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|In: Android|Last Updated:

Android has a stranglehold on the smartphone market worldwide. According to Strategy Analytics, Android dominated the global smartphone market again last year with 1 billion units shipped worldwide. It accounted for 81 percent of all smartphones shipped last year, followed by Apple with 15 percent market share and Microsoft with 3 percent at third. Without a doubt, Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world.

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Commenting on Android, Paul Oliveria, researcher of Trend Micro said

Many users choose Android over other OS-based devices because first, the devices can be relatively cheap; second, it’s known for fast and efficient data storage and third, it’s available across different form factors, brands, and price points. Moreover, Android is popular among mobile developers and manufacturers for its capacity to house innovative app development without licensing fees and its simple, yet powerful Software Development Kit [SDK].

Because the mobile landscape is ever-changing, securing mobile device can be tedious. In the virtual world where hackers and cyber-criminals are hard to trace, you are the only one who can make sure your device and the data in it is well protected.

As Google wants to empower users and developers as much as possible, the very freedom makes Android a viable platform cyber-criminals and hackers want to exploit. Android users can expect to run into a few problems from time to time and their device and the data in it can be stolen, spied on, and used by cyber-criminals if they aren’t careful.

Following are some of the tips proposed by Trend Micro that can help to keep your devices secure:

Lock the screen – Enabling a screen unlock code will prevent a device thief from accessing your mobile data.

Protect your data – Android virtually comes with pre-installed security measures that can be easily accessed and enabled from the security sub-menu. The Android security screen also includes an option to encrypt the device. Enabling this option will help protect sensitive information stored in the device.

Strengthen passwords and app permissions – Google does a fine job at synching their updates with Android devices. However, some manufacturers take a little more time to update. Remember to check the features that you allow the app to access, and don’t forget to use strong and unique passwords. If you re-use your passwords, hackers can effortlessly guess the passwords on your other accounts.

Install a security app – It’s always a good idea to make use of security apps. An app that offers anti-theft features like remote wipe-out, tracking, and locking, as well as malware scanning and detection can help mitigate potential threats. For example, Trend Micro Mobile Security is a security app for Android phone and Android tablet, which blocks malicious apps from Google Play before they are installed; guards against identity theft and viruses; blocks dangerous and fraudulent websites; protects your privacy on Facebook; protects kids online; and even extends battery life and optimizes device performance and memory.

Connect to secure networks – Whenever you go online using a network you don’t know, such as public Wi-Fi, you should be more careful because unsecured Wi-Fi networks can be used to stage man-in-the-middle attacks where data can be intercepted by a third party. Avoid online banking, financials, and purchasing over public networks. If you use Wi-Fi at home, please make sure you use a password to secure your router.

Avoid rooting your device – Before rooting your Android device, consider the pros and cons first. While it allows you more control over your device, it could also allow unsigned apps, including malicious ones, access to your data. This also makes it difficult to patch and update your OS and apps, which could leave your device vulnerable.

Download from official app stores – Downloading from third-party sites or app stores is one of the easiest ways for any mobile device to get infected with malware. Limiting your apps to those from official or trusted app stores (like the Google Play app store) can lower the risks.

For more information on Mobile Security for Android Smartphones and Tablets, visit the following link.

[Image Credit* : Trend Micro]

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated:

The e-commerce landscape is rapidly changing in India & there has been an interesting set of companies built around Design, Portfolio Development, Logistics etc. Today we have a Q&A with Akash Kalra, co-founder of a startup Pungraffiti based out of Pune which has a single mantra – “Spread Happiness via T-Shirts”. We discussed with him about Pungraffiti, Startup & e-commerce landscape in India & many aspects of Entrepreneurship.

PunGraffiti

Can you give a small background about you, your start-up and it’s founders ?

Some may call us as a T-Shirt selling startup. However, we do not just sell T-Shirts, we spread happiness with it. The idea is to bring smiles all around using our creative ideas on the T-Shirts 🙂

We are 3 of us, namely, Akash, Gagan and Varun. We are all school friends. I am Akash. I am an economist by education and Gagan & Varun are engineers.

