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Hybrid Workplace Solutions: For Future of Work in the New Normal

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Triggered by COVID-19, almost overnight, millions of people worldwide were compelled to stay at home and resume their work-related activities. The lockdown highlighted the need for investment into digital technologies and collaboration tools to ensure seamless, secure, and flexible remote working for business continuity and growth. As organisations adopt the hybrid way of working as the new workplace norm, it presents the unique opportunity to challenge convention, adopt new technologies, foster innovation and most importantly, work securely and effectively.

A successful business is like a network of people and technologies that together create value for clients and thus, rethinking working patterns while shifting to hybrid mode, fostering better collaboration, and optimizing investment in secure, hybrid solutions to create technology abled workspace is the way ahead. Organizations have gauged the importance of secure, digitally robust, work cultures under the given circumstances and future-proofing for business resilience are now imperative. In tandem with the rapid digitization, conscious companies today are incorporating optimal visualization and collaboration solutions which not only effortlessly permeate into the company’s existing work culture, but also allow the highest level of encrypted and secure communications to keep their data secure.

Some new-age hybrid solutions that are in demand, providing the requisite efficiency, safety and seamless work experience include –

Barco’s ClickShare Conference

ClickShare, a wireless presentation and conferencing from Barco, enables users to enjoy seamless presentation and collaboration. It enables the participants to connect wirelessly to your meeting room equipment and in less than 7 seconds you can start the conference, with your preferred conference tool. The solution is wireless, no software needed and most important no-touch panels or controls to be managed. A feature that is relevant to the increasing demand for hybrid work solutions nowadays is that it turns any room into a hybrid collaboration room overnight, with BYOM facility. The triple agnostic nature of Barco ClickShare ensures maximum flexibility, security and a unified sharing experience from the huddle to the boardroom. The solution perfectly works with AirPlay, Google Cast and Miracast and it is an enterprise-grade solution which is secured and cloud-managed.

Jabra PanaCast Conferencing Camera

There are various video conferencing cameras available in the market, but the most suitable enterprise camera for meeting rooms is Jabra PanaCast. It is a plug-and-play device that uses three 13-megapixel cameras and real-time video stitching to give a full 180° view enabling inclusive human perspective, with no blind spots. Its intelligent zoom automatically includes everyone in the conversation, while Vivid HDR ensures a great video experience, even under widely varying lighting conditions.

Poly Sync Speakerphones

Poly Sync Family USB/Bluetooth smart speakerphones range such as Poly Sync 20/40/60 are suitable for flexible/huddle/small to medium conference rooms. The Poly Sync Family of products is compatible with the most popular platforms, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom. The Poly Sync 20 is Zoom certified for a seamless Zoom communication experience.

As we prepare to progress into the new normal, smart solutions ensure optimal engagement and efficient collaboration, thus boosting productivity. Many industries are adopting the new smart solutions for disruptive hybridization of workplaces and control rooms, enabling seamless user experiences, and upgraded work culture.

Vernacular Edtech Startups For Your Last Minute Boards Prep

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It’s that time of the year when board preparations are at their peak and the struggle to get the right exam prep gets very important and challenging for students. While the shift in edtech trends has been evident in the recent past, from differentiated propositions ranging from preparation courses for competitive exams and curricular learning like boards prep to extra-curricular and STEM education, the vernacular space has not been able to get the attention in the edtech ecosystem.

Here’s a list of five such edtech startups that are highlighting the vernacular approach in the much-sought edtech space.

Vidyakul

Founded in 2018, Vidyakul is one of its kind interactive vernacular e-learning platform that enables teachers to create online courses for K-12, JEE, NEET, AIIMS in tier-II and tier-III cities. Vidyakul is working on preparing study material, video lectures, study notes and online tests by analysing the last 10 years’ exam papers and NCERT books with the best teachers across India. Vidyakul offers live lectures and pre-recorded courses (from Class 9-12 in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Hinglish) to help state board students learn academics. Vidyakul witnessed that state boards students are 10 times more skilled as compared to CBSE students but when it comes to the quality of education, both in school & online learning they are far behind from others due to the mismatch in the language. The core principle of founding Vidyakul is to target these students with a vernacular online problem-solving solution. The startup brings teachers, professionals and experts from different fields across India to contribute to a bigger vision of increasing the literacy rate in the country making educational resources available to all students.

