How VSD fully automated two out of three contact lines with conversational AI

Východoslovenská distribučná, a.s. (VSD, a.s.), member of the VSE Holding Group, is an energy company focused on electricity distribution to end customers.

The company owns 22,900 kilometers of distribution system in Eastern Slovakia, distributing electricity into more than 660,000 distribution points.

How VSD fully automated two out of three contact lines with AI

Východoslovenská distribučná, a.s. (VSD, a.s.), member of the VSE Holding Group, is an energy company focused on the electricity distribution to the end customer.

The company owns 22,900 kilometers of distribution system in Eastern Slovakia, distributing electricity into more than 660,000 distribution points.

USE CASE

Virtual agent (voice and chat)
Prevention of overloads
Automation of ticket reporting for back office

NUMBERS

276,000+ voice bot interactions on deployed lines
195,000+ interactions on the defect line
70% of interactions are about outage reporting

BENEFITS

Available 24/7
Lower waiting times
Prevention of overloads

Challenge

Having such a great number of customers relying on their distribution, it is absolutely crucial to assist them as quickly as possible. Especially in times of crisis and mass outages, hundreds of customers are calling VSD at the same time – seeking immediate answers.

Therefore, VSD started looking for automated solutions that would resolve the most routine interactions without the intervention of human agent. To deliver the best service possible, they required automation for both chat and voice channels which would lower waiting times and enable agents to focus on complex requests. “We were aiming to deploy full automation on two out of three contact lines,” Zuzana Jurášová, Head of Customer Services, explains.

Also, many duplicities have been occurring regarding the outage reporting – which created an unnecessary burden for operators and resulted in duplicities within their system.

Solution

First, the VSD decided to implement the Born Digital chat agent named “Electra”. Currently, it handles the customers’ navigation with standard requirements and navigates them through VSD websites. It answers all about how and where the applicants can submit different types of applications and guides them through the whole process. For instance, the Digital Agent provides the customer with an answer in case they cannot find the status of his/her application.

“Elektra (the digital agent) proved to be a huge relief for operators as it handles more than a half of their routine calls on the defect line.“

Zuzana Jurášová, Head of Customer Services, VSD

In most cases, the Digital Chat Agent assists customers with reporting outages, current information on their distribution points or with the basic queries about the pricing lists. The development of topics is continuous and the areas that Electra is currently dealing with will further increase.

The next step was to extend Elektra’s assistance to the voice channel (for customer + supplier + defect line). The truth is that 70 % of calls made to the defect line are about reporting new outages and those interactions can easily be automated.

Impact

300K+

voice bot and chatbot interactions across all deployed lines

98%

understanding of customer request

BENEFITS

24/7 Virtual Agents and increase in resolution rates

Thanks to Born Digital’s virtual agents, Elektra can now register new outages, provide customers with updated information, and offer them a way to report the outages without the assistance of human agents. Such an approach significantly reduces waiting times and frees up operators who can focus on more complex issues and deliver individual and high-quality customer support.

“As of today, we have managed to fully automate both the customers and supply line. The implementation has helped us to significantly lower the operational costs, relieved our operators and allowed us to provide customers with immediate answers,” Jurášová concludes.

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Over 650K customers assisted by AI virtual agent in just six months at electricity distributor CEZ

CEZ Distribuce is the largest electricity distributor in the Czech Republic and a subsidiary of CEZ, a. s., who understands the importance of providing high-quality, round-the-clock customer service for their nearly 4 million consumption points.

To enhance their customer self-service capabilities, particularly concerning the registration of unsealed electric meters and meter self-reading, CEZ Distribuce sought the expertise of both CGI and Born Digital.

Over 650K customers assisted by virtual agent in just six months at electricity distributor CEZ

USE CASE

Virtual agent (voice and chat)
Smart routing
Digital email processing

NUMBERS

1M+ voice bot and chatbot interactions
>50% success rate of the voice bot assistance with unsealing
22% of emails successfully classified

BENEFITS

Available 24/7
Lower waiting times
Prevention of overloads

The Challenge

Recognizing the need to optimize their contact center operations, CEZ Distribuce aimed to leverage artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and enable operators to focus on more complex tasks. Working closely with CGI and Born Digital, they meticulously identified areas suitable for cost optimization and automation, focusing on popular customer topics.

“The client identified the most popular topics and reasons for phone interactions with end customers. Together we prescribed processes to those use cases, built up infrastructure on the new platform and integrated solutions with other clients’ IT systems.,” Daniel Zelenka, Senior ‘Consultant, CGI.

The technical nature of these use cases and the industry’s zero-error tolerance presented a significant challenge for all teams involved.