Apart from us, we have another couple of friends, Meetali and Vivek, who have invested and entrusted upon us to do the job.

Every idea is born out of a problem/inspiration, what was the trigger of starting Pungraffiti ?

Well, in our case, there was not any problem as such but there was a realization, a common realization I would say. I had quit my job with KPMG in Pune and had joined a startup in Delhi. Gagan and Varun were here in Delhi. Gagan was working with Mitsubishi that time and Varun with a shipping company.

While discussing about the fun times we have had in school and discussing about how our careers have progressed after that, we realized that the only thing that all of us are actually good at is to make people happy, and that in turn gave us happiness and satisfaction ourselves. We then discussed that making a career out of this would be great. And thus, came the idea.

Pungraffiti looks a very peppy name, how did your team zero in on this name ?

Thank you. That’s how we wanted it to be. 🙂

It took us quite a lot of time to come up with it. It is more to do with the designs on our T-Shirts. We have tried to present a certain thing in a different, creative way. It takes you a couple of seconds to think over it and when you realize it, you smile or laugh about it. That’s where pun came from. Graffiti stands for the designs.

Thus, PunGraffiti

Does your startup have in-house designers, if so do you plan to move to a “crowd-sourced designer model” ?

Yes. Varun designs these for us. Me and Gagan sit down and think of ideas to put on the T-Shirts. The next very important step is determining how to present those ideas on T-Shirts and then, Varun takes over from there. He starts working on the designing software and we assist him in whatever we can.

While, crowd sourced designer model is an interesting model, we do not have any immediate plan to get into it. We trust our creativity to be able to relate to our target audience. 🙂

How does Pungraffiti stack up against the other competitor’s that are also in the same space ?

Our value proposition will have to be the designs. Now, the reason we believe that we stack up against the competitors is the creativity we use on these T-Shirts, the way we present what we intend to.

To be comparing ourselves to the competitors, it is important to understand our target audience and the business model. These T-Shirts creatively derive emotions from people and if those people would want to show these emotions, again creatively, to others, they will wear it.

I can explain this with the following example from our collection:

We have a Rahul Dravid T-Shirt for his fans. Now, we could have just written Rahul Dravid or made his picture on the T-Shirt as our competitors would do, but we instead presented this in a different/creative way. We made a wall with his name on it and wrote “Not just another brick in the wall”. This is where we differ from our competitors.

Somebody who would want to show his/ her love for Rahul Dravid and show it smartly/ creatively will buy this T-Shirt.

What are some of the issues [still] faced by e-commerce startups ?

While e-commerce has given businesses the luxury to cater to the entire world as their market, there are challenges that come alongside. I think the major challenge that this e-commerce boom has got is that it has made getting recognized amongst your target audience a little slower and expensive. Even though I personally believe, if a certain business has the commercial potential, it will be successful eventually.

With almost every merchandise business now being online and already existent businesses investing heavily on online marketing, a deserving e-commerce startup could face a lot of problems to be recognized initially.

I think what is important in this market scenario is patience, a lot of it. If you have the business confidence, you would be able meet your goals, sooner or later.

How according to you, should a startup deal with a disgruntled customer ?

I think the kind of competitive market we are into, a startup cannot afford to have a disgruntled customer. I will try expressing my views on how to deal with one from one of our experiences. Recently, one of customers bought a T-Shirt with us. However, due to some bug on the server, he did not get the order confirmation on the e-mail. He then wrote us a mail complaining about this.

First thing that we did in this case was quickly reply to his mail, addressing his concern. Secondly, I personally called him to explain him the issue and ensured my personal attention in his order.

Thirdly, what we did was apart from the T-Shirt, we sent him a cake at his address in Bangalore with “Sorry :)” written on it. And he gave us a nice feedback to us not just for the T-Shirt but also for the kind of attention we gave him for his order.

We cannot afford to have any unhappy customer, especially when we say we spread happiness with the T-Shirt.

What are the major changes that you experienced when you moved from an Employee to an Entrepreneur ?

