Why Fonzer Fully Commits to AI Telephony: The Story, Drivers, and Strategy Behind Transcriptions and Virtual Assistants

Fonzer is built on a love for user-friendly telephony and the ambition to make business communication smarter, more human, and future-focused. In this interview, founders and partners Kristof Dedeyne and Ben Holemans tell how it all started, why they focus so hard on AI features, and where Fonzer wants to go.

How Fonzer Started

Question: Kristof, when was the seed for Fonzer planted?

Kristof: "Based on 30 years of customer contact in business telephony, I have a good understanding of how business communication should work. No bulky hardware, but a flexible platform you can set up the way you want. That immediately became the technological foundation on which Fonzer was built as its own brand."

Question: Ben, why create an independent brand instead of staying a classic integrator?

Ben: "Because we saw that many Belgian companies were looking for something more than pure technology. They wanted a phone system that felt like it was made for them, with an interface everyone loves and integrations that actually work. Fonzer was born to fill exactly that gap: a unified cloud communications platform that is both hyper-technical and wonderfully human."

Personal Drivers

Question: What personally drives you to work so hard on this?

Kristof: "For years, telephony has been a necessary evil. Contracts, equipment, limitations. We get excited when companies realize telephony can be fun and smart again. Every time a customer says 'I should have done this years ago', we know why we do it."

Ben: "For me, it's about impact on the workday of real people: planners, receptionists, support teams, sales, business owners. When you see how much noise, duplicate calls, and manual data entry we can eliminate, it energizes you. We want to build a platform that gives teams breathing room while IT maintains full control."

Why Such a Focus on AI Features

Question: You position Fonzer as a phone platform that excels in AI applications. Why such a sharp focus?

Ben: "Because classic cloud telephony is now mainstream. The real accelerator lies in what you do with conversations after someone picks up. With transcriptions, summaries, and our Tringer virtual assistant, we turn every conversation into structured data. That's gold for customer service, sales, and planning."

Kristof: "We don't want to be just another player with the same packages and equipment. Our differentiation is clear: telephony is the foundation, AI is the distinction. Things like automatic transcription, smart summaries, appointment scheduling via voicebot, and triggers to CRM or planning tools are not gimmicks but daily helpers."

Transcriptions as a New Standard

Question: What makes transcriptions so important in the strategy?

Ben: "Transcriptions take all the stress out of 'I missed something'. Teams no longer need to take notes or replay calls. They get clear text and often an immediate summary with action items. That's a win for support, sales, quality and compliance all at once."

Kristof: "Transcriptions also form the foundation for better service long-term. You discover recurring questions, words customers use, and where processes get stuck. With that, you can improve FAQs, scripts, and even your product. Without transcriptions, all that stays in heads and notes."

Virtual Assistants with a Belgian Accent

Question: You often talk about virtual assistants and an AI voicebot. What's the vision behind that?

Kristof: "We're building a voicebot that behaves like a digital colleague, with a Flemish accent. Many bots still sound too generic or foreign. We want Flemish companies to feel like the bot is part of the team, not some anonymous call center far away."

Ben: "The virtual assistant takes over repetitive and boring calls: address confirmations, opening hours, simple appointments. When it gets complex or sensitive, the bot seamlessly transfers to an employee, with context and transcript. That way people get the interesting conversations and AI does the rest."

The Strategy Behind Fonzer

Question: How would you summarize Fonzer's strategy today?

Ben: "Very concretely: the most beloved business telephony from SMEs to multinationals, with AI as a turbo. We focus on direct customers, strong partners, and software solutions that integrate Fonzer into their own tools. We also target the 'innovators': customers who immediately see the value in transcriptions, virtual assistants, and integrations."

Kristof: "We deliberately choose focus. Not an all-rounder in telecom, but a phone platform that excels in integration and smart AI features. Our API, our security, and our AI layer are strategic building blocks. That way, partners and customers can use Fonzer as a foundation to build their own industry-specific solutions."

Future: Where Fonzer Wants to Go

Question: Where do you see yourselves in a few years?

Kristof: "Then it will be second nature for Belgian service companies that every call is automatically transcribed, summarized, and linked to their tools. And when they think of 'AI telephony', they spontaneously think of Fonzer."

Ben: "We want to be the reference platform for companies that no longer see their telephony as a cost, but as a source of data, insights, and automation. For us, 'work hard, hit your metrics, respect each other, and enjoy life' is not a slogan: it's the standard we aim for with Fonzer every single day."