Homair deploys an AI voice agent in one month to manage its call peaks during high season

During the peak booking season, the European camping leader launched an AI phone agent designed with Volubile. This deployment was exclusively reported by En-Contact magazine: over 45% of requests were handled end-to-end on the relevant queues, without degrading the customer experience.

Each year, the period from January to April accounts for the majority of Homair's bookings. The brand, which belongs to European Camping Group (ECG), the European leader in outdoor hospitality with 450 destinations in 13 countries and 45,000 accommodations, then sees its two French booking centers handle nearly 2,000 calls per day. In a sector where NPS is closely monitored, each unanswered call represents a direct risk to bookings and customer experience.

It is in this context that Homair deployed, in less than a month, an AI voice agent developed with Volubile. Amadou Balde, VP Data and Technology at ECG, shared a detailed account of this experience in an exclusive interview with En-Contact magazine, a benchmark for customer relations and contact centers since 2000.

The challenge: to handle call peaks without degrading service quality

Like many players in the tourism industry, Homair faces significant seasonality. Its in-house contact centers must manage massive call volumes, with booking peaks concentrated in the January-April period: prospect inquiries, stay modifications, practical questions from already booked customers.

Despite an overflow system entrusted to external providers, phone wait times remained a point of friction. The company was therefore looking for a solution capable of handling certain types of calls using a conversational agent.

“We initiated a global reflection on what AI could allow us to improve within the group, with a precise focus on its impact on customer experience,” explains Amadou Balde. “We are not trying to succeed at everything, but we are keen to test tools and processes on identified use cases. In this regard, better managing calls from our prospects and customers during the booking journey quickly seemed like a priority.”

The scope was precisely defined from the outset, directly within the IVR. Prospects who select option 1, the queue dedicated to booking, are systematically handled by a call advisor. Options 2 and 3, which correspond to customers who already have a booking and various other questions, are entrusted to the AI voice agent.

A rigorous competitive process, decided by an MVP in one week

To select its AI voice solution, Homair ran a thorough competitive process. After a pre-selection of seven vendors, including AlloBrain, Call Me Newton, Djinn (Sereneo), Maya, Poly.ai, and RingCentral, four of them were invited to produce an MVP in just one week.

It was this evaluation format, based on concrete results rather than promises, that made the difference.

“Volubile's proposed product proved, despite the tight deadline, to be significantly more powerful and effective than those of the competitors; this aspect was quite decisive,” highlights Amadou Balde.

Things moved quickly thereafter: “Finalization and implementation then took only three weeks after the contract was signed, thanks to the quality of their initial work and the involvement of their team. Alexandre, Sébastien, and Yoann, on the product side. They grasp things quickly and know their stuff!”

In total, less than a month passed between signing and going live. This timeframe is all the more remarkable given that the deployment took place at the end of January, right at the start of the high season.

The results: 45% of requests handled without human intervention

Far from waiting for an off-peak period to test the tool, Homair chose to deploy its AI phone assistant when it was most needed.

“We dared to deploy the tool, but it was essential, right at the start of the high season,” confirms Amadou Balde.

As early as February, the figures speak for themselves:

• 416 hours of conversations handled by the voice agent for the month;
• an average conversation duration of 1 min 20 sec;
• over 45% of requests efficiently processed on the relevant queues, a score expected to improve further.

Caller acceptance is another major takeaway from the deployment. Customers know they are interacting with an AI that answers the phone, and conversations remain fluid. If a caller still wishes to speak to an advisor, routing to the call center is automatically performed. This hybrid model, where the voicebot handles routine requests and a human remains accessible at all times, ensures a seamless experience.

A conviction: don't wait for ROI to move forward

The Homair case illustrates an approach still rare among market leaders: deploying quickly, for a specific use case, with a fast-growing French player.

"At ECG, we are convinced that technology will help improve the customer experience, and that we shouldn't wait to see or estimate ROI before moving forward with AI agents, whatever name we give them," summarizes Amadou Balde.

Asked by En-Contact to describe Volubile in three words, his answer came in one sentence: "Their product is efficient, natural, and the company and its sales and product teams are very responsive. We were pleasantly surprised."

What's next: other languages and other brands from the ECG group

Convinced by these initial results, the group intends to continue this automation project, which has been well-received by callers and by the sales teams it relieves daily. The use of the conversational phone agent will be gradually extended to other languages to cover the group's international clientele, as well as to other ECG brands such as Marvilla Parks, Tohapi, Eurocamp, or Al Fresco.

For Homair, conversational AI is no longer an experiment: it's an operational link in managing call peaks, serving booking and customer satisfaction. And for the tourism sector, where the promised experience plays out at every moment of truth in the customer journey, this express deployment shows that a well-defined AI voice agent can become a standard in customer relations in just a few weeks.

Interview with Amadou Balde originally published by En-Contact magazine, comments collected by Manuel Jacquinet. Read the full interview on the En-Contact website.