I think the biggest change that I have experienced is that as an employee I used to actually work for around 5 hours a day and as an entrepreneur, that is how much I sleep. 🙂

Working as an entrepreneur keeps you on your toes. You are responsible for anything and everything that goes wrong. Your hard work can be seen getting converted into results. And the happiness and excitement that you experience when something works out is just incomparable.

What are your key advice(s) to people who want to start-up ?

I think it is very important to understand the business potential of your idea. While there are many creative ideas that one can come up with, having an audience for that idea is equally important to really sustain.

I also think that the market for startups has become very challenging. The big players are into everything these days. Thus, it is very important to have a USP. A USP that is efficient enough to derive enough audience towards your product/service.

How much does social media channels [Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.] contribute to marketing in startup ?

Immense. We can say that from our own experience. It has not even been a month that we have started and just through social media publicity, and that too unpaid, we have sold over 100 T-Shirts all over India, starting from Jammu-Punjab-Delhi-Gujarat-Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad-Bangalore-Odisha & even Siliguri.

We have over 1700 followers on Facebook and we have got a very encouraging response on Instagram as well. The number of site visits is another encouraging reason we can really say that.

Any parting words from you for budding entrepreneurs ?

According to me, believing in your idea, having the courage to execute it and having enough patience are the 3 key things in this startup market.

It is certainly not a comfortable and an easy ride but it has enough thrill and joy to make your life exciting and happening.  🙂

If you have any questions for Akash or about Pungraffiti, please let them in the comments section !!

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Shoppers Stop, India’s leading fashion retailer has announced its tie-up with Hybris software, an SAP company & the world’s fastest growing commerce platform provider. This liaison will enable Shoppers Stop to provide a seamless and unified shopping experience to customers across its multiple channels i.e. Physical stores, Web, Social, TV and Marketplaces.

Shoppers Stop plans to invest 60 crores over the next 3 years in its omni-channel technology, supply chain & talent to strengthen its omni-channel play. Over the next 3 years, it will extend its omni-channel strategy to its group companies HomeStop, Hypercity & Crossword. By 2020, the Company targets to achieve 15% revenue through digital-touch points.

Penske-omni-channel-image

Shoppers Stop will leverage the hybris commerce platform and its state-of-the-art data management technology which has a successful track-record in providing omni-channel solutions to the world’s leading retail organizations. BORN will be the system integration partner for the SAP hybris setup.

Hybris will enable Shoppers Stop to deliver a real-time, impactful, and relevant customer experience across every touch point, channel & device. In essence, hybris software will enable Shoppers Stop to have a single view of the customer by linking multiple identifiers [Mobile number, First Citizen number, Facebook, email, etc.] to one single identity. Conversely, hybris technology will allow shoppers to have one-view of the Shoppers Stop brand experience across multiple channels and devices.

Speaking on the occasion, Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate & Managing Director, Shoppers Stop Ltd. said

Amongst the top global retailers, 9 out of 10 are brick & mortar players who have evolved into omni-channel entities. In India, Shoppers Stop was one of the first department stores to launch a multi-channel play through our e-store www.shoppersstop.com. Now, we are embarking on our omni-channel journey by linking our multiple channels to give customers a unified brand experience. We are proud to partner with SAP in our omni-channel journey and look forward to their support in establishing ourselves as India’s leading omni-channel retailer. We plan to invest approximately 60 crores in our omni-channel efforts.

Through the hybris technology, Shoppers Stop will have a one-view of customer, one-view of order and one-view of inventory. This will allow us to provide our customers with a contextual, targeted, personalized and integrated shopping experience. As part of the roadmap ahead, we will introduce new features such as ‘Click & Collect’, ‘Ship from Store’, ‘Endless Aisles, and much more.

Speaking about the association, Deb Deep Sengupta, Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent said

Today’s customers are digitally empowered and in control. Shoppers Stop has built its reputation on the quality of its service and understands the value its customers place on exceptional experiences.Hybris’s ability to equip major brands with robust and flexible commerce technology positions us as one of the world’s leading e-commerce technology providers. We are thrilled to partner with one of the most reputable retail brands in India to help them meet customers’ expectations, deliver the best customer experience, support their business strategy and be part of their business transformation.