Pariksha

Founded in 2015 by Karanvir Singh, Utkarsh Bagri, Vikram Shekhawat and Deepak Choudhary, Pariksha claims to be India’s largest vernacular test preparation company, with operations across 11 states, with over 3.5 million users, of which 100K or 1 lakh are paid subscribers. Pariksha is a one-stop solution for all government exams including free daily tests, mock test series, preparation strategies and mentoring in 6 languages like Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil and Bengali. Pariksha currently has content prepared by experts for exams in all the six different languages and they aim to prepare their students for actual exams by encouraging them to take up tests based on the exact pattern and time to make them learn to handle pressure and attempt for an exam in an optimal manner.

Brainly 

Founded in 2009 by Michal Borkowski, Lukasz Haluch and Tomasz Kraus, Braily is a Poland-based edtech company with more than 150 million monthly unique users. The platform has diversified into regional languages such as Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada and Bengali, to make its online education more accessible to a wider audience. Brainly is a peer-to-peer learning community for students, parents and teachers across 35 countries including India to help solve their academic problems and to facilitate knowledge exchange. With Brainly, high-school and middle-school students from around the world come together to share knowledge and solve problems.

Doubtnut

Founded in 2017 by Tanushree Nagori and Aditya Shankar, Doubtnut is a multi-lingual doubt-solving platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning for image recognition, natural language processing and proprietary algorithms to provide video-based solutions. The startup offers live tuition classes, video lectures, test series, and other learning materials for classes 6-8, and test preparations for IIT-JEE and NEET. It has more than 2.5 million daily active users who spend on an average 600 million minutes per month on Doubtnut platforms.  Their app offers solutions to more than 65 million questions monthly in nine languages for students of CBSE and 15 state boards. Its current user base comes from outside the top 15 Indian cities, with 60 per cent of the users studying in state boards where the typical medium of instruction is the local language.

Classplus

Founded in 2018 by Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, Classplus is an edtech startup company transforming the world of education by powering educationists with the digital tools and resources which help them become future-ready. Their industry-first unified platform enables teachers and students to unravel their true potential across the country on a streamlined platform with their technology. So far, over 50,000 teachers have successfully set up their online teaching business through Classplus and over 7 million students across 1100+ Indian cities are using Classplus for interacting with their teachers.

“We are a one-stop solution for any scale of documentation”

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Digital transformation is the need of the hour, especially post-COVID-19 outbreak that compelled people to work remotely, and social distancing became the new norm. Leveraging this trend is MSB Docs, a pioneer in smart document solutions, helping large-scale enterprises as well as small entities in going paperless, reducing errors and storing documents. While the DNA of the company is over a decade old, it launched its services in India just over two years back, and is currently among the startups recognized by the Government of India under its flagship Startup India programme. The company serves Indian as well as global giants in several sectors, including life sciences, automobiles, manufacturing etc. MSB Docs also enables hybrid signature solutions in the form of digital and electronic signatures. In India, it has introduced an Aadhaar-specific signature solution. MSB Docs recently partnered with one of the world’s leading vaccine giant for the manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. Arjit Bhargava, Vice President – Global Business Development, MSB Docs, speaks more about the company, its offerings and the current trend of digitization in India, in a conversation with Ramesh Kumar Raja. Excerpts:

How document digitization at an enterprise level is different from mobile-based apps?

Document digitization at an enterprise-level needs adherence to different laws and regulatory standards. For instance, in India our services adhere to the provisions specified under IT Act 2000. We are also compliant with ESIGN Act (USA), eIDAS (EU), FIPS 140-2, SOC2 and SOC3. We further comply with the highest security standards such as ISO 27001, EU-US Privacy Shield and SSAE 16, we are also compliant with FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EMA, IT Act 2000 and HIPAA.

Usually, with mobile-based apps, there is reliance on third-party platforms, whereas we are a one-stop solution for any scale of documentation. At an enterprise level, it is the large-scale industries that go paperless, whereas mobile-based apps are more relevant for smaller entities.

Which industries are more into document digitization? Please share market insight

Life Sciences, Pharma, BFSI, Healthcare and other regulated industries are more into document digitization. However, players in education and real estate are also gradually shifting to smart document solutions. Internationally, we offered complete documentation solution to one of the first developers of COVID-19 vaccine, while in India we have catered to BITS Pilani and Apollo Hospitals. Large-scale enterprises, as well as SMEs from across regulated industries, are leveraging smart documentation and eSigning solutions, though the penetration is yet to increase.

Where are the digitized documents stored and how strong is privacy if Aadhaar and Pan cards of a person are digitized by your platform?

