Truecaller, a caller ID provider, has made its call recording and transcription features available to paying customers in India, which is the largest market.
Truecaller Features
The recording feature is available for premium users both Android as well as iOS and will support English as well as Hindi transcriptions.
The company in June of 2023 began offering call recording for users who pay premium across the U.S., and now it’s expanding this feature to India. The major difference is that due to rules that apply to India, U.S. receivers would hear an alarm sound as users begin recording. It won’t happen in India.
If you’re employing Truecaller on Android the app’s dialer will display an option to record. If you are using other dialers, Truecaller will display an option to record on a floating screen.
For iOS this process is somewhat different because of Apple’s CallKit limitations. If you’d like to record both outgoing and incoming calls, you’ll have access the Truecaller application after making the call. You can then tap”Record a call” or the “Record a call” feature accessible on the tab for search. The app makes a call to an additional recording number, you have to manually join the calls for the recording to begin.
When the call is finished after which the app process the audio, and sends an email when transcription is complete. On iOS recordings, they are saved locally, with the option of storing the recordings in iCloud.
Truecaller has experienced a few challenging times in the last few quarters. In the results of its Q4 2023 quarter the company earned $41.14 million of revenue which was a 4% decline over the course of the year. The annual revenue of the company in 2023 stood at $167.34 million, an increase of 2.2% year-over-year. In light of these numbers, Truecaller’s shares have fallen over 15% so far in the year.
The highlight was that the monthly active users increased by 11% to reach 374 million while the daily active users increased by 12%, reaching 305 million. The number of users in India is more than 70 percent of the total. While the drop in revenue from advertising was the primary factor behind the decline in revenue overall However, the company’s user profits increased by over 20% in the fourth quarter.
Truecaller hopes that its customers will be attracted by the opportunity to purchase the premium plan, which begins at just Rs79 ($0.95) monthly or Rs529 for the year ($6.38) that includes features such as recording calls.
The last week last week, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released guidelines for a caller identification service known as the calling name display (CNAP) over cell networks. Truecaller stated that it doesn’t think the service was in any way competitive.
In a note to investors the stockbroker Numis recently said that Truecaller could not witness significant improvement in the Indian advertising market. The company said it is insisting on increasing revenues from its subscribers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Truecaller has introduced its call recording and transcription features to paying customers in India, serving to its largest market. Premium users on both Android and iOS can now enjoy this functionality, supporting English and Hindi transcriptions. Despite facing revenue challenges, Truecaller has seen an increase in active users, especially in India. With its affordable premium plans, Truecaller aims to attract more customers. Additionally, recent regulatory developments in India, such as CNAP guidelines, may impact the company’s future strategies. Despite these challenges, Truecaller remains committed to enhancing user experience and increasing revenue from its subscriber base.