Mr. Vinay Bhatia, Customer Care Associate & Executive Vice-President, Marketing, Loyalty & Analytics, Shoppers Stop Ltd. said

We have a hugely successful First Citizen loyalty programme of more than 3.7 million customers. We also have one of the largest Facebook fan bases among retailers in India. We have a huge repository of data which we will leverage to personalize our customers’ shopping journey across channels.

Shoppers Stop aims to redefine its signature shopping experience by introducing features such as Access Anywhere, Buy Anytime, Pay Anyhow, Deliver Everywhere and Return At Your Convenience.

In fact, Kishore Biyani owned Future Group has also tied-up with Hybris for their omni-channel strategy [More here]

About Shoppers Stop Ltd

Shoppers Stop Ltd. is one of the pioneers in setting up large format department stores in India. The flagship department store business, Shoppers Stop, is now one of India’s largest retail chains of large format department stores in the country. It is a one-stop shop for products across multiple categories including apparel, cosmetics, fragrances, artificial and fine jewellery, footwear, personal accessories such as watches, sunglasses, handbags, wallets and belts, kids wear, toys, home decor and much more. Shoppers Stop offers more than 400 of the finest international and national brands across categories.  It is the only Indian member of IGDS [Intercontinental Group of Departmental stores] along with 29 other experienced retailers from all over the world.

[Image Source* – Whsystems]

|In: Android|Last Updated:

Puretech Digital along with group company Credencys Solutions announced it’s vision to help business organizations succeed in the fast emerging mobile-first and mobile only economy. Mobile is significantly impacting how organizations approach customer engagement and experiences and has the power to transform professions and industries.

Credencys Solutions which was started in the United States by Indian IT entrepreneurs Sandeep Agarwal & Sagar Sharma boasts of a global client base from the US to Singapore, Europe to India. In 2013 they opened their India office in Ahmedabad after they saw a surge in India based clients for their cutting edge applications and developmental solutions in the area of enterprise mobility, augmented reality, wearable solutions, for enterprises.

Credencys

The group aims to redefine the way work will get done, address key industry mobility challenges and spark true mobile-led business changes. With their industry expertise, they offer to create apps and solutions that can transform specific aspects of how businesses and employees work, allowing companies to achieve new levels of efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction—faster and easier than ever before. Today the mobile device is used from content consumption, to content search, to customer engagement, customer experiences, etc. Puretech Digital & Credencys together bring this compelling bouquet of offerings from mobile solutions to digital marketing.

Mobility combined with the phenomena of data and cloud is all set to transform business and industries in historic ways, allowing people to re-imagine work, industries and professions. Credencys Solutions aims on bringing these innovations to the clients globally, and leveraging leadership in analytics, cloud, software and services. Credencys Solutions offers a new class of “made-for-business apps” targeting specific industry issues or opportunities in retail, healthcare, banking, travel and transportation, telecommunications and insurance, among others.

Commenting on this development, Prashant Deorah, Director, Credencys, says

Mobility is increasingly emerging a top priority for business enterprises as they continue to drive innovation and streamline operational efficiency. However, this situation is also creating demand for quicker and constant development cycles that challenge traditional IT infrastructure and development methodologies.

To become mobile-centric, speed and agility must be prioritized without forsaking the stability of core IT. Credencys Solutions complements Puretech’s expertise in digital marketing with exciting new capabilities in mobile and augmented reality. Our vision is to help enterprises evolve in a digital world and provide them with an open and flexible architecture and the technologies that accelerate this transition. From technology to marketing, brand to customer engagement.

Targeting key opportunities and priorities within industries, apps designed by Credencys Solutions take enterprise mobility a level deeper. The apps help employees access their company’s full capabilities wherever they interact with clients—faster, easier and more securely than before.

