Argentine Red Cross uses AgentBot to continue improving people’s lives

For over a century, the Argentine Red Cross has been making vulnerable people’s lives better across the country.

Along the way, innovation has been critical in order to reach more people and train their volunteers. And for the last few months, the coronavirus pandemic has only reinforced this idea.

That’s why they added artificial intelligence to their communication process in order to handle all queries. This is their story.

140 years of volunteer work

The Argentine Red Cross is a non-profit and humanitarian volunteer organization that's part of 193 national Red Cross societies.

For 140 years, their objective has been to contribute to improving people’s lives, especially those in vulnerable conditions.

To do this, their two major working areas are related to equipping the health system and to health operations throughout the country.

They work with 66 branches and 36 institutes of higher learning where, in addition to guaranteeing these activities, they teach first aid, nursing, surgical instrumentation and other health careers.

Innovation as a value

The Argentine Red Cross recognizes their institutional values to be people, integrity, diversity, leadership and innovation.

Regarding the last value, Maria Martin, Chief Communications Officer in Argentina, explains: “Innovation is a value, and almost an obligation for the entire movement. Our structure needs innovation so that we can continue strengthening, training and being more efficient in accomplishing our mission.”

Innovation has been a fundamental pillar for the organization during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last year, they’ve added new digital tools such as Monday, Mercadopago, Salesforce and Zoom to boost productivity and optimize internal processes.

What's more, in March 2020, they also decided put artificial intelligence to use. Their goal? To improve communication and be closer to people in need during the quarantine.

This is why they turned to AgentBot, Aivo’s conversational chatbot powered by AI.

Thanks to Aivo's program for NGOs launched at the beginning of the pandemic, the organization could get this solution for free.

“Aivo’s chatbot is a key element that I've wanted to add for a long time. We couldn’t afford this tool before, it was impossible. But once we got the chance, we decided to postpone other tasks in order to implement the bot. It’s our top priority,” Maria says.

A new volunteer at the Argentine Red Cross

The chatbot joined a four-person team in charge of the different communication areas within the organization.

One of the priorities is to provide answers to everyone in need and arrange a way to connect with them. However, answering queries was too time consuming.

“We're a humanitarian organization whose priority is people. We can’t leave someone waiting for four months. We get all kinds of questions and we must always answer. Having all this set is super valuable for me,” Maria adds.

‍

‍

The conversational bot helped improve digital communication and answer all the questions that came through daily on the website and Facebook Messenger. This gave time back to the team so they could focus on other tasks.

‍

“Answering questions used to take up so much time. This new possibility helped us get rid of the stress generated by that. Plus, our recipients get fast answers and I have more time to be more strategic with my actions and activities.” María Martin | Communications Director at Cruz Roja Argentina

Closer to those in need

Implementation was clearly successful and helped the communication team provide an efficient experience to all users.

The greatest challenge for the team was finding time to create content. However, the bot adapted quickly to the processes, and provided an added value and a perspective that helped them manage queries better.

Now the conversational bot answers questions about volunteer work, courses and careers, donations and support for emergencies.

On average, AgentBot handles 2,300 monthly queries and more than 6,500 interactions with 93% effectiveness.

Best of all? Like Maria says, they don't have unanswered messages anymore, and anyone who contacts the Argentine Red Cross gets an answer to their questions.

“The bot is our greatest investment. We gain time, improve processes and learn from an expert who is there to help. There are no disadvantages. If I didn’t have it, I’d definitely go for it. It's really helped us grow,” she concludes.