fonYou, the internet-based telephony company that has operated as an MVNO in Spain since 2008, has signed a deal that will see Telefonica provide mobile cloud communications services direct to its customers.
Telefonica will use fonYou’s OMT-9000 platform to provide a second number service to users. fonYou provides a web-based front end to users that allows them to control their contacts, and access advanced services, online such as visual voicemail, real-time call register and advanced filtering and blocking functions for incoming calls. Users of Telefonica’s Second Line service will be able to use the second number to access the web-based service.
fonYou has been calling for operator-based innovation in cloud and web-based comms for a while now. Last year it proposed a Facebook application for its web-based telephony services, and it also stated that it was looking for operators to see the potential of the service for combating OTT voice providers. At that point, it positioned the service as a customer retention tool for operators faced with strong OTT competition.
Telefonica, already a partner, is the first major operator to have committed to launch in Europe. The operator is developing a name for itself in innovating in IP and cloud communications, as evidenced by the acquisition of Jajah and the promotion of its CEO Trevor Healey to a chief innovation officer post with the Telefonica group. Telefonica Spain also has a major cloud invesment programme ongoing with NEC.
The difference between Jajah and fonYou is that fonYou does not offer IP telephony as such, which Jajah does. fonYou’s second number services still offers access over the mobile operator’s network through the phone’s SIM, but backs it up with a web-based front end through which the user controls, and in some cases accesses, services such as voicemail and messaging.