AI Agent Call Handling for Public Sector

Case Study: Helping South Midlands Growth Hub handle business support enquiries 24/7 with AI agents

South Midlands Growth Hub supports businesses across the region with guidance, funding information and access to local support programmes. As demand for business advice continues to grow, the team needed a more scalable way to respond to common enquiries without increasing pressure on advisors.

Voyce AI helped South Midlands Growth Hub introduce AI-powered voice agents that can answer common questions, guide callers to relevant support, capture details for follow-up and operate around the clock.

The challenge

Like many public sector and business support organisations, South Midlands Growth Hub receives a wide range of enquiries from businesses looking for help. Many of these enquiries are important, but repetitive. Callers often need to know what support is available, whether funding programmes are open, where to find the right information, or how to speak to an advisor. The challenge was not simply about answering more calls. It was about making sure businesses could access support quickly, while allowing advisors to spend more time on complex, high-value conversations.

South Midlands Growth Hub needed a solution that could:
- Handle common enquiries consistently Support callers outside standard office hours Reduce repetitive demand on the advisory team
- Capture callback requests accurately
- Signpost businesses to the right information
- Escalate to a human when the enquiry needed specialist support

The solution

Voyce AI deployed AI voice agents to support inbound enquiries for South Midlands Growth Hub. The agents were designed to act as a first point of contact, helping callers get immediate answers to common questions and directing them towards the most relevant support. Where appropriate, the agent could send useful links by SMS, capture structured details and pass information back to the team for follow-up.

The approach was deliberately focused and governance-led. Rather than trying to automate every possible scenario, Voyce AI worked around a defined set of high-frequency enquiries, ensuring the system was useful, controlled and aligned with the Growth Hub’s service model.

The AI agents now support the team by:

- Answering frequently asked questions Providing guidance on available business support
- Sending relevant links and information by SMS
- Capturing caller details for follow-up
- Operating 24/7, including evenings and weekends
- Escalating enquiries where human support is required

The impact

South Midlands Growth Hub can now handle a 60-80% of inbound enquiries through its AI agents, giving businesses faster access to support while reducing pressure on the advisory team.

- The result is a more responsive, scalable and cost-effective service.
- For businesses, this means support is easier to access when they need it.
- For advisors, it means less time spent on repetitive enquiries and more time focused on the businesses that need deeper guidance.
- For the public sector, it demonstrates how AI can be used practically and safely to improve service access while making better use of limited resources.

Why it matters

This project shows that AI in the public sector does not need to start with a large, complex transformation programme. It can begin with a focused operational problem: too many repetitive enquiries, limited team capacity and a need to improve access to support. By applying AI agents to a clearly defined use case, South Midlands Growth Hub has created a more available and efficient service while keeping humans involved where they add the most value.