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.