At a glance
Legalcity is a SaaS platform for digital debt collection, integrated with most accounting and invoicing tools on the market
More importantly, Legalcity is a licensed and regulated debt collection firm (not a marketplace or software-only tool)
Phone calls are often a decisive step in resolving cases, but they’re time-consuming and require a well-structured, resource-heavy human team
Legalcity has deployed a team of AI-powered voice agents that operate at different stages of the collection process, supporting human agents.70% of debtors who interact with these voice agents don’t realize they’re speaking to an AI
When used wisely, voice AI agents offer a powerful automation lever for debt collection professionals like Legalcity.
Context
Each year, over €56 billion in debts go unpaid in France. Debt collection is a critical activity for the economic health of businesses — from SMEs to large enterprises
And yet, only €2 billion are recovered annually by traditional collection agencies and judicial officers
Legalcity is a licensed collection firm offering an all-in-one SaaS platform that helps businesses manage the entire debt collection lifecycle — from the first amicable message to legal enforcement — thanks to a network of over 40 court bailiffs across France
Legalcity mainly handles B2B debt, but also covers B2C cases. The average amount recovered is around €3,000 per case, with significant variation
All recovery sequences include SMS, emails, and standard or registered demand letters. These flows always include phone calls, handled at scale by collection agents
All actions are conducted under the Legalcity brand, which gives psychological weight: debtors clearly understand a collection agency has been officially mandated
Voice is often the last channel that hasn’t been automated — yet it’s also the one that makes the biggest difference when layered onto the others
To automate large-scale voice relaunches, Legalcity turned to AI voice agents built with Rounded. Here’s how it works.
2. The economics of phone-based collection
Phone calls are still necessary in almost all cases
Emails and SMS are often ignored — only about 25% yield a first response. Calls, by contrast, allow for a synchronous exchange, which can clarify the situation and help assess the debtor’s solvency
But the problem? Phone calls are expensive. Not in cost per minute — but in human time. Leaving voicemails or calling unresponsive numbers still takes up agent bandwidth
Most agencies lose money on calls for debts under €233. That’s not even factoring in the cost of acquiring the client or operating the case. Many agencies avoid calling for debts under €2,000
The job is also repetitive and unmotivating
So Legalcity kept the phone… but changed how it’s used
Profitability threshold for human calls
Hourly cost of a human agent: €35Average handling time: 2 min (voicemail), 5 min (live call)Pickup rate: 30% maxConversion rate: 5% after voicemail, 15% after real callMarket commission: ~15%→ 20 calls/hour → 6 pick-ups → 1 payment→ €35 / 15% commission = €233.33 minimum debt size for break-even3. Rethinking collection with AI voice agentsLegalcity chose a different approach: keep the voice, automate the effort
They built a team of AI voice agents, each tailored to a specific stage of the collection journey — from first contact to legal escalation
Their goal: relaunch by phone, at scale, without mobilizing humans unless necessary
In the amicable phase, three agents handle different scenarios
Marie — the friendly opener
He handles the first contact. Calm and courteous, he confirms the debtor received the payment link and offers support. The goal: keep the case visible and reduce drop-off
Vincent — the firmer follow-up
If no progress has been made, Vincent returns with a more assertive tone. He checks for payment issues and suggests a meeting with a human advisor
Guillaume — the final chance
On the third attempt, Guillaume takes over. His tone is formal and firm. He states this is the last amicable attempt before escalation, lists potential legal consequences, and offers a final chance to settle the case
After each call
The agent updates the internal CRM with call statusClients can follow the case in the front office and chat with Legalcity for strategy updatesThe agent can transfer the call, schedule a meeting, or resend the payment link, all autonomously"These agents follow a structured conversational logic — tone and objective vary by stage. This is what makes them credible, and explains why nearly 70% of debtors don’t realize they’re speaking to AI" says Frédéric Dupuy, CEO of Legalcity.
4. AI voice agents in numbers
- 35% pick-up rate20.3% of those calls result in a payment link being sent
- 26.1% are transferred to a human agent
- 21.7% result in a scheduled meeting
- 31.9% are hang-ups within 20 seconds
- 15% of those receive a callback
- 5% result in a payment without further contact
- €0.03 for voicemails
- €0.19 for answered calls
- Total cost: €7
- Based on human call conversion rates (5% / 15%), that’s 8 payments
- Required recovered amount: €87.5 (Legalcity’s average commission: 8%)
- → Break-even per payment = €10.93
- Agents for judicial collection: filing injunctions, bailiff notifications, enforcement
- A secure voice payment module for instant settlement during the call
After 1 month and thousands weekly calls, here are the first metrics:65% of calls go unansweredAverage cost per call: €0.07On a 100-call campaign
That’s 21x lower than the human call threshold of €233
AI voice agents unlock scalable, profitable outreach — especially for low-value or low-engagement debts
And yes: 70% of debtors don’t realize they’re talking to an AI.5. What’s next
Legalcity is expanding its voice agent suite to cover other stages of the process
With dozens of case types and thousands of files in motion, Legalcity’s AI agents will also serve commercial and support teams, helping them prioritize, decide, and optimize recovery efforts
Customer satisfaction is core to Legalcity’s mission — and AI agents will now be part of that promise.