The Stadtwerke Velbert are a central regional provider for energy, water and fiber‑optic internet. Together with the LoyJoy platform, the company introduced the digital assistant “Veli” to handle customer inquiries faster and more efficiently.
Goals: Making digital customer service scalable and accessible
As a regional infrastructure provider, Stadtwerke Velbert serves a large number of citizens and businesses. This results in high volumes of inquiries about energy supply, meter readings, tariffs, or fiber connections. Customers increasingly expect immediate answers directly on the website, independent of service hours.
At the same time, service processes must remain efficient. Traditional channels such as phone or email quickly lead to waiting times and overloaded teams when request volumes rise. The goal was therefore to implement customer service automation that resolves common inquiries instantly while integrating smoothly into existing processes.
The company needed an AI assistant that could:
- answer questions about all services reliably
- guide customers directly to relevant online services
- enable digital appointment booking
- prepare complex inquiries for service teams
The solution was implemented as a chatbot powered by Agentic AI, acting as the central entry point for customer service on the website.
Results: Structured assistance in chat, now on the phone as well
With the digital assistant “Veli”, Stadtwerke Velbert created a central interface for customer service. The AI agent accesses a comprehensive knowledge base and answers questions about energy, water, fiber services and public facilities directly within the chat.
A key element is the connection to the existing digital services. The chatbot guides users via deep links straight into the relevant process, such as submitting meter readings in the customer portal or the matching information page.
In addition, the AI assistant supports operational service workflows:
- appointment booking for personal consultations via Microsoft Bookings integration
- structured callback requests including topic and contact details
- guided navigation to relevant self‑service areas
A second channel: Veli now takes calls
A large share of customers still picks up the phone. Veli was therefore extended with a phone agent, on the same knowledge base and without starting a second project. Chat remains in place; the phone was added as a channel.
A one-day workshop was followed by go-live three weeks later. On the phone, Veli handles more than 20 inquiry types, in several languages and around the clock. The technology works speech‑to‑speech: conversations can be interrupted and run at a natural pace instead of working through menu options.
The effect was measurable straight away: at launch, Veli resolved 55 percent of calls on its own. Within four weeks, targeted optimisation raised that figure to over 70 percent.
The AI agent handles routine inquiries immediately, while more complex cases go to employees fully prepared. That gives AI and the service team a clear division of work.
For Stadtwerke Velbert, this means better structured requests, reduced workload for employees and customer service that remains accessible around the clock on both channels.
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