# Reaching Customers Who Don't Use WhatsApp

> Many customers in India use a basic phone or never open WhatsApp. How an AI voice call reaches them in their own language, and what your team still does.

Source: https://business.mysmartassistant.ai/blog/calling-customers-without-whatsapp · Published 2026-10-31 · Language: English · Publisher: MySA Business (https://business.mysmartassistant.ai)

![An AI call reaches a shopkeeper on a basic phone, tells him tomorrow's delivery time, he asks for two more bags of sugar, and the distributor gets a summary of the call](/blog/calling-customers-without-whatsapp-flow.svg)

To reach customers without WhatsApp, you call them. A plain phone call rings on every handset, from a ₹1,000 keypad phone to the newest smartphone, and needs no app, no data pack and no reading. With MySA Business, an AI voice assistant makes those calls from your number, in the customer's language, says what you need said, listens to the answer and gives your team a summary of each call.

Most automation advice in India assumes the customer is on WhatsApp. A large share of the people many businesses serve are not, or are there but never read a message from a business.

## Who is still on a basic phone

Feature phones have not gone away. In July 2024, IDC's Navkendar Singh [told TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/13/india-clings-to-cheap-feature-phones-as-brands-struggle-to-tap-new-smartphone-buyers/) that around 350 million people in India still used a feature phone. The same article cited Counterpoint data that 2G feature phones still held most of that market.

The figure is from 2024, so treat it as a sense of scale, not today's count. Even so, it covers customers that many businesses depend on:

- **Village and small-town shopkeepers** who order from distributors and wholesalers.
- **Farmers** buying seed, fertiliser or selling produce. See [AI calling for agri traders](/blog/ai-calling-for-agri-traders).
- **Milk-route and doorstep customers** of dairies and food suppliers.
- **Older customers and patients**, who may own a smartphone but answer only calls.
- **Drivers, field staff and labour contractors**, who are on the move and do not read long messages.

Some basic phones run a version of WhatsApp; many do not. And a customer with WhatsApp who ignores your template message has, in practice, not been reached either.

## Why a call works where a message does not

A text needs the customer to read it, understand it and reply. A call needs them to say "haan" or "nahi". For customers who are not comfortable reading, or reading English, that difference decides whether the message lands.

A call also lets the customer ask back. "Kitne baje aayega?" or "Paise cash dene hain ya UPI?" gets answered in the same minute, where a WhatsApp reply could sit unread until evening.

The cost of a call is the catch: it takes a person's time. That is the part an AI voice assistant takes over.

## Set up the calls

A [campaign](/features/campaigns) calls a list with one purpose. For customers on basic phones:

1. **Upload the list** as Excel or CSV with each mobile number. Put each customer's own details in `var1` to `var15`: the name, the delivery time, the amount. The AI speaks them in each call. See [Campaigns](/docs/campaigns).
2. **Pick the language they speak.** MySA calls in more than 100 languages, Hinglish by default. A `language` column overrides it per customer, so a Bhopal shop and a Bhubaneswar shop on the same list each hear their own. Listen to a test call before you choose; how natural a language sounds is something to judge yourself. See [AI calling in Hindi and Hinglish](/blog/ai-calling-in-hindi-and-hinglish).
3. **Write a short purpose.** One reason for the call, the key detail said plainly, and one question with an easy answer. "Kal 10 baje maal aayega, dukaan khuli rahegi?" works better on a basic phone than a list of offers.
4. **Set a short Max call duration** for routine calls, so the call ends once the job is done.
5. **Set DND hours** so nobody is rung before they open the shop or after dinner. See [DND](/docs/dnd).

## A delivery call, as the shopkeeper hears it

> **Example**
>
> **AI:** Namaste Suresh ji, main ABC Distributors se bol raha hoon. Aapka order kal subah 10 baje tak pahunchega. Kya dukaan khuli rahegi?
>
> **Shopkeeper:** Haan, khuli rahegi. Do bori chini aur chahiye.
>
> **AI:** Theek hai, do bori chini ka note team ko de deta hoon. Woh aapko confirm karenge.
>
> **Shopkeeper:** Theek hai.

ABC Distributors is made up. After the call, **Call Logs** holds the recording, an AI summary ("delivery tomorrow 10 AM OK, wants 2 more bags of sugar") and the sentiment. Adding the sugar to the order is still your team's job; the AI does not touch your billing or stock. See [Call Logs](/docs/call-logs).

## When the customer calls back

People on basic phones often ring back the number that called them. If your campaign calls from a number you bought and [inbound calls](/features/inbound-calls) are switched on for that number, the AI answers the call-back from your Business Details. A customer who says "shaam ko call karna" lands in **Follow-ups**, and **Auto-callback** can ring them at that time. See [how to handle "call me later"](/blog/how-to-handle-call-me-later).

## What works today, and what it does not do

| Works today | Does not do |
| --- | --- |
| Calls any phone number, smartphone or basic phone | Send SMS to the customer |
| Each customer's name, time or amount spoken from your file | Send WhatsApp to a customer who does not have it |
| The customer's language, set per row | Promise how natural every language sounds |
| Recording, summary and sentiment of every call | Change your orders, stock or ledger |
| Call-backs answered when inbound is on for that number | Read keypad presses; the customer answers by speaking |

These are scenarios, not customer stories. For customers who are on WhatsApp, the same Business Details can answer their messages too: see [WhatsApp smart reply](/features/whatsapp-smart-reply).

## Getting started

1. [Create a workspace](/signup) and verify your mobile number to get ₹100 of Test credit in the **Test** environment.
2. Write your Business Details and a short purpose.
3. Press **Try now**: the AI rings your own phone. If you can, answer on a basic phone, the way your customers will.
4. Run a test campaign to three of your own numbers with `var1` filled in.
5. Go **Live**, top up the prepaid wallet and start with a small list.

Calls of 10 seconds or less are free; longer calls are billed per started minute. The rate for your workspace is shown in the console. [Talk to sales](/contact) for volume pricing.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can the AI call a keypad phone?

Yes. It is an ordinary phone call, so it rings on any mobile phone that can take calls, smartphone or not.

### Does the customer need WhatsApp, data or an app?

No. They only need to pick up and talk.

### Can the customer press 1 or 2 to answer?

No. The AI understands spoken answers, so the customer replies in their own words.

### Can each customer hear a different language?

Yes. Add a language column to your file; it overrides the campaign language for that row.

### Will the customer get an SMS after the call?

No. MySA does not send SMS to customers. Anything the customer asked for is in the call summary for your team to act on.