Long live the telegram
The telegram is dead. Long live the telegram. Indeed, reports on the
death of the telegram seem to have been greatly exaggerated. According
to a report in our sister paper the Daily News, Posts Minister Jeevan
Kumaratunga has assured that there are no plans to scrap the service at
the moment despite the availability of more modern means of
communication.
The telegram is the medium of message of the telegraph service, the
very first successful electro-mechanical means of communication.
Telegraphy literally means “distance writing” - it was a revolution that
enabled instant communications over seas and continents. It has been
around since 1837, when American inventor Samuel Morse (hence the “Morse
Code”) invented the electrical telegraph. Even though the telephone was
invented just a few decades later, telegraphy remained a potent medium
because the telephone network took decades to reach many areas.
In fact, the humble telegram was the only choice for many people who
did not have access to telephones in case they wanted to send an urgent
message to the other side of the country or even to someone living
abroad. We have heard many jokes about misspelled telegrams (patient
expired for patient x-rayed, for example), but these prove how important
the service was to everyone. It was usually the only way to inform
someone of the death of a relative or a friend. Fixed telephones became
widespread in this country only in the late 1980s and even then, the
telegram reigned supreme especially in rural areas.
However, the advent of cellular telephony has greatly reduced the
demand for telegram services. With the number of telephones in active
use almost exceeding the country’s population, it is safe to assume that
almost everyone has access to a cellular telephone. This means that most
people are only a call or text message away. The fax machine too has
made its presence felt - you can transmit pages of documents with a just
a few keystrokes to anywhere in the world. (The telex machine, a
development of the telegraph service, is almost dead).
Internet
But the biggest change in the telecom sector in undoubtedly the
Internet. I can video chat with a person on the other side of the world,
while chatting with someone else via text.
We can exchange photographs and documents instantly. I can email him
with a project proposal, which he can edit and send back. Conference
calls can be set up easily with friends and associates all over the
world. Email has made it possible to send and exchange information
easily. Moreover, you can easily access the Net via mobile phones and
tablets - the Net is with you all the time.
With most post offices now equipped with email and fax facilities,
even those who have no such facilities at home can avail themselves of
these modern services for a nominal fee.
The telegram service is closely associated with another vital
service, which is also becoming less popular - the Money Order. This
used to be the only way to send money to a person living in another part
of the country. The conduit was the post office - there is hardly a
village without at least a sub-post office in this country. It was a
very convenient and safe way of transferring money.
However, the computerisation of banking operations and the subsequent
proliferation of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) have nearly made the
money order redundant.
If you want to send money to another person, all you do is deposit
the required amount to his or her bank account.
That amount can be withdrawn instantly from an ATM of the bank in
question. The Money Order is still a very useful instrument to send
funds to someone who does not have a bank account, though.
However, electronic money transfer, an evolution of the money order,
is very popular worldwide. Most local banks now offer such services
under several international brand names.
This has made it easier for those working in the Middle East and
elsewhere to send money to their families back home. One can send money
by visiting a bank or online.
In fact, in countries such as the US, these money transfer companies
still offer telegram services as well which show the close connection
between the two services.
There are also privately owned international telegram companies such
as iTelegram which still have substantial business despite the many
advances made in the telecom sector. Indeed, it is now possible to send
an international telegram online and there is a roaring trade in
‘telegramming’ wedding and birthday party invitations.
Telegrams Online, which operates from the UK, even has a memorable
slogan which says it all - “they will never forget a telegram”. Yes,
unlike an email, it is a physical, tangible thing which can be cherished
for decades.
Innovative
Our postal authorities should take a close look at how developed
countries have improved their telegram services through innovative new
products, even in the age of the World Wide Web. Ironically, they are
using the WWW itself to garner more telegram traffic by allowing users
to upload their telegrams online for a small fee.
They are then delivered physically to the intended recipients
anywhere in the world. That is the best approach to take (“If you can’t
fight them, join them”).
This way, telegrams can still stay relevant in a fast-moving world
where instant communications are the norm.
Innovation is the key for postal services everywhere, faced with the
challenge of improvising and improving their products in the age of the
Internet even as the traditional letter is dying.
One example is the entry of the post office to the courier business
(e-commerce is getting bigger - someone has to send all those parcels
ordered online) while the provision of Internet services to customers is
another. Post offices should do more to popularise stamp collecting as
well.
They should necessarily go online to offer certain services including
telegrams and money transfer. Post offices are also offering banking
services. Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to pioneer this
concept and our post offices have joined hands with international and
local banks to offer banking services.
In myriad ways like this, the Post can and will coexist side-by-side
with the Internet and all other modern means of communication.
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