Answering questions
It answers questions about delivery times, terms, invoices or product use, based on your own knowledge base and customer file.
An AI agent for customer service: how to help customers faster without extra staff
An AI agent for customer service doesn't just answer questions, it resolves them. It reads an incoming email, looks up the order, changes the delivery date and sends the customer a confirmation. Where your team used to do every step themselves, the agent takes over the routine work, in the evenings and at weekends too.
This isn't some distant future. According to research by Gartner, by 2029 AI agents will handle around 80 per cent of common customer queries on their own, without a member of staff getting involved. Gartner expects this to lower the operational costs of customer service by around 30 per cent.
For SMEs with a small service team, that's good news. You can grow without your support department having to grow at the same rate.
AI agent for customer service: what exactly does it do?
An AI agent for customer service is software that understands customer questions, looks up the right information and takes action on its own. It works with your customer data, your knowledge base and your service systems, and sticks to the limits you set.
In practice, an agent takes four kinds of work off your team's hands.
This is how AI in customer service shifts from a tool that only provides information to a colleague who finishes the job. For a broader explanation of agents, read our page on AI agents.
Carrying out actions
It reschedules an appointment, changes an address, registers a return or resends an invoice.
Sorting tickets
It recognises the subject and urgency of a question and passes complex cases on to the right colleague.
Supporting staff
It summarises long customer files and suggests a draft reply, so your team works faster.
Chatbot or AI agent in customer service?
Many companies already have a chatbot on their website. It answers frequently asked questions, but gets stuck as soon as something actually needs to be done. "I'd like to reschedule my delivery" then often ends with "A colleague will get in touch with you". The customer waits, and your team still does the work manually.
An AI agent closes that loop. It understands the question, checks in your system whether rescheduling is possible, makes the change and confirms it to the customer. All in one conversation.
| Chatbot | AI agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers questions | Yes | Yes |
| Carries out actions in your systems | Hardly | Yes |
| Understands unusual questions | Limited | Well |
| Knows the customer history | Usually not | Yes |
| Brings in a member of staff intelligently | At fixed points | Based on content and sentiment |
That doesn't mean your chatbot has to go. You can often extend it step by step into an agent. You can read how that works in AI agent vs. chatbot vs. RPA.
Ticket handling with AI: how it works
To see what an agent delivers in concrete terms, let's follow one ticket from arrival to resolution.
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Arrival
A customer emails to say their order arrived damaged and attaches a photo.
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Understanding
The agent recognises that this is a damage claim, pulls the order number from the email and looks at the photo.
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Looking up
It looks up the order, checks the delivery date and sees whether the customer is still within the return period.
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Deciding
If the claim falls within your policy, the agent chooses the right solution: a replacement product or a credit note. If it falls outside your policy or involves a large amount, it refers the case to a member of staff.
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Acting
The agent creates a replacement order, arranges the return label and sends the customer a personal confirmation.
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Recording
Everything is neatly logged in the ticket and the customer file, so your team can see later on what happened.
What used to be a quarter of an hour of manual work now takes a few minutes. Your staff member only has to step in for the exceptions.
What your team gets back
Ticket handling with AI mainly frees up time for the work that needs attention. Complaints from unhappy customers, complex technical questions and conversations with key accounts get more room. That makes the work more enjoyable too: less copying and pasting, more real customer contact.
24/7 customer service on every channel
Customers ask their questions when it suits them. That's by no means always between nine and five. An agent makes 24/7 customer service achievable, even for a small team.
An agent can work in the same way across multiple channels. Because the agent works with the same knowledge and the same customer file everywhere, the customer gets the same answer everywhere. If a customer starts in the chat and later sends an email as well, the agent knows where the conversation left off.
Outside office hours
In the evenings and at weekends, the agent handles standard questions from start to finish. Anything that needs a member of staff, it prepares with a summary and a suggestion. That way your team doesn't start Monday morning with a full inbox, but with a clear list.
People and agents: a team, not a replacement
The question that often comes up first: will an agent replace my customer service staff? The short answer is no. An agent takes over the routine work, your staff keep the conversations that matter. So customer service automation is about a smarter division of tasks, not about fewer people.
When the agent brings in a colleague
A good agent knows when to stop. You define in advance in which situations it hands a conversation over to a member of staff:
- the customer asks for a person;
- the customer is clearly dissatisfied or angry;
- it concerns a complaint, a cancellation or a legal matter;
- the requested action is outside its authority, for example a credit note above a certain amount;
- the agent isn't sure of the right answer.
