How Howard Miller Scaled Customer Support Without Growing Headcount
A heritage clock and furniture brand cut abandoned calls from nearly 60% to almost zero, saved 200+ hours a month, and now routes high-value sales calls to humans faster with AI Frontdesk.
0+
Hours saved per month
0%
Abandoned call rate
0%
Answered calls
~0%
Prior abandoned call rate
“It's not replacing people. It's getting customers to the right people faster.”
Eric Greenberg · Director of Ecommerce · Howard Miller
At a glance
Organization profile
Company
Howard Miller
Industry
Heritage Clocks & Furniture · Direct-to-Consumer
Location
Multiple regions
Coverage
Inbound customer support and sales calls
Highlights
Abandoned call rate cut from ~60% to nearly zero
200+ hours of support time saved per month
95% of calls answered
Avoided growing customer support headcount
AI workforce
One workforce across the customer journey
Frontdesk connects the channels, systems, and repeatable workflows this team uses to serve customers and keep work moving.
Products deployed
Voice AI
CRM
Smart Tickets
SMS Texting Agent
Dashboards & Reporting
Narrative
Challenge, deployment, and outcomes
Summary of what the customer faced, how Frontdesk was applied, and what they report measuring afterward.
Challenge
Howard Miller is a heritage clock and furniture brand whose products are built to last for generations. As its direct-to-consumer business grew, inbound call volume climbed, ranging from simple setup questions to high-value sales inquiries.
The volume was bursty. Five customers would call at once, followed by long gaps of inactivity. That made staffing inefficient and led to missed calls, lost sales, and frustrated customers. At times, abandoned call rates reached nearly 60%.
Most calls were repetitive: does this clock need batteries, how do I enable the chimes, how do I contact sales. These questions consumed support time that could have gone toward helping buyers.
Deployment
Deployed AI Frontdesk as the first point of contact for inbound calls, trained on Howard Miller's exact product knowledge, approved answers, and routing rules for accurate responses and proper call handling.
AI picks up instantly and answers common questions like battery requirements, chime setup, and product care without a wait.
Calls route to the correct department automatically, with fast handoff to a human whenever the caller needs one.
Sales and other high-impact calls reach the right person faster, so the team spends its time on revenue-generating conversations instead of repetitive questions.
Outcomes
Abandoned calls dropped from roughly 60% to nearly zero.
About 200 hours per month saved across the support team.
95% of calls now answered, with instant pickup replacing hold times.
Avoided growing customer support headcount as the business scaled.
Sales calls reach humans faster, so low-frequency, high-impact opportunities no longer slip away.
Ready to go live
Get your AI Workforce for free, today.
Launch Frontdesk in minutes, capture more leads, and automate repetitive front-office workflows from day one.
