PCO Full Form

PCO in India and Pakistan was inspired by the model of the public telephone boxes, which were operational in the United Kingdom. The first PCO was installed in the 1960s in India. It was one of the most revolutionary inventions of that time. It allowed people to communicate with each other. Various phone booths were installed in different parts of India. Initially, people were skeptical about using PCOs. There were various confusions and misunderstandings like whether it will be costly and can anyone else hear their conversation. As time passed, all these misunderstandings and fears were resolved, and people started enjoying this boon of technology. 

Public Call Office

A public call office is a phone installed for the common public in various areas in rural and urban India. Various telephone booths are in operation in different parts of the country. Public call offices came into existence to diminish the gap between people and increase the connectivity of the place. This article will highlight the importance of PCO.

History of PCOs

In the 1880s, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, while the phone booth design was made by William Gray in 1889 in the United States of America. Following which phone booths were installed in the United Kingdom in the 1920s. Phone booths came to India in the year of 1980s and revolutionized the lives of the great Indian common person. In India, the concept of PCOs came into life when the first PCO was introduced by telecom officer Mr R.L. Dube. PCOs can be divided into landline and wireless. The landline version is the oldest kind of PCO, while the wireless is the latest one.

How does PCO operate? 

PCO is basically operated by dropping the coin in and dialing the phone number of the person you want to call. The telecommunication sector of PCOs is reigned by the government giant, BSNL. Other private companies also like Reliance, Idea; Airtel comes to a close second. In earlier times, operational PCOs were postpaid PCOs with a landline. As per recent data, MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited) and BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) control India’s phone booths market. There are two types of PCOs operational currently in India. One is manually or physically operated, and the other type is operated by physically putting a coin in the phone box. BSNL and MTNL are both prevalent in India, but BSNL rules most of the market. 

In India, the latest form of PCOs has also evolved with the introduction of public internet cafés. It was introduced in India in Bhopal by BSNL on the 18th of August,2013. Mr. N.K Yadav, the chief general manager at the BSNL unit in Bhopal, opened it at the internet café, working on a broadband connection.

Salient features of PCOs 

1. Automatic overall entry of the calls made at the PCOs is recorded for the previous day.
2. Automatic entry of calls made is always there in the system
3. Codes are also available readily if you are going to make a call to a particular state.
4. Shortcuts to the keyboards that are utilized for making calls are also available.
5. A control panel is lit and shows that the calls are in progress.
6. Printout of all the calls can be taken out.

Importance of PCOs 

1. PCOs bridge the gap between people living far and near.
2. PCOs are very cheap, easy to use, and less complex.
3. PCOs are installed with booths everywhere to give people the necessary privacy while making the calls.
4. PCOs in rural areas are very important as by using a single coin; you can connect to anyone on the phone call.

Pros and Cons of PCOs 

Pros

1. PCOs are relatively inexpensive.
2. It is very reliable.
3. PCOs are not that affected by bad weather and fluctuations in voltage.
4. With PCOs, you can save and record all the calls made from the telephone booth.
5. If we want to print the last call, special keys are installed to show the journal entry.
6. In a PCO, it can print and make a call simultaneously.

Cons

1. On mobile phones these days with the internet, we can make the call free of cost, but in PCOs still, you have to give money
2. PCOs have become outdated; there is not much use of them in big cities.
3. When making a call from PCO, we do not know whether the other person is there to take a call.
4. When you can not see the other person on a call from PCO.
5. With PCOs, we can not send documents, pictures, etc.

Conclusion

The full form of PCO is the public call office. It was introduced in India in the 1980s. They are still operational at various railway stations, bus stops, and old shops and villages. It was a boon of technology when they were introduced back then as it was no longer considered a luxury to talk to near and dear ones on the telephone. It was no longer shrunk to the houses of the elite, but now a common person can also make use of this technology. In today’s world, PCOs are slowly losing their charm due to cell phones.