The challenge: 12-minute hold times and 18% of calls sent to the wrong department

Shield Mutual Insurance serves 95,000 policyholders across Ontario and Quebec. Their main phone line handled 6,800+ calls per month, all routed through a three-person reception team that triaged each call and transferred it to claims, billing, policy services, or a specific agent.
The reception team was a bottleneck. During peak periods, hold times averaged 12 minutes. Misrouted calls (sent to the wrong department) accounted for 18% of all transfers, creating frustration for both callers and internal teams. And because the reception role required bilingual capability (English and French), hiring replacements took an average of 11 weeks.

The solution: Instant routing in English and Quebecois French, no menu tree

Thrumble AI now handles all inbound calls as Shield Mutual's virtual receptionist. The AI answers in the caller's preferred language (English or French), identifies the reason for their call through a natural conversation (not a menu tree), and routes them to the correct department or agent.
The AI was trained on Shield Mutual's organisational structure, department responsibilities, and common caller intent patterns. For simple queries (office hours, fax numbers, policy document requests), the AI resolves the call directly without any transfer.
Both the English and French voice models were tuned for Canadian pronunciation and phrasing. The French model uses Quebecois French, not European French, which was a specific requirement from Shield Mutual to match their policyholder base.

The results: The numbers speak for themselves

• 6,800 calls routed per month with an average handling time of 84 seconds.

• 95% first-contact routing accuracy, up from 82% with human receptionists. Misroutes dropped from 18% to 5%.

• 22% of calls resolved directly by the AI without any transfer (simple inquiries, document requests, general information).

• Hold times eliminated. Every call answered on the first ring, in the caller's preferred language.

• Bilingual service delivered seamlessly with no staffing constraints. English and Quebecois French handled with equal fluency.

The commercial impact: $210K saved. 340 hours of internal team time recovered every month.

$210,000 CAD in annual reception staffing costs saved.
The reduction in misrouted calls has saved an estimated 340 hours per month of internal team time across claims, billing, and policy services.
Policyholder satisfaction scores for phone experience improved from 3.1/5 to 4.5/5 within the first quarter.
Deployed in 5 weeks, including bilingual voice model tuning and Quebecois French calibration.

6,800 calls. 84-second routing. English and Quebecois French. Zero receptionists.