36 Call Center Statistics to Know: An Essential Guide for Businesses

There's a whole lot of change happening in the contact center space. Is your business prepared heading into the new year? We've pulled together some of the industry's most current stats, call center use-cases, and future expectations to get your customer experience strategy ready. 

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With customer expectations higher than ever before, it’s never been more important to have a modern call center at the center of your communications mix. As the world continues to navigate the economic shifts from the past two years, more businesses from small to enterprise, across all industries, are leaning on cloud contact center software to deliver a superior customer experience (CX) and drive revenue growth. 

In the age of digitalization, business leaders must leverage every contact center tool, application, feature, channel, and voice connection possible to drive an impactful experience. In the contact center statistics below, you’ll discover some very compelling reasons why so many organizations are adding and evolving their call center software heading into 2022. 

Global Call Center Industry Statistics

The call center industry is rapidly changing with the heavy adoption of SIP-based integrations and a widespread omnichannel presence. As these trends continue, contact center software providers are evolving their platforms to enable more flexibility, scalability, enhanced security measures, and management tools that create an all-in-one solution for better connection and streamline workflows for their remote teams on a global scale. Here’s a look at where the global call center industry is heading: 

  • Demand for hosted communication technology is hot. The global cloud-based contact center market is expected to reach $39.19 billion in 2025, with the global market for call centers growing to $496 billion by 2027. (ReportLinker)
  • Legacy systems just aren’t enough. Traditional contact centers may not be enough for today’s customers. Around 90% say they need immediate responses to questions, which can be tough with an on-prem. (Hubspot)
  • Artificial Intelligence is underway. 20% of all customer service requests will be managed by AI-enabled conversational agents by 2022. (ZenDesk)
  • And the Call Center AI market is growing. The market for call center AI technology is expected to increase to $2.8 billion by 2024. (Markets and Markets)

Sources: HubSpot, Markets and Markets, ReportLinker, and ZenDesk

Demand for Hosted Communication Technology is Hot

Global Cloud-Based Contact Center Market

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by 2025
Global Market for Call Centers

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by 2027

Call Center Customer Service Statistics

Customers today expect personalized, fast interactions. Their expectations are high, and their loyalty can change in a second of receiving poor service. How agents interact with your customers is everything and more. Below are some customer service statistics that can influence your customers’ perception of your brand: 

  • If feeling neglected, they will go. 90% of customers say that customer service is an important factor in the brands they do business with. If those brands fall short of expectations, 58% have no problem cutting ties. (Microsoft)
  • Treat the experience as highly as the product. 80% of customers agree the experience is just as important as the product or service. (Salesforce)
  • Customer expectations are HIGH. More than half of consumers have higher expectations of customer service than they did a year ago, with the most growth in ages 18-34 (70%) followed by 35-54 (57%) and 55+ (45%). (Microsoft)
  • Be proactive in feedback - customers like it! More than two-thirds of customers favor brands with proactive customer service. (Microsoft)
  • Log every customer interaction. 70% of customers say service agents’ awareness of sales interactions is very important to keep their business. (Salesforce)
  • Self-service is a simple FCR solution. 69% of customers first try to resolve an issue on their own, but less than one-third of companies offer a self-service option like a knowledge base. (ZenDesk) 
  • Success metrics have shifted. 71% of service professionals say they have reprioritized their metrics due to the pandemic. The top call center KPIs in order of importance: customer satisfaction, revenue, customer retention, customer effort, and SLA performance. (Salesforce)
  • Optimize your call flow to reduce AR. An abandonment rate of 5% to 8% is the contact center industry standard. (Voxco). Call routing helps keep these benchmarks low by routing calls to the right place, the first time. 

Sources: Microsoft, Salesforce, Voxco, and ZenDesk

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of customers say service agents' awareness of sales interactions is very important to keep their business.

of customers say that customer service is an important factor in the brands they do business with.

More than two-thirds of customers favor brands with proactive customer service.

Call Center Usage Statistics

Global brands are leaning on virtual call center software in a big way. As more companies introduce multi-channel communications, more connection points open up for their customers and prospects around the world. Businesses with cloud-enabled contact center solutions can provide real-time personalized responses on the channels their customers use. 

Included below are some call center usage statistics that contact center operation managers will find fascinating.  

  • Companies are migrating to the cloud. 75% of contact centers operate on the cloud (44% fully and 31% hybrid). (8x8)
  • The pandemic steered on-the-fly omnichannel response. 87% of service professionals increased their use of digital channels amid the pandemic. (Salesforce)
  • COVID-19 accelerated flexible offerings. 83% of service professionals say they’ve changed their policies to provide more flexibility to customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 74% of agents agreeing to have clear guidelines for those policy changes. (Salesforce)
  • A small CSAT improvement reaps BIG rewards.  89% of companies with “significantly above average” CX ratings perform better financially than their competitors. (Qualtrics)
  • Customers are asking for self-service. 65% of customers prefer a self-service option for simple matters. (Salesforce)
  • Leaders are missing out on performance data. 48% of contact center leaders are not monitoring their team performance at all. (AVOXI). 

Sources: 8x8, AVOXI, Qualtrics, and Salesforce 

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of companies with "significantly above average" CX ratings perform better financially than their competitors.

