Call centers are the heartbeat of paratransit and demand-response service. They're also where pressure shows up first. When demand spikes, hold times climb, agents spend their shifts answering the same three questions, and a small backlog turns into a big one fast. The usual response is to add headcount, but new tools are letting agents do more - better and faster than ever.
Here's what we found.
Most inbound calls are highly predictable questions: When is my pickup? Did my trip get booked? When humans have to spend time answering these calls it drives up the average time to first response for everyone.
By letting a Voice AI agent handle these simple calls, riders can get their questions answered faster than ever - across the call centers we surveyed, we saw a drop in average time to first response from nearly a minute to within seconds.
After introducing a Voice AI agent, towns like Wake Forest, NC and Sugar Land, Texas saw the number of rider calls to a live agent fall by 50%.
When you take calls off the queue you change the nature of the calls that remain. The riders left on the line are the ones who genuinely need a person for a complicated service question, an unusual trip, or a situation that can’t be solved quickly. Because human agents aren't rushed by a backlog of calls, they can deliver better service.
AI has completely changed the quality assurance game. Instead of sampling a handful of calls a month, supervisors get automated reads on accuracy, tone, satisfaction, and service expectations for every single interaction. This feedback allows issues to surface quickly allowing for immediate, targeted coaching for each and every agent and making sure no incidents or escalations slip through the cracks.