20 01732 759725 How should you react after missing out on the biggest opportunity in decades, perhaps your lifetime? In the case of European cloud telephony provider NFON, which let slip the chance to take a lead in video collaboration during the pandemic, the answer is to make certain it is ready for and at the forefront of the next transformation in unified communications. Hence its acquisition last August of Artificial Intelligence specialist botario and the establishment of an AI Competency Centre within its expanded AI & Innovation Organisation. This investment is already bearing fruit with advances in three main areas: 1 the gradual integration of AI-powered capabilities within NFON’s smart cloud communication platform, starting with the time-saving transcription of voice messages (and delivery by email), which goes live this month, with additional efficiency enhancements on the way, including call transcription and summaries; 2 the development of a multi-lingual AI chatbot, the NFON Intelligent Assistant, or Nia, that can understand and respond to queries using colloquial language, effectively providing 24/7 assistance to customers. Now available on the NFON website and partner portal, NFON has already been using Nia internally to surface solutions to technical questions more easily and quickly than using a manual; and 3 Business process optimisation, using its AI and bot capabilities to create bespoke, automated solutions to customers’ challenges. It is already developing such solutions for partners’, a good example being an AI-powered voice and administration bot for routing inbound calls. Available now The important point about these developments is that they are already live and available to NFON partners and customers and not just items on a development wish list, which Alexander Wettjen, VP Group Sales at NFON, says gives the Munich-headquartered cloud PBX pioneer founded in 2007 a clear competitive advantage. “I’m really excited because what some other companies are talking about is already real for us. We are selling it, our partners are using it and our customers are using it,” he said. These developments are not NFON’s first use of AI – it has been using voice bots, chat bots, email bots and Copilot in its CC Hub omnichannel contact centre since the beginning of 2024 and is continuing to add new AI features to that platform, with automated analysis of email attachments, smart routing and the integration of large language models into bot workflows on the cards for 2025. However, these advances do represent a significant expansion of its capabilities across its entire portfolio and a deeper strategic focus on AI as a growth engine, as described in the company’s new corporate strategy, NFON NEXT 2027. Strategy for growth This outlines how NFON plans to address key challenges in the global cloud communications market, which despite good growth (14% CAGR from 2020-2030, according to Transparency Market Research) is suffering from commoditisation, with providers of voicecentric communication tools experiencing a 44% reduction in average revenue per user (ARPU) in the last 12 months. The global AI market, by contrast, is forecast to grow from $298.24 billion in 2024 to $1.84 trillion by 2030, giving NFON a real incentive to develop leadership in this area, while also driving growth in its core cloud telephony proposition, through international expansion – 80% of NFON revenue is generated in Germany, 10% in Austria and a further 10% in the UK; by addressing new markets, such as healthcare and public sector; and by attracting bigger customers (it currently has an average of 17 seats per customer). CEO Patrik Heider said: “We have a dual transformation strategy. On the one hand, we want to really focus on efficiency and growing our traditional cloud PBX business, from 665,000 seats to 1 million users, and on the other hand to invest and drive further development in the AI sector.” In support of the latter, NFON, back in profit and cash-positive, has made multiple investments over the last year: it has transformed its cloud infrastructure, giving it the capacity to reliably scale the number of users of its cloud telephony solutions; set up an AI Competence Centre; acquired Bremen-based start-up botario, currently growing at 30% to 40%, after contributing €5 million to NFON’s coffers in 2024; recruited Jana Richter as Executive Vice President AI & Innovation to head up the company’s new, dedicated AI & Innovation organisation; and established an AI Partner Committee to share knowledge and insights with its 3,000-strong partner community, the source of 99.9% of its business. In addition, NFON has announced the opening of a new office in Pristina in the Republic of Kosovo, on top of existing facilities in Germany (Munich, Mainz, Mannheim and Berlin), the UK, Austria, Italy and Portugal, giving it access to the region’s growing pool of highly qualified IT and software development talent. By the end of 2025, NFON expects to have recruited 30 new employees for its Pristina office to work across R&D, Finance and HR functions. Such is the buzz around AI that many businesses pay lip service to the technology. NFON, however, is clearly putting its money where its mouth is, giving customers and partners the opportunity to transform efficiency and significantly enhance the customer experience. www.nfon.com CLOUD TELEPHONY Not just talk NFON is aiming to steal a march on its competitors by setting the pace in AI-powered business telephony solutions and process automation Patrik Heider Jana Richter
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