Lorient Agglomération x Yelda
Lorient Agglomération, a group of 25 municipalities in Brittany, saw its waste management hotline overwhelmed after the rollout of connected waste sorting. Simple, recurring requests were flooding the line and tying up agents — leaving complex cases waiting. Lorient chose to deploy Maëlle, YeldaAI's AI phone agent, to absorb repetitive calls, free up its teams, and maintain service continuity around the clock.
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What Maëlle handles from the first ring:
Instant need identification: Maëlle greets callers, naturally identifies their request, and routes them to the right path — information, online form, or human advisor — without any back-and-forth.
Automated badge requests: for recycling center access badge requests, Maëlle guides the caller through the process and automatically sends an SMS with the direct link to the form — no agent involved.
Seamless handover for complex cases: when a request requires human handling (broken bin, complex situations), Maëlle transfers the call smoothly to the green line with full context.
Peak period resilience: during public holidays, seasonal disruptions, and garden waste peaks, Maëlle absorbs hundreds of additional calls — preventing bottlenecks without any staffing adjustment.
Key figures
100% of calls answered. Zero wait time. Advisors freed for what matters.
500,000
calls handled per year by the AI agent
4.5/5
customer satisfaction score — on par with human advisors
24/7
availability, with no impact on team workload
What changed on the ground
A significantly less saturated hotline: by handling nearly half of all incoming requests autonomously, Maëlle has durably reduced the pressure on the waste management team's daily operations.
Repetitive calls off agents' plates: badge requests, collection schedules, bin information — the most frequent and time-consuming requests are now handled end to end by the agent, freeing staff for higher-value interactions.
Consistent service quality at all times: whether it's a public holiday, a peak seasonal period, or a service disruption, Maëlle provides an immediate, reliable, and uniform response — regardless of call volume.
SMS automation for self-service: when a request can be completed online, Maëlle automatically sends the relevant form link via SMS, reducing unnecessary callbacks and streamlining the resident's journey.
A foundation for broader rollout: the success of Maëlle on waste management services has opened the door to extending the solution to other high-volume departments — starting with water and sanitation.