Method for coordinating radio paging transmissions on local and nationwide channels

To ensure that a user of radio paging services receives page messages while traveling, page messages are broadcast over both the user's local paging channel and a nationwide paging channel during periods of scheduled travel. At all other times, page messages are broadcast over the user's local channel and accompanied by tone-only messages of abbreviated length broadcast over the nationwide channel. Receipt of a tone-only message provides user notification that he or she was paged over the local channel. Receiving logic in the pager carried by the user automatically switches the pager between local and nationwide channel frequencies under the control of channel marker codes transmitted over the local channel and a switching code included in tone-only messages received over the nationwide channel. To facilitate system management, all page messages are routed through a nationwide paging terminal.