Plenty of skills
If you ask Neela about her skills, the focus is on helping customers of housing companies and saving their tenants precious time. Customers will be able to communicate with her around the clock, initially via chat and in a second stage via voice. The more queries Neela deals with, the faster the underlying algorithm will learn, to the point where an increasing number of tasks can be dealt with in the field of tenant communication. Greg Johns, Group Product Strategy Manager at Aareon, says:

“At the age of 25, Neela has successfully completed her AI studies. Her exceptional thirst for knowledge means that she is learning more all the time. We considered it important to endow our virtual assistant with some character. The result is Neela.”

Plenty of technology
Neela is equipped with artificial intelligence, state-of-the-art chatbot functions and the latest digital technology. The implementation process is set to cover three stages, starting with the basic level, which will see Neela providing access to existing services and processes via a communication channel. She will then be able to respond to a significant proportion of incoming queries regarding payment processes automatically and arrange dates for repair work with tradespeople, to name just several examples. The second stage will see Neela offering users guidance, training and support in her role as a “smart virtual assistant”, while in the third, she will graduate to “intelligent personal assistant”, becoming the central point of contact for everyone involved, tenants and housing companies’ service providers alike. She will also continue to render processes simpler and more convenient and take intelligent decisions.

“All organisations with a high level of customer support – whether in public, private or social housing – can benefit from Neela.” Neela can be fully integrated in Aareon’s ERP solutions and portals/apps. She will collect and update data, trigger the correct response and keep a record of her actions. This will ultimately save costs and time alike. Customer service staff will have more time to deal with other tasks, while tenants will no longer have to wait to get through to someone, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction.

Plenty of development
The virtual assistant was developed in a process of international collaboration starting in early 2019 and involving various approaches, including the design thinking method. Swedish housing company Stena Fastigheter was involved as the pilot customer as of May 2019. “A particularly challenging aspect of development was selecting the use cases, which have to be able to be implemented from a technical perspective while also providing sufficient added value for customers,” says Katarina Falk, Director ERP Solutions at Aareon Nordics. “Working in close collaboration with both customers and the Aareon Group has been an exciting and insightful experience for Aareon Nordics. We really noticed the benefits of being included in such a large-scale undertaking.”

Stena Fastigheter has been using the virtual assistant in test operation. Pernilla Fröden from Stena Fastigheter explains the reasons behind its decision:

“For us, Neela’s added value is not a purely cost-related consideration. We want to use her to boost our brand – to provide a better, wider-ranging service for tenants and offer a customer touch point far superior to the norm.”