IDIOM INSIGHTS
KATHLEEN M. PETERSON, POWERHOUSE CONSULTING, INC.
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK
EVOLUTION OF THE CONTACT CENTER PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.
In an industry racing toward Artificial Intelligence( AI), automation, and analytics, it is worth pausing to consider the legacy we have inherited— and the thinking we may need to leave behind. To understand where Contact Centers are going, it helps to remember where they have been and what we have stubbornly carried with us.
A LOOK BACK
My own journey into what was then the“ Call Center” industry began in 1979 through the telecommunications world. At the time, Automatic Call Distribution( ACD) technology was just emerging. The industry was on the brink of massive transformation from analog to digital systems and from regional to centralized support. It was fueled by toll-free numbers and sweeping deregulation.
10 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE
In the 1980s, we owned an“ interconnect telephone company” during a time when ACD systems were in high demand. The ability to intelligently distribute calls was revolutionary at the mass market level, but collecting data was just the beginning. Making sense of that data and using it to improve operations required a new kind of thinking. Even then, many leaders clung to outdated management models that were militaristic and within rigid environments that gave Call Center work a bad name.
The telephone itself had a surprisingly fast adoption curve— one that would make any modern entrepreneur jealous. Alexander Graham Bell was granted his patent in 1876, and by 1877, the first telephone exchange opened in New Haven, Connecticut. These exchanges, run by human operators using cord boards, allowed users to be connected by request. This practice laid the foundation for early Customer Service operations.
Interestingly, the first operators were teenage boys. That didn’ t last. They were quickly replaced— deemed too unruly, unreliable, and impatient for a job that demanded patience and calm. By 1885, the now-iconic“ bustle-clad ladies” became the new face of telephony. They were expected to be polite, silent, obedient, and nearly invisible.
These women were held to exacting standards, constantly monitored by supervisors using“ listening boards,” and penalized for infractions as minor as laughing or smiling. One tragic headline from 1899 reported the suicide of a