Sagar Sharma, Chief Technology Officer, Credencys Solutions says

What we’re delivering aims directly at the new quest of business—smart technologies that unlock new value at the intersection of big data and individual engagement. Mobile innovations are driving profound impact on how companies deliver superior client experiences, particularly those that extend the enterprise expertise all the way to the point of customer contact. Approximately 51% of organizations recently surveyed are further increasing their mobile budgets this year. Mobility is increasingly becoming a top priority for business as a means to drive innovation and streamline operational efficiency.

Since accelerating into the enterprise mobile market in 2013, Credencys Solutions has achieved several notable milestones in its mobile journey working with leading enterprises.

About Credencys Solutions

Credencys Solutions is an Enterprise Mobility Solutions & Augmented Reality company creating innovative world-class solutions for complex business enterprises. Started in 2013 in India by Sandeep Agarwal and Sagar Sharma, Credencys Solutions looks past expensive traditional mediums and focuses on mobile technology to overcome various operational hurdles for business establishments.

[Image Credit* : Credencys Solutions]

|In: Android|Last Updated:

In December 2014, HDFC Bank launched its “Go Digital – Bank aapki mutthi mein” campaign on the banks of the Varanasi river with an aim to provide holistic banking services in all possible digital channels. Today, HDFC Bank provides 175+ banking transactions through its Net banking platform and 80+ transactions through Mobile banking [Mobile and Tablet apps]

With the launch of wearable devices & potential demand for wearable devices in India, consumers are highly likely to add yet another digital interface – a wearable device – to their current portfolio of devices. A banking experience on a personalized wearable device would take the consumer’s interaction with the bank to a whole new level.

HDFC_Bank

Hence, HDFC Bank thought that it was the opportune moment to introduce a new category in digital banking, leveraging the emerging wearable platforms, and becoming the first bank in India to launch Watch-Banking for Apple Watch.

Why Apple Watch?

HDFC Bank is starting with the Apple Watch and aims to provide banking services through all wearable devices across platforms like iOS and Android.

We have started with Apple Watch since it is designed from ground up keeping in mind what the user would want to do with such a device in a jiffy. HDFC Bank’s App has been made keeping this in mind and the features are chosen accordingly.

Features of HDFC Bank Watch Banking

HDFC Bank will provide a total of 10 banking transactions in the current launch phase. Some of the features include:

  • View Account Information
  • Bill Payments, Recharges
  • Hot-listing facilities
  • Locate nearest branch/ATM/offer
  • Request statement/chequebook etc.

Moreover, HDFC Bank’s Watch-Banking does not require our customers to download a separate App. Customers can activate Watch-Banking from an upgraded version of HDFC Bank’s Mobile-banking App itself!

Security features and how will it work?

HDFC Bank brings in the same level of high security of its Mobile Banking App to its Watch Banking experience.

  • Any user information or data flow that happens, it if from the mobile phone to the bank’s secure servers. The watch is merely a projection device
  • For added security, there is a watch banking PIN that the user himself sets during the one time set-up process. This can be done only after entering his customer id and password known only to the user.
  • Additionally the Apple watch itself has a pass-code lock just like other iOS devices.

You can see the HDFC watch-banking in action below

If you have  already tried the HDFC watch-banking app, please share the experience in the comments section!!

|In: startups|Last Updated:

Ducere Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the makers of Lechal – the world’s first interactive haptic footwear, has been selected as a ‘Cool Vendor’ in India by research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. for 2015. The annual ‘Cool Vendor’ report profiled a select few Indian companies, and lauded Ducere Technologies for developing an innovative product within the burgeoning wearable technology segment.

lechal

Speaking about being chosen as ‘Cool Vendor’, Krispian Lawrence, Ducere’s co-founder and CEO, said

We are delighted to be selected as a Cool Vendor in India by Gartner. We are India’s first wearable tech manufacturer and aim to become a global leader in the WT space. Being recognized by Gartner helps us achieve that mission by linking us to other cool vendors, who will help us explore this exciting space.

Lechal footwear is a disruptive innovation designed to smoothly integrate into the everyday. Available as an insole or a shoe, Lechal footwear uses Bluetooth technology to connect to the user’s smart phone via our App. Using simple foot gestures or voice commands, the wearer can use it as a navigational tool or track their activity from a fitness perspective.

