December 29, 2002	Sunday	Shawwal 24, 1423

BIRMINGHAM, Dec 28: A small office in the heart of Birmingham is hoping to mastermind the revival of a near forgotten communication service.

Telegram centres were once dotted around the country, with more than 80 million a year being sent in the half of 20th century.

But now, with the advent of the telephone, text messaging and email, just a handful of Birmingham operators are tasked with keeping the service alive.

Alison Porter, general manager of British Telecom messaging service based in company’s Birmingham city headquarters, said that there was once 24-hour operator centres across the country, but the service has slimmed down since the post offices were split in 1980.

Porter said one of the bigger problem the team have had is that people do not know telegrams still exist.

“We will never replace greeting cards but we offer another choice,” he added.