Sipper bets big on 2014 polls with IVR-based campaigning solution

Nearly one-year-old company currently providing inbound and outbound voice-based campaigning services to three candidates in Chhattisgarh

Sipper Global Informatics, a Hyderabad-based early-stage telecom technologies startup, is gearing up to make the most out of the 2014 Parliamentary Elections, which would be held from May, with its interactive voice response (IVR)-based campaigning solution.

The nearly one-year-old company is currently providing its inbound and outbound voice-based campaigning services to three candidates in Chhattisgarh and one each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where Assembly elections would commence  shortly. It is targeting Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for the 2014 Parliamentary polls, to start with.

“All these five states put together will have over 200 Parliamentary seats of which we are aiming at having at least 50 Parliamentary aspirants as our clients,” Nitin Tanksale, chief executive officer of Sipper Global Informatics, told Business Standard.

The company first sources the data base of voters from the candidate and also from kiosks that are activated at the wards and local bazaars in the constituency. It later records voice messages of the candidate befitting different occasions are recorded, which are then prefixed with the name of the voter in the candidate’s voice and then delivered from its virtual call management centre set up on behalf of the candidate.

Manned by 15 sound engineers besides 20 technology staff, which it plans to double by January next year, Sipper currently delivers 50,000 inbound and outbound voice calls to the candidates in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.  

“The concept is all about personalising the content provided by the candidate and creating a one-on-one connect between him and his prospective voter. We see a huge opportunity for this concept and expect to deliver more than 300,000 calls a month in the next six months as we gear up for the Parliamentary elections,” Tanksale said.