Consolidated Financial Statement Components - Depreciation, Amortization and Accretion (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciation	$ 1,403	$ 1,596
Amortization	625	625
Accretion	118	138
Total depreciation, amortization and accretion expense	2,146	2,359
Leasehold improvements
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciation	16	24
Asset retirement costs
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciation	(161)	(192)
Paging and computer equipment
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciation	1,478	1,666
Furniture, fixtures and vehicles
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciation	$ 70	$ 98

The aggregate amount of recurring noncash expense charged against earnings in the period to allocate the cost of assets over their estimated remaining economic lives.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AdjustmentForAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of accretion expense recognized during the period that is associated with an asset retirement obligation. Accretion expense measures and incorporates changes due to the passage of time into the carrying amount of the liability.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 410
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6392692&loc=d3e7535-110849

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 410
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6392676&loc=d3e7480-110848

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AssetRetirementObligationAccretionExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of expense recognized in the current period that reflects the allocation of the cost of tangible assets over the assets' useful lives. Includes production and non-production related depreciation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Depreciation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate net amount of depreciation, amortization, and accretion recognized during an accounting period. As a noncash item, the net amount is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DepreciationAmortizationAndAccretionNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=us-gaap_LeaseholdImprovementsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=spok_AssetRetirementCostsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=spok_PagingandComputerEquipmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=spok_FurnitureFixturesandVehiclesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: