Today, prioritising customer experience (CX) isn’t optional-it’s essential. Yet, many businesses still struggle with outdated, disconnected contact centres-often seen as cost centres rather than strategic assets for customer service. These frontline teams remain attached to outdated ways of working, hampered by inefficiencies and reactive problem-solving rather than proactive management. That’s about to change.
AI-driven automation and real-time insights are revolutionising customer experience (CX), but the real shift isn’t just about fixing problems faster-it’s about preventing them altogether. The future of CX is automated, efficient, and personalised.
The key to winning in CX
Customers today demand seamless interactions tailored to their needs. To keep up, businesses must focus on three key areas:
1. Eliminate customer friction
Eliminating friction in customer interactions should be your first and most important priority. Customers no longer tolerate the ‘doom loop’ of hold music, endless transfers, and disconnected data. Service needs to be fast, seamless, and hyper-personalised. AI-powered virtual agents can handle a high volume of queries, reducing the strain on human agents so they can focus on complex or sensitive interactions. But AI alone isn’t enough. The best customer experiences happen when AI and human agents work together, supported by a platform that connects teams, surfaces real-time insights, and ensures continuity across every touchpoint.
Dan Johnson, Head of Product at crypto brokerage Caleb & Brown, says how his team uses Zoom to ensure fast, high-touch, personal support. In an industry dominated by digital platforms, being able to speak to a human for support is a huge differentiator for Caleb & Brown, he says
“For a premium service like ours, that’s a really special thing… We say, ‘Hey look, I’m just going to send you an SMS, it’s going to come through as a Zoom link. You can click on that from your phone.’ I can now guide you through this experience.”
This hybrid of AI and human interaction enables Caleb & Brown to resolve issues more efficiently without compromising the sense of personal connection.
2. Integrate contact centres
Contact centers have evolved beyond cost management-they are now revenue drivers, competitive differentiators, and key brand touchpoints. Businesses that integrate customer experience (CX) into their core strategy can create more value from every interaction, strengthening customer relationships and loyalty.
Being a contact center agent comes with unique challenges, from managing high call volumes to delivering great service under pressure. Yet, agents are often treated separately from corporate employees, missing out on the same tools, resources, and sense of connection. Bringing them fully into the organisation-rather than operating in silos-helps them feel valued and better equipped to serve customers.
A more connected approach-where customer support, frontline teams, and digital channels work as a unified ecosystem-eliminates inefficiencies and creates seamless experiences. This “Total Experience” strategy not only improves CX but also empowers agents, making their jobs more engaging and rewarding.
That kind of unified environment is exactly what Iress, the Australian-headquartered financial services software firm, has implemented with Zoom.
Zoom’s features allow Iress to “tag issues, spin up new lines, get more agents rallying around a problem,” says Kelly Fisk, Chief Corporate Affairs and Marketing Officer at Iress. “And then also to take that offline into a Zoom meeting conversation to be able to actually break it down.”
This integrated approach has helped drive a significant improvement in customer satisfaction. “Over the past two years we’ve seen a significant improvement in NPS,” Fisk says. “There’s a lot of factors around that… but giving our people the right tools to be able to do their very best by our customers… has actually led to that improvement.”
3. Leverage AI-driven workforce management
Another important step is leveraging AI-driven workforce management to optimise staffing and increase first-call resolution. A good first step is to emphasise AI’s role in automating repetitive tasks, such as after-call work, with automatic summaries and transcriptions. When teams are properly supported with AI-driven insights and automation, they can work smarter, resolve issues faster, and create more meaningful customer connections. This not only helps reduce operational costs but also helps retain top talent by making their jobs easier and more fulfilling.
To find the balance between AI and human, it’s necessary to ensure your agents are equipped with not only the knowledge but also the listening and responsive skills to deal with the more complex queries that will come their way. While automating tasks is important, some tasks represent the core value delivered to clients and shouldn’t be automated. In a future where AI will become table stakes, the sweet spot for companies to stand out is how they combine technology with human interaction in customer service.
This AI-human combination is already unlocking value for Caleb & Brown, which has grown by more than 25% since October last year, a period during which it also adopted Zoom’s AI-powered tools to improve sales and support workflows.
“We’ve grown by an extra 25% since October last year. We’ve had Zoom Revenue Accelerator onboard for almost 18 months, and Contact Center was implemented in August last year,” Johnson says. Using Zoom is about finding “better ways to scale without blowing out our headcount”, he says.
Meanwhile at Iress, Zoom’s tools are not just boosting efficiency but enabling deeper, more human support so they can effectively tackle complex challenges. The sensitive financial and personal information Iress holds means it has taken a very considered approach.
“What we have been doing is working with some of our trusted partners like Zoom to access the productivity benefits of AI tools within a trusted ecosystem,” Fisk says.
“Somewhere between 30 and 50% of calls to our call centre relate to customers not knowing how to do something in the software,” Fisk says. Using AI to help resolve common customer queries “frees up our people to deal with the much bigger issues and gives them the tools to be at their best for our customers”, she says
The time to act is now
Customer expectations will only continue to rise, and businesses that fail to evolve risk falling behind. By investing in the right strategies now-removing friction, connecting teams, and leveraging AI-companies can create experiences that not only meet but exceed customer expectations. The path forward is clear: those who focus on seamless, proactive CX will be able to build stronger relationships, foster customer loyalty, and position themselves for long-term success.