Vodafone Ireland's TOBi Virtual Assistant, Built With Celfocus, Handles 100,000 Interactions a Month

Vodafone Ireland wanted to transform its customer service by implementing a natural language model that could accurately identify customer intentions, respond quickly and keep conversations going without interruption, while adapting to users who were used to dealing with human agents, according to a case study by Celfocus, the technology consultancy that built the system with Vodafone. The result is TOBi, a virtual assistant divided into two fully automated AI agent systems that assist customers directly. It provides automated customer care, troubleshooting and e-Shop functions through natural language interaction on both voice and chat channels. The project followed a micro-modular strategy: frontend, AI, Java business logic, VoIP, gateway, speech-to-text and text-to-speech, and Tele Management Forum (TMF) modules were each delivered by different teams within the TOBi structure. Integration with the TMF digital experience layer supports knowledge sharing across digital channels, and the work contributed to the development of more than 10 TMF standards and the enhancement of more than 50 others. Celfocus reports that TOBi handles an average of 100,000 interactions per month with a 60% full resolution rate and 99.9% uptime, and that it has reduced agent handovers and direct calls to the call centre by 42,000 euros. It says the solution can be reused within Vodafone Ireland and across other Vodafone operating companies. The case study page carries no publication date; the figures are reported by the vendor.