An Interview with Kaushal Bansal, CEO, CallerDesk

An interview with Mr. Kaushal Bansal, CEO of CallerDesk, one of many main Cloud Telephony Startup

On this unique interview, Mr. Kaushal Bansal, CEO and Co-Founding father of CallerDesk, shares insights on constructing considered one of India’s main cloud telephony startups.

With over 14 years of telecom SaaS expertise, he discusses CallerDesk’s journey, innovation in enterprise communication, and the imaginative and prescient driving their customer-centric options.

Are you able to share the inspiration behind founding CallerDesk and what challenges you confronted within the early levels?

Kaushal Bansal: After I began CallerDesk, the inspiration was fairly private and rooted in statement. I noticed an enormous hole within the Indian market—small and mid-sized companies had no entry to skilled communication instruments. A lot of the options on the market had been both too costly, too advanced, or constructed for giant enterprises with huge groups and infrastructure.

I requested myself a easy query:

Why can’t a small enterprise have the identical communication energy as a giant name middle?

That thought stayed with me.

Within the early levels, we confronted each attainable problem restricted capital, zero model recognition, and the largest one,regulatory hurdles in telecom. We had been understanding of a small rented condo, doing every part manually, constructing product, dealing with help, chasing compliance.

There have been days once I was writing code at night time and answering buyer calls in the course of the day. We didn’t have a advertising price range, so we constructed belief one shopper at a time. Each mistake grew to become a lesson, and each little bit of progress got here from listening to clients.

What stored us going was readability of mission:

Construct one thing actual. Remedy an actual downside. Keep near the shopper.

And that’s nonetheless how we function at this time.

What traits do you see shaping the way forward for cloud telephony, and the way is CallerDesk positioning itself to adapt?

Kaushal Bansal: Right here’s what I see shaping the way forward for cloud telephony:

1. AI-Powered Conversations
   Automation will go far past IVRs. Voice bots, real-time sentiment evaluation, emotion detection, and sensible routing have gotten central. Companies don’t simply need name monitoring—they need name intelligence.
2. Omni-channel Integration
   Clients are not simply on calls. They’re on WhatsApp, net chat, CRM instruments, and social platforms. Cloud telephony has to combine deeply throughout all touchpoints for a seamless expertise.
3. Hyper-Personalization at Scale
   With AI and CRMs, companies wish to communicate to every buyer contextually—realizing who they’re, what they’ve performed, and what they want, in actual time.
4. Information Privateness and Compliance
   As knowledge legal guidelines tighten in India and globally, platforms should be totally safe, compliant, and clear. That is going to be non-negotiable.
5. India-First Innovation
   Most international instruments aren’t constructed for Indian market situations—like community variability, regional languages, and vernacular UX. There’s enormous demand for voice-tech constructed for Bharat.

How CallerDesk is positioning itself:

• We’ve already began rolling out AI-based options like voice suggestions, sentiment tagging, and sensible follow-up journeys.
• We’re increasing deep CRM and WhatsApp integrations to make CallerDesk the central nervous system for all buyer communication.
• Our ISO 27001:2022 certification, VNO license, and telecom-grade infrastructure hold us forward on belief and compliance.
• Most significantly, we’re nonetheless constructing easy, no-jargon instruments that any Indian enterprise—whether or not it’s a hospital in Lucknow or a service model in Jaipur—can use with no need a tech staff.

Are you able to focus on any current partnerships or collaborations which have considerably impacted CallerDesk?

Kaushal Bansal: Sure, completely. One of the impactful and significant partnerships we’ve launched just lately is with Visa.

This collaboration aligns deeply with our core perception — that each enterprise, no matter measurement, ought to have entry to enterprise-grade communication instruments. Not simply affordability, but in addition ease, velocity, and belief.

By way of Visa’s Business Presents Program, we’re giving eligible Visa enterprise cardholders ₹40,000 price of free Helpline IVR setup through CallerDesk. This consists of:

• Full IVR configuration for his or her enterprise helpline
• A backend quantity setup (with the corporate offering their front-end SIM as per KYC norms)
• Activation inside 24–48 hours
• Free entry for six months publish KYC
• A devoted onboarding supervisor for coaching and help

All they need to do is enroll, fill out a brief kind with the code: VISACD40, and our staff takes care of the remainder.

Why this partnership issues

We didn’t simply wish to “collaborate with Visa” for optics — we needed to put an actual, working answer into the fingers of actual companies. This partnership permits digitally-minded SMBs to expertise CallerDesk’s full energy with out spending a rupee up entrance.

It’s not a trial. It’s an precise working helpline, for actual clients, with actual utilization — constructed for the companies which can be severe about scaling.

This partnership has already began opening new doorways for us — particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, the place companies are bold however cautious about tech adoption. With Visa’s belief and our platform’s velocity, we’re serving to them leapfrog legacy methods and transfer straight into the way forward for buyer communication.

Briefly, this collaboration isn’t only a progress channel — it’s a mission amplifier. And we’re proud to be doing it with a model like Visa.

What methods do you utilize to make sure CallerDesk stays aggressive in a crowded market?

Kaushal Bansal: That’s a query I mirror on usually — particularly in an area like cloud telephony, which is turning into more and more noisy.