Digitized documents are stored on the cloud in the most secure manner. For instance, we offer digital documentation needs to meet the most demanding regulatory compliance, including FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EMA, IT Act2000 and HIPAA compliance that are required for e-signatures and digital signatures across the globe. The documentation is tamper-proof and there’s a secure audit trail and validation package through an in-built document validation system, which lets you authenticate the signature’s digital ID certificate status and document’s integrity without putting manual effort.

We have in place Aadhaar Signature, wherein any Indian citizen having a valid Aadhaar card and a mobile number registered to it can easily sign documents. To sign a document, signers need to enter Aadhaar number, upon which they would receive an OTP on the registered mobile number for the signature to get done. All documents signed via MSB hold the highest standards for security and are compliant with different laws.

“We have in place Aadhaar Signature, wherein any Indian citizen having a valid Aadhaar card and a mobile number registered to it can easily sign documents. To sign a document, signers need to enter Aadhaar number, upon which they would receive an OTP on the registered mobile number for the signature to get done. All documents signed via MSB hold the highest standards for security and are compliant with different laws”

How/Can a small business like a smartphone retailer, kiryana store etc can utilise your solution?

We offer enterprise-level smart documentation and eSigning solutions. Such enterprises have a huge volume to be documented digitally and needs to adhere to specific guidelines and laws. We are primarily a B2B-based platform, catering to large-scale and SME industries.

What kind of pricing do you have for document digitization? Please share the volume for your plans.

We have a dynamic pricing in place for scale-hungry organisations, on both yearly as well as monthly basis. Through our different packages – Professional, Enterprise and Custom – one can choose what services they want to avail. One of our offerings is a Private Cloud, which is a single-tenant hosted environment dedicated to a customer’s systems and data. The cloud is hosted on AWS or Azure data centre at a location of customer’s choice. We also offer HSM Integration for advanced security through Hardware Security module-based PKI integration.

The ‘Professional’ package fits the budget of small organisations needing the most advanced features but no customization, ‘Enterprise’ package fits the bill in case of minor customization like selection of defaults, dashboard or email footer customization. Apart from this, we have a ‘Custom’ package, which is appropriate for enterprises that need major customizations and add ons such as White Label Branding, Team Collaborations via Team Room, External App Integrations, Web Forms etc.

Can your service be integrated in the apps of your clients like a hospital or school/ university? How it can be useful?

Yes, our services can be integrated in the apps of clients. Apollo Hospitals integrated their HR software module through MSB. Discharge summary automation, integrated with the hospital’s existing EMR system. All discharge documents and reports are automatically generated and routed, enabling doctors to review, edit, update and approve documents by adding additional instructions or comments. The documentation is then pushed back into the EMR system through an HL7 A03 message – optionally with a signed XML message. The doctors can carry out the actions on their mobile phone while patients benefit from a shorter wait time, resulting in higher bed-turn rates and saving for the hospital.

Certainly, integration into native app adds to the ease of doing things. However, there are limitations as well, therefore, many enterprises prefer using our host platform.

Amazon comes up with ‘Apple Days’ on its platform

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Ecommerce major Amazon today announced ‘Apple Days’ bringing together a host of deals and offers on the latest iPhone 12 series, iPhone 11 series and more in India. Apple Days will be live until March 17, 2021 with great offers from participating sellers.

Customers can get iPhone 12 mini at an amazing price of Rs 67,100 with a discount of Rs 2,800. Further, customers can avail an additional discount of Rs 6,000 on HDFC Bank Credit Cards. iPhone 11 Pro will be available at an exciting price of Rs 79,900.

During Apple Days, customers can enjoy attractive deals on the latest Apple products by saving up to Rs 9,000 on iPads inclusive of an instant discount of Rs 3,000 on HDFC Bank Debit and Credit Cards.

Grand Finale of Winter Season of Nodwin Gaming’s ESL India Premiership to Stream on Disney+Hotstar

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The fifth edition of Nodwin Gaming’s front-running event, ESL India Premiership nears an exciting finish as the grand finale of the winter season approaches. The winter season of the premiership that went live in January 2021 is in its last leg. The grand finale of the exciting tournament will be streamed live on Disney+Hotstar from March 12 -14, where fans can watch their favourite esports players battle it out for the big win. The winner/winning team will take home a huge share from the prize pool of Rs 18.5 lakhs.

