Tentacle, the 360 degree solution for a call centre in an App

By Anusha Ashwin

It is a known fact that India is at the center of the global call center industry (voice business process outsourcing sector). Not only it has emerged as one of the most powerful sectors but also contributes to the economy big time. However, running a call center is definitely not easy and on a day-to-day basis, the call center industry is posed with a number of challenges such as dealing with crazy work timings and schedules, sustaining on shoestring budgets and ensuring highest levels of customer satisfaction. On top of all this, managing the entire Customer Relationship Management (CRM) cycle is neither easy nor affordable.

Now, here is a fairly young startup called Tentacle that has come to the rescue of SMEs, and Enterprises whose primary focus is on call center operations. Founded in October 2014, Tentacle is owned and marketed by Mumbai-headquartered Sunoray Solutions. The company was formed by fin-tech enthusiasts Rahul Arora and Sumontro Roy.

The beginning… rolling into a business

Rahul Arora and Sumontro Roy both worked in large enterprises during their time in the US-based Sycamore Networks and Dupont Inc respectively. On returning home, they saw that India with its burgeoning SME market and their increasing need for cloud-based solutions was primed for products and services with enterprise-level efficiency but at SME-affordable prices.

Tentacle can be best explained as a company that enables complete end-to-end workflow solution. It enables SMEs to acquire, service and retain customers from the beginning to the end. Clients can receive leads from external sources directly into Tentacle (e.g., from website signups, from lead generators like Just Dial and Google), or upload internal databases via which clients can be prospected or called. In short, the company services any firm in the B2B sector that makes an outbound call with a business purpose.

A user will ideally set-up Tentacle to cover the entire workflow with a potential client through his lifetime: from the first point of contact to the end (e.g., from when the client is won, written off, put off for contact at a future date or up for renewal); this also includes being able to track the client’s field force, thus keeping them within one loop; tracking client history from start to finish (comments, follow-ups, call recording, information requested and sent, training given etc.).

“Tentacle does all this via a Cloud-Software and Mobile App that is fully operable via a cellphone i.e., the client only needs a cell phone to operate the entire process mentioned above. In doing so, Tentacle has innovated such that all the existing problems including hardware, software, service issues, wiring, and upfront costs have been eliminated,” informs Rahul Arora, co-Founder of Tentacle.

Continuing further, Arora adds, “Another important aspect is that since the agent only needs a cellphone, he/she can be located anywhere and this opens up new business models for India i.e., the work-from-home model. This allows the client to use women workers, part-time workers, differently-abled workers that may not have found suitable employment (from the comfort of their home, local offices) otherwise.”

“Amongst our earliest clients was a DSA (Direct Selling Agent) of a financial process i.e., he sold BFSI products for various banks and financial institutions. He started with 18 licenses about 12 months ago and has grown to 120 licenses. He is not only a heavy user that puts pressure on all aspects of the product but has also been a valuable client in providing feedback. Tentacle has also enabled him to use work-from-home agents as part of his business model which is also one of Tentacle’s significant advantages,” says Arora.

Call center in a App

Tentacle’s mobile App is available for free download from the Google Playstore. Users pay for the service in the app though. Upon confirmation of payment, the account is activated and is usable immediately. Each user is identified by a unique email id and password and has access to the system based on his role (Admin, Manager, Telecaller, Field Agent).

Tentacle activates the account from the back-end as soon as the payment is received online. Self-use and Do-it-Yourself (DIY) is one of Tentacle’s lead benefits. This enables a user to install, activate and easily use the Tentacle app, indicates Arora. The marketing team of Tentacle promotes the company positioning -- Tentacle simplifies the working of an SME using modern cloud-led technology with its inherent advantages of no upfront cost, no infrastructure requirement and a 24*7 online help service.

Tentacle has found its success in its ‘pay-as-you-use’ model. Arora substantiated his company’s advantage by saying that his clients pay for the technology on cloud that gives greater mobility rather than a single and one-time investment like on Tally Version 7.

Explaining the model Arora says, “The ‘pay-as-you-use’ model is critical to success here since it allows the SME to operate using an OpEx Model versus traditional CapEx-heavy models that prevent adoption amongst SMEs. Typically, today the market is fragmented with various solution providers offering myriad solutions across Workflow Management, Field-Force Management, Expense Management, Dashboard management, Analytics, Call Recording, Tracking Feet-on-Street etc. On an average, an SME spends close to Rs 5 lakh per year for these multiple solutions which unfortunately are in silos and do not work together. With Tentacle, an SME can easily manage their entire operations on a mobile regardless of location and on a ‘pay-as-you-use’ model.”

Eyeing foreign markets

Tentacle is currently bootstrapped. Both Arora and his friend Roy started Tentacle with limited resources they say. When they started their business, they targeted Banking and Financial Services and Institutions (BFSI) and telcos as their lead verticals. These verticals soon gave them access to a large number of users. The company’s growth is now evident with more than 150 clients in their pocket across BFSI, telecom, education, e-commerce, DSAs (Direct Selling Agents), retail wellness, and auto dealerships. Arora is certainly bullish that over 3 to 5 years the company will naturally grow to encompass more features, value added services such as Digital Marketing Dashboard, Voice Call Analytics, Data Optimization as well as other cloud-led solutions that further make SMEs more efficient operationally.

On quizzing him on his plans for expansion, he promptly says, “Yes, Tentacle is rapidly growing across the country as well as across sectors. The potential is vast and is identified by the need versus the sector i.e., any SME firm that manages a process of acquiring, servicing and retaining its clients is a target for Tentacle. This being a function(s) that is critical to most businesses, and with an increasing number of SMEs, the potential is huge. The product is stable and robust and the company is now primed for rapid scale-up.”

He further indicated that the immediate growth plans for Tentacle includes establishing offices in 5 new locations and adding to the team to support the company’s rapid growth curve. From a mid-term, slightly longer perspective, the company will add to its product portfolio via organic development as well as strategic acquisitions. This is in sync with Tentacle’s vision of becoming the defining “Everything-Cloud” brand for SMEs as well as increasing its share-of-wallet and customer’s long term vision.

Concluding, Arora predicts, “We are in our advanced stage of talk with potential investors to raise anywhere between $3 and $5 million in a Series A round of funding. The funds will be deployed in expanding the sales and marketing team and product improvisation. We have also recently signed our first batch of International clients (Africa, APAC) and we will continue to expand in these International territories. We have a strong team of about 30 people. Team size will grow to 100+ by the end of this financial year. We are hoping to generate approximately $100 million by 2020.”