Will the telephone disappear from business?

Voice retains several decisive uses, while an unannounced call is becoming a less reliable entry point for customer contact. Keep voice for urgency, ambiguity and exchanges that benefit from being synchronous. Precede important appointments with a message that gives the reason and lets the recipient choose the time. Measure response and conversion by channel before redesigning the journey.

What changed for telephone canvassing on 11 August 2026?

The French Consumer Code now prohibits telephone marketing to a consumer without prior consent, subject to the exceptions set out in the legislation. The business must be able to prove consent that is freely given, specific, informed, unambiguous and revocable. A call connected with the performance of an existing contract may fall within the exception defined by Article L223-1. The provision concerns consumers and telephone calls; other recipients and channels require their own analysis.

Why combine messaging and video?

The two channels cover different moments in one journey and avoid imposing a synchronous conversation on every interaction. Messaging gathers context, answers short questions and keeps a follow-up record. Video supports discovery, demonstrations, negotiation and complex decisions. A voice-only call remains available when it is quicker or more accessible.

Can an AI appointment assistant comply with the GDPR?

Compliance depends on the specific processing, its lawful basis and its safeguards; consent is not the GDPR's only lawful basis. Define the purpose, necessary data, lawful basis and retention period. Inform people and organise their rights, access controls, processors and security. Require human review for sensitive decisions or messages and provide a manual fallback when errors occur.

Should an organisation leave Teams or Google Meet?

The decision depends on the data, applicable jurisdictions, supplier dependency and total cost rather than the national origin of a brand in isolation. Map the data, processors and transfers actually used. Check exports, formats, interoperability and the exit process. Require an appropriate qualification when sensitivity or sector policy warrants it.

Transition Management

From unsolicited calls to messaging and video: organising customer contact in 2026

31 May 2026 · Updated on 6 September 2026 · 8 min read · Paul-Antoine Tual

telephone video conferencing messaging AI sales transformation SME RCS

By Paul-Antoine TUAL · AI Transformation Leader, Croissance et Transitions · Updated 6 September 2026.

Voice is not disappearing: it is simply ceasing to be the compulsory route when messaging can prepare the exchange and video can reserve synchronous time for moments that require context, trust or a decision.

Messaging handles short questions, qualification and asynchronous follow-up.
Video supports discovery, demonstrations, negotiation and decisions.
A voice call remains useful for urgency, accessibility or a short conversation that is already expected.
Automation can route and schedule, provided that people can take over.

Voice is moving away from conventional networks, not leaving the relationship

The available evidence supports a redistribution of use more strongly than an ‘end of the telephone’: conventional call volumes are falling, writing is gaining ground and some voice traffic has moved into apps.

In France, fixed and mobile voice use totalled about 200 billion minutes in 2024, down 3% year on year and continuing a decline that began in 2014 [3].
The 2024 French Digital Barometer reports that 85% of the population uses instant messaging and 78% makes audio or video calls through these applications [4].
In YouGov’s March 2026 survey, 65% of Gen Z respondents preferred writing when contacting friends and family, yet only 13% considered an unexpected call unacceptable [1].
Gartner finds that the telephone remains valued across generations, which supports assigning roles to channels rather than removing voice [2].

For a business, the useful distinction is between a chosen conversation and an interruption without context.

A preliminary message explains the purpose and lets the recipient choose the time.
An agreed call retains the spontaneity of voice without demanding immediate availability.
Video adds screen sharing and visual cues when they materially improve a decision.

Unknown numbers have lost some of their trust value

Commercial saturation and number spoofing make incoming calls harder to screen even when they are legitimate.

In its October 2024 survey, UFC-Que Choisir reported that 72% of respondents received marketing calls on their mobile each week, averaging six calls [5].
In January 2026, Arcep opened an administrative investigation into operators’ action against number spoofing and spam [6].
Caller ID is therefore insufficient on its own: context supplied in advance and a verifiable return route have become useful trust signals.

Since 11 August 2026, French law has changed telephone marketing to consumers without turning every business call into a prohibited practice [7][8].

Article L223-1 prohibits telephone marketing to a consumer who has not previously consented to it.
The business must retain proof of consent that is freely given, specific, informed, unambiguous and revocable.
An exception covers certain calls related to the performance of an existing contract; specified home-related sectors face a stronger prohibition.
The provision concerns telephone calls and consumers: it creates neither general permission for email or messaging nor a universal rule for every B2B exchange.

Give messaging, voice and video distinct roles

A multichannel journey becomes understandable when each means of contact corresponds to a defined type of exchange and an explicit response-time promise.

