Ranchi, May 16: Landline telephone users in the capital will soon be able to use their phones to send text messages too.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has come up with a service through which its subscribers can send and receive SMS through their landline phones. The company also plans to introduce other services s as well.
“Landline SMS will be introduced nationally. A subscriber needs to attach a separate instrument to use the SMS facility,” said Mahendra Kumar, chief general manager of BSNL Ranchi.
The company wants landline phones to regain their importance at a time when India is experiencing a mobile revolution. “The SMS facility will be free. We want to make landline phones popular in the age of mobile phones,” Mahendra added.
BSNL has already started receiving a positive response from the public. “The response has been good. People are queuing up to ask about the features of the facility even without us launching any promotional campaign,” said a BSNL official.
The technology for the landline SMS service will use the existing server networks. “The fixed line SMS server will be connected to the mobile SMS service server,” said deputy general manager (operations) BSNL Pankaj Kumar.
The company plans to introduce other features as well. “We will also introduce services like Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Unified Messaging Service (UMS),” he added.
“The VPN will cater to a group of users. The working principle here is the same as that of intercom phones and EPABX. Every registered group will be issued a set of three-digit telephone numbers to communicate within the group in addition to normal mobile facilities,” said Pradeep.
“Users with UMS facility can receive voicemails in their BSNL inboxes. A user will also get an alert message once a mail lands in his or her e-mail. The e-mail service, with a host of other facilities, will be more advanced than the existing services,” Pradeep said.
The company will soon gear up for promotions of these new facilities. “We are organising a seminar on May 17, which is celebrated as World Telecom Day. We have invited a number of speakers from the telecom sector as well. We will also have a number of stalls to explain our new services,” said Pradeep.
The news of SMS facility through landline phones is fast making waves in the younger generation, especially among the student community.
“Sharing jokes will not longer be confined to mobile phones. I heard that BSNL has decided to provide SMS facility with the landline phones and I will make full use of it. My only problem is that the cost of this electrical device is around Rs 1,900,” said Utkarsh Mishra a computer science undergraduate at BIT- Mesra.
