THE IVR— WHAT COMES NEXT?
If the bill gains traction, transparency will no longer be optional. Customers may need to be told, in plain English, when they are interacting with AI( Artificial Intelligence) or if the call is being handled offshore. And they have the right to speak to a U. S.-based human. That disclosure won’ t be buried at the end of a queue or tucked into terms and conditions. It will have to happen up front, right in the greeting.
Imagine hearing your expectations and the brand’ s obligations before you even navigate any menus. What a shift! Transparency becomes operational, not optional. Every call that starts must honor the customer’ s right to know who( or what) they are speaking to and where that person resides.
AI – FRIEND OR FOE?
For years, organizations have poured billions into AI, often prioritizing“ efficiency efforts”( it’ s not efficient if it doesn’ t work) over Customer Experience outcomes. AI is fantastic when it improves response time, scales knowledge, or predicts issues before they become problems. But Congress is sending a clear message: you cannot hide AI from the customer and you cannot force them to use it.
For Contact Center leaders, that is a double-edged sword. Transparency about AI usage may initially feel like a threat.( Will the customer refuse to interact with the bot?) But it is also an opportunity. By being honest and upfront, companies can manage expectations, create smoother human handoffs, and demonstrate that AI augments, not obstructs service.
Companies must make their bots“ easy to do business with.” Far too often the resistance to alternative channels, use of AI interactions, and repeated suggestions to visit the web site simply do not work. The reality is that the experience must be a pleasant one; then only the truly hard cases will need to escalate to a human.
OFFSHORING UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
The bill creates a public“ Offshore Call Center List,” and being on that list could cost company access to federal grants or loan guarantees for five years. Suddenly, offshoring is no longer just a labor cost calculation; it is a reputational and regulatory decision. Consumers now have a reason to care about where their service is handled and lawmakers are prepared to enforce it.
For Contact Centers, this may require a strategic review of outsourcing arrangements, including vendor transparency, reporting, and compliance. Offshore operations must be able to demonstrate not just efficiency or cost savings, but unique capabilities, quality, and responsiveness.
RESHORING REQUIRED FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTORS
For federal contractors, the stakes are even higher. Any Call Center work performed under a federal contract must happen inside the U. S. That may require renegotiating contracts, reshoring functions, expanding domestic staffing, and redesigning routing logic. This is the most immediate operational impact for organizations that relied heavily on offshore vendors.
A NEW ERA OF ACCOUNTABILITY
This bill also reflects a broader trend. Customer Experience is becoming a measure of accountability. The era of hiding inefficiency behind automation, outsourcing, and IVRs is ending. Customers, regulators, and Congress are aligned on one thing: service must work and it must be transparent.
Contact Center leaders must audit their IVR interactions, evaluate the role of AI, ensure that U. S.-based human access is real, and examine vendor relationships for compliance and transparency. The status quo may no longer be enough.
PREPARATION FOR OUTSOURCERS
If the bill advances, outsourcers will face unprecedented scrutiny. Location transparency will be mandatory. AI usage will be disclosed. Customers will have the right to choose a U. S.-based agent. Public lists may reveal which companies have offshored work – affecting federal funding and brand perception.
FROM THE SIDELINES
ELIMINATION IS INFINITELY MORE POWERFUL THAN AUTOMATION.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Whether the Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025 bill becomes law or not, the warning is clear. Consumers have lost patience and their frustrations are no longer invisible. Contact Centers must prepare for a world in which transparency, choice, and accountability are mandatory, not optional.
This is the rare moment when doing the right thing aligns with public momentum. It is time to lead, modernize, and show what Customer Experience actually looks like when it is intentional, accessible, and human-centered.
As I have said for decades,“ Elimination is infinitely more powerful than automation.” If internal operations work well enough that the consumer does not need to call at all, there is no need for concern. There is no need for fancy IVRs, no risk of legislative attention, and no frustration for customers. The best Call Center is the one that customers never have to call. But when they do( usually as a last resort) make access easy!
This bill is a signal that operational shortcuts such as hiding location, automating without purpose, or burying the phone number will no longer be invisible. They will soon carry measurable brand risk and potentially legal consequences. The time to prepare is now, not after legislation passes!
Kathleen Peterson is an internationally acclaimed Contact Center and Customer Experience expert with more than four decades of advising global organizations on organizational design, workforce management, quality assurance, performance analytics, and the practical application of technology to support scale and growth.
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