Contact Center Pipeline July 2025 | Page 10

In industries like retail or travel, where routine inquiries such as checking order status, processing returns, and managing reservations are more common, high-volume, high-efficiency automation would be most effective.

Outbound customer contact benefits organizations and customers and prospects alike by presenting both critical, helpful information and attractive offers.

Unfortunately, this engagement method has been struggling, what with rampant fraud, overly aggressive practices, and resulting customer distrust and annoyance, leading to tough, restrictive legislation.

But could outbound be coming back? What changes are happening that could make it more effective and acceptable?

Here’ s what two of our panelists had to say.

KEVIN MCNULTY: Outbound customer contact is undergoing a reinvention. Historically, outbound meant either dialing for dollars or triggering follow-ups based on static rules. But with smarter AI, better data integration, and rising expectations for personalization, it’ s becoming more predictive, relevant, and omnichannel.

At the same time, there’ s no ignoring the elephant in the room: fraud and spam have trained customers not to pick up the phone. Robocalls, spoofed numbers, and irrelevant outreach have created a trust gap that impacts even legitimate brands. Consumers are answering fewer calls and ignoring unknown numbers, which means outreach must now be more thoughtful, transparent, and permission-based.

What’ s changing is the how and why of outbound. It ' s less about pushing messages and more about orchestrating engagement.

AI is helping determine the right time, channel, and content for outreach: whether it ' s a proactive message about a delay, an automated loyalty offer via SMS, or a copilot nudging an agent to follow up on an abandoned cart.

Done right, outbound becomes part of the experience, not an interruption. The key is context: when outreach is timely, relevant, and clearly tied to a known relationship, customers are far more likely to engage.

NEERAJ VERMA: Outbound engagement has advanced dramatically: not just in volume, but in sophistication. Today’ s outreach is more timely, relevant, and personalized. We’ re seeing this transformation firsthand where intelligent outbound interactions are driving measurable gains in customer engagement and operational efficiency.

The use of agentic for proactive customer interaction extends far beyond traditional outbound campaigns. Organizations are now leveraging AI for fraud detection, accident response, and even real-time event-driven outreach.

For example, instead of a customer calling their insurer after an accident, the insurer contacts them to say they are aware and are working on a claim. Or consider vehicle theft: instead of the owner reporting a stolen car, the car itself flags the incident and notifies the owner.

These are powerful shifts. Agentic AI is not just reacting to customer needs: it’ s anticipating them. And as this technology matures, I believe we’ ll see a tipping point where outbound interactions vastly outpace inbound ones. That’ s not just a trend: it’ s a reflection of what customers increasingly expect: intelligent, timely, and proactive experiences.

Regardless of industry, automation should never be“ set and forget.” The key to ongoing success lies in the regular evaluation of both the customer and agent experience. Is the system reducing wait times? Are issues resolved on first contact? What does sentiment analysis reveal about satisfaction or frustration?

Regular audits, supported by real-time analytics, customer feedback, and agent insights, ensure that automation tools stay aligned with evolving expectations. The more visibility you have into real consumer behavior, the more effectively you can improve your contact center strategies to balance effortless use, efficiency, and engagement.

NV: When it comes to choosing, deploying, and using Agentic AI, there are a few key strategies that can make a real difference.

First, start with analytics. Think of analytics as your roadmap; it helps you to understand where the biggest challenges lie and where you can make the most impact. By using Agentic AI to analyze customer interactions, you can pinpoint the areas that need the most attention. This way, you ' re not just guessing where improvements are needed: you ' re making data-driven decisions.

Next, focus on human augmentation. AI is a powerful tool that can enhance the capabilities of human agents. Think of AI as a partner that helps them work more efficiently and accurately, while ensuring customer service excellence.

Brendan Read is Editor of Contact Center Pipeline. He has been covering and working in customer service and sales and for contact center companies for most of his career. Brendan has edited and written for leading industry publications and has been an industry analyst. He also has authored and co-authored books on contact center design, customer support, and working from home. Brendan can be reached at brendan @ contactcenterpipeline. com.

10 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE