Effort is also not a constant between customers. For some, driving to an office or branch and speaking face-to-face is a major effort. For others, worrying about navigating around a self-service application and making sense of jargon, is a bigger effort.
Many younger customers actually get stressed about the idea of calling a contact center, and will try to avoid this wherever possible. In fact, our research shows that the youngest customer demographics place greater importance than older customers on having " polite and friendly agents ", as they lack the confidence that comes with the experience of using this channel.
The urgency, complexity, and emotional content of their interaction also plays a large part in their channel choice. Our survey( SEE FIGURE 4) shows U. S. customers’ primary channel preference for high emotion, high urgency, and high complexity interactions, from end-2018 to end-2024, based on annual surveys of 1,000 U. S. customers.
Considering that the prevalence of digital channels and self-service has increased so much in recent years, it is a surprise to see that the preference for the phone channel as the first port-ofcall has risen so much, particularly for complex and urgent matters.
The timing suggests that the initial change may well be pandemic-driven( although the 2020 figure does not reflect this, as the surveys are carried out in early Q2 each year before the full impact hit).
Regardless of the reasons – a greater need for reassurance or a perceived danger in wasting time with digital channels – it should be noted that customers’ preference for the phone channel remains higher than ever, even after the lockdowns are now only a memory.
These data show that businesses can’ t assume customers will use digital channels just because they’ re there.
FIGURE 5 WHICH CHANNEL WOULD IT BE BEST FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS TO USE FOR SERVICE / SALES / COMPLAINTS?
These channels need to become better – not only quicker, easier to use, and more effective – but also widely perceived as such across the whole industry.
Digital channels must improve, and by using AI to do this, businesses will reduce their cost per service interaction, as well as make these channels more effective and rewarding for customers to use.
SUMMARY
" The 2025 US Contact Center Decision-Makers ' Guide " shows an industry in flux, where despite the growing opportunities to move from live voice to digital and automated channels, customers have a growing preference to talk with human agents in complex, emotional, and urgent situations.
This reluctance to give up the voice channel is putting increasing pressure on operational performance, raising costs, and damaging customer experience.
Despite the rise in the use of automation – especially chatbots – the contact center industry needs to invest not just in the technology to deliver more sophisticated and personalized self-service experiences, but also in making more of their internal systems processes and data available for this technology to access.
The final word should be left to the contact centers themselves. Contact center
RESEARCH
survey respondents were asked to assess which channel they would recommend customers to use if they had a complaint, a sales query, or a service query.
Telephony is the most frequently recommended specific channel in all cases, being particularly strong in complaint handling.
While a substantial minority of businesses recommend customers solve their own service issues online, and email is seen by 15 % of respondents as the best way to make a complaint, this chart recognizes the ongoing dominance of the live voice channel.( SEE FIGURE 5)
" The 2025 US Contact Center Decision-Makers ' Guide " is available for free download from https:// www. contactbabel. com / the-us-contact-center-decision-makers-guide /
Steve Morrell is the Managing Director of ContactBabel, which was founded in 2001 to provide high-quality research and analysis to the US and UK contact center industries.
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