As previously reported this week, cloud communications provider NFON is making a big play in the AI channel space among its 3,000 European partners.
The company has gone on to explain some of the first AI services it is adding to its platform, with some other news just breaking as to where its operational footprint outside its German home is extending to.
At a press event at NFON’s Munich headquarters this week, Markus Krammer, executive vice president for go-to-market and new AI business, told us: “Companies need new ways to manage people and services. But it’s not about adding new people to do it, it’s now about deploying the right technology, which is where we come in.”
Jana Richter (pictured), NFON executive vice president for AI and innovation, and recently hired from SAP, added: “If you have the data you can make it work for the business, but you also need AI agent-based systems, AI-first data strategies, immersive data, and contextual data. The more data is structured like this, the better it gets.”
Considering NFON mainly provides cloud communications services to small- and mid-sized companies, typically managing less than 20 comms seats, this might well seem a bit complicated to some users, but NFON says it is providing AI bots to partners to help their end customers meet the challenge when marrying AI to their existing systems.
Krammer admits however, that while many companies see the benefits of AI, most are currently lagging behind in deployments. “In Germany, for instance, 73% of companies with more than 20 staff say AI offers an opportunity to their business, but, currently, only 18% have adopted generative AI in their operations.”
Last August, NFON acquired Bremen, Germany AI startup botario to help build out its AI services effort.
Jana Richter said: “With the help of botario, this month we have launched an AI and innovation organisation to help users with implementation and usage. We have also launched the NFON Intelligent Assistant, or ‘Nia’.”
The Nia robot can deliver services with AI, including voicemail transcriptions for users, and call transcriptions, and meeting transcriptions will come, all using botario technology. Users can get a quick message review without listening to the full audio, and the service is available on the web, on desktops, and in mobile apps. Users can also receive all voicemail transcripts via email too, and also search voicemail transcripts.
That’s not all on the service front either, Nia can support user requests that can be multi-lingual, GDPR compliant, and that will be “transformative” for the business, whether supporting internal and external processes, said Richter.
Nia can help set up call forwarding, with users being able to ask the robot how to do it, and it can develop documentation access routing, and rules for it, in response to user requests for data. Nia can also update corporate news and developer processes. On the document management side of things, Nia will include web links to information in knowledge databases.
NFON has formed an AI partner committee to make sure partners can get on board to take advantage of these and other services being planned.
In operational news, NFON said it was opening an R&D and core service functions centre in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. It said it would be employing 30 people at this site this year. The opening comes after NFON’s established business development operation in Lisbon, Portugal.
More channel news from the NFON Munich event to follow...
