Persol Business Process Design Launches New Contact Center Service Combining AI Voice Bot and Human Hybrid Operations to Optimize Man-Hours and Costs

Persol Business Process Design Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Kazuyuki Ichimura; hereinafter "Persol Business Process Design"), a member of the Persol Group with the vision "To work, to smile.", has begun offering a new contact center service that integrates a proprietary AI voice bot into its call center outsourcing services. This service incorporates AI voice bot for initial reception, FAQ responses, case classification, and routing into call center operations, enabling the automated resolution of routine inquiries and hybrid operations with human operators. Based on the conversation content with the AI voice bot, another AI evaluates and determines in real-time the optimal timing to switch to a human operator. Escalated operators can smoothly and immediately respond while reviewing the preceding conversation. This supports the reduction of operational man-hours, cost optimization, and the establishment of a stable customer response system, including outside of business hours. For more details on this service, please visit: https://www.persol-bd.co.jp/service/salesmarketing/s-smkt/servicemenu/ai-voicebot ■ Background In recent years, the contact center industry has been advancing the introduction of automated response systems and voice bots based on pre-set scenarios, driven by chronic labor shortages and recruitment difficulties. While these efforts have brought a certain degree of efficiency, unexpected questions or utterances outside the scenarios still require human handling, resulting in insufficient reduction of man-hours. Furthermore, the increasing volume of inquiries and longer handling times mean that operational loads have not been alleviated. Particularly during peak times and busy seasons, missed calls and increased wait times are more likely, impacting customer satisfaction. Additionally, establishing a manned system during nighttime or outside business hours is challenging in terms of labor costs, shift design, and training burdens, creating a gap with customer needs for 24/7 support. Moreover, the subsequent administrative work that occurs after handling inquiries is a factor that reduces productivity. ■ Service Overview In response to these challenges, Persol Business Process Design is offering a contact center service that integrates an AI voice bot into its call center outsourcing services. This service automates everything from initial response to routine tasks and post-processing, simultaneously achieving labor savings and improved service levels. ・Automation of Initial Response and Task Completion by AI Upon receiving a call, the AI voice bot uses natural language to understand the customer's needs, recognizing and categorizing the content. Routine tasks such as FAQ responses, various guidance, reception, reservations, and confirmation of application details can be completed solely by the AI, significantly reducing the man-hours previously required by operators. ・Hybrid Operation of AI and Human Operators Another AI evaluates the handling status of the AI voice bot in real-time. For inquiries requiring individual judgment or advanced handling, or those deemed difficult for the AI to resolve, the call is smoothly transferred to a human operator. This helps to reduce the multiple repetitions often seen with conventional voice bots, alleviating customer stress and dissatisfaction. By appropriately combining AI-driven automation and human handling, the service achieves both improved customer experience (CX) and operational efficiency. ・Reduction and Elimination of Post-Call Administrative Work When transferring to a human operator, the system automatically summarizes the call content and converts the response results into data, linking them to CRM and business systems. This essentially eliminates the need for subsequent administrative tasks such as data entry and confirmation, reducing operator burden and improving productivity. ・Stable Call Reception with 24-Hour Support Since the AI voice bot operates 24 hours a day, it can provide consistent quality responses even outside business hours and at night. It also prevents missed calls during peak seasons or sudden surges in inquiries, establishing a stable customer response system. ・Operation Design and Voice Bot Development Leveraging BPO Expertise Leveraging the contact center operation and BPO expertise cultivated by Persol Business Process Design, the company provides end-to-end support from business process organization and conversation flow design to PoC and full-scale operation. Furthermore, the voice bot is designed and developed based on this operational expertise, aiming for continuous improvement in response accuracy and automation completion rate. ・Security and Compliance The service ensures thorough personal information management, call recording/log management, and audit responses based on Persol Group standards, providing a secure and safe operational environment. *The scope of tasks, linked systems, operating hours, and languages can be flexibly designed according to the client's operational requirements. ■ Future Outlook In the future, the company plans to also offer support for the introduction and development of "AI voice bots" for companies operating call centers. ■ About Persol Business Process Design Co., Ltd. Persol Business Process Design Co., Ltd. provides BPO services that combine its three core strengths—process design capability, organizational and human resource management capability, and human resource development capability—with technologies such as AI, tailored to address client challenges. With the mission "To innovate all work and organizations, and create a society filled with better working environments," the company contributes to realizing the future goals of organizations and creating a society where working people can thrive. The Persol Group, with its group vision "To work, to smile," contributes to the realization of a sustainable society and the achievement of SDGs through diverse businesses related to people and organizations.