the middle of church to whisper into the ear of a parent can be just as disrupting as a crying baby.

This is where technology and religion meet. A number of churches are now using wireless paging systems for their daycare. This allows for parents to be silently kept in the loop. These church paging systems operate like any other wireless paging system. They’re similar to receiving a pager when you’re asked to wait at a restaurant. Parents are given a small pager they can tuck into their pocket, and if a problem or issue should arise, they can be notified discretely. This saves a parent much embarrassment while also sparing the congregation of disruption. Furthermore, it also provides a sense of safety. A parent knows that if anything were to happen to their child, they can be notified immediately. It’s not every day that technology and the church get a long, but in this case, church paging systems seem to work for all parties concerned.