ESL India Premiership is the country’s longest-running esports league that is loved by esports fans across the sub-continent. In comparison to 2019, the Premiership 2020 witnessed an 85% increase in registrations and 325% in watch time and the fan following only seems to have increased. Armed with tactical skills, split-second precision and seamless coordination, participating gamers have made this one of the most exciting seasons so far for the participants as well as the audience.

Here is a quick look at all those who have made it to the finals:

CS:GO

The Top 4 teams from the Masters League that advanced to the grand finals are Blaze Esports, Wicked Gaming, 2ez Gaming, Headshot Esports

Clash of Clans

The Top 4 clans from the Masters League that raced up to the grand finals are S8UL, Marcos Gaming, Indian Clashers, The Beast

FIFA21

The 8 finalists include Dwaynedmello, Sakky, Lvz0-Painkill3r, Jenasidfc, ScytesKrusher, saranshjain7, Charanjot and Aadizema.

“We have some of the best players in India and it’s time to take notice. The winter season of the ESL Premiership brings the 5th edition to a grand conclusion. We are happy that the Premiership provides a competitive platform for India’s esports players to showcase their talent. This edition was a bag of surprises right from the summer season with regards to viewership, participation and engagement. Carried that momentum to the Fall Season and now into the Winter Season. Hope everyone had a great experience this time. Congratulations to all the finalists. We’ll be back with more in 2021,” said Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and MD, Nodwin Gaming.

“The biggest differentiator for Fire-Boltt is its unique entertainment, fitness and rewards ecosystem”

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Homegrown brand Fire-Boltt is catching up in wearable, gaming and audio categories at a fast pace in India, thanks to its wide array of products such as smartwatches, Bluetooth earphones and headphones, true wireless earbuds, and speakers. It has a presence in more than 750 cities across the country, and in a rare feat of its kind, the company’s smartwatch recently climbed the popularity chart to feature among the top 4 most selling devices in the segment on Amazon within a short span of its launch. Arnav Kishore and Aayushi Kishore, Co-founders of Fire-Boltt, speaks more about the brand, its offerings and acceptance, in a conversation with Ramesh Kumar Raja. Excerpts:

Fire-Boltt is a comparatively new player in the digital accessories segment. How are you positioning it in India which already is a hyper-competitive market having innumerable brands at different price points?

Our DNA in audio and wearable technology is not new. In fact, it is over five years old and we are one of the pioneering brands in the segment. Being an Indian brand, we have ensured that we meet all the needs and preferences of the Indian consumers. The market is certainly hyper-competitive but we have constantly evolved our brand as well as our product range in sync with the need of the hour. Also, we have taken into consideration all factors to offer one of the most competitive pricing, leading to our acceptance and success in over 750 cities across the country through both online and offline media.

You have a very limited number of product categories to offer. How has been the response so far and what’s your expansion plan to make Fire-Boltt large?

The response has been overwhelming. We are proud to declare that we expanded our base as a pan-India brand by not spending even a single dollar on marketing. We would beg to differ on our product range, as we offer a comprehensive range to meet all audio and fitness needs of an individual. Our product line includes Bluetooth earphones, Bluetooth headphones, true wireless earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, smart wearables, lifestyle shoes and software.

As far as expansion plan is concerned, we are expanding our product verticals as well as channel of sales. The idea is to reach more geographical locations across India and abroad and offer a wider range of products to fitness and entertainment enthusiasts.

What is the brand’s biggest differentiator?

The biggest differentiator for Fire-Boltt is its unique entertainment, fitness and rewards ecosystem. The real differentiator for us is our Boltt Play app wherein users can connect their Fire-Boltt audio and wearable devices to earn exciting rewards. One gets rewarded for running or walking as well as watching movies and listening to music.

Which among the product categories yielded maximum business for you?

All our product lines have been well received in the market. The most recent example is our Fire-Boltt smartwatch with SPO2 tracking mechanism. Within a short span of its launch, the smartwatch made it to the top 4 best selling device in the segment on Amazon.

Which are the areas you are targeting and whom do you consider your potential buyers?

Any fitness or entertainment enthusiast is our potential buyer. We want to equip young and vibrant Indians with the latest wearable and audio technology. We are currently catering to customers from all parts of the country and currently in the process of penetrating deeper into more Tier 2 and 3 cities as well.

“Any fitness or entertainment enthusiast is our potential buyer. We want to equip young and vibrant Indians with the latest wearable and audio technology. We are currently catering to customers from all parts of the country and currently in the process of penetrating deeper into more Tier 2 and 3 cities as well”

What is your approach to the “after-sales service” which remains an issue for the majority of electronics companies?