The footwear communicates with the user via gentle vibratory responses or haptic feedback. In addition to taking you places, you can also tag favourite locations, share new routes, create group journeys – all with your footwear. It also tracks the number of steps taken, calories burnt, and distance travelled, logs your fitness activity, and charts your activity over time.

Lechal has received an overwhelming response with over 50,000 pre-orders received till date from across the world. Shipment of these pre-orders are scheduled to begin in September. Lechal footwear will also be available at retailers and e-tailers in India, West Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States by the end of the year, with further distribution planned in other countries in 2016.

About Gartner’s Cool Vendor Report

Gartner is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company that delivers technology-related insights to its readers. The Gartner Cool Vendor Report 2015 profiles the top Cool Vendors that provide innovative solutions across variety of industries and disciplines in the Indian market. The report presents a platform for the top management of Indian companies to evaluate the capabilities of these vendors to create a differentiation for their businesses.

About Ducere Technologies

Ducere Technologies focuses on creating intuitive, unobtrusive and user-friendly wearable technology innovations. The brainchild of Krispian Lawrence & Anirudh Sharma, graduates of the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively, the Hyderabad-based company was set up in 2011 with the aim of taking wearable technology to the people.

Ducere launched its first product – the world’s first interactive haptic footwear – under the brand name Lechal in 2014. Today, Lechal is a fashion and lifestyle brand that has been recognized globally for innovation, winning several awards and recognition, including Frost & Sullivan India’s New Product Innovation Leadership Award 2014 and securing second place at Rec@nnect Challenge 2014, a partnership between CRDF Global and the United States Department of State.

To learn more about Ducere Technologies and Lechal, please visit http://www.duceretech.com

Complete report of Gartner Cool Vendor 2015 spanning different categories is located here

|In: Android|Last Updated:

Zoho has launched Zoho Forms, an intuitive cloud-based application that enables non-programmers to create and share mobile and web forms. Available immediately, Zoho Forms securely captures mobile and web user data — like customer registrations, orders, surveys, and responses — and automatically stores it in the cloud, making it available from any device.

Zoho

Designed for the mobile world, Zoho Forms empowers sales, service, delivery and other mobile professionals to securely collect customer data right from their mobile devices and upload it to the cloud.

Available on iOS and Android devices, the Zoho Forms mobile app offers unique flexibility by enabling offline forms creation and data collection, invaluable in remote geographic locations, warehouses & distribution centers. Forms and data are synced back to the cloud later, when the device has network access.

Speaking about Zoho Forms, Raju Vegesna, Zoho evangelist said

Forms do multiple things – both on the web and on mobile devices. A good form creation tool comes down to three things – how flexible and customizable it is to enable even a non-programmer to create a custom form, how easy it is to enable workflow coordination like approvals, and how seamlessly it integrates with other business systems. So we focused Zoho Forms on these three elements.

Zoho Forms Highlights

Zoho Forms is the first app in the market that will let users create forms on a mobile device, back them up to the cloud, and access them from anywhere. Some critical capabilities are listed below:

  • Ease of Use – Users need no programming experience. They simply create forms by dragging and dropping fields in a form builder. They can even work offline and data will be auto-synced to the cloud when they are back online. Custom capabilities, like themes, provide branding opportunities.
  • Collaboration – While simple enough for non-programmers, Zoho Forms enables complex business needs by orchestrating workflow. Completed forms can be assigned as tasks to different

Pricing and Availability

Zoho Forms is free for a single user, for up to three forms. It is also immediately available in the following packages: Basic [$10 per month per user], Standard [$25 per month for 10 users] & Professional [$50 per month for 25 users].

For more information on Zoho Forms, please visit https://www.zoho.com/forms/index1.html

Zoho Forms can be downloaded for Android & iOS here & here respectively

|In: Business|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Akosha, the messaging platform for all consumer-to-business interactions & Aircel, one of India’s leading innovative telecom players, have together created new milestones in the realm of customer satisfaction in the country.

