Pager replacement project underway
Field officers at a pager change-over session at Yarra Glen station
CFA is working with EMV on a project that will replace more than 25,000 pagers in service across the EAS pager network.
The 12-month project, encompassing CFA, VICSES and Ambulance Victoria, involves the replacement of end-of-life pre-2017 Alpha Legend pagers.
The new ALPHA Legend Plus pagers offer enhanced functionality including improved and reliable message reception, user selectable cap codes, a visual alert via a LED light and an external speaker for audibly louder alerting. They also have improved battery life.
The project to swap out the end-of-life pagers began at CFA in November 2024 with a pilot in District 13. Since then, the project team has worked with districts to develop rollout plans including determining how many pre-2017 pagers need replacement and the best approach in each area to minimise the impact on members.
Under the rollout plan, brigade captains/Brigade Management Teams will be approached by their district team to confirm the number of pagers needing replacement. Members will then be advised by their district when the project team is in their area. Multiple dates, times and locations will be scheduled within each district to provide members with the best opportunity to attend.
With pagers being CFA’s primary incident alerting method, ACFO Operational Communications Jason Lawrence said the age of the pre-2017 pagers meant the rollout of the project was timely.
“CFA has about 34,000 pagers in circulation, of which about 25,000 are now at the end of life and no longer under warranty,” Jason said.
“Due to their age there is an increased risk they may fail. As the primary means of alerting our volunteers to fire calls and events, this poses a risk to CFA.”
Through the project, EMV is providing a one-for-one replacement of pre-2017 Alpha Legend pagers to remove them from operation. Only members with these older pagers will need to swap theirs over.
“If your pager has been identified as end-of-life, it will need to be replaced,” Jason said.
“This is a year-long project and EMV has multiple field officers working with CFA to ensure as smooth a rollout, with the schedule designed to reduce the impact on our volunteers as much as possible in line with fire season and other activity.
“I thank our district teams for their support including the work required to identify the number and location of pagers in their catchments. This bolsters our chance of a successful and thorough rollout, ensuring our members have access to up-to-date technology.”
Process for members with a pre-2017 Alpha Legend pager
- Members will be advised by their district when the project team will be in their area and the dates, times and locations available
- Members will need to attend one of these planned replacement sessions with their current allocated pager (broken pagers with their serial number will be accepted) to have it swapped over for the new device. New pagers will only be provided to the assigned member. This process will only take a couple of minutes.
- If you can’t attend of these sessions, please contact your district representative to discuss other options
Toora Captain Tim Wright, whose brigade participated in the change-over recently in District 9, said the exchange was a quick process.
“We had a couple of visits by the technicians to our station which meant we were able to get everyone done. Members got their new pager in less than five minutes,” Tim said.
“This was my first experience with a pager change-over program, I hadn’t really thought about what happens to pagers previously.
“On one of the days the technicians were at our station, our BASO stayed for the day, bringing the workwear set for fittings and that was successful. We were able to sort out a couple of bits and pieces the day.”
District 9 BASO Danika Dent thanked district volunteers for being adaptable and making themselves available to attend a change-over session.
“The replacement program was a quick process all round - from the district being told pagers were eligible, to dates the technicians were visiting, to setting times and locations, to the switch-out of pagers,” Danika said.
“We had more than 50 stops for the technicians around our district. We also piggy-backed off the VICSES pager changeover, with a further three stops at our stations, and District 27’s visits too.
“We’ve really given the best opportunity to change over pagers with minimal disruption to our brigades’ ability to respond to emergencies.
“It’s also prompted quite a few brigades to report lost or broken pagers so we’ll be working through some of that follow-up over the next couple of months.
“I think outside of the pilot in District 13, the pager replacement program team and other districts around the state will benefit from our experience and planning to make it a success for volunteers.”
If you require a new pager due to it being lost/stolen etc., you will need to follow the existing process for pager replacement by contacting your district headquarters.
For more information on the Pager Replacement Project including FAQs and the roll out schedule visit Members Online
Members are reminded that they need to carry their pagers at all times when they are available to respond to fires and other incidents for CFA.