We are offering a 1-year warranty with every product. We have a dedicated call / service centre support.

There is a parallel grey market in India thriving on counterfeit accessories and devices. How will you deal with them?

It is all about quality and cutting-edge technology if one needs to take on the counterfeit market. However, we focus on delivering premium quality products through authorised online as well as offline channels, and this is evident in the organic growth the brand has achieved over the years.

What are your outreach and investment plans and which platform you are targeting the most- online or offline?

We are expanding more categories and more channels.

Please tell us something about R&D and innovation at Fire-Boltt?

We believe in bringing in cutting edge technology to the forefront. We are constantly innovating on product form factors and technology. We have a dedicated R&D team in place which devotes all its attention to identification and accessibility of the constantly evolving technologies in the segment. We not just develop the new products as per latest tech-powered innovations, but also keep upgrading our existing range of products.

Your Boltt Play app is a global first concept. Can you please elaborate the unique features and attributes?

Boltt Play app is a comprehensive entertainment, fitness and reward ecosystem in itself. Apart from the reward system by connecting Fire-Boltt devices, there are a few leading entertainment platforms on the app such as Zee5 and JioSaavn. The users can also earn rewards by watching movies and streaming music through these platforms. The rewards thus earned can be exchanged for a wide range of branded products from an in-built store.

“Apart from the reward system by connecting Fire-Boltt devices, there are a few leading entertainment platforms on the Boltt Play app such as Zee5 and JioSaavn. The users can also earn rewards by watching movies and streaming music through these platforms. The rewards thus earned can be exchanged for a wide range of branded products from an in-built store”

What traction has the app gained in India as well as globally?

Within one year of its launch, the app has already registered more than 1 million user base, and the popularity is expected to soar further with more platforms coming onboard in near future.

After Zee5 and Saavn, who are the next big players you are collaborating with?

We are in talks with a few similar leading entertainment and OTT platforms. However, we are not in a position to reveal much at this stage, especially when the discussions are already underway.

How DLP helps Financial Institutions Protect Their Data

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Finance is one of the most heavily regulated sectors when it comes to privacy and data protection. Many financial institutions already have complex cybersecurity frameworks in place. These include strict security policies such as the use of antivirus software and firewalls, access to data on a need-to-know basis, and the protection of sensitive data. In this last category, Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions, focusing directly on sensitive data rather than company networks or work devices, have emerged as essential tools in the data protection arsenal.

Protecting sensitive information from internal threats

When it comes to data breaches, our instinct is to think of headline-grabbing cyberattacks perpetrated by malicious outsiders. However, according to a recent study, they account for only 52% of all data breaches. The third biggest root cause of data breaches is in fact employees themselves, accounting for 23% of data breaches. However, employees are also responsible for 24% of malicious attacks, with 7% intentionally initiating an attack and a further 17% falling victims to phishing and social engineering attacks.

And while training that teaches employees how to identify threats and deal with them may help reduce these numbers, a moment of neglect is all that’s standing between a financial institution and a serious data breach. The problem with internal threats is that companies cannot limit employee access to sensitive data when it is needed to perform their daily tasks. The solution, offered through DLP, is to focus not on the user or device, but the sensitive data itself.

Through predefined policies for financial and personal information, along with the possibility to customize them to fit a company’s particular niche, DLP solutions allow financial institutions to monitor and control sensitive data. They can limit or block its transfer outside of the company network, but also search for it through data stored locally on work computers. In this way, organizations can prevent employees from transferring data through unsecured third-party services such as messaging apps, file-sharing services, or virtual storage spaces or from archiving it on their hard drives.

Knowing where data is and how it is being used

Data transparency is an important part of any comprehensive cybersecurity framework. Financial institutions must know how data is collected, processed, and used by employees while performing their duties. By gaining knowledge of their data flow, financial institutions can identify vulnerabilities in their policies and potential threats to data security.

“Data transparency is an important part of any comprehensive cybersecurity framework. Financial institutions must know how data is collected, processed, and used by employees while performing their duties. By gaining knowledge of their data flow, financial institutions can identify vulnerabilities in their policies and potential threats to data security”

DLP solutions help companies monitor sensitive data throughout their entire network, flagging any attempts to violate data protection policies and producing reports to support future decision making. Extensive monitoring of sensitive data means not only that financial institutions can build more efficient data protection strategies focusing on identified risks, but they can also discover potential malicious insiders attempting to steal data or employees that might require additional data security training.

