A pager protocol that permits individual pagers to operate in an inactive mode when not being addressed to save power but nonetheless also accommodates high capacity transmission schemes that require non-continuous illumination of sectors occupied by individual pagers. Capabilities of a conventional omnidirectional paging protocol such as one of the FLEX.TM. family may be exploited to facilitate operation in the context of non-continous illumination. A pager transmitter transmits a simulcast transmission where all pagers in all sectors receive the same message. This message includes schedule information about future transmissions to individual pagers. Pagers then plan their switching between the active and inactive states in accordance with the schedule which takes into account a timetable for illuminating sectors.