The Home Depot to Launch New Customer Service AI Voice Agent System

• The Home Depot is launching a new customer service AI voice agent phone system to provide faster support for customer calls to U.S. stores.
  
  
• The AI agents can help with project assistance and answer questions in many languages, while always offering a direct path to Home Depot associates.
  
  
• The system is built on Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience and powered by the latest Gemini conversational AI audio models. 

The Home Depot®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, today [22nd April] announced new AI-powered phone agents designed to get customers the help they need faster. Built on Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, the agents allow customers to skip complicated phone menus and get straight to solving their home improvement problems through natural conversation.

Now, when calling a Home Depot store, customers can simply state the reason for their call in their own words. The new system is designed to understand what they need help with immediately, while ensuring they always have the option to speak directly with a human associate. Real-time translations also enable support for customers in their preferred language.

Early results from a 50-store pilot show that AI voice agents understand why a customer is calling in just 10 seconds, getting the customer to a solution four times faster than navigating traditional phone menus. This allows customers to spend less time on the phone and more time on their home improvement projects or jobs. Additionally, Home Depot associates in the pilot also reported higher job satisfaction with more time to focus on in-store shoppers.

“Nobody likes getting trapped in a phone menu. When a customer calls us, they just want to get help as quickly as possible,” said Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience and president of online at The Home Depot. “Using customer service AI voice agents, we’re moving away from 'please listen to these options' and toward ‘how can I help?’ AI does a tremendous job at recognizing customer intent and taking direct action to help complete a purchase or even start a service request. And of course, if they need to speak with an associate, we’ll quickly connect them.”

Trained on The Home Depot’s vast product catalog and orange-aproned knowledge, the system can:

• Get answers without the wait: The AI voice agents are empowered to resolve common customer inquiries from start to finish, such as checking order status, confirming product availability, or providing store information, freeing up knowledgeable Home Depot associates to handle more complex issues.
  
  
• Take direct action to save time: The system moves beyond simply providing information to acting on behalf of customers. For example, AI agents can initiate service requests, send a product link directly to a customer’s pre-filled cart, and even help customers complete a purchase in minutes right from their phones.
  
  
• Turn project ideas into ready-to-buy carts: Customers will be able to simply describe their projects in their own words, and the AI voice agent will start building a digital shopping cart with all the necessary items based on real-time online or in-store inventory.

“The Home Depot is a prime example of how retailers and large enterprises can use AI to move beyond automation and deliver real customer value at scale,” said Darshan Kantak, vice president, Applied AI, Google Cloud. “By integrating Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience capabilities, The Home Depot isn’t just directing traffic or routing calls—it is instantly understanding a customer's true intent and applying the reasoning of an expert associate to find solutions.”

The Home Depot plans to expand the AI customer service voice agent system to support all U.S. stores over the coming year. For more information, visit https://corporate.homedepot.com.

Source : The Home Depot 

Image : The Home Depot

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