RESEARCH
STEVE MORRELL, CONTACT BABEL
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK
THE GREAT CONTACT CENTER STANDOFF
CUSTOMERS WANT HUMANS, BUSINESSES PUSH AUTOMATION— WHO WINS?
" The 2025 US Contact Center Decision-Makers ' Guide " is based on a survey of 192 U. S. organizations and 1,000 + U. S. customers. This is the 17th annual edition of the report.
This article looks at three major findings from the report – which is free to download:
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE IS UNDER SEVERE PRESSURE
The following chart shows historical figures for average speed to answer and call abandonment rate.
From 2012 onwards there was a gradual increase in average speed to answer, with a considerable uptick in 2020 and 2021 caused by pandemic-related working practices and an increase in demand experienced by some businesses. While this dropped slightly in 2022, the rise has continued in the past two years.
Call abandonment rate did not show any particular upward trend until the same time period, with 2024’ s abandonment rate being the highest yet recorded.( SEE FIGURE 1)
• Operational performance is under severe pressure
• The move to digital and automation seems to have stalled
• Live voice is still the gold standard of service.
ONE OF THE MAIN STRATEGIES FOR ALLEVIATING LONG QUEUE TIMES AND HIGH CALL ABANDONMENT RATES IS CALL DEFLECTION...
14 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE