How IHH Talkbots Reduced Operational Stress During Peak Hours by 65%

IHH Healthcare boasts one of the largest hospital networks in Asia. In Singapore, its customer care hotline services patients and guests of hospitals such as Mount Elizabeth and Gleneagles Hospitals and ensures that all concerns are taken care of urgently and with care. However, for hospitals with a large network, this becomes an operational challenge, specifically during peak hours. For Mount Elizabeth and Gleneagles Hospitals, the volume of calls is heavily saturated during peak hours, resulting in agents feeling overwhelmed and customers not being well tended to.

Inefficiencies during peak hours

Agents are tasked to handle both outbound and inbound calls, with a target of 12 contacts per hour per agent. Typically, the agents are tasked to remind patients of their appointments as well as address incoming inquiries. However, from 10 am to 11 am, the agents are challenged with an influx of call inquiries. In fact, 15% of the calls for their 24-hour service are saturated in just 1 hour. Of that, the majority of calls are inquiries, which results in longer wait times and call inefficiencies.

Implementing a Talkbot solution

The hospitals partnered with WIZ.AI to introduce Talkbot solutions in their operations. Talkbots tended to both inbound and outbound calls, significantly reducing the inflow and outflow of calls handled by human agents. For customers that require special attention, Talkbots will then course through the call to human agents on standby.
As a result, the call load during peak hours was reduced from 15% to 5%, making this shift timing more manageable. At the same time, the total calls that human agents need to attend to was reduced to 65%.

Expanding IHH and WIZ.AI's partnership

Since the launch of the project in 2022, IHH and WIZ.AI’s partnership has deepened. IHH Talkbots now handles calls from more hospitals and accommodates varied types of customer inquiries, from answering the status of test results to informing about maternity packages. Talkbots have also been integrated into online booking and booking via SMS, enabling a more seamless experience for healthcare patients and guests. 

About IHH Healthcare

With a network of over 80 hospitals in 10 countries, IHH Healthcare is one of the world’s largest healthcare networks. Its presence encompasses Singapore, Turkiye, India, China, Hong Kong, Brunei, Bulgaria, Macedonia, The Netherlands, and Serbia.