Scaling Customer Support with Conversational AI

About our client

This client has been providing roadside assistance to drivers in North America for over 120 years. As a privately held not-for-profit, they serve over 60 million members.

Challenge

Providing roadside assistance means being available whenever members need help, regardless of weather conditions, traffic events, or seasonal spikes in demand. As call volumes continued to grow, the organization's contact centers experienced increasing pressure to deliver immediate assistance while maintaining the high level of service members expected.

Long hold times became especially problematic during severe weather events, when thousands of members required assistance simultaneously. Customer service representatives were overwhelmed, yet expanding staffing levels to handle occasional spikes was neither practical nor cost-effective. The organization needed a solution that could intelligently scale on demand without sacrificing the quality of the member experience.

Beyond reducing wait times, leadership wanted to create a more intuitive service experience that could quickly identify a member's needs, accurately capture critical information, and provide real-time updates throughout the roadside assistance process.

Solution

Technology Partners partnered with the organization to implement an AI-powered virtual agent solution designed to automate the roadside assistance journey while maintaining a personalized experience. The solution identified callers through automatic number recognition, determined the nature of each service request, and guided members through an intelligent conversation tailored to their specific situation.

When location information was needed, the virtual agent automatically delivered an SMS link allowing members to securely share precise GPS coordinates. The system also generated automated voice or text updates, keeping members informed with estimated arrival times and service status throughout the interaction.

Because the platform was built to scale dynamically, it could accommodate sudden increases in demand during storms and other emergency situations without requiring additional live agents. This allowed customer service representatives to focus on more complex situations while routine roadside assistance requests were handled through self-service automation.

Results

The implementation fundamentally changed how the organization delivers roadside assistance. By automating routine service interactions, the organization successfully deflected more than 30 million calls from live agents while significantly reducing operational costs. Average cost per interaction dropped by 66%, creating measurable savings while improving overall efficiency.

Members also benefited from a faster, more convenient experience. Hold times decreased, even during severe weather events, and customers received immediate assistance regardless of call volume. The organization maintained an impressive 4.5 out of 5 customer satisfaction score, demonstrating that automation enhanced—not diminished—the member experience.

Perhaps most importantly, the organization established a scalable customer support model capable of growing alongside its membership. Rather than adding significant staffing during periods of high demand, leadership now has an intelligent platform that automatically adapts to changing service volumes while delivering consistent, high-quality support.

Key Outcomes

• Automated more than 30 million member interactions.
• Reduced customer service costs by 66%.
• Achieved a 4.5/5 customer satisfaction rating.
• Reduced hold times during peak demand and severe weather events.
• Created a scalable AI-powered support model that adapts to fluctuating call volumes.