Case Study: essent

The Challenge

Operating in a dynamic energy market, Essent handles around 3 million voice calls and 900,000 chats annually. Customers increasingly expect quick, digital-first experiences, especially with the rise of energy transition needs, economic pressures, and government interventions. Internally, teams had to manage an evolving landscape of high inquiry volumes across digital and live channels, creating complexity in routing, response, and knowledge delivery.

A core challenge was efficiently managing a large and frequently updated knowledge base across multiple customer contact teams. One major friction point: customer service representatives often relied on a helpdesk of just seven senior staff to find the right information, causing up to 3-minute delays per interaction.

At the same time, Essent needed to ensure consistent quality and personalization across its growing digital touchpoints, including web, phone, chat, and app.

The Solution

Today, Essent has launched a comprehensive AI strategy designed to enhance both customer service support and empower customers with self-service options. This dual approach leverages advanced technologies to boost efficiency, improve customer experience, and streamline internal operations.

AI Voice Agent for Meter Readings: Automatically collects customer meter readings via phone, four times a year.

Intelligent Routing: Directs incoming customer requests to the most suitable team among 17 mission-based teams.

Automatic Summarization & Logging: Live chat conversations are instantly summarized and recorded in CRM systems.

By combining Agent Assist, Chat, and Voice AI, we’ve created a seamless, scalable support ecosystem. We’ve improved customer satisfaction, empowered our customer service team with real-time knowledge, and automated around 55% of live chat conversations. Saving millions of euros annually. It’s a true step forward in the way we deliver energy services.

Nina Kiemeneij

Product Owner Conversational AI

The Impact

The Agent Copilot tool has transformed internal service by automating 85% of previously helpdesk-handled queries, saving €2 million annually.

The Voice AI for meter reading collection engaged 22,000 customers during a single two-week window, achieving a 22% success rate and contributing to €240,000 in annual savings.

Chat summarization and CRM logging increased agent productivity from 4.2 to 4.7 chats per hour, allowing CSRs to focus on high-quality conversations and reducing administrative workload.

Intelligent routing enables efficient distribution of over 500,000 chats and 3 million calls per year across 17 dedicated teams, ensuring personalized support and faster resolutions.

Across the Conversational AI landscape, Essent has now fully automated 55% of its incoming chat conversations and, through the combined impact of chat, voice, and the Cognigy Agent Copilot, is achieving overall savings of millions of euros