Deep Impact is taking another step towards ‘AI First’: we have been successfully using our AI-based telephone assistant for three weeks now. While it already offers many advantages – from 24/7 availability to automated call summaries in Slack – we are learning more every day, especially when it comes to error-free recognition of customer names. This article shows why we decided to use an AI telephone assistant, what challenges still exist and how a business case for Switzerland can be calculated in a 24/7 call centre with five agents.
The future of customer service is evolving rapidly, particularly through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As an ‘AI First’ company, Deep Impact AG has set itself the goal of testing new solutions at an early stage and driving their implementation. With the introduction of our own AI telephone assistant, we are taking a decisive step towards digitised and automated customer interaction.
Why an AI telephone assistant?
- Available around the clock: Companies that want to offer customer support outside normal business hours often face the challenge of maintaining shift operations with high personnel costs. An AI solution is available 24/7, ensuring consistent availability for customers.
- Scalability: When unexpected peaks in call volume occur, AI can provide additional virtual lines much faster than human agents could. This avoids waiting times and improves customer satisfaction.
- Efficiency in data processing: Our AI telephone assistant can access the CRM system directly and automatically retrieve customer-specific data, such as contact information or previous orders. This shortens processes and means that customers no longer have to enter the same data multiple times.
- Seamless integration into existing tools: To ensure that the Deep Impact team can access the results of a phone call without any detours, we synchronise the call summaries directly in Slack. In addition, the most important action points are automatically generated there, which makes follow-ups much easier.
Current challenges
Although our AI telephone assistant performs well in many areas, we are continuously working on improvements:
Accurate naming: Recognising names or company names can sometimes still be a hurdle. To solve this, we have closely linked our CRM database so that the AI always uses the correct name whenever possible when working with existing customer data. We are currently reviewing how speech recognition and processing can be further optimised to ensure that even new customers are recorded as accurately as possible.
The business case: 24/7 call centre in Switzerland
To illustrate the value of an AI telephone assistant, it is worth taking a look at the cost accounting of a traditional call centre. Let’s take the following example:
A call centre in Switzerland operates a 24/7 service with five agents who take calls simultaneously.
- The personnel costs for one agent average CHF 6,000 per month (including salary and social security contributions). This amounts to around CHF 30,000 per month for the entire team of agents.
- However, shift work, holiday cover and possible overtime (e.g. night shift bonuses) result in even higher costs for continuous operation around the clock.
Let’s use the AI option instead: - AI licence costs: We pay CHF 1,500 per month for the AI per agent. With five agents, this adds up to CHF 7,500 per month. The AI not only handles calls, but also analyses and logs the content automatically.
Savings: Depending on the volume and complexity of the enquiries, AI can save massive amounts of human resources or allow them to be used more effectively. While AI covers routine tasks and simple requests, human agents can concentrate on more complex support issues.
24/7 operation: AI knows no shift surcharges or holidays. Once the technology is running smoothly, high personnel costs for night or weekend shifts can be reduced.
In a realistic scenario, the investment in AI could pay for itself within a short period of time. In our example, the monthly costs for AI amount to £7,500, whereas the personnel costs for a team of five full-time agents working in 24/7 shifts quickly rise to £30,000 or more.
What’s next?
At Deep Impact, we have already learned a lot about the practical application of our AI telephone assistant in the first three weeks. While the advantages – such as greater availability and automatic call summarisation – are already clear, we are constantly working to improve speech recognition and context, especially when it comes to name recognition.
Our commitment to AI technologies is part of our identity as an ‘AI First’ company: We don’t just want to benefit from the latest developments, we want to be pioneers and support our customers in creating real added value through AI solutions.
If you would like to find out more about our experiences with the AI telephone assistant or integrate similar services yourself, please contact us directly. Together, we are shaping the future of customer communication – efficiently, scalably and personally.
