Customer Service Automation · Enterprise Knowledge Search
The University of Auckland needed to handle surging and constantly changing student questions during the shift to virtual learning, but outdated search and support processes made it hard to deliver timely, accurate, and culturally sensitive answers at scale.
Reported impact
The university improved first-time resolution and self-service adoption while maintaining high satisfaction, giving students a single, current support channel and freeing staff from routine inquiries.
IBM and ElementX built the UoA Assistant as a tailored conversational support layer for the University of Auckland using IBM watsonx Assistant and IBM Watson Discovery. The project began with a scoping process that mapped the university’s highest-priority student questions and the staff workflows already handling those inquiries. Watsonx Assistant provides the natural-language interface and adaptive intent handling, while Watson Discovery improves retrieval from the university’s underlying information so students can find answers on a single platform instead of hunting through multiple search pages. The solution also lets university staff update content quickly as restrictions, guidance, or campus information change, which was critical during the pandemic. By combining self-service automation, better search, and integration with existing systems for personalized responses, the university created a scalable student-support channel that reduced assisted-service load without sacrificing satisfaction.
Students ask questions through the UoA Assistant, watsonx Assistant interprets the request, Watson Discovery retrieves the most relevant university information, and the system returns self-service answers or personalized responses drawn from integrated campus systems while staff update content as guidance changes.
“The UoA Assistant boasts over 90% coverage and containment rates.”
“The UoA Assistant, built on IBM watsonx Assistant and IBM Watson Discovery.”
“The surge in student queries, coupled with the dynamic nature of information due to evolving restrictions, strained the university’s ability to provide timely and accurate support.”
“This AI chatbot addressed high-volume, repetitive questions and seamlessly integrated with existing systems for personalized responses.”
“first-time resolution improved by 40%, and the ratio of self service over assisted service improved by 58%.”
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Traceability
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