“Recently, EMA (the virtual agent) mastered the task of handling electric meters self-readings, further expanding its capabilities. This accomplishment proves to be immensely valuable, especially considering continuous digitalization of simple processes and current situation on the market when customers‘ needs are having the energy consumption under control.“

Lucie Masopustová,
Member of the Board of Directors, Customer Service Director, CEZ Distribuce

The Solution

CEZ Distribuce successfully deployed EMA, their digital agent, initially on voice channels. EMA tirelessly assists customers calling the helpline, providing guidance and support 24/7. Within the first six months of operation, EMA assisted over 650,000 customers, by for example, informing them about planned outages or resolving over 50% of queries regarding electricity meters unsealing.

EMA assists mostly in resolving simple requests, while more complex ones are transferred to the capable human colleagues at the contact center.

Additionally, the website’s chatbot assistant has started working alongside EMA, effectively assisting customers and performing the same tasks as EMA but on a chat platform.

For most topics, the caller needs to provide at least one specific detail – the meter number or the EAN (an 18-digit number found in the contract or invoice).

The Impact

1M+

voice bot and chatbot interactions in 6 months

50%

success rate of the voice bot assistance with unsealing

22%

emails automatically classified

EMA also informs households about planned power outages or low tariff activation times, enabling cost-effective scheduling of energy-intensive tasks like laundry.

“When households want to find out-when the low tariff is active, EMA provides them with the necessary information, enabling households, for example, to start their washing machines at the most cost-effective time” Klára Sokolová, Service Quality Manager at CEZ Distribuce, adds.

Digital e-mail processing

“Currently, we are testing the categorization of incoming emails, along with a new interactive form on the website that will direct specific types of requests to the responsible person without involving the contact center operators. We expect this to speed up the processing of our customers’ requests,” Sokolová further explains.

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Dôvera Health Insurance company introduces conversational AI for its 1.7M insured customers

Dôvera Health Insurance Company offers its services and fulfils the healthcare needs of 1.7 million insured individuals.

Recognizing the need for transformation, Dôvera partnered with Born Digital to optimize their operations and enhance customer experience by introducing innovative AI Virtual Agents.

Dôvera Health Insurance company introduces AI for its 1.7M insured customers

Dôvera Health Insurance Company offers its services and fulfils the healthcare needs of 1.7 million insured individuals.

Recognizing the need for transformation, Dôvera partnered with Born Digital to optimize their operations and enhance customer experience by introducing innovative AI Virtual Agents.

USE CASE

Digital agent (voice)
Customer authentication
Automation of active operations

NUMBERS

2,400+ operator calls saved monthly
64 % of policyholders automatically authenticated
140+ insurance cards issued monthly by the digital agent

BENEFITS

Shorter waiting times
Increased agent efficiency
Cost optimization

The Challenge

The initial steps for a policyholder seeking help include a thorough two-step authentication process guided by a Dôvera contact center agent. Considering the sensitive nature of the information held by insurance companies, such a process is necessary.

As a result, waiting times increased and operators were burdened with repetitive and mundane tasks. Recognizing the need for transformation, Dôvera partnered with Born Digital to optimize their operations by introducing an innovative AI solution. Together, we embarked on a journey to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and improve the overall customer experience.

We implemented the Digital Agent, a powerful solution that seamlessly handles policyholder authentication. It saves valuable time for our operators and enables them to quickly access all necessary customer information.

Martin Červenák,
Contact Center Manager, Dôvera

The Solution

First, Dôvera implemented the Digital Agent, a solution capable of fully handling the authentication of policyholders. It efficiently verifies individuals using their personal identification numbers or insurance numbers, as well as determining the insurance payer or doctor.

This implementation resulted in significant time savings for operators. After the Digital Agent successfully authenticates a policyholder on their own, they generate a customer card with all necessary information for the operators. This allows operators to seamlessly take over the customer interaction.

Secondly, Dôvera and Born Digital fully automated the process of ordering and delivering new insurance policy cards. The Digital Agent verifies the policyholder’s identity and inquires about the desired address for card delivery.

Impact

2,400+

operator calls saved monthly

64%

authentication of policyholders

Hundreds

of insurance cards issued monthly

In addition to the first two applications, the Digital Agent can also email a certificate of card issuance to a policyholder. This digital certificate can prove beneficial in situations when the policyholder is travelling and requires such documentation before the physical card arrives. This implementation provides added convenience and flexibility to policyholders, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience.

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AXA offers its customers omnichannel self-service with AI virtual agents

The global pandemic drove AXA, a multinational insurance company to speed up the process of digital transformation and the company is now moving towards a fully functional e-travel.

