Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Monday launched a new platform called ‘Airtel IQ’. With this, the company has entered in the rapidly-growing cloud communications market.

“Airtel IQ, a cloud-based omni-channel communications platform, enables brands to deepen engagement with customers through timely and secure communication,” a statement issued by the company stated.

“ A true game changer in the Indian enterprise communication segment, Airtel IQ eliminates the need for multiple communication platforms for different channels. With just 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,” it added.

The Indian cloud communications market, estimated at USD 1 billion, is seen growing nearly 20 per cent annually.

“Airtel IQ has been fully developed by Airtel’s in-house engineering teams and highlights the company’s growing digital prowess to deliver world-class solutions,” the company said adding that many of India’s biggest companies such as Swiggy, Justdial, Urban Company, Havells, Dr. Lal Path Labs and Rapido have signed up as customers for Airtel IQ during the beta phase itself.

Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO Airtel Business said that the new platform could translate into 30-40 per cent cost reduction for enterprises as compared to traditional models.

Airtel expects large call centre 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 omni-channel communications.

Citing an example, Airtel said, 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 is encrypted and all mobile/telephone numbers are masked.

Airtel IQ has been fully developed by Airtel’s in-house engineering teams.

“Natively integrated into telco grade infrastructure and architected by top digital talent, Airtel IQ is robust, secure, cost-efficient and intuitive,” the Airtel statement said.

Airtel is a large player in the business-to-business connectivity space and serves over one million businesses with a portfolio that spans connectivity, cloud, security and collaboration and data centre 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 .

Businesses are increasingly looking to cloud-based digital platforms to engage with consumers and Airtel IQ is built to raise the bar, Nair added.