Bharti Airtel on Friday introduced an emergency alert service for its subscribers in Kolkata, Bengal and Odisha. The service, aimed primarily for women, allows the user to dial an Airtel helpline number (55100) and send messages in case of an emergency.
Dialling the number will send across an alert (SMS) and a recorded voice message to 10-preloaded numbers. Messages will give the location of the sender and also the time.
According to an Airtel official, messages will be sent simultaneously to all the 10-odd recipients. Alerts and messages will be repeated three times in a span of 30 minutes.
“We are primarily targeting the women subscribers with this service. The service will be free for the first 30 days and then chargeable at Rs 30 per month,” Vir Inder Nath, COO, Kolkata and West Bengal told presspersons here.
Currently, of the 20 million-odd subscribers that Airtel has across the three circles — Kolkata, Bengal and Odisha — a third of them are women. Airtel is expecting around 10 per cent of its women subscribers to opt for the service.
According to Nath, the company is also in talks with the local police administration to ensure that a single number be introduced for making emergency calls. The alerts will be generated through that single number (like 100) to the local police station also.