Messaging: collect the request, share a file, answer a short question and provide follow-up.
Voice: handle urgency, resolve an ambiguity quickly or meet an accessibility need.
Video: conduct discovery, demonstrate a product, negotiate and decide with several participants.
System of record: capture the decision and next actions in the CRM or operating tool rather than a private thread.

French figures for 2025 confirm movement towards internet-based services, while each business still needs to measure what works for its own customers.

Arcep links the decline in SMS to the growth of instant messaging and RCS [9].
The useful internal measures are response time, attended appointments, conversion and satisfaction by channel, rather than message volume.
Accessibility, age, equipment and business context may justify several entry points instead of a single journey.

Automate the first contact without automating the relationship

Appointment booking is a reasonable scope for testing AI because its steps are bounded, observable and easy to return to a person when the request falls outside the rules.

Qualify the purpose with a few necessary questions, without collecting speculative data.
Offer slots from authorised availability, then ask the person to confirm the choice.
Send the reminder, video link and preparation notes under approved rules.
Escalate ambiguous, sensitive or contentious requests, and cases with no suitable slot.

Reported adoption is rising, but it establishes neither the quality of a particular deployment nor an automatic return on investment.

The 2025 France Num Barometer reports that 26% of surveyed microbusinesses and SMEs use AI solutions, including 14% using chatbots or assistants [10].
Market forecasts for conversational assistants describe scenarios, not a guaranteed path for every SME [2][11].
A pilot should compare a baseline and target: response time, appointments obtained, non-attendance, human takeovers and errors.

Governance depends on the actual processing and cannot be reduced to either ticking a consent box or imposing human review on every operation [12][13].

Select and document the applicable lawful basis; the GDPR does not always require consent.
Give information about the controller, purpose, recipients, retention and rights.
Limit access, record useful actions and govern processors.
For recording or transcription, also check confidentiality rules and the context of the conversation; an alternative GDPR basis does not override those rules.

Choose infrastructure by testing verifiable criteria

Dependency on an integrated suite should be assessed through the contract, the data and the ability to exit, because a convenient video service can become costly to replace once identity, files and histories are tied to it.

Google incorporated Gemini into Workspace Business and Enterprise plans in 2025 alongside revised pricing, illustrating how features and prices can move together [14].
In September 2025, the European Commission made Microsoft’s commitments on suites without Teams, interoperability and portability legally binding [15].
Assessment should cover contracting entities, processors, processing locations, transfers, access controls and exit terms.
A qualification such as SecNumCloud has a defined scope: verify it for the service actually purchased and against the sensitivity of the data [16].

Turn a collection of tools into a governed journey

The Junyr Method™ applies a simple rule here: assign each channel a role, make decisions traceable and automate only a scope whose quality the organisation can measure and whose control it can recover.

Map: request types, volumes, delays, processed data and accountable owners.
Assign: recommended channel, response time and escalation path for each request.
Pilot: test scheduling in a limited scope against before-and-after criteria.
Govern: lawful basis, information, access, retention, review and logging proportionate to risk.
Prepare the exit: tested exports, documented formats and a continuity option.

A meeting or scheduling assistant provides value only when its behaviour can be explained and controlled in day-to-day work.

Before the meeting: purpose, participants, necessary data and scheduling rules.
During it: recording or transcription activated only within the agreed legal and organisational framework.
Afterwards: minutes reviewed when the stakes warrant it, actions assigned and CRM writes made verifiable.
During an incident: stop the automation, switch to manual handling and correct inaccurate data.

Test three objections in the real setting

Objections to changing channel become useful design criteria when they are translated into concrete tests.

‘Our customers prefer to call’: retain calls and compare results by segment, reason and stage of the journey.
‘AI will make the relationship less human’: automate coordination, measure takeovers and keep sensitive decisions with accountable people.
‘A sovereign service costs more’: compare total cost, features, risk, interoperability and exit over the same scope.

A leader can obtain an initial picture within a week by answering three operational questions.

Which incoming or outgoing calls fail, and for what reasons?
Which channel currently preserves the context and final decision?
Where is appointment, transcription and follow-up data processed, and who can access it?

Place your organisation on the scale in 30 minutes

The free, no-commitment Junyr audit is a 30-minute video call that provides an initial position from which to choose the next step.

Your current position on the maturity scale.
The principal blocker to address.
The first sensible project to test.
A one-page follow-up after the call.

