Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu launched Arattai-for-Business on Thursday, October 2, to help companies communicate with customers. The platform offers encrypted messaging and connects with automation systems. "Arattai Business Platform is free for government and public services like railways," Vembu said. Zoho has not yet shared commercial rates for other businesses.
Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, has announced the launch of the new messaging app, Arattai-for-Business, which will enable businesses to communicate with customers and employees. The announcement was made on Thursday, October 2, as Zoho expands its homegrown messaging platform beyond consumer conversations. In addition to the app, the company has also launched the Arattai Business Platform, which can connect business software and automation systems with Arattai.
Meta's launch follows the company's recent shift in pricing for WhatsApp Business, which will allow some utility messages, such as order confirmations or delivery updates, to be paid for from October 1. Zoho hasn't yet announced the commercial rates for Arattai-for-Business. It is offering certain free messaging services for government, healthcare and education institutions.
The platform will be available free of any cost to government and public services, such as the Railways, Zoho said in a statement. The company is currently developing such integrations but has not given a timeline for their availability, Vembu said.
"Arattai Business Platform is free for government and public services like railways. We are working on those integrations right now," Vembu said in his post.
The firm hasn't publicly released specifics of pricing for other companies. It remains to be seen whether the various types of business messages will be subject to separate charges.
The platform offers end-to-end encrypted messaging, device and data-synced chatting, ownership, etc. It is designed to assist in communication within the organisation and with customers.
Arattai gained attention last year for launching an Indian alternative to WhatsApp and even briefly making its way to the top spot in Indian app stores. The word "Arattai" refers to casual conversation or chit-chat in Tamil.
The business launch has enabled Zoho to expand Arattai to organisational communication. It also allows the company to target companies seeking other options when the costs of traditional business messaging services are shifting.