In our ongoing series about the transformative impact of Applied AI on B2B SaaS companies, we sat down with Frank Fawzi, CEO of IntelePeer, to understand how the company is revolutionizing customer communications across healthcare, financial services, and logistics. Serving over 2,500 customers and handling nearly one billion calls annually, IntelePeer demonstrates how the three pillars of Applied AI — data, algorithms, and workflow, have transformed operations for customers in growing sectors.
Founded 20 years ago, IntelePeer has developed a comprehensive communications platform that handles everything from basic voice calling and messaging to sophisticated AI-powered automation. The company started with physical communication capabilities and gradually developed a full software stack, including an orchestration layer and visual designer for building complex omnichannel experiences. Their focus is primarily on B2C verticals with high customer interaction volumes where automation and applied AI is crucial to customer success.
Applied AI: Intelepeer’s Solution for Seamless AI Integration
IntelePeer has solved one of the biggest challenges in applied AI: accessing siloed data across multiple systems. They've built vertical-specific integrations that allow them to pull necessary information from various sources, enabling automated responses to even complex queries like scheduling appointments. IntelePeer's approach to data highlights a critical insight: the most valuable data often lies in the conversations themselves.
As Fawzi explains, "The conversation that happens between the business and the patient or customer... that transcription, whether it's a voice call, email, or message, is actually the new single source of truth."
Key data components include:
- System of record data from client businesses
- Real-time conversation transcriptions
- Integration with various backend systems (EMR, CRM, ERP)
- Automated data extraction from conversations
Algorithm Evolution and Implementation
IntelePeer’s AI-driven automation began with rule-based systems, gradually advancing to speech-to-text and text-to-speech technologies. In 2020, the company integrated Google Dialogflow, further enhancing its capabilities. Following the 2023 announcement of OpenAI’s GPT models, they transitioned to this technology, marking a significant step forward. Today, IntelePeer orchestrates multiple large language models (LLMs) tailored to specific use cases, continuously refining its approach to meet diverse business needs.
IntelePeer's journey with AI algorithms shows the rapid evolution of the technology. A key innovation is their approach to handling regulated industries. For sensitive communications, they've developed a Q&A Agent that uses AI for intent extraction and delivers predetermined, compliance-approved responses. This ensures 100% accuracy while maintaining the flexibility of natural language understanding for workflows.
Workflow Integration and Optimization
IntelePeer’s unique position in the workflow approach allows them to implement AI solutions with minimal disruption to existing operations. It begins with intent analysis to understand current patterns, gradually automates appropriate conversations, maintains human oversight for complex cases, and enables continuous improvement through learning from all interactions.
The results have been impressive, with automation rates exceeding 80% in optimal conditions, and the potential to reduce contact center staff by up to 57%—from 7,000 to 3,000 agents in one case—resulting in significant cost savings. One of their most innovative tools, the Intent Analyzer, helps potential clients assess their automation potential by analyzing existing call recordings, identifying common interaction patterns that creates a detailed automation roadmap, and providing clear ROI projections.
Data-Driven Success: A Model for Entrepreneurs in Applied AI
The company maintains strict data privacy, ensuring that each customer's data and best practices only improve their own instance of the platform. This focus on data fundamentals, combined with real-time processing capabilities, has been crucial to IntelePeer's success in transforming customer communications. IntelePeer sees the future moving beyond cost savings to productivity enhancement.
Key takeaways and advice for entrepreneurs in Applied AI: "Make sure you know where your data is coming from, and the rest will fall into place if you have access to accurate data.” -- Frank Fawzi, CEO of IntelePeer
At Savant Growth we are thrilled to see how impactful applied AI has been for customers like Intelepeer and look forward to the continued momentum as we head into a new year!