Book the Junyr audit

Sources and data scope

[1] YouGov, Mythbusting claims about Gen Z and their phone habits (2 March 2026). https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54114-mythbusting-claims-about-gen-z-and-their-phone-habits

[2] Gartner, Traditional Customer Service Channels Are Losing Ground to Mobile and AI Innovations (10 February 2025). https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-02-10-traditional-customer-service-channels-are-losing-ground-to-mobile-and-ai-innovations

[3] Arcep, Observatoire des marchés des communications électroniques en France, année 2024 (2025). https://www.arcep.fr/cartes-et-donnees/nos-publications-chiffrees/observatoire-des-marches-des-communications-electroniques-en-france/marche-communications-electroniques-france-2024-resultats-definitifs.html

[4] CREDOC / Arcep, Baromètre du numérique 2024 (2025). https://www.economie.gouv.fr/files/files/media-document/Barometre_numerique_2024.pdf

[5] UFC-Que Choisir, telephone marketing survey (October 2024). https://www.quechoisir.org/action-ufc-que-choisir-demarchage-telephonique-mettons-enfin-un-terme-au-harcelement-marketing-n132374/

[6] Arcep, Protection des consommateurs : enquête sur l’usurpation de numéro et le spam (29 January 2026). https://www.arcep.fr/actualites/actualites-et-communiques/detail/n/protection-des-consommateurs-290126.html

[7] Légifrance, French Consumer Code, Article L223-1, version in force since 11 August 2026. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000051830285/2026-08-11

[8] Légifrance, Law no. 2025-594 of 30 June 2025, Article 13. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/article_jo/JORFARTI000051824325

[9] Arcep, Observatoire des communications électroniques, fourth quarter 2025 (9 April 2026). https://www.arcep.fr/fileadmin/reprise/observatoire/4-2025/obs-marches-t4-2025_avril2026.pdf

[10] French Directorate-General for Enterprise / France Num, Baromètre France Num 2025. https://www.francenum.gouv.fr/guides-et-conseils/strategie-numerique/comprendre-le-numerique/barometre-france-num-2025-le

[11] Gartner, Self-Service and Live Chat Will Surpass Traditional Channels by 2027 (27 August 2025). https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-08-27-gartner-survey-finds-self-service-and-live-chat-will-surpass-traditional-channels-as-top-customer-service-technologies-by-2027

[12] CNIL, Le consentement est-il toujours obligatoire ? https://www.cnil.fr/fr/cnil-direct/question/reglement-europeen-le-consentement-est-il-obligatoire

[13] CNIL, L’écoute et l’enregistrement des appels sur le lieu de travail (page marked as being updated). https://www.cnil.fr/fr/lecoute-et-lenregistrement-des-appels-sur-le-lieu-de-travail

[14] Google Workspace, The future of AI-powered work for every business (15 January 2025). https://workspace.google.com/blog/product-announcements/empowering-businesses-with-AI

[15] European Commission, Commission accepts commitments offered by Microsoft to address competition concerns related to Teams (12 September 2025). https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2048

[16] ANSSI, Cloud: general approach and SecNumCloud qualification. https://cyber.gouv.fr/enjeux-technologiques/cloud/

Frequently asked questions

Will the telephone disappear from business?: Voice retains several decisive uses, while an unannounced call is becoming a less reliable entry point for customer contact.

Keep voice for urgency, ambiguity and exchanges that benefit from being synchronous.
Precede important appointments with a message that gives the reason and lets the recipient choose the time.
Measure response and conversion by channel before redesigning the journey.
What changed for telephone canvassing on 11 August 2026?: The French Consumer Code now prohibits telephone marketing to a consumer without prior consent, subject to the exceptions set out in the legislation.

The business must be able to prove consent that is freely given, specific, informed, unambiguous and revocable.
A call connected with the performance of an existing contract may fall within the exception defined by Article L223-1.
The provision concerns consumers and telephone calls; other recipients and channels require their own analysis.
Why combine messaging and video?: The two channels cover different moments in one journey and avoid imposing a synchronous conversation on every interaction.

Messaging gathers context, answers short questions and keeps a follow-up record.
Video supports discovery, demonstrations, negotiation and complex decisions.
A voice-only call remains available when it is quicker or more accessible.
Can an AI appointment assistant comply with the GDPR?: Compliance depends on the specific processing, its lawful basis and its safeguards; consent is not the GDPR's only lawful basis.

Define the purpose, necessary data, lawful basis and retention period.
Inform people and organise their rights, access controls, processors and security.
Require human review for sensitive decisions or messages and provide a manual fallback when errors occur.
Should an organisation leave Teams or Google Meet?: The decision depends on the data, applicable jurisdictions, supplier dependency and total cost rather than the national origin of a brand in isolation.

Map the data, processors and transfers actually used.
Check exports, formats, interoperability and the exit process.
Require an appropriate qualification when sensitivity or sector policy warrants it.

Paul-Antoine Tual

AI Transformation Leader · Junyr Method™ · Transition manager specialising in AI for French SMEs and mid-caps. Engineer from the École des Mines de Nantes, lawyer, developer since 1993.

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