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of customers prefer a self-service option for simple matters.

Unified Cloud Communication Statistics in Call Centers

Unified communications (UC) provides customers with several brand engagement options, with the same and consistent messaging across all channels. Contact center providers with these capabilities discover opportunities for communication scale, reaching current customers and new prospects in untapped markets all over the world.  

Below, you’ll see why unified cloud communications are essential to reaching a broader audience: 

  • Businesses are adding new channels to the mix. 54% of organizations seek to add live chat, WhatsApp, and social media as messaging channels. (AVOXI)
  • Look to social media as a support channel. 54% of customers view brands that respond to service questions and complaints on social media more favorably. (Microsoft)
  • Brands are missing out on voluntary customer insight. 89% of customers want the opportunity to provide feedback, yet only 7% of companies almost always request it. (Microsoft)
  • But there’s doubt in data collection. 72% of business leaders admitted their data and feedback processes are somewhat or not reliable at all. (AVOXI) 
  • Unified communications are essential. 58% of contact center leaders say communication silos and system complexity are negatively affecting customer satisfaction, and 55% of that segment say the impact is moderate to extreme. (8x8)
  • Voice preferred, but customers want options. The majority of customers use 3-5 channels to get their issues resolved, and voice remains the preferred channel. (Microsoft) 
  • A great CX is in the details. 75% of customers want agents to know who they are as well as their purchase history, but only 31% said occasionally did the agent have this information. (Microsoft)
  • Customers prefer text for appointment reminders. Customers said they find value in text messaging from businesses when it’s an appointment reminder (64%), followed by the status of delivery/shipment update (48%) and a discount or promotion on a product or service (29%). (Zipwhip)
  • See the big picture with integrations. 79% of service professionals said it’s impossible to provide great customer service without a holistic view of customer interactions. (Salesforce)

Sources: 8x8, AVOXI, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Zipwhip

A Great CX is in the Details

75% of customers want agents to know who they are as well as their purchase history, but only 31% said occasionally did the agent have this information.

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Call Center Use-Case by Industry Statistics

Now that you’ve seen how virtual contact center software can add value for your business, you might be wondering how it’s helped others in specific industries? Not a problem. Here are some ways that cloud-enabled contact center software is helping businesses find success in their own operations. 

  • Healthcare providers see improving patient experience. 50-75% of the key interactions in the consumer lifecycle are virtual and can be more consistently handled by an enterprise contact center solution. (Deloitte)
  • Telecom providers witness agile support. Belgium-based VOO found that after moving 188 agents to a cloud solution, agent absenteeism dropped from 62% to 5% and calls-per-team increased from 1300 to 1800 each day. (Odigo)
  • Travel companies reduce their contact center costs. Destinia travel agency reduced total ownership costs with its contact center provider in some instances by 58%. (AVOXI)
  • Consumer electronics companies recognize better performance. VIZIO reduced its average handle time by 15% and improved productivity by implementing an omnichannel environment. (Salesforce)
  • Global restaurant chain enjoys reduced phone costs. McDonald’s lowered its total cost of ownership by 35% with a hosted solution for a franchisee’s 20 restaurants. (8x8)

Sources: 8x8, AVOXI, Odigo, and Salesforce

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Travel Companies Reduce their Contact Center Costs

Destinia travel agency reduced total ownership costs with its contact center provider in some instances by 58%.

Call Center Evolution in 2022 and Beyond

The evolution of contact center software is transforming the way brands improve customer communications and team performance. Its popularity will continue to climb as more international businesses find relief in its ease-of-use, affordable hybrid SaaS pricing model, scalability, and omnichannel experience to support remote teams and global customers. Here’s what’s in store for the industry in 2022 and beyond: 

  • Leadership is banking on CX tools. 53% of executive leaders cite the customer experience as the primary driver of AI implementation, above cost and the ability to drive revenue. In the contact center space, 61% said they are very likely to implement AI technology if it dramatically improves CX, even if it only marginally reduces costs. (Interactions)
  • A hybrid workforce will be the new normal. 70% of service and support agents want to continue to work from home at least one day per week. In line with what agents want, 81% of contact center leaders estimate between 30-80% of their employees will primarily be working remotely in two years. (Gartner)
  • AI will steer CX. A majority of executive leaders believe that AI plays a key role in CX transformation, with 95% agreeing that companies cannot maintain a competitive advantage without a strong CX focus. (Interactions)
  • Add voice assistants to your service channel strategy. 57% of service professionals believe voice assistants (Siri, Alexa, etc.) will become a key service channel. (Salesforce)

Sources: Gartner, Interactions, and Salesforce 

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Leadership is Banking on CX Tools

In the contact center space, 61% said they are very likely to implement AI technology if it dramatically improves CX, even if it only marginally reduces costs.

Better Connectivity Awaits on the Cloud

When you look at the data, the message is clear - the call center industry is growing exponentially as more businesses seek reliable call quality to deliver mission-critical communications to their global customer base. 

A hosted contact center makes that easily achievable, even with a legacy phone system already in place. AVOXI’s cloud-based contact center platform seamlessly integrates with your existing call center solution to improve caller satisfaction, reduce errors, and automate tasks that keep your customers happy across the board, on every channel. 

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