Future of the Contact Center

Author: Robin Gareiss, CEO and Principal Analyst Not available for licensing. Despite the economic uncertainty, 65% of companies are increasing their customer engagement technology spending in 2023, by an average of 24%, according to Metrigy’s 2023 Technology Spending Forecast global study of 400 companies. Executives recognize the value of delivering solid customer service, as well as the power customers have thanks largely to social media and web ratings. Though CX budgets are increasing, not all companies spend wisely or fully evaluate necessary technologies. In this report, we evaluate important foundational and advanced technologies that make contact centers successful. Our research shows the following trends and best practices:

• Most companies are moving to cloud architectures, though a measurable percentage plans to stay on-premises. Hybrid architectures offer a good solution to get the best of both worlds.
• Security threats are real in the contact center, but not enough companies are actively implementing technologies to identify and prevent threats. Plenty of technologies are available to identify and mitigate threats; successful companies are developing a solid security strategy.
• CX leaders allow agents to work from home, either full-time or in a hybrid setup. Initially, most companies sent agents home during the pandemic and may not have fully addressed a remote security strategy. As agents are now more permanently positioned to work from home, IT staffs must address threats using encryption and remote security technologies.
• Platform integration helps companies deliver better customer service. Integrating contact centers with other platforms, including Customer Relationship Management, workplace collaboration, and Communications Platform-as-a-Service, gives agents information, automation, and the ability to interact with their peers.
• The number of customer interaction channels companies offer correlates directly with success—the more interaction channels, the better.
• Advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, analytics, and automation, will keep contact centers innovating as they move forward.

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Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Building a Strong Foundation
  • Most Contact Centers Move to the Cloud, but On-Premises Still Common
  • Integrations are Vital to Feature-Rich CX Strategy
  • Channel Adoption: The More, the Better
  • Contact Centers Pose Security Risk
• Must-Have Technologies for Contact Centers of the Future
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Analytics
  • Automation
• Conclusion