“Caller identification is very important for the magazine division: we can successfully identify 87% of callers. In January, we had 3 million interactions between Omilia and our systems, and nearly 97% were successful.”
Michael Römer, Managing Director, FUNKE
FUNKE Mediengruppe, founded in 1948, is one of Germany’s largest media houses — publishing 12 regional daily newspapers with 90 local editions, 135 magazines including iconic titles like Hörzu, TV Digital, Brigitte, and Gala, and operating 12 radio stations reaching 4 million listeners daily.
With over 53% of their newspaper readership aged 70 and above, cost efficiency and accessible customer service have always been strategic priorities. Their legacy two-tier IVR system, with 11 rigid menu options, was driving abandonment rates as high as 20% — and leaving the company with little insight into what customers actually needed.
“We had high abandonment rates — up to 20% across the various options. We’ve roughly cut those in half.”
By deploying Omilia voice assistants, that they have named “Paula” and “Funky”, FUNKE can handle core service interactions: delivery complaints across 150 million annual distribution events, vacation holds for newspaper subscriptions, and subscriber identification — including a separate verification flow for magazine readers acquired through third-party intermediaries.
Results
The results were immediate and measurable
- abandonment rates were cut in half
- caller satisfaction improved significantly
- misdirected calls to newsrooms and other departments — a persistent pain point — dropped sharply.
FUNKE now processes 3 million monthly interactions through Omilia with a 97% success rate.
- Caller identification has reached 87%
- Name and address recognition exceeds 99%
- 82% of magazine cancellations are automatically handled in full
Looking ahead, FUNKE is aiming to resolve 70–80% of all phone inquiries with self-service as they continue to streamline their internal processes to fully utilize all Omilia’s capabilities.
Watch the full presentation to hear firsthand how FUNKE is building the future of customer service with conversational AI.
