Chatbots for SARO Scholengemeenschap

How do you make sure 20 schools never have to answer the phone again?

Well, we're not quite there yet — but we will get there. SARO is one of the largest school communities in the Netherlands, with more than 20 schools and thousands of pupils and parents asking questions every day. About timetables, enrolments, internships, absences, open days, you know the drill. The school administrations did their very best, but the repeat questions piled up.

What was the problem?

Every school has its own character and its own most frequently asked questions. At the same time, the same applies to all schools: pupils and parents want a quick answer — in the evening too, at the weekend too, when it's busy too. The Umbraco multisite was already in place, but there was nothing yet that could answer automatically. And that while many questions are simply... very predictable.

What did ZAAKS! do?

We started with a pilot at 5 schools. For each school we first did content research: which questions come in most, who answers them now, and what is the right answer? Based on that, we configured a dedicated Watermelon service agent for each school — with school-specific knowledge, the right tone (because a pre-vocational school sounds different from a grammar school) and clear escalation paths for when a question truly deserves human contact.

We took care of the full implementation: technical integration on the school websites, training of the school editorial team and guidance with the organisational adoption. Because a chatbot that nobody knows about doesn't help anybody either.

What do service agents deliver?

The pilot worked so well that it was immediately decided to roll out to 15 additional schools — mid-2026. That says enough. The service agents handle a large share of the first questions. School administrations are relieved. Pupils and parents get an answer immediately.

• 5 service agents live at SARO schools
• 15 new digital employees in preparation (mid-2026)
• Fully customised per school — own tone, own knowledge, own escalation paths
• Integrated into the existing Umbraco multisite

Staff trained, organisation ready for scaling

Would you also like to know whether a service agent is something for your organisation? We always start with a no-obligation conversation and a content inventory. Just call or email.