Ingenium Animalis is transforming its customer service with a unified knowledge base, boosting adoption to 91% in just a few weeks

Ingenium animalis: France's leading expert in animal data

Ingenium Animalis is much more than just a company: it is an institution at the heart of the pet industry in France. For over 20 years, Ingenium animalis has been collecting, processing, and analyzing data on more than 40 million pets. In particular, the company manages the national identification registry for dogs, cats, and ferrets (Fichier National I-CAD), a public service mission delegated by the Ministry of Agriculture. This registry underpins essential actions: finding a lost pet, identifying a stolen pet, reporting a change of ownership, or ensuring full traceability of the dog, cat, and ferret population in France.

Founded by the Centrale Canine (SCC) and the National Union of Private Practice Veterinarians (SNVEL), Ingenium animalis positions itself as a trusted partner for three distinct groups: individuals (pet owners), professionals (veterinarians, shelters, animal control centers), and institutions (the Ministry, as well as municipalities and law enforcement agencies). Based in Montreuil since April 2024, the company has 80 employees, including a team of 40 customer service representatives divided into four specialized departments.

The core of this mission is simple yet complex: handling more than 200,000 phone calls a year, over 100,000 emails, and 60,000 letters. Behind every interaction lies a story: a family searching for their lost dog, a veterinarian reporting an identification, a shelter reporting a found animal. It is this human, emotional, and critical context that makes the quality of customer service at Ingenium animalis so important. And it is precisely on this basis that the company decided to transform itself.

Challenges ahead of May Day: growth that exposes limitations

In 2024, Ingenium Animalis embarked on a major digital transformation by digitizing two key processes: applications for animal identification cards and notifications of change of ownership. This shift led to a sharp increase in customer interactions and quickly highlighted a key challenge: access to and dissemination of information.

A large number of account holders are logging into their I-CAD Account Holder portal for the first time, generating numerous inquiries regarding how to navigate the system, access documents, or use the interface. Advisors are therefore spending a significant portion of their time responding to repetitive, low-value inquiries, highlighting the lack of a structured knowledge base that is accessible to both clients and internal teams.

At the same time, the merger of two customer service centers has highlighted difficulties in the flow of information between departments. Despite the centralization of calls, communication remained fragmented by customer type, limiting the continuity of service, the traceability of requests, and the sharing of operational knowledge.

Finally, the company faces a lack of visibility into its operations: a shortage of consolidated data, difficulty identifying pain points, the most time-consuming tasks, or opportunities for improvement. The transformation thus underscores the need to organize data and insights as drivers of management and operational efficiency.

As Céline Gomis puts it: “To effectively manage and transform a business, you need a clear picture of the current situation. And for that, you need reliable and relevant data.”

The Mayday Solution: A Three-Pillar Architecture

In light of these challenges, Ingenium animalis issued a request for proposals. The company drafted a set of specifications detailing nearly 100 functional requirements and evaluated three service providers. Ultimately, the joint proposal from Mayday and ViaDialog won the contract, meeting 95% of the identified functional requirements.

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Pillar 1: A centralized knowledge base (Mayday Knowledge Hub)

The foundation of everything. Before Mayday, Ingenium animalis’s procedures, standard responses, and business rules were scattered across Outlook emails, Word documents, internal wikis, and notes in Teams. It was like a treasure hunt every time a question came up. Mayday has made it possible to create a single source of information. All business knowledge (I-CAD processes, reporting rules, change-of-ownership procedures, management of lost or stolen animals) has been structured, indexed, and made accessible via an intuitive interface.

Pillar 2: A dynamic FAQ for customers (Mayday Self-Service)

In addition to the knowledge base, Mayday enabled Ingenium animalis to develop a smart FAQ section for the i-cad.fr website. Customers can now access answers 24/7, without having to wait for an agent. How do I report a change of ownership? Where can I find my ID card? It now takes just 30 seconds, instead of having to call or send an email.

Pillar 3: Omnichannel Integration and Support

Mayday integrates via API with ViaFlow, ViaDialog’s omnichannel agent console. Agents now have access to the Knowledge Hub directly from their workstations, without switching tools. Voice, email, and scanned mail (EDM): everything converges on a single interface. At the same time, Mayday Academy (Mayday’s Learning Management System) streamlines onboarding, as well as initial and ongoing training. Training modules are gamified with AI-generated quizzes, ensuring an engaging experience for employees.

Deployment and Adoption: From Theory to Practice in Just a Few Weeks

Initiating a transformation like this is never easy, but Ingenium animalis and its partners Mayday and ViaDialog have taken a step-by-step approach.

The first, critical step was structuring the knowledge base itself. Céline Gomis and her team literally“rummaged through the drawers.” Scattered documents, emails containing procedures, and informal practices that had evolved over time. This process of sorting, clarifying, and simplifying took time, but it was the starting point for building the knowledge base.

