The front page of Knowlarity website asks whether we can let the phone take your calls, and disturb you only when it is necessary. The products of Knowlarity, a Delhi-based cloud telephony startup are as wonderful as their website landing page. Business telephony for SMBs on the cloud – a reliable and effective way for SMBs to achieve professional look while not spending a fortune. Take a look here:
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We caught up with Ambarish, co-founder of the company to tell us more about this startup.
Below are the excerpts:
Congratulations on being one of the companies selected by NASSCOM in the list of innovative and emerging companies in FY2012. Tell us about the journey so far.
Thanks a lot. We’re very proud of our achievement. The award is a result of all the hard work put in by the Knowlarity team. Feels good to know that all the marathon coding sessions have not gone in vain. It has been a tough but very satisfying journey. In retrospect, 2009 was the worst time we could have chosen to start a business in India. Finances were hard to get by because of the subprime debacle. However, we never lost hope. We kept on trying when others just packed up and went back to their day jobs. Our first break came with the UP Governments Mid Day Meal scheme where we won a contract for monitoring distribution of meals.
Knowlarity is the first cloud based business telephony system in India. For the benefit of our readers, would you please share with us – on how the cloud based service providing works.
The beauty of our cloud based platform is in its simplicity. There is no need for any heavy capital investments in technology or infrastructure as the cloud takes care of everything. Customers are given a unique number known as SuperReceptionist number. This number is focal point of all our cloud based services like SuperReceptionist, SuperIVR and SuperFax. All our services are based on the robust AWS cloud platform.
Tell us about your flagship products and how they will help SME achieve maximum efficiency in less cost and hassle.
We have three products right now – SuperReceptionist, SuperIVR and SuperFax. SuperReceptionist is our marquee brand. It helps SME’s improve their marketing and customer engagement processes. It provides a big company image without the need of any heavy outlay on advertising.
SuperFax is a fax service for the next generation of entrepreneurs. It costs virtually nothing as it is based on a cloud environment. It allows businesses to send and receive Fax using the SuperReceptionist number. The fax is sent in a PDF format and is accessed from your email account.
SuperIVR is an IVR service based in the cloud. It is useful for creating multiple departments within a company each having different extensions. You can create as many virtual departments with SuperIVR.
We gather that Knowlarity has helped Uttar Pradesh Govt in tracking their Mid Day Meal Scheme. Tell us what products are used and how technology makes this possible.
Yes, that is true. The UP Government’s Mid Day Meal Scheme was our first big contract. We still remember the excitement after winning that project. Our contract was to provide a platform for monitoring the distribution of meals under this scheme. We convinced the government that our IVR based SuperCaller was the best bet in securing compliance. Every day between 10 o’clock to noon our SuperCaller generated IVR based calls to over 1.5 Lakh teachers asking for the number of meals distributed. The teachers simply input the number with the help of the keyboard and the data was transferred to our server in Delhi.
Do you provide API for cloud-developers to produce their own products?
Yes, developers can fetch and get data from our servers anytime.
Has Knowlarity gone international? Do share with us future expansion plans.
Knowlarity wants the enterprises in the emerging markets to be able to use full advantages of cloud telephony. We are looking to consolidate our position in India and grow in the international markets.
Any advise you’d like to give to people who would like to venture into cloud services?
SMB markets are not easy markets to build large revenues quickly but at the same time these are really un-penetrated markets. There are huge opportunities available. I think startups should build SaaS products for such un-penetrated markets. They should take it to the customers quickly – even when it is not fully cooked. When there is real pain and real need even a half baked products will be taken with open arms by the customers.
About the founders
Ambarish Gupta
Knowlarity is founded by Ambarish Gupta (CEO), Pallav Pandey (COO) and Bipul Parua (CTO).
The trio met in 2009 to found the company after their 10 year long USA stints. Ambarish was working as McKinsey & Company consultant in US, Pallav was running a political startup and Bipul was designing hardware system for Silicon Valley companies before they came together and join hands. Knowlarity is awarded by Nasscom as top 10 companies in India, Deloitte as 11th fastest growing company in India and by Red Herring as Asia’s top 100 companies.
