Airtel Business has launched a unified communications platform that uses network-level intelligence to help enterprises manage messaging, authentication and fraud risks across multiple channels.
Airtel IQ Gateway brings SMS, WhatsApp, RCS and business voice onto a single control plane, alongside number verification and fraud-prevention capabilities. Airtel said the platform is designed to address the fragmented communications infrastructure used by enterprises, where multiple providers can make it difficult to monitor delivery, manage fallback routes and identify fraudulent traffic.
The platform is designed to comply with India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) requirements and can either be deployed on an enterprise’s premises or hosted as software-as-a-service on Airtel’s Cloud.
Airtel said enterprises can use the platform to manage multiple communications providers from a single dashboard, with real-time analytics and network-level delivery reporting. It also provides automated failover between providers and intelligent routing across communication channels.
The company is targeting sectors including banking, financial services, government, e-commerce and logistics, where failed messages, fraudulent account activity and communication-based scams can have financial and reputational consequences.
One of the problems Airtel is seeking to address is SMS pumping, in which automated traffic generates large volumes of messages to inflate communications costs. The company said IQ Gateway can identify artificial traffic spikes and help enterprises reduce losses associated with fraudulent messaging.
The platform also incorporates Airtel IQ Verify, which uses network, device and usage signals to assess the risk associated with new accounts. Airtel said this can help identify fraudulent account creation and account takeover attempts while protecting legitimate customers.
A second feature, Silent Authentication, uses SIM-based verification rather than an OTP sent by SMS. The system checks whether the number entered by a user corresponds with the active SIM in the device, which Airtel said can reduce exposure to SIM-swap and social-engineering attacks.
The gateway also integrates India’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) framework for managing approved message templates, an area where Airtel said manual processes can lead to errors and regulatory issues.
“Secure-by-design customer engagement is today the bedrock on which enterprises can scale with confidence,” said Sharat Sinha, CEO of Airtel Business. “By embedding trust at the network layer, we are enabling our enterprise customers, especially banks, government departments and logistics firms, to reduce cybercrime losses and strengthen the credibility of every customer interaction.”
Airtel said IQ Gateway has already undergone trial deployments with selected banks and financial institutions and is now available nationwide.
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