With the launch of the Aircel Mobile Sewa Kendra, a mobile app-based platform that has been deployed across 2,000 retailers in rural areas and through the use of smart application of Akosha OneDirect suite to manage online interactions, Aircel has been able to significantly enhance customer experience and satisfaction across geographies in a span of just eight months.

Akosha_Aircel

To achieve this, Aircel divided its subscriber base into three tiers, forming a pyramid. The upper two tiers represented premium customers, who have started to embrace social media to resolve issues while the third tier, one of the fastest growing segments, comprised customers from rural areas.

The two-fold challenge accepted by Aircel was first, to  ensure that the prime customer segment received superior customer service across all channels including social media and second, to deliver a stellar customer service experience to the rural and semi-urban subscriber base, despite logistical barriers such as lack of on-ground customer support in most of these places.

Akosha and Aircel formed a Joint Action Team to address these issues. To cater to the premium customer segment, Akosha provided the requisite infrastructure to Aircel in the form of Akosha OneDirect suite so that the organisation could listen to all its customers, through social media platforms, 24×7 and empower itself with actionable customer data to achieve the desired customer-centricity.

It is a unique software tool that has been designed keeping in mind the specific challenges that Indian brands face in delivering the best possible customer experience. This technology connects every online interaction the customer has with a brand. OneDirect is the only platform that includes all of the capabilities to manage a holistic social media strategy; along with built-in integrations with traditional CRMs to leverage the power of social media.

On the other hand, to cater to the needs of the semi-urban and rural subscriber base, the Joint Action Team roped in neighbourhood corner shops and empowered the local retailers to help customers with their queries by simply using a smartphone. This led to the development of‘Mobile Sewa Kendra’ -a mobile-based customer service app that became a game changer in this domain.

While catering to this e-rural segment, it was important to deploy a platform that would be user-friendly, available in local languages, and also which worked efficiently on a 2G connection. The app structure was therefore designed such that a query, request or a complaint could be addressed in just three simple steps. This air-tight query, and request and complaint capturing mechanism left no scope for a complaint to be lost in the loop. The deployment of this platform was met with a tremendous response and high levels of acceptance. As a result, retailers have wholeheartedly embraced this app to provide valuable feedback, leading Aircel to consolidate its market leadership position in terms of customer satisfaction.

Speaking on the initiative, Vishrut Chalsani, VP, Enterprise Solutions & Co-founder, Akosha said

The rural subscribers of Aircel sought more personalized attention while the more net savvy customers from urban geographies demanded a quick and responsive social media management. Through an intelligent API integration of Akosha OneDirect with the Aircel internal CRM, we were able to achieve both goals. With the Mobile Sewa Kendra, Aircel and Akosha have been able to tremendously improve customer experience across segments such that our combined success has become a veritable case study for superb CRM, specific to the Indian context.

Alok Kumar, Chief Service Delivery Officer, Aircel said

A highly effective customer-centric organization has to be tuned to serve its market in the best possible way. An ‘internet savvy’ customer needs a responsive social media management, while a customer in semi urban/rural area needs a personalized ‘high touch’ handling at the front end. We are glad to have got Akosha as our ‘Customer Experience’ partner, who have brought in their technology offerings, combined with a young, energetic and enthusiastic team, who were willing to learn and innovate with us, to deploy creative solutions for serving both these segments.

Aircel today manages its entire Online Reputation Management [ORM] operation from a single dashboard, where team members can easily respond to tickets and resolve them, without having to go back and forth over elaborate, complex protocols. In addition, Aircel’s Mobile Sewa Kendra won the Voice&Data- Telecom Leadership Award 2015 for Innovation in Customer Service.

About Akosha

Akosha is a horizontal platform for all consumers to business interactions. Customers can connect with any businesses using an Akosha mobile app, dedicated customer care helpline and website.

Akosha has received over 40,00,000 consumer queries across sectors, including telecom, consumer appliances, ecommerce, mobile, banking and insurance in 2014. The company has 350+ employees and 3 offices in India.

On the B2B side, Akosha OneDirect is a social CRM platform that helps brands in managing their customer experience across all online channels. In May 2015, Akosha secured $16 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital.