Top Contact Center Trends to Watch in 2025

CMSWIRE

The contact center of 2025: more AI, more automation, more personalization.

The Gist

AI-powered transformation. Contact centers are rapidly adopting AI-driven solutions to enhance customer service and streamline operations.
Generative AI’s impact. Large language models (LLMs) and automation tools are enabling more natural, efficient customer interactions.
Empowered agents. AI is augmenting workforce management, reducing burnout, and allowing agents to focus on high-value interactions.
Customer-centric evolution. Businesses are shifting focus from traditional metrics to customer satisfaction and loyalty-driven KPIs.
Security and compliance. Enhanced AI-powered threat detection and data privacy measures are becoming critical priorities for contact centers.

Businesses are doubling down on innovations like generative AI, advanced analytics and conversational intelligence to redefine how they engage with customers through contact centers.

These tools are no longer optional but essential for meeting rising customer expectations for personalization, efficiency and customer service and support. This article explores the top trends set to shape the contact center industry in 2025 and examines how these technologies are transforming customer interactions into more intuitive, meaningful experiences.

Several key technological trends are expected to significantly impact contact/call centers, shaping both their operational framework and the overall customer experience.

Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs)

Generative AI, fueled by large language models (LLMs), is transforming customer interactions by enabling context-aware, natural conversations. Unlike traditional NLU systems, generative AI goes beyond understanding language to generating human-like responses tailored to individual customers. This shift allows businesses to deliver faster, more accurate resolutions while enhancing empathy and personalization.

As AI evolves, the integration of LLMs and large action models (LAMs) is poised to transform customer experience and operational efficiency. LLMs interpret inquiries with deep understanding, processing language, context and sentiment, while LAMs autonomously manage routine tasks such as password resets and billing inquiries. This frees human agents to focus on complex or emotionally sensitive issues, enhancing the overall quality of customer service.

“The fusion of LLMs and LAMs promises to revolutionize customer experience and operational efficiency,” said Raffaella Bianchi, CRO of Covisian. “This balance of AI and human interaction allows businesses to offer speed, accuracy and empathy, ensuring that customers receive prompt solutions while benefiting from human interaction.”

Applications include virtual agents capable of resolving complex queries, real-time transcription and translation for multilingual support and conversational intelligence tools that provide agents with actionable insights during calls.

AI-Augmented Workforce Management

AI is revolutionizing workforce management by optimizing agent workflows, reducing burnout and improving overall employee satisfaction. With AI handling repetitive tasks like call triage and routine inquiries, agents can focus on higher-value interactions that require emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills.

“AI chatbots reduce agent burnout, allowing employees to focus on more complex tasks that need additional attention,” said Nima Hakimi, CEO and co-founder of Convoso. “Inbound teams are increasingly shifting to proactive outreach to customers, requiring adjustments to their strategies. As AI takes on more inbound requests, companies move agents to profit-center work, relying on evolving technology to handle repetitive tasks to free up time for live agents.”

Hakimi suggested that as AI agents play a greater role in contact centers, businesses will need to continue to evaluate customer satisfaction to ensure business is being handled efficiently and customer experience remains a top priority.

AI-Powered Scheduling and Training: Boosting Flexibility, Retention and Customer Satisfaction

Additionally, AI-powered tools are enabling smarter scheduling, including part-time and split-shift options. Melissa Copeland, principal at Blue Orbit Consulting, explained that AI allows companies to split customer service roles, some more technical, some less so.

“This allows for two things: workers to experience unique schedules — part-time, full-time, and split shifts — that give them better work-life balance and reduced call times because easy-to-manage tasks like call triage can be handled quickly and efficiently, allowing more experienced workers to concentrate on resolving more complicated situations,” said Copeland.

This flexibility not only improves work-life balance but also increases agent retention and engagement. Real-time coaching systems are also becoming a staple in training programs, using AI to provide immediate feedback and skill development tailored to each agent’s performance.

By aligning workforce capabilities with advanced AI tools, businesses can create a more satisfied and empowered workforce, directly enhancing customer interactions. Bianchi emphasized that “responsible AI means leveraging AI tools when they add value and not forcing customers into frustrating technology-only interactions.”

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Bianchi described a human-first approach, where agents initially assess customer needs and selectively use AI for tasks like gathering data, processing payments or scheduling. Bianchi said that this balance “makes customers feel respected, establishes responsibility and leaves them more satisfied,” while also improving agent efficiency by offloading routine tasks.

Related Article: What Is a Call Center? How They Work

Emphasis on Customer Experience (CX)

In 2025, creating a balance between efficiency and empathy remains a central focus for customer experience strategies.

David Singer, global vice president of go-to-market strategy at Verint, highlighted how AI-driven tools are enabling contact centers to understand and respond to customer emotions in real time.

