Rinnai Australia cuts service times with Oracle AI

Rinnai Australia has deployed an AI-powered customer service assistant built on Oracle technology, improving customer service efficiency by up to 35%.

The manufacturer introduced the assistant as its call centre handled thousands of enquiries, typically lasting 30 to 60 minutes and often requiring staff to consult extensive technical documentation.

Rinnai Australia makes hot water, heating, air conditioning and renewable energy systems, and has operated in the market for more than 50 years. Growing customer needs and a broader product range had added pressure to support teams.

The new system uses Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Enterprise AI and Oracle AI Database to automate manual processes and give customer service teams faster access to current product information, with the aim of shortening response times and improving consistency.

Oracle AI Database stores product documentation as vectors and uses semantic search to retrieve relevant information in real time. It also uses retrieval-augmented generation to interpret customer questions and return responses based on company data.

The project forms part of a broader push to modernise service operations as more interactions require technical detail and accurate product guidance. The assistant is designed to support staff rather than replace the call centre function, which remains responsible for handling customer enquiries.

"As a trusted name in Australia, we have a responsibility to deliver fast, accurate and consistent support to our customers," said Samir Shah, ICT Business Services Manager, Rinnai Australia.

"As demand increased and our product portfolio expanded, we knew we needed to modernise the way we deliver service. With Oracle, we've been able to deliver a more efficient, responsive and consistent customer experience by streamlining our service operations, reducing response times and giving our teams faster access to the information they need," Shah said.

Broader rollout

Rinnai plans to extend its use of AI into more complex service and operational tasks, including supply chain enquiries and field-service bookings.

Those planned additions are expected to involve Oracle Autonomous AI Database, Oracle Digital Assistant and Oracle APEX, with the expansion intended to streamline more workflows across the business.

Oracle has been positioning AI tools around customer service and enterprise search as companies look for ways to cut handling times without removing human oversight from support functions. In sectors with large product catalogues and technical service requirements, access to accurate documentation has become a central issue in AI deployments.

Rinnai's use case reflects a common pattern in Australian enterprise technology spending, with businesses applying AI first to internal support and service processes before moving to broader operational tasks. Customer service teams are often among the first testing grounds because gains can be measured through handling times, response consistency and staff workload.

Rinnai did not disclose the value of the project or the scale of its investment in Oracle systems, but said the current deployment had already reduced response times by up to 35%.

Stephen Bovis, Regional Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Oracle, said the customer service function remained central to business performance as companies adopted more AI tools.

"The customer service function is foundational to every successful business, and AI is transforming how organisations deliver speed, increased accuracy and consistency at scale," said Stephen Bovis, Regional Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Oracle.

"With OCI Enterprise AI and Oracle AI Database, Rinnai Australia is enhancing customer satisfaction through faster, more consistent responses while improving operational efficiency across its service operations," Bovis said.