The contact center stories enterprise IT leaders actually read.
Volume 342, Issue 1 · 6 articles from 3 issues
Contact Center Pipeline Magazine: Inside Our September 2026 Issue. Contact Center Pipeline's September 2026 issue commemorates the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and its transformative impact on contact center business operations, particularly regarding connectivity, security, and business continuity.
The monthly publication addresses core management topics including workforce management, customer experience, workload management, and artificial intelligence.
Featured articles cover AI-orchestrated CX strategies, back office workforce scheduling, agent skill requirements, holiday fulfillment preparation, and CX transformation challenges, contributed by industry thought leaders and advisory board members.
5 Key Contact Center AI Features and Their Benefits
Contact centers increasingly deploy three main categories of AI: conversational and generative AI using LLMs for natural interactions, agentic AI systems that autonomously execute multi-step actions, and predictive analytics for performance optimization.
Key capabilities include advanced conversational IVR systems, self-service chatbots with context awareness, real-time agent coaching, predictive analytics integrated with CRM data, and AI-generated transcription and summaries.
When selecting platforms, organizations should prioritize strong integrations with existing tools, mature generative and agentic AI features with reliable escalation paths, and platforms delivering measurable outcomes on resolution rates and customer satisfaction.
Why Platform Integrity Matters
Platform integrity requires contact centers to maintain safe interaction channels, provide accurate information, and protect customer data.
When integrity breaks down, frustrated customers flood contact centers with complaints, overwhelming agents and damaging brand reputation.
The article outlines six strategies: regularly auditing channels, training agents to spot issues, combining AI with human oversight, protecting personal data, communicating honestly after failures, and learning from mistakes.
For organizations facing volume or complexity challenges, specialized partners offering around-the-clock monitoring and advanced threat detection can supplement internal efforts.
Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a CX Provider
When selecting a CX provider, enterprise buyers should establish clear AI use cases rather than accepting vendor promises that AI will solve all CX issues. Organizations must verify vendors possess relevant industry expertise for their specific vertical and business size.
Pilot deployments do not guarantee enterprise-scale performance, requiring customer references and simulations to validate scalability.
Integration capabilities with legacy systems and existing platforms are critical for successful modernization. Finally, CX decisions must involve stakeholders across the organization, not just contact center leadership, to reflect the holistic nature of contemporary customer experience strategies.
Cloud phone systems need safeguards beyond provider redundancy to keep contact centers reliable.
While cloud-based unified communications offer greater redundancy than on-premises systems, organizations must add protections against failure. Critical strategies include establishing redundant network connectivity from separate providers, enforcing strict security protocols with multifactor authentication, continuously monitoring system health and bandwidth performance, and keeping software patches current. These measures address client-side risks that could cause outages even when the cloud provider's own infrastructure remains operational, ensuring customer calls are still answered.
A Gartner survey of 3,500+ customers finds most still want the option to reach a human agent.
A Gartner survey of over 3,500 B2B and B2C customers found 87% believe companies using generative AI for support must still provide human agent access, and 90% want the option to speak with a person, even though 50% say generative AI makes interactions easier.
The survey reveals a persistent split between customers enthusiastic about self-service and those wanting human contact.
Experts say successful AI implementation requires transparent disclosure of AI involvement, clear explanation of AI reasoning, and easy escalation to human representatives.
More from Call Centers · All IT section newsletters · This week