The Full Story
Cardiff Metropolitan University attracts students from around the world to study in one of the UK’s most affordable and vibrant student cities. To support this diverse audience and ensure students can access help when they need it, the university has increasingly used Gecko since 2022, most recently introducing chatbot and WhatsApp services.
Before deploying Gecko, the admissions and course enquiries team relied on a basic system that offered limited reporting and insight. “The problem we had before we deployed Gecko,” explains Gareth Huish, Admissions and Course Enquiries Team Leader, “is we had a very basic system that wasn’t good for reporting and didn’t have a great support network behind it.”
Following recommendations from other universities, Cardiff Met introduced Gecko and quickly saw improvements. “As soon as we began using Gecko we started to report and gain insight into what was working and what wasn’t,” Gareth says. The additional tools also made it easier to follow and optimise the student journey.
In summer 2024, Cardiff Met added Gecko’s chatbot and WhatsApp services. During office hours, students are encouraged to contact the team via live chat or WhatsApp, with a team of three managing the shared inboxes. Out of hours, the chatbot, known as Dai the Dragon, takes over.
“When we leave the office, that’s when Dai the Dragon kicks in,” Gareth explains. “It’s interesting to see the number of people who get in contact with it at 3am and want to discuss changing their course or applying for a masters.” Many of these out-of-hours enquiries come from international students in different time zones.
In just one week, the chatbot handled over 25% of enquiries outside office hours. Each morning, one team member spends around 20 minutes following up on queries the bot could not answer, slightly longer during peak periods such as clearing or accommodation enquiries.
The team continues to refine how the chatbot is used. “Now, we are making sure that all the information is right on the bot and creating specific messaging for particular use cases,” Gareth says. For example, prospective students looking to apply through clearing can now be directed straight to course vacancies and application forms, even in the evening.
Looking ahead, Cardiff Met plans to explore further chatbot enhancements once a planned website upgrade is complete. “One step at a time,” Gareth notes, ensuring the bot always delivers accurate and up-to-date information.