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Glossary · Operations & infrastructure

Cloud telephony

Cloud telephony: Business calling hosted on a provider’s servers: virtual numbers, IVR, queues, recording, dashboards: billed per seat plus per minute. Right for high inbound volume and compulsory recording.

Definitions checked 2 September 2026.

Cloud telephony moves the business phone system to a provider's servers. The business rents virtual numbers, calls travel over the internet to and from the provider, and because the provider sits in the middle of every call it can answer with an IVR menu, queue callers, ring several agents at once, record the conversation, and show it all on a dashboard. Exotel, MyOperator, Knowlarity, Ozonetel, Acefone and Tata sell it in India, priced per seat plus per minute or per number.

It solves inbound and infrastructure problems well: one published number answered by many people, menus and routing, compulsory recording, numbers that survive an employee leaving, and campaign numbers for attribution. It solves outbound selling badly for a small Indian team: calls from virtual number ranges are screened as spam and answered less, every minute is metered, and a customer who calls back reaches a routing table rather than the person they spoke to. The rule of thumb is direction and size: mostly inbound or above twenty agents, cloud; mostly outbound and under that, the phone itself.

A SIM-based dialer is the other architecture, not a cheaper version of the same one: the call runs on the mobile network from the caller's SIM, there is no server in the middle, so there is no IVR and no live monitoring, and also no virtual number, no per-minute bill and no answer-rate penalty. RMDialer, which we make, is that second architecture with the CRM attached. The linked post explains cloud telephony and the cases where a business genuinely needs it.

And when you don’t need it →

Questions

Cloud telephony: common questions

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What is cloud telephony?

Business calling hosted on a provider's servers: virtual numbers, IVR, queues, routing, recording and dashboards, with calls travelling over the internet and billed per seat plus per minute.

Do I need cloud telephony for a small sales team?

Usually not. Cloud telephony suits inbound desks, call centres and compulsory recording. An outbound team under roughly twenty callers is better served by a SIM-based dialer on the phones it already has.

What is the difference between a power dialer and a predictive dialer?

A power dialer calls one number at a time for one agent and waits for that call to end, so every answered call has a person ready. A predictive dialer calls several numbers at once and connects the ones that answer to whichever agent is free, which needs a call-centre server and causes dropped "silent" calls. Mobile auto dialers like RMDialer are power dialers on a SIM.

What is a SIM-based dialer and how is it different from cloud telephony?

A SIM-based dialer places calls from the SIM in the user's own phone, so the customer sees a normal mobile number and the call costs whatever the operator plan charges. Cloud telephony routes calls through a virtual number on a server and bills per user plus per minute, in return for features like IVR and recording. For outbound sales on mobile numbers, SIM calling gets answered more often and costs far less.

Do I need a virtual number to run a calling team?

No. A virtual number is only needed when calls must be routed through a cloud platform, for example for an inbound IVR. An outbound sales team can run entirely on business SIMs in the reps' phones, with the app logging every call and the owner reading the reports. Customers also answer known mobile numbers more readily than unfamiliar virtual ones.

Why do customers not answer calls from virtual numbers?

Because caller ID apps and phone dialers increasingly flag pooled virtual and VoIP numbers as spam or business calls, and because the same virtual number is often used for many campaigns. A real mobile number from a local SIM looks like a person calling, which is why SIM-based dialers report higher connect rates in India.

Can I use two SIMs for business calling on one phone?

Yes. On a dual-SIM Android phone the dialer lets you choose which SIM makes each call, or set a default business SIM for all sessions. You can also decide which SIM's calls are backed up and reported, so personal calls on the other SIM stay out of the team account.

How do I stop my business number being marked as spam?

Call from a real SIM rather than a pooled virtual number, keep daily volumes reasonable, do not call DND numbers with offers, save your business name in Truecaller and similar caller ID apps, and send a WhatsApp before or after the call so the customer recognises you. Numbers get flagged by patterns of unanswered cold calls, not by calling your own enquiries.

Which is better for an Indian sales team: SIM-based CRM or cloud call centre software?