Through monitoring, financial institutions can also discover the most frequently attempted policy violations and search for their root cause. They can then address them through training or the adoption of authorized tools that employees might need to perform their tasks.

Protecting data on the move

The great fallacy of traditional cybersecurity frameworks is that they secure sensitive data and employee computers only while the devices and the data are safe in the office or connected to the company network. Once an employee takes a device home or travels with it for business reasons, the data on it becomes vulnerable. This became an especially relevant point during the last year when many financial institutions were forced to take their business operations remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

DLP solutions, when applied on the endpoint, can ensure continued protection for sensitive data, no matter where a device is located. Whether at home or in the office, connected to the company network, a personal WiFi connection, or not connected to the internet at all, DLP data protection policies will continue to be applied, ensuring uninterrupted protection, an important compliance requirement.

Supporting auditing efforts

DLP monitoring and logging features enable companies to keep detailed records of all sensitive data transfers. This is particularly useful for compliance reasons as most data protection laws require organizations to prove that they have taken adequate measures to protect data from leaks or theft. DLP solutions can thus support auditing efforts for compliance through generated logs and reports.

9 Reasons You Should Switch to Paytm All-In-One Payment Gateway

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Accepting online payments from customers is not as easy as opening a gate to welcome the influx of money. But it need not be as complicated as many businesses think of it. If you are running a growing business and want to streamline the payment process for improved cash flow, you just need to find the right payment gateway.

A suitable payment gateway will not only make it easier for your target customers to pay you but will also provide various other payment solutions. While the definition of suitability varies from one business type to another, there is one way to fulfill the varying needs of diverse businesses – by selecting the Paytm payment gateway.

Paytm offers an all-inclusive payment gateway for businesses in India that allows them to accept and process online payments seamlessly. With Paytm payment gateway, a business also gets the required capability to scale up the payment support for growing demands. With its long legacy, Paytm’s strong presence in Tier-II and Tier-III cities with over sixteen million onboarded merchants forms the foundation to back them up for a digital transformation via its payment gateway. Currently being the market leader on the Payments to Merchants (P2M) front with over 50% market share and a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 42%, Paytm spread its wings towards paving the way for businesses – big and small, to contribute towards a cashless economy.

If you want to simplify all the payment processing tasks related to your online business, you will have the following objectives in mind:

1. You want to start accepting payments on your website with a quick checkout experience

Paytm’s payment gateway can help you with that, being a tech-advanced system capable of handling end-to-end payments for your business.

Has it already been covered that you can integrate the Paytm payment gateway quite easily? With this smart payment solution, you can go live by accepting payments online for your business in minutes. The best part – it is built for developers, with its dev-friendly plugins, APIs, and libraries.

2. You want to accept payments from your customers through multiple payment modes

Having the Paytm payment gateway integrated with your business website/app simply means availability of several payment modes for your customers. You can accept payments via Paytm wallet, bank accounts through UPI, credit cards, debit cards, Paytm postpaid, and even net banking.

It implies your customers can choose a preferred payment mode they are quite familiar with. They do not need to switch to a new mode while paying for products or services online.

3. You expect an industry-high success rate for all transactions

Paytm has partnered with the top six banks and 15 bank gateways in India, to provide the best-in-class payment solutions to businesses. The company is also an acquiring and issuing PSP (Payment Service Provider), which is one reason behind the higher transaction success rates.

Lesser dependency on manual inputs and mobile networks, AI-powered transaction router, and 99.99% uptime gives Paytm payment gateway an edge over other payment solution providers.

4. You want your customers to checkout with the least transaction time

When your customers get the option to use any of the saved cards for transactions, you will most likely benefit from reduced transaction time and a higher success rate. With its secure vault of 250+ million saved debit and credit cards, Paytm’s payment gateway can make it easier for your customers to pay you in the least time possible.

In terms of information security, Paytm’s database of saved cards is hosted on a secure cloud and is audited by NPCI and PCI-DSS to ensure utmost security.

5. You want to track and manage money movements

Keeping a track of all the payments, small or big, that you receive from your customers online is a tiresome task. With traditional banking, you may end up spending hours of manual checking for every cash influx. However, you can simplify and supercharge the financial side of your business with Paytm payment gateway.

Paytm gives you real-time business insights to allow quick and easy reconciliation through an all-inclusive dashboard. You can also track and analyze all types of money movements through this dashboard.