Today, AXA offers self-service support across multiple channels with virtual agents and uses the latest Born Digital technologies for data analysis as well as email processing automation.

AXA, a multinational insurance company, offers its customers omni-channel self-service with the help of Born Digital

The global pandemic drove AXA, a multinational insurance company to speed up the process of digital transformation and the company is now moving towards a fully functional e-travel.

Today, AXA offers self-service support across multiple channels with virtual agents and uses the latest Born Digital technologies for data analysis as well as email processing automation.

USE CASE

Digital agent for voice and chat
Automation of email processing
Fraud detection

NUMBERS

200+ years‘ experience
93 million clients
Present on European and other global markets (51 countries)

BENEFITS

24/7 availability
Omnichannel solution
Cost optimization

The Challenge

During the pandemic, AXA faced an unprecedented contact center overload due to the confusing travel restrictions. Therefore, in the first stage of the project, the goal was to implement a voice assistant and automate recurring customer interactions related to travel insurance.

Born Digital’s voice assistant proved to be a great success and AXA decided to expand the self-service channels (adding chat channel) as well as a portfolio of topics handled by the digital agent.

Thanks to the omni-channel approach and solutions offered by Born Digital, AXA eventually added the classification and automation of customer e-mails – thus, completing a full set of digital channels.

“Our customers often reach out to us in very difficult and stressful situations. Situations, that often require our immediate response and assistance. It is therefore essential to ensure they have an around the clock, high-quality customer support. Something that Born Digital perfectly provides.“

Lukáš Klozík, Travel Assistance Manager, AXA

The Solution - Virtual Agents

“The Voice Assistant proved to be a life saver during the pandemic. Back then, AXA faced a 250% onslaught of customer interactions,” Lukáš Klozík, Travel Assistance Manager from AXA explains. The implemented voice assistant helped out mostly with routine calls and provided customers with fundamental information – relieving overburdened operators from recurring queries.

The voice assistant further continues to be a great help during peak periods. In case all operators are busy, it collects important information and refers customers to web forms and self-service options. Apart from the travel insurance assistance, it also handles the process of claim liquidation and first authentication of loss (FNOL), health assistance and damage reporting.

“On average, it saves our operators 3 minutes on each 15 minutes long call – which is saving us not only time but also a great amount of operational costs,” Lukáš Klozík from AXA adds.

Impact

100K+

voice bot interactions

20%

fully automated interactions

87%

conversations handled by the chatbot

Automating Email Processing

Additionally, as AXA receives most of the evidentiary documents and information via email, the automation of email processing came naturally as a next step of digital transformation.

The Born Digital email classifier immediately sorts the incoming customer emails by category (e.g. medical reports), forwards them to the responsible agent and highlights essential information. Contact center employees therefore don’t have to read the entire email and instantly know how to handle it.

On top of that, AXA also implemented the Born Digital fraud detection technology. Artificial intelligence immediately evaluates whether the document sent in the attachment has not been falsified. “In this way, we are avoiding double reimbursements of insurance claims,” Lukáš Klozík, AXA.”

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Gopass is handling unexpected peaks in customer service thanks to conversational AI

GOPASS is part of the Tatry Mountain Resorts Group, which is the largest operator of mountain resorts and tourist services in the CEE region.

GOPASS accompanies customers from the first visit or purchase throughout all sales points and services – thus creating plentiful opportunities for continuous improvement of customer experience.

GoPass's Virtual Agent Boosts Customer & Agent Satisfaction alike

GOPASS is part of the Tatry Mountain Resorts Group, which is the largest operator of mountain resorts and tourist services in the CEE region.

GOPASS accompanies customers from the first visit or purchase throughout all sales points and services – thus creating plentiful opportunities for continuous improvement of customer experience.

USE CASE

Customer Insight Analytics
Prevention of overloads
Collecting & analyzing Customer Feedback

NUMBERS

100 000+ mobile app users
Available in 5 countries & languages
Millions of interactions yearly

BENEFITS

Predictive Analytics
Lower waiting times
Prevention of overloads

Challenge

Millions of customers are using GOPASS yearly and the peak periods are extremely seasonal, especially during winter months. In peak season, GOPASS receives hundreds or even thousands of customer requests within 2-3 hours. Those requests often have an urgent status and need to be resolved immediately.

“This volume of requests is impossible to handle with the usual number of employees covering the shift. On top of that, the long waiting times during peak periods had a negative effect on customer experience,” Head of Customer Services & Relations at GOPASS, Martina Sýkorová, explains.

