Whilst finishing off my last project - "Web connectivity on a 30-year-old brick phone", I suddenly had a brainwave - could I make a streamlined version that simply beeps a pager (via a Twilio Programmable Voice call) when I receive an email, or when a nominated Twitter account posts a tweet?
Traditional wide-area paging (i.e. public paging services that work anywhere) is nearly obsolete in the UK - there is only one provider left as of May 2022, and subscribers need to pay a monthly subscription.
However, I reckon it's possible to resurrect an old 'tone pager' (i.e. a device that simply bleeps when a message is received) by replacing its innards with a cheap GSM module, such as the SIM800L. Then, all that's needed (in theory!) is for me to wire up the module to the pager's buzzer and to a battery, pop in a SIM card, and start making calls to it from Twilio.
Updates will follow when I get hold of an old tone pager...