As spam and fraud become increasingly prevalent, Airtel is launching Airtel IQ, a cloud communications platform designed to rebuild customer trust in business communications. The platform focuses on verifying business identities, consolidating communication channels, and actively protecting customers from malicious activity.
Combating the Rise of Impersonal Communication
Customers are growing wary of answering calls from unknown numbers and interacting with unfamiliar messages, creating a significant hurdle for legitimate businesses. Airtel IQ addresses this challenge by offering verified business calling through its ‘Business Name Display’ feature. This allows participating companies to display their verified brand identity when making calls, replacing the typical anonymous phone number. According to Airtel, a pilot program saw over 250 businesses use the feature, making approximately 12.8 million customer calls within 30 days using more than 1.5 million phone numbers.
An Omnichannel Approach to Customer Engagement
Airtel IQ isn’t limited to voice calls. The platform supports customer interactions across a wide range of channels, including voice, SMS, email, chat, and WhatsApp. By bringing these channels together, businesses can manage customer journeys more effectively and deliver a consistent experience. AI, automation, and real-time analytics are integrated to help enterprises deliver more relevant and personalised interactions.
Three Layers of Spam Protection
Central to Airtel IQ is a robust spam and fraud protection framework built around three key layers: Detect, Prevent, and Suspend. The ‘Detect’ layer uses artificial intelligence to identify potentially fraudulent activity. The ‘Prevent’ layer leverages direct connectivity between businesses and the Airtel network to ensure trusted delivery of legitimate communications. Finally, the ‘Suspend’ layer focuses on blocking malicious sender IDs, message templates, and phone numbers associated with fraudulent activity.
Airtel reports that this framework has already yielded significant results, reducing spam messages by 98 percent – from over two million daily messages to near-zero levels. The platform also blocked more than 8,000 malicious SMS headers and protected over two million customers from attempted fraud, according to Airtel. Sharat Sinha, CEO of Airtel Business, said technology helps businesses cut through digital clutter, creating trusted, seamless interactions that build loyalty and lasting customer value.
