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Look ma, no operator

Ashutosh opens an application, types in a pager number, taps in a message and presses 'OK'. In less than a minute the message reaches the pager of one of his employees. Nary a phone in sight.

Maybe just a phone line there, since Ashutosh is connected to the Internet via a modem. This is what the new software package being marketed by

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paging operators in India promises -- messages from PC to pager.

The Remote Transmission System software, aimed at the Windows platform, works by first sending the message to the service provider's network which transmits it to the receiver.

Many paging companies have developed such software. And, since it makes it easier for people to contact someone while saving manpower and cutting down on errors, all of them are trying hard to push it.

In Madras, RPG Paging Services Ltd is selling a package developed by Integra Techsoft Private Ltd of Bangalore for about Rs 20,000 with an additional Rs 5,000 per year for port access facilities. Modi has also entered the market with cheap software and Mobilink looks likely to enter the market soon.

According to RPG sources, the software ensures confidentiality, sequencing of messages and instantaneous message transmission.

The corporate sector stood to gain since number people in many companies carry pagers. And it was possible to create sub-groups of people belonging to one company, even a department, he said. And there would be no errors as happens when the harried operator either mishears or misunderstands a customer.

In Madras, Hotel Savera, BPL and JTS Technologies have bought the RPG software and TVS looks a likely client.

Another company also marketing similar software in Madras is the Modi group. It's priced at a low Rs 8,000, and it's free for large customers.

Modi is aggressively marketing its software, apparently because it wants to reduce reliance on its operators, who struck work earlier this year. But though such a step would reduce dependence on the operators, they could not be dispensed with, considering the traffic from individual subscribers, sources said.

Mobilink is also testing a software package slated to enter the marketed in the near future, company sources said.

-Compiled from the Indian media

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