The telegram was a fast postal service very widespread in the past, since it allowed to send short messages to any city in the world (thanks to the telegraph or, more recently, thanks to the telephone lines). With a telegram we could participate in an event or notify an event without having to send a classic letter (which took too long to arrive), so that within 24 hours maximum the recipient was aware of what had happened without having to be present on site. Obviously with the spread of the Internet and smartphones, the need to use a telegram has disappeared (since we can notify any event in a few seconds), but if we felt the need to notify an elderly relative without disturbing him on the phone, we can still send a online telegram from PC and mobile phone, using the service offered by Poste Italiane on its website or app.
Send an online telegram from a PC
In order to send a telegram sitting in front of the home PC, we open the Poste Italiane website with any web browser (Chrome or Edge is fine too), click on the top of the Correspondence and shipments menu and, in the Correspondence section, select the Telegram item .
Once the page is open, scroll down to find the two items Telegram and International Telegram.
We open the product we want to use (based on the recipient country), then scroll down the page again, so we can click on the Send online button.
We will now ask for the credentials of the Poste Italiane account or for the SPID managed by Poste Italiane on our behalf; we insert the text of the telegram, we insert the information on the recipient (the postal code, the country etc.), we insert our payment data (if we have a PostePay or a BancoPosta account, we will be able to use those, otherwise any credit / debit card) therefore we conclude the operation to complete the sending of the telegram. The message will be received the same day or, if sent after 18, will be delivered the next day.
The cost of the telegram varies according to the text we are going to write: € 5.50 per telegram with text up to 20 words; € 8.50 up to 50 words; € 12 up to 100 words; € 23 up to 200 words; € 46.49 up to 500 words. In addition to 500 words, it is no longer convenient to send a telegram, since the message will be divided into two (the limit is 501 words): in this case, it is worth using Registered Mail 1 to be able to obtain a good speed and being able to send a large letter inside the envelope.
If we have to send a telegram abroad, the costs are obviously higher since we will also have to pay a fee for the foreign postal manager who will take care of the delivery of our telegram.
Send an online telegram via mobile phone
If we wish to send the telegram via smartphone or tablet, simply download the Post Office app from Poste Italiane to our portable device, available free for Android and iOS.
Once the app is open, we insert the access credentials of our Poste Italiane account (we can also use those used for home-banking access for BancoPosta and Postepay), we tap the Telegram icon (present under the section Le your operations ), select Start, and begin to compile our telegram, entering the text to be sent.
Once the text has been entered, tap on Continue, enter the recipient's data exactly as seen on the PC, confirm the payment data (also in this case we can pay with any banking product of the Italian Post Office or with any credit / debit card ), then we confirm sending.
The costs are identical to those seen for the site, but using the app we will have the opportunity to quickly send a telegram wherever we are, without having to bother the PC.
Other methods of sending a telegram
If we cannot use a PC or the app to send our telegram, we can use the Telegrams Telephone Dictation service, always offered by Poste Italiane: we will only have to call the 186, TIM cell phone or landline (Telecom, Fastweb, Tiscali, Wind Infostrada, Infracom, Momax, Qcom, TWT, Brennercom, Uno Communications SpA, Welcome Italia, Terrecablate Reti e Servizi, Convergenze, DigiTel, Cloud Italia, Terra SpA, Teletu, Estracom, Intred, Mc-Link, Colt T., Ambrogio, Planetel Srl, Optima Italia SpA, Linea Com Srl) and, following the instructions provided, fill in the telegram verbally, also including the recipient information.The number 186 is active every day, including holidays, from 7:00 to 23:00 on the whole national territory. The Telegrams sent via the 186 will be charged by the respective telephone operators on the telephone bills or deducted from the prepaid TIM SIM. The cost is obviously slightly higher than sending online from a PC or smartphone.
Alternatively, we can also use the telephone advance service ; we call 186, we provide the data for the compilation of the telegram and we explicitly ask to be able to use the telephone advance.
The operator will ask us for the recipient's phone number and make 3 attempts to contact the recipient; upon reply, the operator will ask the recipient for consent to read the Telegram by telephone and inform him that it is recorded by the Post Office, so that the text of the telegram will be read by telephone to the recipient.
A copy of the telegram will always be sent to both, so that we can have a confirmation of delivery.
The cost of the service is added to that of the telegram sent by Telegrams Telephonic Dictation.
Conclusions
For many it may seem an anachronistic thing to send the telegram to the present day (with email, chat, Facebook etc.), but remember that not all older people appreciate technology and may like to be informed of important events through a convenient telegram, that we can send in "technological version" using our PC or our smartphone.Still on the subject of old technologies, we recommend our guide on How to send a fax via the Internet for free. And if instead we want to send a parcel or registered letter comfortably seated from home, we invite you to read our article on How to send parcels and registered mail to the home.