6. You want quicker settlements without any hassle

Naturally, the definition of ‘transaction complete’ for business owners means getting the payment in their bank accounts. With Paytm payment gateway, you can customise the payment experience and choose how soon you want the funds to be transferred to your bank account. Also, you can select the settlement destination to be a bank account, your Paytm wallet, or a UPI address.

Depending on the industry your business falls into and the related market practices, you can enjoy seamless settlements the way you want.

7. You have plans to expand your business globally

Global business expansion becomes easier when you have the right payment infrastructure in place that can accept payments in multiple currencies. Paytm’s payment gateway is the go-to payment solution for businesses that have plans to go global. It helps in opening up a new channel of customer acquisition in a foreign land.

With Paytm, you can get state-of-the-art infrastructure to accept payments from 200+ countries with real-time currency conversion while offering a seamless payment experience to your end customers.

8. You want to strictly ensure fraud-free payment process

Almost every end-consumer thinks twice about the security of payment information needed while making online transactions. Amidst the growing trend of online purchases, Paytm payment gateway ensures robust security of sensitive customer information. It is highly secure and compliant with the industry standards of 100% PCI DSS compliance and with 128-bit encryption.

Paytm has also invested in advanced anti-fraud technology and a team of cybersecurity experts to detect and block suspicious activities.

9. You want quantitative insights to make business growth decisions

Measuring business performance is a key step towards enhanced growth and requires real-time analysis of sales, conversions, customer spends, and success rate. To help you work on all these aspects and grow your business, Paytm provides a comprehensive dashboard with its payment gateway where you can obtain growth insights.

Using the dashboard, you can view transactions in real-time, generate invoices, obtain settlement reports, to name a few.

RAEGR launches MagFix Arc M1320 15W wireless charging stand for iPhone 12 series

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Consumer lifestyle tech brand RAEGR has introduced MagFix Arc M1320 15W iPhone 12 MagSafe wireless charging stand in India. The 270-degree foldable magnetic stand looks elegant and is an amazing product for your work desk or bedside table. It is designed especially for the Apple iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max and is ideal while watching videos or when using FaceTime/FaceID.

Ajesh George, MD, RAEGR, said, “The RAEGR MagFix Arc M1320 is a product that makes a style statement when it rests on the table, charging your Apple iPhone 12. Built using strong and powerful magnets, this 15W MagSafe-compatible wireless charger is highly portable and can be used as a smartphone stand for video calling or while watching videos. It is a superb iPhone accessory that also adds convenience to your WFH lifestyle.”

The RAEGR MagFix Arc M1320 has been crafted using Aluminum alloy for a strong and durable build, and uses anti-slip silicone rubber for a good grip and additional sturdiness. It is completely foldable allowing it to rotate around by 270° and lock in place for easy use and high portability. So whether you use it at home or need it in the office or your hotel room, simply throw it in your backpack and travel freely.

Using an array of six strong neodymium magnets, the RAEGR MagFix Arc M1320 snaps itself firmly with the Apple iPhone so that the coils are perfectly aligned for efficient wireless charging. The in-built 15W wireless charging coil uses a smart charging circuit that allows it to charge other Qi-compatible devices and can switch between 5W, 7.5W, 10W and 15W power outputs. Additionally, it is ready for future Apple devices too. All you need is a 20W PD adapter or a QC2.0/3.0 fast charger. A 3.3ft USB Type-C cable is supplied in the retail box.

Though the RAEGR MagFix Arc M1320 wireless charger can be used with other Qi-compatible when folded, it’s not recommended because of the built-in magnets that could interfere with coil position on the device unless positioned correctly. The charging coils and your smartphone’s internal coils may not align well for efficient charging due to the lack of magnets.

The RAEGR MagFix Arc M1320 wireless charger also protects your iPhone from various power irregularities and excessive heat. It protects your smartphone from over-current, over-voltage, overheating and short circuit.

The RAEGR MagFix Arc M1320 will be available in Metallic Gray colour for a price of Rs 2,999, with a standard industry warranty of 1 year, on Amazon and Flipkart. Buyers can avail of additional 6 months of warranty on registering their products online.

