Patent ID: 7236087

Claim:
In an on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, wherein the system includes a plurality of on-premises pagers, a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business, and wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron, a method for charging the on-premises pagers comprising: providing a charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers, wherein the charging unit includes a plurality of stacked slots each of which holds one of the pagers during charging, and wherein each stacked slot permits access by an operator to a pager positioned in the slot without disconnection of on-premises pagers in other slots from the charging unit; and inserting the on-premises pagers into the stacked slots and removing the on-premises pagers from the stacked slots in accordance with one or more of a first-in-first-out (FIFO) rotation; and a level of charge of the on-premises pagers.