Bharti Airtel has announced that they are entering the rapidly-growing cloud communications market as they launch business-centric ‘Airtel IQ’. According to the company statement, Airtel IQ would be a cloud-based omnichannel communications platform with the aim to enable brands to deepen engagement with the customers through timely and secure communication. The company statement had termed the move as a “game-changer” in the fast-evolving Indian enterprise communication segment.
The Indian cloud communication market is having record growth. It is estimated at USD 1 billion and achieves an annual growth of 20 percent.
Bharti Airtel with its Airtel IQ is looking to eliminate the need for multiple communication platforms for different channels. Companies like Swiggy, Justdial, Urban Company, Havells, Dr. Lal Path Labs, and Rapido have already signed up as customers for Airtel IQ in the beta phase. Currently, the platform is commercially available and runs on a pay as you go model which means that the costs for enterprises would depend on the consumption levels.
The statement released by the company said, “With just a slice of code, businesses can embed communication services such as voice, SMS, IVR (interactive voice response) in their applications and digital properties across desktop and mobile, all through a unified platform.”
According to Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO of Airtel Business, the new platform could achieve into 30 to 40 percent cost reduction for enterprises than the traditional models.
The telecom operator also looks forward to large call center ecosystem, e-commerce and internet companies, start-ups, banks, and those into manufacturing and distribution to be early adopters of the platform, given their need for omnichannel communications.
Airtel has also said as they provided an example that for a customer ordering food through an online platform and calling the delivery agent to find out the status of her order, the entire communication is conducted seamlessly and securely over Airtel IQ. The communication made through Airtel IQ would be encrypted and all mobile/telephone numbers are masked. The company also says that with a slice of code businesses can embed communication services such as Voice, SMS, IVR in their applications, and digital properties across desktop and mobile, all through a unified platform.
Airtel IQ has been totally developed by Airtel’s in house engineering team. The product highlights the company’s growing digital prowess to deliver world-class solutions. According to Adarsh Nair, Airtel IQ is natively integrated into telco-grade infrastructure and architected by top digital talent, Airtel IQ is robust, secure, cost-efficient, and intuitive.
Statement from the telecom operator also said, “Natively integrated into telco-grade infrastructure and architected by top digital talent, Airtel IQ is robust, secure, cost-efficient and intuitive.”
Airtel is already a large player in the business-to-business connectivity space. They serve over one million businesses in several areas like connectivity, cloud, security and collaboration, and data center solutions.
Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel said, “Airtel IQ is first amongst several game-changing products that we will be bringing to the market.”
He also said, “Businesses are increasingly looking to cloud-based digital platforms to engage with consumers, and Airtel IQ is built to raise the bar when it comes to brands delighting consumers.”
Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy, said about Airtel’s new innovation, “With Airtel IQ, we have been able to deliver seamless and highly intuitive communication between all parties across our platform in a privacy contained and simplified fashion.”