Therefore, GOPASS started looking for solutions that would help them predict these peak periods. Having that knowledge, they could adjust the shift-scheduling accordingly and at the same time automate the interactions which do not require an operator’s intervention.

“Thanks to the predictive analytics of Born Digital platform, we are now able to predict, and therefore cover the unexpected peaks. By doing so, we are preventing our customer service from the overload.“

Matěj Lackovič, Managing Director GOPASS adds

Solution

To cover unexpected peaks, the Born Digital solution includes both the Customer Insight Analytics as well as the Virtual Agent for voice channels. Thanks to the analytics, GOPASS can analyze in real-time what the reasons for customer interactions are and identify opportunities for process improvement.

GOPASS can work with a complete set of data, including technical (duration, time in queue) and call classification data with collected customer feedback. All of that in a clear interface and uncluttered dashboard showing summary data as well as enabling drill down to individual recordings.

Impact

3500+

interactions analyzed monthly

2000+

voice bot interactions monthly

Hundreds

of customer feedback collected monthly

The Virtual Agent also handles routine requests, freeing up the operators for more important interactions. For example, if the cabins are not running because of extreme weather conditions, the voice assistant informs customers with a Fresh Track Ticket for that day (via an outbound campaign). On top of that, it gives them all the necessary information on a refund for their ski pass or the possibility of rescheduling the ticket for another day.

If customers need to resolve more complex issues, they are immediately redirected to a responsible operator. However, at the end of the call, customers are again connected with a voice assistant who collects feedback on the problem’s resolution. “The collected feedback is automatically added to the analytics of that particular recording. Which is extremely helpful,” Lackovič concludes.

“We can now make data-driven decisions and improve our services much faster. And most importantly, in alignment with real customers’ needs,” Matěj Lackovič, Managing Director at GOPASS adds.

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Česká Spořitelna (Erste Group) among the first ones to implement Custom Neural Voice

Česká spořitelna (ERSTE Group) has 4.5 million clients in the Czech Republic – which makes it a bank with the highest number of customers on the Czech market.

To ensure best customer experience possible, Česká spořitelna (ČS) is keeping the pace with the latest innovations. And the company is now setting trends in digital customer experience for the whole CEE region.

Česká Spořitelna (Erste Group) among the first ones to implement Custom Neural Voice

Česká spořitelna (ERSTE Group) has 4.5 million clients in the Czech Republic – which makes it a bank with the highest number of customers on the Czech market.

USE CASE

Digital Agent Available 24/7
Custom Neural Voice
Smart Routing

NUMBERS

Longest tradition on the CZ market
Member of Erste Group since 2000
4.5+ mil customers

BENEFITS

Available 24/7
Lower Waiting Times
Improves Customer Experience

The Challenge

ČS faces an enormous number of customer interactions daily and most of the calls are redirected straight to the main call center in Prostějov and Ostrava. However, ČS has multiple sub-departments, for example, for pension insurance, mortgages, etc. When a customer addressed ČS with a requirement to set up a pension insurance, it was the operator in the main call center who had to redirect the customer to the responsible person sitting in the particular department.

While looking for an automated solution, ČS decided to go even further and create live assistance that would be tailor-made for their customers. Having such a strong brand reputation on the market, it was absolutely crucial to keep their tone of voice even in the digital space. Virtual assistant with a Customer Neural Voice therefore seemed to be an appropriate solution.

“Our operators were losing too much time redirecting customers to our specialized customer service in other departments. We were looking for a solution that would free them from this routine work and enable them to focus on complex issues for which they are trained for,” says Pavlína Kacrová, Call Center Routing Lead.

“The strong brand reputation comes with the trust of our customers. We are pretty fast, yet careful with the innovations we implement. We even have our very own team of conversational specialists developing our virtual assistants. However, we were looking for partners who will help us with things we cannot do on our own and also someone experienced enough to guide us on our way of digital transformation. And Born Digital turned out to be an excellent option.“

Pavlína Kacrová, Call Center Routing Lead, Česká spořitelna

The Solution

The implemented virtual agent perfectly solves the issue – it picks up the phone of a calling customer (potential customer) and starts the conversation with an open question. Based on the customer’s reply, it immediately identifies the call category and sub-category, and redirects the customer to the responsible employee.

“It is now the digital agent who is redirecting customers to the responsible operators. Our employees in the main call center can therefore focus directly on the resolution of customer request and customers are reaching their help much faster,” Kacrová from Česká Spořitelna explains.

In addition, the operator gets the category, sub-category and transcript of the customer conversation with the digital agent and immediately knows what is the reason of the call. All that comes as a significant help for the improvement of customer resolution time.