“AI can gauge customer sentiment and emotions during interactions, alerting supervisors in real time to help the agent solve the customer’s issue,” said Singer. “The difference between providing a ‘correct’ response versus an empathetic response in your IVA can create a customer who is eager to engage and become an advocate for your brand.” Learning OpportunitiesWebinarFeb27Content Strategy Leaders Live: Digital Content Transformation in ManufacturingJoin us to elevate your content strategy and boost product documentation. Register now!Register WebinarFeb27CX Without Blind Spots: Delivering Excellence from Agent to End CustomerA fireside chat on how to anticipate, adapt & excel for seamless customer experiences.Register WebinarMar6Content Strategy Leaders Live: Digital Content Transformation in Financial ServicesDon’t miss out on this opportunity to elevate your financial content strategy. Register now and secure your spot!Register WebinarMar12Beyond the Obvious: The New Era of Interaction ManagementJoin our webinar to automate risk detection, unify interactions, and simplify compliance. Don’t miss out—register now!Register WebinarMar20Empowering CX Professionals: Using Insights to Overcome Frontline ChallengesDiscover how to use surveys to uncover actionable insights that empower CX teams.Register WebinarMar20The Secrets to Transforming Your WebsiteGain actionable strategies to revolutionize your content migration and enhance performance – secure your spot today!Register View all

“AI can provide unparalleled insight into the customer and agent experience on calls while assessing the emotional connection between customers and agents,” said Singer. This customer-centric focus is becoming paramount for all businesses, but particularly for contact centers. Driven by the understanding that exceptional CX is a key differentiator in today’s competitive market, the emphasis on CX in contact centers is expected to be a prominent trend this year, and will have a multifaceted impact on their overall strategic approach and how they operate.

AI as an Empowerment Tool: Strengthening Customer-Agent Connections

AI is increasingly being used to empower agents rather than replace them, a trend that strengthens the emotional connection between customers and brands.

Carlos Aragon, senior director of product marketing at Vonage, explained how AI enhances agents’ ability to engage empathetically while streamlining operational workflows.

“AI-driven solutions excel at managing routine inquiries, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex interactions where empathy, patience and understanding are critical,” said Aragon. “Ultimately, AI serves as an enabler of efficiency while empowering agents to deliver personalized, human-centric support.”

Additionally, traditional contact center metrics like average handle time (AHT) are likely to take a backseat to more customer-centric KPIs such as customer satisfaction scores (CSAT), Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and first call resolution (FCR), as they better reflect the quality of the customer experience.

As contact centers adopt AI, maintaining a human-first approach is key to building trust and satisfaction. Bianchi underscored the need to avoid technology-only interactions by leveraging AI when it adds value and empowers agents to handle complex or emotional scenarios.

“This human-first approach makes customers feel respected, establishes responsibility, and leaves them more satisfied,” said Bianchi. “It also creates agent efficiencies by offloading tasks that AI can do and managing data on the back end.”

AI and Automation Proliferation

In 2025, AI plays an even more pivotal role in contact centers. From AI-powered chatbots handling initial customer inquiries to sophisticated algorithms predicting customer needs, AI is streamlining operations and enabling personalized customer interactions. Automation, alongside and augmented by AI, is expected to handle more complex tasks, reducing response times and enhancing efficiency.

As AI becomes more integrated into contact centers, its ability to deliver tangible outcomes is driving widespread adoption.

“AI in customer contact centers is saving companies millions of dollars through CX automation that drives efficiency, consistency, accuracy and compliance,” said Singer. “This trend is enabling businesses to achieve measurable results in weeks, not years.”

According to a December 2024 Gartner survey, 85% of customer service leaders plan to explore or pilot customer-facing conversational generative AI solutions in 2025. According to a separate Gartner poll, 38% of leaders polled consider the improvement of CX and customer retention as the primary goal of initiatives using LLMs.

This increase in the use of conversational generative AI is a testament to how businesses are leveraging technology to streamline operations. “Generative AI will continue to enhance customer interactions by powering more natural, context-aware conversations through virtual agents and real-time transcription and translation,” said Aragon. These advancements are reducing wait times and improving resolution rates across customer touchpoints.

AI Adoption Gains Customer Support While Enhancing Service Efficiency

In addition, a recent study by UnitedCallCenters revealed that 58% of residential customers support the use of AI in order to satisfy their customer services needs at a higher level. The report showed that although 78% of those polled believe live support is more reliable than AI, there are many automated tasks that are being successfully accomplished by AI as part of a self-service system, including checking the status of an order, making appointments, data reconciliations and checks, and preparing service requests for live assistance.

It’s been said that we are currently living in the era of artificial intelligence, and AI is being “baked in” to many of the applications that we use every day. AI is becoming ubiquitous, and is beginning to become pervasive, especially in industries such as customer service, where there are so many opportunities to leverage the technology.

Automation is also reshaping workforce efficiency by offloading routine tasks to AI. “LAMs can autonomously handle routine tasks such as password resets, billing inquiries, or troubleshooting, freeing human agents to focus on more complex or emotionally sensitive issues,” said Bianchi. This balance ensures scalability while maintaining high-quality customer experiences.

