A few seconds after you take out a guard, their pager starts beeping – and one of your team members must answer it in the next 7 seconds, or the alarm will be raised. Though it might seem like an inconvenience, this mechanic actually allows for some leeway on the stealth portion of a heist. But there’s a catch. The number of pagers you can answer in a single go is limited.

You won’t be able to fool security forever, as a team can only answer 4 pagers per mission day without security getting suspicious. Once a team member tries to answer a fifth, the alarm will be raised – so try to avoid killing guards when possible. Especially avoid killing multiple guards at once, as trying to answer multiple pagers within the same time frame can be extremely difficult.

The 4-pager limit is actually an upgrade from the old days of the game. Originally, a team could only answer 2 pagers– unless a team member had the Smooth Talker skill. Team members with the skill could answer for a third or fourth time, until a patch removed the skill and gave the ability to everyone.

Hopefully this tidbit of information helps you with your heists! And while you’re here, be sure to check out the rest of our Payday 2 guides to make sure your missions go smoothly: 

How to Open Safes in Payday 2 How to Play Payday 2 With Friends