In today’s digital-first India, messaging is no longer a supplementary channel—it’s the front door of communication between businesses and customers. Imagine a consumer in Delhi or Bengaluru sending a quick message instead of waiting for email replies, and getting rich media responses—catalogs, images, voice notes—within seconds. That’s the new norm.
For businesses aiming to modernise sales, marketing, support, and internal workflows, the choice of messaging platform becomes strategic. While WhatsApp Business and Telegram dominate, an Indian alternative—Arattai by Zoho—is emerging as a serious contender. In this blog, I’ll walk you through top messaging platforms available to Indian businesses, their strengths/risks, and a deep dive into Arattai: its features, business use cases, and adoption strategy you can deploy right away.
Why Messaging Is the Growth Lever for Indian Businesses
- Instant trust & availability: Messages are read far more often and faster than emails.
- Higher engagement & conversions: From lead capture to follow up, chat is a superior medium.
- Automation at scale: Bots, templates, workflows reduce human load while maintaining consistency.
- Brand & regulatory advantage: A homegrown chat app helps with compliance optics, localization, and user trust in India.
- Ecosystem unification: You want one control plane for chat, CRM, notifications—messaging should integrate, not isolate.
Let’s compare the main players in India and see where Arattai fits.
Top Messaging / Chat Platforms for Indian Businesses
WhatsApp Business / WhatsApp Business API
Pros: Massive reach, mature infrastructure, rich media + catalog support, strong ecosystem of integration partners.
Cons: Template limitations, opt-in requirements, third-party cost, limited control over data.
Best Use: B2C support, order notifications, catalog sharing, push follow-ups.
Telegram
Pros: Flexible bots, open API, broadcast channels, secret chats.
Cons: Lower mainstream adoption in India, user onboarding friction for non-tech users.
Best Use: Content broadcasting, communities, tech-savvy audience segments.
Signal / Wire / Privacy-first apps
Pros: Strong privacy guarantees, minimal metadata, appeals in sensitive verticals.
Cons: Less enterprise tooling, fewer integrations, smaller user base.
Best Use: Internal or client-level communications in regulated domains.
Indian / Homegrown Messaging Apps (Arattai, Sandes, etc.)
Pros: Sovereign narrative, local hosting, easier regulatory alignment, alignment with Indian tech ecosystem.
Cons: Network effect still developing, feature parity gaps, scale challenges under surges.
Best Use: Hybrid strategy, early adoption, brand differentiation, integration-intensive businesses.
Team Chat / Collaboration Tools (Slack-type)
Not ideal for public customer messaging but core for internal operations. Useful to integrate with your messaging stack.
Arattai by Zoho: Features, Momentum & Business Relevance
What is Arattai?
Arattai, developed by Zoho Corporation (founded in India), is a cross-platform messaging and calling app. It supports text, voice messages, audio/video calls, group chats, media sharing, channels, “secret chat” mode, and multi-device login. (arattai.in)
It was soft-launched in 2021. (yourstory.com)
The name “Arattai” comes from Tamil meaning “chat” or “casual conversation.”
It allows chat import from WhatsApp for both one-on-one and group chats. (arattai.in)
How it’s gaining momentum
- In late September 2025, Arattai saw a 100× surge in traffic—daily signups jumped from ~3,000 to ~350,000 in just a few days. (turn0search2)
- It climbed to #1 in Social Networking on India’s App Store, outranking WhatsApp and Telegram temporarily. (turn0search5)
- Government figures are endorsing it: Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged citizens to switch to Arattai as a “free, secure, Made in India” messaging app. (turn0search1)
- Zoho is working to scale infrastructure fast to handle load. (turn0news31)
- A standout feature: Android TV app support, a capability WhatsApp still lacks as of 2025. (turn0search26)
- Zoho is pushing integration with its internal tools: Arattai has triggers & actions in Zoho Flow, letting you automate message flows and connect to CRM, Desk etc. (turn0search10)
- They also have Arattai integration for Zoho Cliq (you can send messages from Cliq to Arattai). (turn0search22)
Limitations / Considerations
- Message-level end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is not yet default for all chats—only for “secret chat” mode. Calls are encrypted by default. (turn0search23)
- Under heavy load, delays in OTP, sync issues and lag have been reported. Zoho is addressing them. (turn0search5)
- Feature parity: some advanced analytics, AI, or deep integrations that WhatsApp partners have may lag initially.