India’s Atmanirbhar campaign gets wings with PLI scheme

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The government’s recent announcement on PLI scheme has the potential to be a big milestone for Indian industries and businesses. The policies will provide a boost to the manufacturing sector, however, the role of technology, digitization and innovation will be the key differentiator in driving Atmanirbhar Bharat vision. This and more was discussed at a special webinar organized by FCC on ‘Self- Reliant India- Role of IT & Telecom’ with leading business leaders from the industry including Dr Ajai Chowdhry, Founder, HCL, Chairman Electronics Sector Skills Council & FICCI Start-up Committee, Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra & Executive Council Member, Nasscom, Amit Marwah, Head of Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Nokia India, Sandeep Aggarwal, Chairman of Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC) under Telecom Ministry and Telecom Committee Chief, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Arvind Bali, CEO- Telecom Sector Skill Council.

The Indian economy and job market are expected to take a big leap with the Modi government’s Production Linked Incentive scheme announced for 13 sectors. As per a report, local manufacturing may add $520 billion to India’s GDP in the next five years. The role of IT and telecom have been a crucial one during the pandemic and going forward as well, the role of digital transformation will be vital and the indigenous technology in telecom will propel self-reliance (Atmanirbhar).

Dr Ajai Chowdhry, Founder, HCL, Chairman Electronics Sector Skills Council & FICCI Start-up Committee, said, “What is critical is that we start to look at creating Atmanirbharta in electronics and the (recently announced) PLI scheme will spur phenomenal growth in electronics.”

Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra & Executive Council Member, Nasscom, said, “We must understand the sensitivity and scope of two aspects- an opportunity that businesses have as to what can be done in India, considering the growth and the huge amount of 5G that can be delivered and broadband penetration. The opportunity is tremendous for the market here in India and that cannot be ignored, it will attract people to come to India, come and leverage the talent, make in India, sell and export from India to the world and make it a hub for some of their R&D. We don’t just need it to be only skill-based, but a place where you are creating and innovating. The mindset needs to change and welcome people to come and do more.”

Talking about the scope of job creation through PLI scheme, Arvind Bali, CEO- Telecom Sector Skill Council, said, “India has been addressing the issue of jobs by connecting industry’s job requirements and also with the government’s initiative of Skill India in a big way. Now with PLI in telecom hardware, we estimate it will create one million jobs in a very short period of time. And in these segments, we were skilling around 1.5 million people and now we expect we will skill around 5 million in a period of 2 years. Also, manufacturing jobs is one part but additionally, it going to be about Industry 4.0, so a lot of jobs will be created around digital and these jobs will precious and we believe it will change the overall scenario for Indian youth in the world.”

Amit Marwah, Head of Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Nokia India, opined, “The PLI scheme will boost telecom manufacturing in India, however, there are certain things to be taken care of. The biggest catalyst is the telecom equipment ecosystem. A focus on the FAB industry is required, we still have to import a lot of telecom components to manufacture in India. India needs to create more opportunities and the local market is not going to be enough, India needs to expand export opportunities and India needs to improve on logistics, end-user certification. On PLI, the government needs to give recognition to the players who invest in India and provide them market access especially in the government sector.”

“It is very heartening to see the government allocating additional funds for expansion and strengthening of telecom and IT network in remote and unconnected areas. Improving broadband connectivity in villages through expansion of BharatNet will give a much-needed push to Digital India initiative. It will help the government in making a strong, self-reliant India. Though the government’s decision on the PLI scheme and relaxation in norms will boost investments in the infrastructure sector, the government needs to focus on promoting domestic industry and manufacturers. The government needs to incentivise and support Indian companies so that they can meet domestic demands and gear up for challenges internationally,” said Sandeep Aggarwal, Chairman of Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC).

The production-linked incentive scheme (PLI) for large-scale electronics manufacturing serves the purpose of providing incentives to producers. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared Rs 1.97 trillion worth of sops as part of the PLI scheme in the Union Budget 2021-22 this year for over the next 5 years which will be in addition to the Rs 40,951 crore announced for the PLI for electronic manufacturing schemes. The approved production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme worth Rs 12,195 crore will be for telecom equipment manufacturing

Talking about 5G, Dr Ajai Chowdhry, added, “The government needs to look at spectrum sale very differently as it is essential infrastructure, as important as water. We need to provide broadband as a fundamental right. The cost of delivering broadband has to be brought down. The fastest way to deliver it is through 5G and there is opportunity for telecom companies to look at manufacturing locally for 5G.”

Speaking on the same issue, Amit Marwah added, “It is a proven technology and India is ready for 5G as well. If we don’t take the call soon we will be late. If it happens in 3 months, we are ready to provide the requirements of the industry.”