Right here’s how I method it:

1. Concentrate on Fundamentals

At CallerDesk, we don’t chase traits for the sake of it. As an alternative, we ask:

• Does this clear up an actual enterprise downside?
• Can a small staff undertake it in half-hour with out technical assist?
• Will it work reliably throughout India, not simply metro cities?

If the reply is sure, we construct it. That’s why simplicity, velocity, and stability are on the core of each product resolution we make.

2. Deep India-First Understanding

We’ve constructed CallerDesk for India, not simply in India.
Which means:

• Language-neutral interfaces
• Telecom-grade reliability even in low-bandwidth areas
• Regional help groups and WhatsApp-based customer support. Whereas others construct for the worldwide market, we go deeper into Bharat.

3. Actual-Time Innovation with Floor Suggestions

We keep aggressive by listening greater than we discuss. Each product enchancment — be it our drag-and-drop IVR builder or CRM integration flows — has come straight from actual buyer ache factors.

We additionally ship quick. We don’t watch for perfection. We launch, check, be taught, and enhance — that’s how we keep forward of bigger, slower gamers.

4. Strategic Ecosystem Performs

We’ve constructed partnerships with startupindia, Nasscom 10k startup program, and 30+ incubators to embed ourselves into the day-to-day instruments of our clients. We’re not only a name answer anymore — we’re a progress infrastructure layer for SMBs.

5. Tradition of Execution

Inside CallerDesk, we’re not a big company machine. We’re small, quick, and obsessive about outcomes.
 Our staff is aware of one factor clearly:

“Nobody’s coming to avoid wasting us — we construct, we clear up, or we lose.”

That mindset has stored us lean, hungry, and resilient — and I feel that’s our greatest aggressive edge.

How do you method expertise acquisition and retention in a aggressive tech panorama?

Kaushal Bansal: Expertise is every part. In a tech firm, your product is simply pretty much as good because the individuals constructing it. And in a fast-moving house like ours, I’ve realized one factor very clearly:

You don’t rent resumes. You rent mindset.

Right here’s how I method it:

1.  I don’t care the place you studied or which firm you labored at. I care about:

• Are you hungry?
• Can you work issues out with out being informed twice?
• Will you personal the result, not simply the duty?

If sure, you could have a spot right here.

2. I communicate with my staff commonly — not simply throughout opinions.
If somebody is struggling, we discuss. If somebody is performing, we reward — generally with a brand new function, generally simply with belief.

Folks keep once they really feel:

• They’re rising
• They’re revered
• Their work issues

We ensure that all three occur.

3.  A lot of our leads at this time began with us in junior roles.
We give individuals the room to experiment, fail, recuperate, and lead.
If somebody has potential, I’ll personally again them — with coaching, suggestions, and alternatives.

4. We’re brutally sincere concerning the journey.

Throughout hiring, I inform individuals upfront:

“This isn’t simple. It’s not a chill startup. However when you keep, you’ll be taught extra in a single 12 months right here than most do in 5.”

And that honesty attracts the proper of individuals — those who construct, not simply clock in.

Briefly, we don’t rent to fill seats — we rent to construct a staff of missionaries, not mercenaries. And that’s why CallerDesk has stayed lean, sharp, and resilient — regardless of how aggressive the market will get.

What recommendation would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs within the tech business?

Kaushal Bansal: In case you’re coming into tech only for the glamour, don’t.
This journey appears to be like thrilling from the skin, but it surely’s messy, lonely, and brutally demanding. You’ll query your self 100 occasions. What retains you going isn’t the concept — it’s the rationale behind it.

Right here’s what I’ve realized:

1. Remedy an actual downside.

Don’t construct a startup as a result of it’s cool. Construct as a result of one thing on this planet frustrates you a lot that you simply really feel it’s important to repair it.

CallerDesk was born as a result of I noticed actual companies — small outlets, medical doctors, logistics groups — struggling to speak with their clients. No fancy instruments. Simply actual ache. That’s what we solved.

Concepts are low cost. Execution with goal is every part.

2. Study to promote

In case you can’t promote — your product, your imaginative and prescient, your credibility — you gained’t survive.
Within the early days, I did the demos, the chilly calls, the follow-ups.
Tech alone doesn’t construct startups. Promoting does.

3. Keep within the sport longer than most individuals are prepared to.

I’ve seen many sensible founders surrender at 80% — simply earlier than the breakthrough.
The reality? A lot of the market rewards consistency, not genius.

Present up on daily basis. Even when it’s boring. Even when nobody’s clapping.

4. Keep near your buyer.

Don’t obsess over traders, awards, or vainness metrics.
 ust decide up the telephone, take heed to your customers, and repair what they’re combating. That’s your north star.

5. Don’t construct to exit. Construct to final.

In case your objective is only a flashy valuation, you’ll lower corners.
However if you wish to construct one thing significant — one thing your staff is pleased with, one thing your clients depend on — you’ll play the lengthy sport.

And belief me — the lengthy sport pays off.

So my recommendation?
Be actual. Be affected person. Construct one thing that truly helps individuals.
 And when it will get powerful — don’t search for motivation. Have a look at your mission. That’s what is going to carry you thru.

Mr. Bansal’s management and relentless pursuit of excellence proceed to place CallerDesk on the forefront of cloud telephony.

His dedication to innovation and buyer worth is redefining how companies join, setting new benchmarks in India’s dynamic communication panorama.

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