Tulip: AI Voice Assistant & AI Receptionist
No Queue.
No Hold Music.
Tulip answers the routine calls the moment they arrive - and hands the rest to one of our people at exactly the right time.
Every contact centre has the same problem on its worst day. Volume arrives in a spike - an outage, a recall, a campaign that lands harder than anyone expected - and there is no way to staff for it in the hours you actually have. Customers wait, and the calls that genuinely need a person wait alongside the ones that don't.
Tulip takes the calls that don't need a person, instantly and at any volume - so the ones that do reach an agent faster than they would have on a quiet day.
Hold time, at any call volume
Always on, without staffing for it
To deploy - not months
What You Get with Tulip
A voice assistant built for the calls that repeat - configured around your business, your knowledge base and your escalation rules.
Instant Answers
Tulip picks up on the first ring - no hold music, no queue, no callback promise. Customers get what they rang for at the speed they expect, at three in the morning as readily as at three in the afternoon.
Capacity That Appears On Demand
A spike doesn't need a roster change. Tulip scales to whatever arrives, so an outage or a recall stops being a staffing emergency and starts being an ordinary day handled well.
It Knows When to Step Aside
Tulip reads urgency and sentiment, and transfers to a human agent at the moment the conversation needs one - with full context, so nobody has to start their story again.
Cost That Doesn't Track Volume
Routine work absorbed by Tulip is overhead you no longer carry, and agent time returned to the conversations where experience and empathy actually change the outcome.
The Calls Tulip Takes Off Your Queue
Tulip is configured to your business rather than dropped in generically. These are the patterns it takes on most often.
Outage & Disruption Updates
The same question asked thousands of times in an hour - what's happening, and when will it be fixed - answered accurately and identically every time.
Fault & Service Requests
Logged straight into your systems with the details captured properly, so the job is raised without an agent transcribing it afterwards.
Routine Enquiries
Hours, balances, account questions, process explanations - the high-frequency, low-complexity calls that fill a queue and hold up everything behind them.
After-Hours Coverage
The calls that used to reach voicemail. Customers get a real answer at 2am, and your team arrives to work already logged rather than a backlog to return.
Proven on the Worst Day of the Year
During Cyclone Tam in Auckland, widespread power outages created record-breaking call volumes for utility companies. Rather than collapsing under the pressure, Telnet's Tulip platform rose to the challenge.
The system provided real-time outage updates, logged fault reports, and escalated issues when necessary - all with zero hold time for customers.
Of all inbound calls handled by Tulip
Full-time agent equivalents deployed instantly
Hold time for customers during the crisis
Always-on availability without staffing costs
How Tulip Runs
Tailored Configuration
We build Tulip around your business - your knowledge base, your customer journey, and the rules for when a call should go to a person.
Live in Days
Rapid deployment means you are handling AI-assisted calls within days, not months - and adjusting it stays just as quick.
Seamless Human Handoff
Complex calls transfer to skilled Telnet agents with full context, ensuring no customer has to repeat themselves.
Tulip is charged transactionally so cost tracks with the volume it actually handled rather than seats you had to commit to in advance.
Talk to Us About TulipAI voice assistant FAQs
What is an AI voice assistant and when does it hand over to a person?
An AI voice assistant answers phone calls in natural speech, understands what the caller needs and resolves routine requests on the spot. Tulip reads urgency and sentiment and transfers to a Telnet agent the moment a call needs a person - with the full context, so the caller never has to repeat themselves.
Is Tulip an AI receptionist or virtual receptionist?
Tulip does the job of an AI receptionist: it answers every call instantly, 24/7, deals with routine enquiries and routes the rest. Unlike a standalone virtual receptionist, it is backed by a full onshore contact centre team, so complex or sensitive calls go straight to a trained person.
Can Tulip work as an AI answering service after hours?
Yes. Tulip answers around the clock with zero hold time, at any call volume, so it can cover nights, weekends and overflow. Our agents pick up the calls that need a person. See our after-hours answering service.
Is Tulip used on live calls today?
Yes. Tulip runs in production on live customer calls. During Cyclone Tam it handled 33% of all inbound calls with zero hold time - the equivalent of six full-time agents deployed instantly.
How long does it take to set up Tulip?
Days, not months. We configure Tulip around your knowledge base, customer journey and the rules for when a call should go to a person, then keep adjusting it as your needs change.
How is Tulip priced?
Tulip is charged per transaction, so cost tracks the volume it actually handles rather than seats you commit to in advance. Contact us for pricing based on your call volumes.