Full Form of STD
STD Full Form is Subscriber Trunk Dialing (or) Subscriber Toll Dialing.
STD is a type of telephonic system which allows users to make trunk calls independently without the assistance of any operator. This term is, however, almost out of use in the current system of technology and mobile usages. Nevertheless, STD was first used to make long distance calls directly.
The term STD is commonly used in Ireland, UK, India, South East Asia, and Australia. Whereas; in countries like the USA the same terms is referred to as ‘Direct Distance Dialing’. The advent of STD gave birth to individual STD code for every city based on certain factors that represent the city name. With the introduction of mobiles, people are able to make a call between states within the country without the need of any STD code or prefix. Most often zero is used and this could differ from country to country.
STD Full Form – Additional Information
Telecommunication has evolved a lot over the past many years. It is easier to connect with a person in other city or even another country by just dialing a code prior to the person’s telephone number. This code is known as STD or Subscriber Trunk Dialing. Earlier, when a person wanted to communicate over the telephone with another person residing in a different city or country, the process of connecting the two lines was done with the help of a telephone operator at the exchange.
There was no facility to connect directly and dependency on the operator meant a long wait till the connection between the two exchanges was established and then passed on to you. The system ran thus. You had to make a call to your local exchange where the telephone operator would receive it. This was called “Trunk Assistance”. The operator would then note down the number of the person you wished to speak to and also ask for the location of the call destination. Later, he/she would establish inter- telephone exchange connection with the destination exchange.
After passing the desired call number to the operator at the other end, that operator would then finally connect you to the desired person. This was a metered and lengthy process and after every 3 minutes the operator would cut in and inform that the time was over and in case you wanted to speak more, you had to tell the operator to extend the duration, else the call would get cut after 3 minutes.
Need for STD
There are times when you wish to speak to someone urgently and, unfortunately, the person is outstation, then under such circumstances going through the older process of connection is agonizing. Most of the times, the operator declares regrets for unavailability of an open connection and you have to wait endlessly to get through to the desired number.
However, with the development of the telecommunication system, the “third party assistance” of the telephone operator is eliminated. Each city has an assigned code for easy reference and by dialing this code you can establish a direct contact with the telephone exchange in that city.
When a person makes a call within the city, it is treated as “local call”. When the call is intercity, then it is a “trunk call” or STD call. On the other hand, if you have to dial a number in a foreign country then it is “international subscriber dialing” or ISD call.
STD call not only eliminates the operator system but also gives the subscriber to talk uninterruptedly for the desired duration. Nonetheless, this is only possible when you make a call from home, as it is direct dialing. But if you make a call from the telephone booth, there is a meter connected to the telephone that records the call duration and the booth owner keeps reminding like the operator about time duration, which one needs to extend if need be. Finally, the meter calculates the charges as per the duration of call and dialing rate.
STD Explained
When a person dials in the local circle, it is treated as a standard local call. However, if you need to make an outstation call, then the first line owner (caller) is also known as the “subscriber” and since he rents the trunk line to make a call it is known as Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD). Now since the process has been made direct, there is no interruption during the call.
Nonetheless, your STD calls are metered and the final billing has local calls and STD calls charged at a different rate. There are two national telephonic service providers – MTNL and BSNL. In India, MTNL is Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, which is operational in metro cities (Maha =metro/big and Nagar = city) like Mumbai and New Delhi. Whereas BSNL stands for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and it provides services to all other parts of India. So a “subscriber” means any person who has applied to rent a telephone line through these providers.
Whenever the subscriber makes any calls, these are passed through the telecommunication network of either MTNL or BSNL, as the case may be. With the growing population and rising demand for communication, private companies have joined the bandwagon of telecommunication service providers. They are Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, and Tata Indicom.
Forming STD Codes
STD codes are made to differentiate the area you are calling. The access codes are made zone wise. It implies international country codes as well as intercity codes. For example, the USA country code is +1 and that of India is +91. For international dialing one has to prefix 00 before the country code and in trunk dialing the prefix is 0.
The STD codes of metro cities are usually double digit numbers, example New Delhi is 11, Mumbai is 22, Chennai is 44 and Pune are 20. Thus, while dialing a Pune landline number one should dial 020 followed by the number.
As far as 2-tier cities are concerned, STD code is composed of 3 digits. Some examples are 422 is Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, 484 is Kochi in Kerala, 821 is Mysore in Karnataka and 261 is Surat in Gujarat and so on. Thus, a call to a landline in Coimbatore would start with 0422 followed by the number.
These codes may be difficult to remember at all times; however, the Government and telecommunications department has released a book with the entire Indian cities’ STD codes. The STD codes directory gives an extensive listing of not only metros and 2-tier cities but also remote villages in India where the telecom network is available.
STD – A Boon for Communication Medium
With ever progressing country and rapidly growing cities, it is very important to have a hassle-free mode of communication. There is always an urge to move fast and thus no scope for snail-like communication. So it is a relief to know that there is no more waiting for the operator to connect your call when you can easily do it yourself using the STD code facility. The national service providers, as well as the private companies, make sure that the subscriber gets the best ever service and that there is an uninterrupted connection between the two parties.
With the addition of private telecom operators, the subscribers get the benefit of lower calling rate as there is competition between the providers to woo the customers. Whether one wants to call a friend or relative or make a vital business communication, STD eases the process of connecting with the other party. It is swift, direct and an absolute need of the hour.