How One CDFI Transformed Phone Coverage Into Fixed Infrastructure

Who they are

A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving underserved entrepreneurs.

These mission-driven lenders provide capital and coaching to working families - restaurant workers, retail employees, parents with multiple jobs - who are building businesses around their day jobs. Their mission: remove barriers to capital access.

56% → 100%

call answer rate

2-month

Pilot to validate technology

$9,000

Annual fixed cost vs. $45,000–$135,000 for staffing

5x scale

With no additional costs

The Problem

Staffing-Based Phone Coverage That Couldn't Scale

Half their calls went to voicemail.

Customers hung up without leaving messages. The people they existed to serve were being shut out.

Business hours only.

Working families couldn't call during their day jobs. No evening or weekend support.

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48-hour callback delays.

By the time staff returned voicemails, customers had lost momentum or moved on.

Zero bilingual support after hours.

Latino entrepreneurs had no access to Spanish-language help outside 9-5.

What We Built Together

Replace variable headcount costs with fixed AI infrastructure with a 2-month pilot to prove it works.

Calls resolved automatically

37%

Phase 1: Implement AI Driven Call Management and Intelligent Routing
Deployed bilingual Voice AI agents (English + Spanish) operating 24/7/365.

Results Beyond ROI Accessibility transformation with operational efficiency.

With Self-Serve In Action, real time SMS delivery enabled callers to start loan applications, access business coaching resources, complete intake and referral forms as well as scheduling next steps.

All without staff involvement. Scaling Without Cost Increases.

100% of calls answered (previously 56%)
48-hour callback delays completely eliminated
10% after-hours access enabled
7% of calls supported by Spanish-speaking agent
63% routed to the correct team
17.6% of calls enabled self-service via SMS
72% capacity available for expansion

Birdcall team having a meeting for implementation

The Takeaway

Phone coverage no longer needs to scale with headcount.

By treating phone coverage as infrastructure, this CDFI achieved:

Expanded access to underserved communities (24/7 bilingual)
Protected staff capacity for mission-critical work (37% AI resolution)
Created predictable, scalable operations (72% headroom)
Reduced phone coverage costs by 80-93%

"We didn't just automate calls. We transformed phone coverage into fixed infrastructure that scales with our mission, not our headcount."

This isn't just about cutting costs. It’s helping organisations break down the barriers to meet their goals.