- Convincing users (customers) to install a new app is always a hurdle—hence hybrid strategy is crucial.
How Businesses Should Use Messaging Tools Strategically
Customer Support / Service
- Use chat as the default support channel. Start with simple bots for FAQs, escalate to humans.
- Let users attach images, documents, voice notes.
- Monitor SLAs from a unified agent dashboard across WhatsApp, Arattai, Telegram.
- Automate ticket escalation & CRM logging via integrations (e.g. Zoho Flow + Arattai).
Sales & Lead Nurturing
- Capture leads on your website or ads, immediately open a chat.
- Use templated drip messages, reminders, product catalogs.
- Run broadcast or channel campaigns (on Arattai Channels) for early adopters.
- For prospects unwilling to adopt Arattai, fallback to WhatsApp. Over time migrate higher intent users to Arattai.
Internal Communication / Operations
- Use groups and channels for teams, departments.
- Use Arattai’s meeting feature for quick syncs.
- Use bots or automations to send reminders, alerts, escalations via chat.
- Keep internal workflows and audits in a controlled Indian stack for compliance.
Community / Content / Engagement
- Create Arattai Channels to publish thought-leadership content, product updates, training materials.
- Establish community groups where users/customers engage, share, provide feedback.
- Use polls, live Q&A, event reminders via chat.
Workflow Automation & Integration
- New chat from a lead triggers: create contact in CRM, assign agent, send auto-reply, log session.
- Order status changes, invoices, alerts delivered via chat channels.
- Use Zoho Flow to connect Arattai with your other business apps (CRM, forms, email) so chat becomes central to your automation stack.
- Trigger support escalation if response time is breached, with links back to chat threads.
Phased Adoption Strategy (for Your Clients)
Phase 1: Dual Channel Launch & Awareness
Run WhatsApp + Arattai in parallel. Educate users via website banners, email footers, WhatsApp auto-replies: “For faster & secure support, message us on Arattai.” Offer incentives for first Arattai interactions (discount, content access).
Phase 2: Integrate & Automate
Deploy a lightweight bot or rule-based handler for incoming chats. Hook Arattai into your CRM / service systems using Zoho Flow. Set routing rules (by product line, geography, language). Train staff for secret chat mode for sensitive topics.
Phase 3: Broadcasts & Channels
Start a brand / product channel in Arattai. Publish exclusive updates, early offers. Use segmented broadcast to targeted users. Keep fallback to WhatsApp templates for mass reach until Arattai user base picks up.
Phase 4: Optimize & Expand
Continuously monitor metrics: response times, drop-offs, conversions via chat. A/B test message copy / timings. Encourage referrals (ask customers to invite others to Arattai). Over time, reduce dependency on WhatsApp for core audiences in key geographies (Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai).
Phase 5: Iterate & Scale
As Arattai’s infrastructure and feature set mature, shift more of your messaging workflows into it. Retain fallback channels but make Arattai the primary for high-intent, customer-critical flows. Maintain fallback plans for outages. Keep listening to user feedback and evolve.
Industry Use-Cases (India-Focused)
Healthcare / Clinics: Send appointment reminders, prep instructions, reports via chat. Use secret chats for sensitive questions. Reduces calls and improves patient experience.
Real Estate / Developers: Share floor plans, site visit scheduling, documentation via chat. Use channels to send pre-launch content, updates to interested buyers.
Financial Services / Insurance: KYC nudges, policy updates, claim status updates, secure chat for sensitive queries. Log everything into CRM for audit.
Education / Coaching: Group chats for cohorts, broadcast channels for lessons / resources, reminders, live Q&A. Move from noisy WhatsApp groups to structured Arattai channels.
E-commerce / D2C: Order tracking, returns support, promotional offers, conversational commerce. Use chat-first flows instead of generic push notifications or emails.
If you are a business operating in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, or anywhere in India and looking to build a messaging stack that is fast, compliant, and growth-focused, I can help you architect it end-to-end. From WhatsApp + Arattai hybrid strategy to automation with Zoho Flow, campaign playbooks, and CRM integration—I can turn your messaging into a revenue and retention engine, not just another inbox.