The University of Helsinki’s Helpdesk chatbot, Harri Botter, assists users with IT-related issues around the clock, regardless of office hours. The chatbot can answer simple queries and is constantly learning from previous interactions. The development project is led by Unigrafia’s IT support specialist, Simo Niemi, alongside his regular duties.
Background work began at the University of Helsinki in early 2019. Once the service needs and required resources were assessed, the chatbot project was given the go-ahead. In April, Simo Niemi took on the project lead. “My manager asked whether I’d be interested in taking the project forward – and of course, I was,” Niemi explains. “Together with my colleagues Antti Aalto, Adasha Moore, and Aliisa Myyrä, we explored different solutions, compared providers, selected products, and began training the bot to meet the university’s needs.”
The goal of the new service was to automate routine queries sent to the Helpdesk. Niemi estimates that roughly half of all incoming support requests relate to email, user credentials or passwords. “The bot can respond to the most common questions by giving short instructions or directing users to more detailed guides on our Helpdesk website. This gives us more time to handle complex issues that require human support,” Niemi says with satisfaction.
The bot was trained and ready for use in six weeks. “We spent the first couple of weeks learning the bot’s logic,” Niemi says. “We drew diagrams, listed frequently asked questions, and considered the smartest way to structure the system. Then we started inputting question-and-answer pairs into the chatbot’s interface. Internal testing began shortly after – first within the Helpdesk, then with the IT centre staff.”
Before the chatbot could be launched, it needed a name. A small competition among the university’s IT centre staff led to a winning suggestion that referenced Harry Potter. IT specialist Tommi Ekholm, responsible for the project’s administrative side, had a flash of inspiration while walking along the Thames. Harri Botter was born.
Harri has now been online for over six months, responding to more than 15,000 customer queries and successfully resolving 79% of issues independently. Feedback is collected at the end of each chat. In the summer, shortly after the launch, the new service received a great deal of positive feedback. “We were high-fiving each other here – it was going brilliantly,” Niemi laughs. “Then autumn came, studies resumed, the volume of queries increased, and customer ratings dropped like a stone. But that’s understandable – not all users know how to use the bot properly yet. They ask questions that are too complex, and when they don’t get the right answer, they give poor ratings.”
Harri Botter doesn’t learn like an AI solely through conversations; it must be taught. That’s why manual maintenance is still carried out three days a week. On those days, all conversations are reviewed line by line, and Harri’s knowledge base is updated accordingly. Currently, there are around 600 question-and-answer pairs.
The bot’s logic and wording are continuously refined. The user experience is also improved by adjusting the tone and language used in cases where the bot cannot understand the question. Simo Niemi, who is studying information processing, is clearly proud of what has been achieved. “The rollout went really well overall, and training the bot has brought refreshing variety to my daily tasks,” he says. “It’s even brought new energy and drive to my phone support days.”
The Helpdesk’s Harri Botter chatbot supports university staff and students with IT-related issues in Finnish, 24/7, at: https://helpdesk.it.helsinki.fi/en
