Of course, 9 / 11 had a profound emotional impact. The reaction was a mixture of shock, grief, outrage, and perhaps most noticeably, connection. For a brief period, people seemed more patient with one another, more thoughtful, more willing to extend grace. It was a difficult time, but also one that reminded us of our shared humanity. Businesses, meanwhile, were scrambling to assess emergency response plans, security measures, business continuity capabilities, and customer communication strategies. Yet what struck me during my review was that many organizations had only recently emerged from another crisis: Y2K. While the feared system failures never materialized on the scale many anticipated, Y2K had already driven significant investment in technology infrastructure, contingency planning, and operational readiness. Many organizations had upgraded or replaced critical systems shortly before 9 / 11.

This led me to wonder whether 9 / 11 changed the direction of contact centers or simply accelerated changes already underway.

Throughout the 1990s, government deregulation, digital telecommunications, toll-free services, centralized operations, and the emergence of internet commerce were reshaping customer service. Contact centers were growing rapidly, both in scale and strategic importance. Organizations were beginning to recognize that customer interactions represented far more than transactions— they provided insight into customer needs, operational performance, and business opportunities. At the same time, offshoring was gaining momentum, and the industry was expanding globally.

From that perspective, the“ engine of change” was already running well before September 2001.

-- KATHLEEN M. PETERSON

8 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE

BOX 1

Perhaps Alan Jackson said it best when he asked,“ Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September Day?”

It is a question to which none of us will ever forget the answer. I was in an office in Annapolis. We were all huddled around a little 5-inch black and white TV set, trying to get all the news we could about the events of that day while feeling dumbfounded and numb.

It is a day that had such a profound impact on us personally and as a nation. I think it also had important effects on our contact center industry in ways we could not fully appreciate at the time.

We realized the importance of dispersed operations. It showed us that multisite centers could be an organization’ s asset in the face of crisis and emergency. We understood that if one center went down, we could still work and communicate through our network.

I know that remote work really became a necessity during our Covid years, but I do believe that 9 / 11, followed by Covid, had a profound effect on remote work in our industry.

As much as we realized that a multisite center could provide backup, individuals working from home also ensured that business could resume during disasters. Working from home provided scheduling flexibility, as well as the ability to work across time zones, providing better business continuity.

I’ m not sure why it always takes a disaster, but isn’ t that the time when we focus on our operations and procedures? Self-service had been introduced in the late‘ 90s and was taking hold in our industry. But I feel like 9 / 11 really gave it a boost to advance significantly. If customers couldn’ t reach an agent, how could we enable them to help themselves?

Disaster recovery has always been top-of-mind in our centers, but I feel like the meaning really evolved when we started talking about evacuating buildings and the need for mass messaging, not only to our employees but also to our customers. How would that look, and how could we improve for the next event, be it weather-related or an outside attack?

We have learned a lot from this unfortunate experience. In addition to learning what was really important to us personally, we learned how to improve our work environments in areas of safety, mental health for staff, efficiency, and protection of our ongoing business operations.

As President George W. Bush said five years later,“ Yet on that awful day, we witnessed something distinctly American, ordinary citizens rising to the occasion and responding with extraordinary acts of courage.”

Lastly, I would love to think that for all the destruction and sadness of 9 / 11, we learned to be a little kinder and show a little more empathy to others. It was a day that brought us together as a nation.

--Linda Harden