For outbound sales on mobile numbers, SIM-based: higher answer rates, no per-minute bills, works offline, runs on phones the team already has. For high-volume inbound with IVR, queues and recording, cloud call-centre software. Many businesses run both: cloud for the support line, SIM-based for the sales team.

What is an auto dialer app?

An auto dialer app calls a list of phone numbers one after another so the caller never types a number. On Android, an app like RMDialer runs the session on the phone itself using the SIM already in it: you pick a list from Excel, a Google Sheet, an API or assigned leads, press start, and the app dials each number in turn while you mark the outcome between calls.

What is a telecalling CRM?

A telecalling CRM is customer software built around phone calls: the lead list, the dialer, the call outcome and the follow-up live in one place. The mobile kind, such as RMDialer, replaces the Android phone app on each rep's handset so every call automatically becomes a record with a status, a remark and the next follow-up, and the manager sees the whole team on a web dashboard.

What is the difference between telecalling software and a CRM?

Telecalling software is built to make and track calls (dialing lists, call logs, per-caller reports). A CRM is built to hold customer records and pipeline stages. Most Indian sales teams need both at once, which is why a telecalling CRM combines them: the call itself creates and updates the customer record, so nobody types into a separate system after the call.

What is a CRM dialer?

A CRM dialer is a single app where the dialer and the customer record are the same thing: the call screen shows the lead, and ending the call updates it. It differs from a CRM with "dialer integration", which is two products joined by a sync. RMDialer is a CRM dialer for Android that runs on the user's own SIM.

What is a business dialer app?

A business dialer app replaces the default phone app on an Android phone with one made for selling: caller ID from your own leads, the last remark on screen when a customer rings, two-tap status and follow-up after each call, automatic WhatsApp, and a call log that filters by lead status. It is a personal CRM for one owner and a team system when several people use it.

Does RMDialer work on iPhone?

No. RMDialer is an Android app because iOS does not let a third-party app replace the phone dialer, read the call log or place calls automatically. It supports Android 8.0 and above. The owner's Web CRM works in any browser, including Safari on a Mac or iPhone.

Customer reviews

What businesses say about RMDialer

Real businesses, real numbers: how owners and sales teams across India and 12+ countries use RMDialer every day.

Rated 4.9 by customers 5.0 on Google Play 1K+ downloads India + 12+ countries
  • “Telecaller app for Android that my staff actually use. Enquiry list is assigned to each telecaller, the auto dialer calls it from their own SIM, and test ride bookings come to me live. Punjabi interface for the girls at the desk. Price is honest, everything included, no per-user surprises.”
    Harpreet Singh Owner · Two-wheeler showroom Ludhiana
  • “We needed an auto dialer app that works on our own MTN and Airtel lines, not a call centre subscription in dollars. RMDialer runs on the phones my agents already have, dials the enquiry list, and the WhatsApp follow-up goes out after every call. Works even when the network drops and syncs later.”
    Grace Okafor Managing director · Travel agency Lagos, Nigeria
  • “We looked for telecalling software for a nine-person loan team and every quote came with cloud seats and per-minute bills. RMDialer telecalling software runs on the callers' own Jio SIMs: the lead list dials itself, the remark goes on the number, and I get dials, connects and talk time per caller every evening. Cost is one flat price per user.”
    Kavita Iyer Operations head · Loan DSA Chennai
  • “Earlier I was dialling 80 to 100 portal leads a day by hand from Excel. With RMDialer auto dialer app I import the sheet, press start and it calls one by one from my own Jio SIM. Between calls I mark Interested or Site visit in two taps and the follow-up rings me on time. Closed 3 flats last month from leads I would have forgotten.”
    Rakesh Choudhary Real estate consultant · Property advisory Jaipur
  • “We tried two telecalling CRM software before this and my counsellors stopped filling them within a week. RMDialer is the phone app itself, so every admission enquiry gets logged whether they like it or not. The auto WhatsApp after call sends the fee structure by itself. I see all 4 counsellors' calls on the web CRM every evening.”
    Priya Nair Owner · Coaching institute Kochi

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