Alphanumeric pagers are pagers that deliver messages in text to the receiver.
This is not the last step. The pager is a communication technology in a state of transition. Prior to the invention of the alphanumeric pager, pagers were simply a beeper displaying a phone number. The reason for profiling the pager is that it continues to develop into a tiny, more general purpose, portable communication system. We have yet to see the final incarnation, if there is to be one, of pager technology.