When ex-tropical cyclone Tam tore across New Zealand, it left a trail of chaos in its wake-damaged homes, flooded roads, and widespread power outages, particularly in Auckland. For thousands of residents, the storm’s fury meant more than just inconvenience; it meant days without power and uncertainty about when the lights would come back on.
In times like these, power companies are flooded-not just by rain, but by a surge of desperate calls from customers. In the energy industry, they call it an avalanche. And traditionally, that avalanche has been overwhelming.
Only a few years ago, storms of this magnitude would bring contact centres to their knees. Customers needing basic updates would sit on hold for 1–2 hours, listening to endless hold music, often getting disconnected before they ever spoke to a human. It wasn’t just frustrating-it eroded trust at a time when people were already vulnerable.
But this time, something was different.
A Storm-Tested Contact Centre
Telnet, the contact centre trusted by major New Zealand power companies faced record-breaking call volumes during Cyclone Tam. But instead of collapsing under the pressure, they held the line-and something remarkable happened: customers got the help they needed, fast.
The difference? Tulip AI.
Tulip AI, Telnet’s intelligent virtual agent platform, quietly took on a massive portion of the workload. It handled 33% of all inbound calls during the storm-offering real-time outage updates, logging fault reports, and escalating issues when necessary. It was accurate, calm, and always available.
What’s more, Tulip AI effectively did the work of six full-time agents per day. That’s six humans who didn’t need to be scrambled, trained, or rescheduled-Tulip scaled instantly, as if flipping a switch.
A New Standard for Customer Service in Utilities
Storms will always come. What’s changing is how companies respond to them.
Tulip AI isn’t just automating routine calls; it’s transforming the customer experience during New Zealand’s most critical moments. Instead of long queues and overwhelmed agents, customers now get the help they need in seconds-not hours.
For power companies, the ability to scale support instantly without sacrificing service quality is a game-changer. For customers, it’s a lifeline during the most stressful times.
The success of Tulip AI during Cyclone Tam is more than a case study. It’s a proof point: modern contact centres can be resilient, responsive, and human-even when the weather is at its worst.
