Seasonal spikes, solved: how ECSI saved with always-on front desk automation
Seasonal spikes, solved: how ECSI saved with always-on front desk automation
Deploy AI voice agents for debt collection, telemarketing, and customer service - engineered for financial institutions that can't afford compliance failures.
CUSTOMER STORY
$1.5M
$1.5M
$1.5M
in annual savings
35,000 calls
35,000 calls
35,000 calls
automated per month
4.5/5
4.5/5
4.5/5
CSAT
"HubTalk AI Voice Agents deliver what’s sometimes difficult in debt resolution — consistent, informative, and empathetic client experience."
Zdenek Foukal
CCO, Home Credit Bank
Tax season was breaking the system
Even though it's bright and early, Julie’s already on hold. She’s a parent trying to help her son sort out a missing 1098-T tax form so he can finish his FAFSA. The line crackles. Still waiting. She sighs and checks the time again. It’s been twenty minutes, and she’s got back-to-back meetings all morning. She wonders if she should just give up and call again tomorrow. But tax deadlines don’t wait.
Scenes like this played out across ECSI’s contact centers every winter and summer. Agents jumped from tax form questions to refund issues to complex loan servicing calls, many of which came from frustrated parents trying to navigate the process on behalf of their kids.
For the ECSI team, this was more than a temporary spike. These volume surges hit hard with no end in sight. Hiring to meet seasonal demand had become nearly impossible, and their legacy IVR couldn’t keep up.
ECSI is a leading provider of accounts receivable management for campus-based student loans. In 2022 alone, they fielded nearly 1.4 million calls across three contact centers. The pressure on staff was relentless, and leadership knew something had to change.
"Automation has become integral to what we do. Our business is dramatically different today with Replicant," said Mike Bowman, former Senior Director of Operations at ECSI. "It’s really made a difference in our employees’ lives and the experience from the borrowers and parents who call us, as well as how we run our business."
AI at the front desk, built for the rush
Bowman led the search for a solution that could scale on demand, maintain a high-touch experience, and reduce the burden on his agents. After evaluating multiple vendors, ECSI chose Replicant’s AI agents to serve as their automated front desk. The AI agents authenticate callers, capture intents, and resolve or route calls across their three most seasonal products: tax form processing, refunds, and loan servicing.
Replicant’s AI agents were deployed to handle call spikes while surfacing insights that had never been visible before. The implementation was collaborative, transparent, and fast. ECSI’s team was involved in every step to make sure the solution reflected the realities of their business.
Immediate tax help without the hold music
Today, when someone like Julie calls with a question about a tax form, Replicant’s AI agents answer ECSI’s front desk 24/7 with no wait times. They greet every caller instantly, authenticate them, and handle routine requests or route them to the right place with a full summary in hand.
Even when a call is escalated, agents no longer have to repeat steps or dig for context. That means faster conversations, smoother resolutions, and less burnout. And because every interaction is logged and categorized, ECSI now uses insights from Replicant to improve their website, optimize self-service tools, and proactively address friction.
ECSI also surveyed customers to understand how this new experience felt. The results were clear, satisfaction was just as high whether callers spoke with a human agent or an AI agent.
Tax season was breaking the system
Even though it's bright and early, Julie’s already on hold. She’s a parent trying to help her son sort out a missing 1098-T tax form so he can finish his FAFSA. The line crackles. Still waiting. She sighs and checks the time again. It’s been twenty minutes, and she’s got back-to-back meetings all morning. She wonders if she should just give up and call again tomorrow. But tax deadlines don’t wait.
Scenes like this played out across ECSI’s contact centers every winter and summer. Agents jumped from tax form questions to refund issues to complex loan servicing calls, many of which came from frustrated parents trying to navigate the process on behalf of their kids.
For the ECSI team, this was more than a temporary spike. These volume surges hit hard with no end in sight. Hiring to meet seasonal demand had become nearly impossible, and their legacy IVR couldn’t keep up.
ECSI is a leading provider of accounts receivable management for campus-based student loans. In 2022 alone, they fielded nearly 1.4 million calls across three contact centers. The pressure on staff was relentless, and leadership knew something had to change.
"Automation has become integral to what we do. Our business is dramatically different today with Replicant," said Mike Bowman, former Senior Director of Operations at ECSI. "It’s really made a difference in our employees’ lives and the experience from the borrowers and parents who call us, as well as how we run our business."
AI at the front desk, built for the rush
Bowman led the search for a solution that could scale on demand, maintain a high-touch experience, and reduce the burden on his agents. After evaluating multiple vendors, ECSI chose Replicant’s AI agents to serve as their automated front desk. The AI agents authenticate callers, capture intents, and resolve or route calls across their three most seasonal products: tax form processing, refunds, and loan servicing.
Replicant’s AI agents were deployed to handle call spikes while surfacing insights that had never been visible before. The implementation was collaborative, transparent, and fast. ECSI’s team was involved in every step to make sure the solution reflected the realities of their business.
Immediate tax help without the hold music
Today, when someone like Julie calls with a question about a tax form, Replicant’s AI agents answer ECSI’s front desk 24/7 with no wait times. They greet every caller instantly, authenticate them, and handle routine requests or route them to the right place with a full summary in hand.
Even when a call is escalated, agents no longer have to repeat steps or dig for context. That means faster conversations, smoother resolutions, and less burnout. And because every interaction is logged and categorized, ECSI now uses insights from Replicant to improve their website, optimize self-service tools, and proactively address friction.
ECSI also surveyed customers to understand how this new experience felt. The results were clear, satisfaction was just as high whether callers spoke with a human agent or an AI agent.
"HubTalk AI Voice Agents deliver what’s sometimes difficult in debt resolution — consistent, informative, and empathetic client experience."
Zdenek Foukal
CCO, Home Credit Bank
START AUTOMATING YOUR OPERATIONS WITH HUBTALK TODAY
Deploy AI voice agents for debt collection, telemarketing, and customer service - engineered for financial institutions that can't afford compliance failures.
ISO/IEC 27001:2022
No: ISMS-1417/В
Deploy AI voice agents for debt collection, telemarketing, and customer service - engineered for financial institutions that can't afford compliance failures.
ISO/IEC 27001:2022
No: ISMS-1417/В
START AUTOMATING YOUR OPERATIONS WITH HUBTALK TODAY