Impact

90%

accuracy of defining call category

22 seconds

to reach the required help

BENEFITS

24/7 Virtual Agents and increase in resolution rates

Another special touch supporting the overall customer experience is, without a doubt, the implemented Customer Neural Voice powered by Microsoft. ČS kicked the door open, introducing this game-changing technology in our region. “The implementation of the Custom Neural Voice for our digital assistant was one of the most exciting parts of the project. Our customers now hear the voice of a well-known Czech actor on the other side of the line. And it makes the whole interaction somehow human,“ Kacrová concludes.

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Customers of ZSD can now report electricity outages through AI virtual agent

Západoslovenská distribučná (ZSD), member of the E.ON Group, is the biggest electricity distributer in Slovakia.

Following the latest trends and innovations in customer experience, ZSD partnered up with Born Digital and offered its customers a digital self-service channel for reporting the electricity outages.

Customers of ZSD report electricity outages through digital agent

Západoslovenská distribučná (ZSD), member of the E.ON Group, is the biggest electricity distributer in Slovakia. Following the latest trends and innovations in customer experience, ZSD partnered up with Born Digital and offered its customers a digital self-service channel for reporting electricity outages.

USE CASE

Inbound Digital Agent for chat channels
Available 24/7
Zero waiting times

NUMBERS

Thousands of customers served
Thousands of reports completed
Hundreds of duplicities avoided

BENEFITS

Lower costs
Faster customer service available 24/7
Prevents contact center overload

Challenge

With more than a million customers, ZSD faces an enormous number of customer interactions – especially in times of failures or planned power outages.

In such busy situations, human agents get overloaded with repetitive questions and customers are put on hold for long minutes without the possibility of finding answers to their critical situation elsewhere.

To meet customers’ needs and improve the overall customer experience, the ZSD decided to deploy a digital agent for chat channels that would be integrated to their own systems.

“We demanded a fully automated process of reporting a power outage from start to finish, including the authentication of customers, the exact identification of supply points and the recognition of duplicities,” Marcel Hanečák from ZSD.

“Our customers now have a digital self-service channel available to them 24/7 and with zero waiting times.“

Marcel Hanečák, Business Solutions Development Expert, Západoslovenská distribučná

Solution

The Born Digital chat agent is now one of the channels preventing the contact center from the overload, especially in times of mass power outages – times, when customers look for any possibility to report the situation.

Thanks to the integration, the digital agent (named Edo) can e.g. evaluate whether there is a planned power outage/mass power outage at the customer’s supply point and provides the customer with all information necessary. Human agents can therefore focus on complex issues while the digital agent deals with repetitive interactions.

Impact

6K+

customers served

1.6k

reports completed

hundreds

of duplicities avoided

Most importantly, the digital agent can complete the whole reporting process of new outages. Once a customer is authenticated and the report is completed successfully, both customers and the ZSD internal system are automatically notified.

The whole process is automatized and designed in a way to avoid any data duplicities – saving the ZSD team considerable amount of time.

“We are planning to further broaden the cooperation and start adding new topics and features to current chatbot. In the future, we might possibly add other communication channels as well.“ Hanečák says.

How VSD fully automated two out of three contact lines with conversational AI

How VSD fully automated two out of three contact lines​ with AI

Challenge

Solution

Impact

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Over 650K customers assisted by AI virtual agent in just six months at electricity distributor CEZ

Over 650K customers assisted by virtual agent in just six months at electricity distributor CEZ

The Challenge

The Solution

The Impact

Digital e-mail processing

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Dôvera Health Insurance company introduces conversational AI for its 1.7M insured customers

Dôvera Health Insurance company introduces AI for its 1.7M insured customers

The Challenge

The Solution

Impact

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AXA offers its customers omnichannel self-service with AI virtual agents

AXA, a multinational insurance company, offers its customers omni-channel self-service with the help of Born Digital

The Challenge

The Solution - Virtual Agents

Impact

Automating Email Processing

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Gopass is handling unexpected peaks in customer service thanks to conversational AI

GoPass's Virtual Agent Boosts Customer & Agent Satisfaction alike

Challenge

Solution

Impact

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Česká Spořitelna (Erste Group) among the first ones to implement Custom Neural Voice

Česká Spořitelna (Erste Group) among the first ones to implement Custom Neural Voice

The Challenge

The Solution

Impact

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Customers of ZSD can now report electricity outages through AI virtual agent

Customers of ZSD report electricity outages through digital agent

Challenge

Solution

Impact

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How VSD fully automated two out of three contact lines with AI