A warm handover
During a handover, the agent passes on the whole conversation, with a short summary and a suggested solution. The customer doesn't have to tell their story again and your staff member can pick it up straight away. That's exactly the difference between a frustrating and a pleasant customer experience.
New roles in your team
With an agent in your team, the work of your staff shifts. They become specialists in complex cases, monitor the quality of the agent's answers and improve the knowledge base. That role of directing the agent is becoming more and more important.
Language, tone and transparency
An agent speaks on behalf of your company. How it does so largely determines how customers experience your service.
AI customer service in Zoho Desk and Creatio Service
You don't need a separate AI platform to start using agents in customer service. The service software many SMEs already use has the capabilities built in. Also take a look at our overview of customer service software if you're still choosing a package.
Which solution suits you best depends on your current systems, the number of tickets and the complexity of your processes. Mobile XL helps you weigh this up.
What does it cost and what does it deliver?
The costs of an AI agent in customer service consist of three parts: the licences for your service software, AI usage and the set-up. In both Zoho and Creatio, AI is largely included in the platform, with extra costs for intensive use.
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Less manual work per ticket
Standard questions are handled from start to finish, complex tickets are already prepared.
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Faster response times
Customers get an answer straight away, even outside office hours.
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Growth without a matching increase in staff
Your team can serve more customers with the same headcount.
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Higher customer satisfaction
Fast, consistent answers and a warm handover for complex questions.
How quickly do you see results?
An agent for the most common questions is often live within a few weeks. You'll usually notice the first time savings straight away. How much the agent eventually handles on its own depends heavily on the quality of your knowledge base and the freedom you give it. Allow a few months for the agent to settle in properly.
Want to calculate the investment for your situation? You'll find a worked example in costs and ROI of AI agents.
How to get started with an AI agent in your customer service
A good start determines whether your agent becomes a success. With these steps you build up responsibly. You'll find a detailed step-by-step plan in implementing an AI agent.
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Analyse your tickets
Find the five to ten questions that come up most often. That's where the quickest gains are.
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Get your knowledge base in order
Make sure the answers to those questions are recorded in a way that is up to date, complete and unambiguous.
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Set the ground rules
Define which actions the agent may carry out itself and when it brings in a member of staff.
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Start by assisting
Let the agent first prepare draft replies that your team checks and sends.
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Gradually give it more room
Once the suggestions are consistently good, let the agent handle simple questions on its own.
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Measure and improve
Track response times, resolution rate and customer satisfaction, and improve the knowledge base wherever the agent is unsure.
The agent now handles the simple questions itself, in the evenings too. My team has time again for the customers who really need a personal conversation.
Take your customer service to the next level
With an AI agent in your customer service, you help customers faster, even outside office hours, and give your team room for the work that really needs attention. Mobile XL helps SMEs in the Netherlands and Flanders set up agents in Zoho Desk or Creatio Service responsibly, from the first knowledge base to an agent that's part of the daily routine.
Frequently asked questions about AI agents in customer service
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An AI agent answers customer questions, carries out actions such as rescheduling an appointment or registering a return, sorts tickets and supports staff with summaries and draft replies.
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No. The agent takes over the routine work, so your staff have more time for complex questions, complaints and important customers. Their role shifts to that of specialist and director of the agent.
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A chatbot mainly answers questions. An AI agent also resolves them: it looks up information in your systems and carries out the necessary action itself.
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Through email, website chat, WhatsApp and other messaging apps, a customer portal and in some cases by phone too. The agent works with the same knowledge and the same customer file everywhere.
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You define that in advance. Think of situations where the customer asks for a person, is dissatisfied, makes a complaint or wants an action that's outside the agent's authority.
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They have to. The EU AI Act requires customers to know that they're dealing with AI. Also make sure they can always easily ask for a member of staff.
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Yes. Modern language models have a good command of Dutch, including Flemish variants. You decide on the form of address, the tone and the terminology yourself.
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The costs consist of licences for your service software, AI usage and the set-up. In Zoho Desk and Creatio Service, AI is largely included in the platform, with extra costs for intensive use.
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An agent for the most frequently asked questions is often live within a few weeks, and you'll notice the first time savings straight away. You'll usually see the full effect after a few months of fine-tuning.
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Yes. Both platforms have built-in AI agents that work directly with your tickets, knowledge base and customer data. You can use standard agents or build custom ones.
Curious how many tickets an agent could take over for you?
Book a no-obligation call and together we'll analyse where you'll gain the most.