Airtel Forays Into The Video Conferencing Space, Offers Enterprise-Grade Security

In an answer to Reliance Jio’s newly launched video conferencing app JioMeet, Airtel BlueJeans shall be debuting in the market. Partnering with Verizon-owned BlueJeans, the telco has already partnered with Verizon-owned BlueJeans in order to bring its JioMeet rival to the Indian market, But the situation is a little different here as the Jio solution is available for both enterprises and end customers, however, Airtel is intially targeting its new developments to enterprise customers; however; it would also be reaching regular consumers as well. Its core competitors include Zoom, Cisco Webex, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.

Going by an official announcement, Airtel BlueJeans would initially be available for free for the initial three months. Also, customers would need to register on the Airtel site by submitting their details, and the trial would be available within 24 hours of registration. Additionally, one can get BlueJeans subscription directly from the company as well, without choosing Airtel, yet it would be missing on a few features that Airtel is providing.

Also, Airtel promises to offer ‘competitive’ pricing, but hasn’t shared any details yet. In a statement, Gopal Vittal, CEO, Bharti Airtel said that the pricing would be segmented based on three levels, for large enterprises, medium enterprises, and tiny companies that would be bundled with existing broadband and Internet plans. Reports state that Airtel BlueJeans is touted to come with enterprise-grade security, with features like that real time meetings analytics and live meetings controls.

Here, users would also be getting dial in options that started at 50 paise per call. Also, there is an Airtel Audio Bridge Integration that enables India and international dial in support on a pay per use model. Also, this can be accessed through Web browsers and virtual desktop infrastructures that can be operated via Cisco, Poly, Lifesize, and other room system gears that are based on SIP or H.323 standards.

Amid all this, Airtel is claiming that it would be offering local support alongside a dedicated Command Center for administrators in order to provide an ‘enterprise-grade management console’ with insights on meeting performance network conditions, and also a user focussed ROI.

Also, in order to stay ahead of the curve, and attract Indian enterprises, Airtel claims it’s hosting user data locally in the country. They also claimed that they would be enabling all video, audio and content transmission by using AES-256 GCM encryption. Verizon, US telecom giant would be acquiring BlueJeans Network in April. Some of their key clients include Facebook and Standard Chartered.

With Airtel foraying into the video conferencing space, it would make things difficult for its competitors.