The rollout of the Knowledge Base to the 40 advisors was based on a collaborative and phased approach. After Mayday trained the administrators, the internal teams took over the support for end users. At the same time, feedback from the advisors in the field enabled the content to be continuously enriched and improved, ensuring that the Knowledge Base remains in a state of constant evolution, co-created with the operational teams.

Integration with ViaFlow, the omnichannel console, required more technical work. This involved:

• Configure call flows and call routing
• Create approximately 400 standard responses organized by department and reason
• Implement the new branches of the SVI (voice self-care)
• Set up document management for scanned mail
• Refine the content of the Knowledge Hub so that it is effectively processed by the AI chatbot

Beyond the technological deployment, the project’s success depends above all on the quality of support and collaboration between teams. Mayday and ViaDialog provided regular follow-up, with an approach based on active listening, responsiveness, and continuous improvement. Frequent progress meetings, operational recommendations, and the availability of experts helped ensure successful adoption and firmly establish the new practices.

Within a few weeks, internal adoption of the knowledge base exceeded 91%. Advisors have integrated the tool into their daily routines, while customers can more easily access information through self-service pathways. As a result, the organization has become more streamlined, autonomous, and operationally efficient.

Key Results and Metrics: The Measurable Impact of a Successful Transformation

1. Productivity and Engagement

Since its launch in August 2025, the Mayday Knowledge Base has recorded 25,697 views. Each view represents an agent who finds the correct answer instantly instead of spending 5–10 minutes searching for it. A total of 168 articles have been created and organized within the database. 

But the real sign of adoption lies elsewhere: over 50 pieces of feedback from advisors. This shows that the teams have embraced the tool and are committed to improving it. It’s a culture of sharing and continuous improvement in action.

2. Quality and effectiveness of responses

The first-call resolution rate reached 85%, an increase of 14 percentage points compared to the previous situation. This means that 85% of calls are resolved on the first contact without needing to be escalated. Why? Because agents have access to the right information at the right time through the Knowledge Hub. They no longer have to search for information. They no longer make mistakes.

The email resolution rate is 96%. And even more importantly, 35% of emails are resolved automatically. A customer sends an email requesting their ID card. A standard response is sent automatically with a direct link to the cardholder portal. No human intervention is required.

3. Reducing the Workload: Self-Service in Action

One of the key challenges for Ingenium animalis was reducing low-value-added support requests. 39% of phone calls are now resolved through the IVR (interactive voice response) system without an agent’s intervention. “How do I log in to my account?” The IVR guides the user. “Where is my ID card?” The AI chatbot explains. Advisors are now focused on more complex issues: a veterinarian with a professional question, an animal shelter trying to contact an owner, or a lost pet situation that requires empathy and expertise.

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4. Consistent and predictable average processing time

Given the volume of requests and the organizational complexity, the Average Handling Time (AHT) could have skyrocketed. Instead, it stands at 4 minutes and 30 seconds per contact, remaining stable and predictable. This transformation has freed up agents. Instead of spending time searching for information, they can focus on delivering real value.

The 3 key lessons: Beyond Ingenium animalis

What we observed at Ingenium Animalis goes beyond the mere implementation of a tool. Three key lessons emerge.

1. A dynamic knowledge base has a direct impact on performance and customer satisfaction

Knowledge isn’t a static asset that you build once and then forget about. It’s a living organism. At Ingenium animalis, the impact was immediately measurable. As soon as the consultants gained access to a reliable, structured source, errors dropped, response times shortened, and clients received consistent answers. But this impact grew even stronger when the teams themselves were invited to contribute. Over 50 pieces of feedback in just a few weeks. It’s as if the knowledge base had its own antibodies: it corrects itself, improves, and adapts.

2. Support provided before, during, and after a project fosters buy-in and ensures sustainability

You can deploy the best technology in the world. But without the right support, you’ll fail.

Céline Gomis said: “In terms of support—before, during, and after the project—whether from ViaDialog or Mayday, we really got the support we needed. And I think that’s ultimately what helped us successfully roll out all these solutions with the success we’ve seen.”

3. The balance between technology and people is crucial, especially in fields that involve human emotions

AI, chatbots, automation: all of these are powerful tools.

But Céline points out with insight: “People are still important, especially in an industry like ours where we work with animals. There’s an emotional element to our interactions that technology simply can’t replace.”

Automation should free people up, not replace them. At Ingenium animalis, 39% self-service and 35% automated case closure mean freeing up our 40 advisors to focus on true value-added work, emotional interactions, complex cases, and genuine customer relationships.

What happens next?

Ingenium animalis has undergone a transformation that goes far beyond simply adopting a tool. The company has organized its knowledge, empowered its teams, enhanced its customer experience, and laid the groundwork for future growth.

Mayday Academy is currently being rolled out for training. ViaDialog is already preparing the next phases: ERP integrations, advanced email bots, and new features. But above all, Ingenium Animalis has come to understand a truth that will be critical to its future: knowledge management has become a strategic pillar, not just an IT project.

If you're interested in setting up a knowledge base, please feel free to contact us at https://www.mayday.fr/rencontrez-nos-experts