BSNL plans to upgrade 25 District Telegraph Offices
Chennai: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd Chennai Telephones plans to upgrade 25 District Telegraph Offices (DTO) across the city into one-stop outlets providing a range of telecom services on the lines of customer support centres.In the initial phase, six DTOs have commenced online transactions relating to BSNL fixed line and mobile bill payments. These multi-tasking centres are located at Adyar, Anna Nagar, Koyambedu Market and CMBT, Ambattur and Anna Road.Soon, they will be equipped to accept applications for connections, telephone shifts and other fixed line services, a BSNL official said. They will also issue CellOne SIM recharge and top-up cards.The upgradation of DTOs to the level of customer service centres forms part of BSNL's strategy to diversify payment options that range from cash counters and post office remittances to Internet transactions. At the same time, it frees DTOs from relying too much on revenue from telegrams or facsimile at the risk of turning unviable.The staff at the upgraded DTO adjacent to the Head Post Office on Anna Road has taken to their new roles with ease. Employees went through training in customer relations and computer basics before telecom transactions went online.
The Sub Divisional Engineer-in-charge Deenadayal says though telegrams are still the prime reason for a customer visit to the DTO, the number of subscribers dropping in to make bill payments is gradually increasing.But though the DTO has touched a high of Rs. 1 lakh in daily collection since the online facility became available a couple of months ago, one suspects that the word has not gone around quickly or far enough. Supervisors Venkatesh and Mohan Babu point out that telegrams--a round-the-clock facility--remain the most high-profile function of the Anna Road DTO with people from as far away places as Tambaram and Ambattur dropping in to send telegrams. Business houses, the police and the courts account for the bulk of telegram transactions here.
Though English is the golden standard, messages in Tamil and Devanagari are taken down and faxed to the addressee. Interestingly, the modern telegram is seldom a purveyor of bereavement news, the staff said.In terms of volumes, the number of telegram despatches may have drastically come down from the era preceding the telecom and technology revolution, but the word-count per despatch partly compensates for the decline. Official telegrams are far from the one-liners that were once associated with this form of communication, with the average word count of DTO despatches averaging around 200 words.Some telegrams run into four pages and a word count of 300 or more, though the most expensive transaction yet at this DTO relates to a telegram that contained 1,500 words, said Srinivasachar, a supervisor.