Omnichannel Communication

The trend toward omnichannel communication in contact centers is reflective of a broader shift towards digital customer service, as recently reported in a Gartner report on the three technologies that will transform customer service by 2025.

This shift is focused on creating seamless, efficient and responsive customer experiences across multiple digital channels, which is a typical consumer expectation today. As such, contact centers are likely to enhance their omnichannel strategies, ensuring consistent and effective communication whether the customer engages via phone, social media, email, or live chat, and enhancing overall satisfaction and loyalty.

The Business Case for Omnichannel Digital Customer Service

This drive toward omnichannel digital customer service has several benefits for the contact center, including:

Living up to Customer Expectations for Instant Service: Customers today expect quick and efficient responses to their inquiries. This expectation has been shaped by the wide availability and accessibility of digital channels, prompting businesses to adapt and offer instantaneous service options.
Seamless Experience Across Multiple Channels: The introduction of more digital channels, while offering flexibility and choice, can also lead to increased customer effort as they navigate between these platforms. As a result, a major focus of digital customer service is to ensure that the transition between channels is seamless.
Integration of Conversational AI and Self-Service: The rise of conversational AI technologies and a growing preference for self-service options are transforming engagement models. These technologies are being used to provide more intuitive and responsive customer experiences, often in real-time.
Reducing Friction and Customer Effort: By creating a streamlined, omnichannel customer experience, digital customer service aims to reduce friction and eliminate unnecessary customer effort. This approach is crucial in enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as in reducing churn.
Transformative Impact on Customer Experience: The implementation of digital customer service technologies is expected to significantly transform customer experience outcomes. By minimizing pain points and aligning with customer preferences for digital engagement, businesses can create more satisfying and effective customer service interactions.

Advanced Security and Privacy Measures

With the introduction of generative AI into the industry, and as contact centers collect and process vast amounts of sensitive customer data, security has become an increasing concern. Implementing advanced security protocols and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations will be critical to maintain customer trust and avoid legal repercussions.

“Many organizations struggle with fragmented or low-quality datasets, which can reduce the effectiveness of AI models,” said Singer. “Businesses must invest in data cleansing and governance frameworks to ensure their AI systems are trained on strong, reliable data.” This focus on data integrity not only enhances AI performance but also mitigates security risks associated with poorly managed information.

According to CallMiner’s 2023 CX Landscape Report, 45% of CX and contact center leaders said they’re concerned about AI exposing their company to security risks, 43% are worried about the technology spreading misinformation and 41% are fearful of AI giving biased or inappropriate responses in CX and customer service use cases.

Contact centers are poised to significantly bolster their data security and privacy measures, addressing the sensitive nature of customer information they handle. Enhanced encryption methods, crucial for protecting data both at rest and in transit, will see the adoption of more sophisticated algorithms.

Strengthening Security and Compliance in AI-Driven Contact Centers

Advanced analytics and AI are playing a growing role in threat detection.

“AI can analyze large volumes of data very quickly and accurately, identifying patterns and trends that might signal potential security risks,” said Arago. This proactive approach helps businesses detect anomalies and address vulnerabilities before they escalate. The role of AI in threat detection will become more prominent, mirroring initiatives such as CISA’s use of AI for security. AI’s ability to swiftly identify and respond to security threats through pattern analysis and anomaly detection will be key in this endeavor.

Additionally, the implementation of advanced access controls, specifically role-based access, will be crucial in minimizing internal data breaches by restricting employee access to essential information only. As global privacy regulations including the GDPR and CCPA continue to evolve, contact centers will also need to enhance their compliance measures through regular audits, better customer consent mechanisms and transparent data handling practices.

Finally, with the shift to cloud-based solutions, securing cloud infrastructure will become a top priority, involving the use of secure cloud service providers and adherence to cloud security best practices. Recognizing that human error is a significant security risk, there will also be a heightened focus on employee training and awareness programs, ensuring that staff are well-versed in security best practices and are alert to the latest cyber threats.

Conclusion: Key Contact Center Trends Shaping 2025

This year, key contact center trends to watch include the expanding use of AI and automation to enable more efficient operations and enhanced customer experiences, an increased focus on delivering seamless omnichannel interactions and major investments in security, privacy and employee experience. By taking advantage of these technological and strategic innovations, contact centers will be in a better position to provide enhanced personalization, reduce customer effort and deliver real-time, empathetic service across all of a brand’s touchpoints.

Core Questions Around Contact Center Trends

Editor’s note: Here are two key questions to consider as AI reshapes the contact center industry.

How is generative AI transforming contact center interactions?

Generative AI, powered by large language models (LLMs), is revolutionizing customer service by enabling highly personalized, context-aware conversations. AI-driven tools automate routine inquiries, freeing agents to focus on complex issues while improving efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Why is workforce management evolving in AI-driven contact centers?

AI-driven workforce management optimizes agent scheduling, minimizes burnout and enhances real-time coaching. By automating repetitive tasks, AI allows agents to concentrate on problem-solving and high-value interactions, improving both employee engagement and customer experience.