The contact center plays a critical role in shaping customer experience (CX) in today’s always-on, digital-first world. Over the years, contact center technology has evolved significantly, with new innovations constantly enhancing customer interactions.
In 2018, the industry’s top priority is delivering seamless, integrated, and personalized CX. According to IBM Watson’s Christie Schneider, businesses are focusing on advanced data analytics, machine learning, and social listening technologies to enhance customer journeys¹. This trend, first identified in a 2015 Dimension Data survey, continues to gain momentum².
The 2017 Dimension Data report highlights how CX will improve through heightened personalization, intelligent automation, and data-driven customer journeys³. Businesses are now using advanced analytics and AI to better understand customer patterns and enhance engagement strategies.
Here are the four biggest contact center technology trends shaping CX in 2018:
1. Advanced Analytics for Data-Driven CX
Today's customers generate vast amounts of digital breadcrumbs across multiple platforms. Businesses are leveraging advanced analytics to make sense of this data and provide hyper-personalized customer experiences.
Leading global business communication firm Mitel notes that real-time CX dashboards are becoming standard, helping contact center agents analyze customer histories and engage more effectively⁴.
How Analytics Enhances CX
Consider this scenario: A customer, Mary, clicks on an email from her insurance provider about a policy renewal. She follows the embedded link to the website, which immediately recognizes her and opens a chat window. The chatbot greets her and offers an early-bird discount. Since company records show that Mary previously inquired about pregnancy coverage, the chatbot proactively suggests adding child coverage to her plan.
Thanks to AI-powered analytics, Mary receives a tailored offer in real time, making her experience effortless and increasing the likelihood of a conversion.
2. Omni-Channel Customer Engagement
Modern contact centers integrate AI, analytics tools, CRM systems, and knowledge management applications to deliver consistent, cross-platform CX.
According to Dimension Data, the top customer engagement channels for 2018 include⁵:
-
Chatbots
-
Instant messaging (IM) and web chat
-
Mobile apps
-
Video chat
-
Internet of Things (IoT) interactions
Fonolo’s Daniela Puzzo and Mindsight’s analysts predict that first-contact resolution (FCR) will be the most crucial customer service metric of 2018⁶ ⁷.
With AI-driven omnichannel routing, customers experience seamless transitions between chatbots, live agents, and self-service portals. For example:
-
A caller is authenticated using voiceprint analysis.
-
AI determines whether the inquiry can be handled by a bot or a live agent.
-
If the issue is complex, the system automatically escalates the call to the appropriate agent before the customer even realizes it.
-
Calls are routed based on agent expertise, ensuring faster, more effective resolutions.
3. Conversational Commerce With AI-Powered Bots
Chatbots and virtual assistants (VAs) are revolutionizing customer service. In 2018, businesses are deploying 24/7 voice- and text-activated bots that:
-
Track customer interactions and update CRM systems in real time.
-
Analyze customer preferences and behaviors to deliver context-aware responses.
-
Engage in human-like, natural language conversations.
Schneider refers to this trend as "conversational commerce", where bots personalize customer interactions while maintaining a human touch.
According to Aceyus, bots use machine learning to access customer data, including schedules, preferences, and purchasing history⁸. This allows businesses to anticipate customer needs and deliver proactive recommendations.
4. AI-Driven Self-Service
The millennial generation increasingly prefers DIY solutions, favoring self-service portals, chatbots, and knowledge bases over traditional customer support.
A Contact Center Pipeline survey found that improving self-service technology ranked as the second-highest industry priority in 2018⁹. Similarly, Mindsight lists self-service as one of 2018’s top trends⁷.
To enhance self-service capabilities, businesses are:
-
Upgrading knowledge management (KM) systems for quick and accurate information retrieval.
-
Implementing powerful AI-driven search tools for faster self-navigation.
-
Ensuring seamless hand-offs from self-service to assisted-service when needed.
With automation, AI, and IoT driving digital transformation, businesses must centralize customer data, refine data management strategies, and integrate real-time analytics into their service operations.
Wrapping Up
The customer service landscape is rapidly evolving, with AI, automation, and analytics redefining contact center operations. Businesses that embrace omnichannel engagement, AI-driven self-service, and data-powered decision-making will deliver superior CX and stay ahead of the competition.
As these trends gain momentum, contact centers must continuously adapt to provide frictionless, personalized, and efficient customer experiences in the years ahead.
References
[1] https://www.ibm.com/blogs/watson/2017/10/top-7-trends-for-enterprise-call-centers-in-2018/
[2] http://theforum.social/News/ArticleId/3487/Dimension-Data-Global-Contact-Centre-Benchmarking-Report
[3] https://dimensiondatacx.com/
[4] https://www.mitel.com/blog/9-call-center-trends-2018
[5] https://fonolo.com/blog/2017/11/9-critical-contact-center-trends-for-2018-white-paper/
[6] https://www.gomindsight.com/blog/contact-center-trends-2018/
[7] https://www.aceyus.com/resource-center/blog/6-exciting-contact-center-trends-to-watch-in-2018
[8] http://contactcenterpipeline.com/CcpViewIndex.aspx?PubType=6
