The primary goal is lower cost of contact and higher transfer and conversion rates for dormant prospective students (cold leads). Four vendors will run pilots — with potential overlap across Pilots 2–4 — each measured against our existing human call center. A secondary benefit is stress-testing agentic voice capabilities for future support and student nurturing workflows.
The core question this pilot answers — do AI voice agents transfer a higher proportion of contacted leads to the Admissions team compared to our human call center staff?
% of dialed leads that result in a meaningful conversation — baseline for comparing reach effectiveness.
% of AI-conducted calls that meet TCPA and institutional compliance standards without escalation.
Total pilot cost divided by transfers to Admissions — efficiency benchmark vs. human staff.
Tracks lead sentiment; a significantly higher AI opt-out rate would signal a poor student experience.
Of leads transferred to Admissions, what % go on to apply.
| Month | Lead Group | Leads | Segment | AI Transfer | Traditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Jan / Feb | 5,661 |
|
7.7% | 5.5% |
| May 2026 | Feb / Mar | 3,672 |
|
5.3% | 5.5% |
| June 2026 | Mar / Apr | 4,036 |
|
Ongoing | Ongoing |
Three monthly lead cohorts running against the human call center baseline. Live since April 2026.
Active · Apr–JunContract finalization and integration scoping underway. May run concurrently with Pilots 3 and 4.
Planning · Jul–SepAwaiting final standup of NiCE's outbound channel product. Timing may overlap with other active pilots.
TBDContingent on Salesforce releasing outbound call features by October 2026. Learningmate under evaluation as an alternative.
TBD