A method for paging a mobile station where the mobile station (208-212) may be in a dormant state is described. The method begins by sending a first paging message (302) in a first zone (214) of a given area to a selected mobile station wherein the first paging message is sent at the beginning of a paging interval (300). A base station (202-206) then receives a response to the paging message when the mobile station is in the first zone. When the response to the first paging message is not received, a second paging message (306) is sent in a second zone (216) of the given area. The second paging message is sent at a first offset (308) from the sending of the first paging message wherein this first offset occurs less than one paging interval after the sending of the first page message.