Research · updated quarterly
The State of the Indian SMB Phone
Scandum · 27 August 2026 · updated 2 September 2026
What a missed call, a no-show and an unanswered quote cost a small business in India, by vertical, with the arithmetic shown. The research every number on scandum.com links back to.
5 figures. Each one says whether it is modelled, measured or cited, and shows its method. Plain-text edition for quoting.
5 figures · Updated quarterly.
Figure 01 · coaching institutes
A coaching institute loses ₹3.9L a month to five missed calls a day.
Method
Five missed enquiry calls a day over twenty-six working days is 130 missed enquiries a month. At a one-in-five enrolment rate that is twenty-six lost enrolments; at ₹15,000 average fees per enrolment, ₹3,90,000 a month.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Missed enquiry calls a day | 5 |
| Working days a month | 26 |
| Enquiry-to-enrolment rate | 20% |
| Average fees per enrolment | ₹15,000 |
Figure 02 · clinics
Clinics run 19% no-shows.
Method
The outpatient no-show rate carried in the 27 August 2026 research for Indian private clinics. The underlying study is filed with the research and is linked here when the founder attaches it.
Source file to be attached by the founder.
Figure 03
Quotes go unanswered, and the follow-up is a human on WhatsApp who forgets.
Method
Of the stale quotes businesses have sent Scandum through the twenty-quotes form, the share with any recorded follow-up after day five. Reported as a running count on /proof once the first twenty are worked; until then this row states the pattern, not a rate.
Source: Proof: the twenty-quotes ledger
Figure 04
A lead called within sixty seconds is far likelier to answer and to book than one called the next day.
Method
The speed-to-lead effect is the most replicated finding in inside-sales research; Scandum's Lead Qualifier is built around a sixty-second first call. The specific study the research cites is filed with it.
Source file to be attached by the founder.
Figure 05
An AI Receptionist from ₹3,000 a month, compared with a salary, not with software.
Method
Scandum's published price for the AI Receptionist, on /pricing. A front-desk salary in Hyderabad is several times that before the second shift and the missed calls after hours.
Source: Pricing
How to cite this page
Cite the page, not the number.
Scandum. The State of the Indian SMB Phone. 2 September 2026. https://scandum.com/research
Method notes
What modelled, measured and cited mean here.
Scandum's own arithmetic from stated inputs. The inputs are printed under the figure so the reader can change one and recompute. A modelled number is an estimate, not a measurement.
Read from Scandum's own records or published pages: the price list, the proof ledger. The method paragraph names where it is read from and the link goes there.
Carried from an external study filed with the research. The study is linked once Scandum attaches the file; until then the row says so rather than naming a source it cannot show.
The PDF edition is produced with each quarterly update.