When the pests show up, so do the calls
While brewing her morning coffee, Carla spots a trail of ants in her kitchen and reaches for her phone. She dials Bulwark Pest Control, hoping to get an appointment before work. But instead of a quick resolution, she gets hold music.
By the time an agent picks up, Carla’s already Googling competitors.
For Chris Alston, Solutions Architect at Bulwark, this moment was all too familiar. Bulwark serves customers across the U.S. and ramps up fast when the weather heats up. Between March and September, call volume skyrockets, especially on Monday mornings.
“Seasonal hiring used to be a massive effort that consumed the entire summer,” said Alston. “Bringing on Replicant has reduced the need so significantly that now you hardly even hear about it.”
Their contact center had no margin for error. Agents were dedicated, but stretched thin. Seasonal hiring was a huge lift, and missed calls meant missed revenue.
The right treatment plan for the call center
Alston knew the answer wasn’t just more people, it was a smarter system. Bulwark partnered with Replicant to deploy AI-powered voice automation where it would make the biggest impact: scheduling services, processing payments, and managing call surges.
But they had one rule: no customer rub.
“We don’t have the luxury of a bad experience,” said Alston. “If a customer doesn't like their call, they can be signed up with another company in 15 minutes. So the AI Agent had to feel like an extension of our brand.”
Together, Bulwark and Replicant rolled out AI agents that delivered fast, empathetic service at scale. The team started with phone calls, then expanded to chat and SMS. They even A/B tested call intros to balance clarity and customer trust.
Key plays from Bulwark’s implementation:
- Automated scheduling and payments first
- Scaled instantly for Monday morning and summer surges
- Routing to specialists correctly, the first time
- Designed around 0% customer rub with custom call flows
- Elevated agent roles by offloading repetitive work
Fewer bugs. Better jobs. Happier customers.
At first, some agents were worried: would the AI agent take their job? Alston and the leadership team leaned in with clarity. This wasn’t about replacement, it was about removing monotony and unlocking higher-value work. As agents moved away from repetitive tasks, their roles became more specialized, more valuable, and more engaging. Bulwark created career-building roles that helped retain talent and reward performance. Even the most skeptical team members came around.
"We're not replacing our people,” said Alston. “We're making their jobs more interesting. That's how you grow a company."
Bulwark’s next step is to expand automation into chat and SMS, using Replicant’s Builder to go even further. What started as a response to a seasonal challenge has turned into a strategic advantage, and a more human contact center.
Now, when Carla calls on a weekday morning, there’s no hold music. Replicant’s AI agent picks up instantly, schedules her service, and gets her back to her day, all before the coffee finishes brewing.
"We're excited to expand into chat and SMS and build even more ourselves,” said Alston. “This isn’t just about automation. It’s about creating better work, better service, and a stronger business."
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