Top contact center trends for 2023 and beyond

Whether it’s through our Customer Advisory Board, attending the world’s biggest expos, or even in our daily client chats, we continuously gain meaningful insights into the biggest focuses of the contact center industry.

In this article, we use our sector knowledge to explore five particular market trends that we feel will be pivotal in 2023 and beyond.

1. Mitigating platforms to boost agent productivity

From CRMs and reporting, to customer channels and ticketing systems, contact centers have long been supplemented with new tools to drive higher levels of performance. 

The irony here is that the more platforms one uses to boost productivity, the less productive they actually become. Contact center workers are certainly no exception to this, with a huge 70% of agents ranking the navigation of multiple tools as their number one productivity challenge.

A key reason for this adverse impact is something known as “context switching” – e.g. continually moving between different projects or tasks to adequately perform in one’s role. According to research by Cornell University, it takes people an average of nine and a half minutes to get back into a productive workflow after switching between different applications. In the life of a contact center agent, who typically conducts inbound and outbound call handling, ticketing, data entry, training etc. – and often does this using different platforms – this amounts to a significant productivity time loss in just one working day.

And what about the effects on the contact center itself when using several, standalone technologies? Comprehensive reporting across platforms and locations is highly complex, data tends not to be structured in an ordered or optimized way, and integrations can often be very difficult and costly.

Cloud contact center software is rapidly becoming the panacea for diminishing the need to use multiple applications. It’s a single platform equipped with channels and features that agents need to perform at their highest level, affords supervisors with transparency and control over activities, and supports wide integration of additional applications via APIs and webhooks. It’s for reasons such as this why the CCaaS market is projected to triple in size in the next six years alone and become a mainstay for the contact center industry.

2. Advancing and evolving remote work

It’s common knowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst for the global remote working shift. At its highest point, 90% of all contact center agents were working remotely.

While this number has gradually decreased since then, it’s only partially given way to hybrid working models, which are now the preferred work method for contact centers and their agents alike. This is strongly evidenced in the BPO industry, a sector that’s made up of a high percentage of contact center organizations. 70%+ of BPO staff favor hybrid more than any alternative and companies intend for hybrid to be their primary work model for the years ahead.

Just some of the realized benefits include reduced operational costs, wider access agent talent pools, and an expansion of global service delivery. There are also already some prominent examples of success, with one notable case being Teleperformance’s Cloud Campus of remote agents (representing 71% of their total workforce).

While the future seems bright for remote or hybrid agent working models, there are still a number of hurdles to overcome. These include maintaining and monitoring productivity levels, training and development of agents, keeping customer data secure, and enabling effective internal communication. 

Virtual contact center software has become a key mechanism for addressing these challenges, and, because it’s cloud-based, it can be easily deployed anywhere in the world. The benefits of this and other features are illustrated in our video about managing a remote contact center workforce.

3. A big push on automation, with AI as the holy grail

In 2022, VCC Live held its first Customer Advisory Board event, bringing together contact center leaders from several industries to share and discuss their respective long-term objectives. 

Automation came out on top as the primary trend that most would like to further incorporate into their activities – with a particular focus on solutions for customer self-service. There are a number of reasons for the automation push, however, four key motivations stand out:

1. Easing economic pressures by reducing costs through enhanced efficiency
2. Growing customer experience by providing personalized solutions at any time
3. Safeguarding against attrition by automating typically agent-oriented tasks   
4. Adding more customer value by allowing agents to focus on their needs

In terms of practical applications in the contact center, automation can take on many different forms: everything from routine activities such as exporting data reports and transferring tickets, to accelerating outreach with predictive dialers and outbound IVR.

We’re now, however, seeing far more involvement of AI in automation, with predictions that it will increase contact center productivity by 35% in the US alone by 2040. Customer service appears to be the area where AI-led solutions are being most commonly applied at present, through innovations such as AI chatbots, sentiment analysis with natural language processing (NLP), and even conversational IVR with Google Dialogflow.

Gartner predicts that, by the year 2026, conversational AI technologies – including chatbots and IVR – will reduce agent labor costs by $80 billion. Combine this with a CX-obsessed industry landscape and it’s clear to see why AI will be one of the biggest trends over the next few years.

4. Recognizing customer service as a profit center

It’s no secret that the contact center industry’s focus on customer experience has grown significantly in recent times. According to McKinsey’s 2022 State of Customer Care report, improving CX is now the fastest-growing priority area for customer care leaders; increasing by 19% in the last three years alone. 

The key motivator here is customer retention because not only does it preserve revenue, it also increases a company’s overall profit by anywhere between 25% and 95% (Bain & Company). Reports also show that companies providing a “significantly above average” customer experience perform better financially than their competitors.

It’s for reasons such as this why customer service as a profit center has become more than just a valid notion, but now something that’s been realized and plays a pivotal role in an organization’s financial success. 

So, what customer service activities can be looked at for bringing a positive impact on an organization’s bottom line?

It may seem simple, but, while contact centers might be eager to capitalize on the latest CX technologies, it’s just as valuable not to lose focus on core customer activities that research shows has a huge role in retention.

Looking at some of the most common factors above, there’s only one pain point listed (“switching channels”) for which CX technology is ideal: omnichannel. All other factors above can be improved through robust call handling processes and solid agent training programs.

Beyond always striving to get the basics right, we also expect to see the most focus on three key areas: 

1. Making the customer’s lives easier through the use of biometrics, visual assistance, and over-the-phone payments
2. Increased personalization through leveraging existing customer data, offering unique solutions, and regularly asking for feedback
3. Improving self-service capabilities through using AI chatbots, intelligent IVR, and portals

5. Voice will be king for some time yet

Given the rise of omnichannel functionality and growing capabilities to connect with customers in different ways, it’s easy to overlook the importance of voice communication. As of 2022, voice remains the number one preferred channel for customers.

Voice is also the heavily favored choice of customer service professionals for handling complex issues; with 81% choosing it as their preferred method.

It’s a channel that’s seemingly impossible to replace for a number of reasons. For customers, it provides the assurances that their query is being dealt with in the most caring and swift manner. For businesses, it serves as a valued method for handling time-sensitive matters; such as achieving issue resolution, scheduling appointments, or closing sales. 

So, while the ability to communicate and engage customers over more channels is the main goal – of which omnichannel will continue to play a pivotal role – voice will still be king for some time yet. But how can contact centers seek ways of evolving their voice channels even further?

The most obvious trend is the adoption of VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) technology, which has overtaken its traditional landline counterpart in very recent times – and the reasons for its preference are abundantly clear. According to 2022 research, 90% of businesses using VoIP report cost savings on international calls and 75% on overall operating costs. As average internet speed and reliability improves, VoIP will only go from strength to strength for upholding high-quality conversations with customers.

Another, more recent area for leveling up voice communications is speech analytics technology, which helps to continuously improve over-the-phone customer interactions by examining patterns in recorded call data. A 2022 McKinsey insights piece provides an example of its application. A contact center’s average handle time (AHT) was particularly high. To find a solution, the company introduced speech analytics which helped to identify each agent’s specific strengths and weaknesses. They then used this data to apply targeted coaching for individual agents, which replaced their previous generic training methods, and AHT improved as a result.

Leveling up your contact center with VCC Live

VCC Live is the cloud contact center software for delivering your best customer experience. Equipped with multiple channels, customizable features and adaptive integrations, our single platform makes it easier than ever to manage all of your contact center activities.

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