66% of qualified calls resolved automatically: How GESOBAU AG is future-proofing tenant phone service with AI agents

GESOBAU AG, Berlin's state-owned housing association, aims to keep affordable housing available and neighborhoods thriving in one of Europe's fastest-growing cities. The company manages a portfolio of roughly 48,800 apartments, and the portfolio keeps growing via new construction and acquisitions.

Challenge

As GESOBAU AG's housing stock grows, so does its call volume. More than 18,000 tenants call the company every year asking questions about repairs, permit applications, and rent payments.

To keep pace with the volume and meet tenants’ expectations for fast responses and round-the-clock accessibility, GESOBAU AG knew it needed to redesign and future-proof its telephone-based customer communication. The company set out to find an innovative AI solution that could improve its accessibility while reducing its human team’s workload.

Seven clear goals charted GESOBAU AG’s path: 

• Improve telephone accessibility

• Deliver a positive customer experience over the phone

• Accelerate routine inquiry processing 

• Build a robust database for analyzing customer inquiries

• Improve the quality of recorded information

• Reduce routine manual tasks

• Allow GESOBAU AG's human team more time to focus on complex tenant concerns

"Our mission: We want to use AI to lay the foundation for smart, hybrid customer communication that combines digital efficiency with personalized support and grows alongside us."

Lars Holborn, Executive Board Member for Service and Investment, GESOBAU AG

Solution

GESOBAU AG implemented Parloa’s AI agents to handle incoming calls 24/7 as its previous solution did, but without any wait times. 

During each call, the AI agents identify the issue, classify it, and automatically resolve it when possible. They can recognize emergency situations immediately and forward them to GESOBAU AG's emergency management team with the full context of the conversation intact. For a repair request, they record the request and forward it directly to building managers or service providers. They can create tickets for permission requests, such as pet ownership, and send them to the correct customer service team, as well as point tenants to application forms and other information in the InfoCenter. 

With Parloa’s voice AI agents, inquiries reach the right person on the first try, tenants receive help faster, and GESOBAU AG's team carries less administrative work.

Why Parloa?

GESOBAU AG chose Parloa's platform for several reasons. The first being that the AI agents can understand tenant inquiries in natural language, classify them automatically, and route them directly into existing service processes.

The second was seamless integration. Parloa's agent management platform (AMP) connects with GESOBAU AG's existing systems, so the company was able to go live quickly and see results fast. 

Finally, because Parloa’s platform is designed to be ever-evolving, GESOBAU AG was attracted to the ability to easily adapt its customer service to new requirements and future growth as they come.

Completing a complex integration

Parloa and implementation partner infinit.cx approached GESOBAU AG's implementation of AI agents by analyzing existing service processes, defining the right use cases, and rolling out the AI solution in stages.

First, the teams connected Microsoft Teams telephony, backend applications, and SAP systems through APIs, so the voice AI agents can retrieve information in real time, trigger processes automatically, and update records across connected systems. Infinit.cx worked with GESOBAU AG to design the dialogs and routing logic, build fallback scenarios, and support the ongoing optimization of the solution.

Datatrain led the SAP integration. Using the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), Datatrain built the central APIs that connect Parloa's platform to GESOBAU AG's SAP system, so tenant requests transfer to SAP processes securely, reliably, and without disruption. Automated routines delete personal log data on schedule, keeping the solution compliant with data protection requirements.

"With Parloa, infinit.cx, and Datatrain, we had partners by our side who understood our goals and actively supported them. Thanks to the high level of technical expertise of everyone involved and the constructive collaboration, we were able to implement the solution quickly and achieve tangible service improvements for our tenants in no time."

Irina Herz, Head of Property Management, GESOBAU AG

Results

GESOBAU AG now has a robust database of customer inquiries received by phone that provides insight into inquiry volume, enabling them to refine service processes and allocate resources where necessary.

The results:

• 354 distinct issues identified and classified since launch

• 66% of qualified calls resolved

• 82% of callers identified by phone number or name and address

What's next

GESOBAU AG continues to develop its AI-powered service in partnership with Parloa and infinit.cx. Soon, the company plans to give the AI agents more independence, enabling them to respond to more complex, personalized tenant requests and complete more tasks on their own, such as sending requested documents to the tenant directly.

The balanced approach of expanding automation without losing the human touch is how GESOBAU AG earns tenant trust today. As it sets a new standard for digital tenant communication across the real estate industry, this ever-evolving approach will also be how the company continues to deepen tenant relationships in the future.