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Time to Evaluate Your Contact Center Tech Stack

Five Critical Questions to Ask

Contact center technology is evolving rapidly, with innovative new solutions bringing much-needed improvements to operating efficiency, agent productivity and customer experience. Innovation revolves around automation, and decision makers in WFM and Operations roles understand the importance of aligning automation with real-world demands for flexibility and responsiveness. That’s why speed and adaptability are the metrics that define meaningful progress.

Simply automating execution is no longer enough. Execution needs to be based on real-time data to provide effective responses to your real-world challenges.

Before We Start

Many of us presume that “automation” and “AI” are the same thing. They’re not. In fact, they are different tools, and they should be approached in sequence. AI offers unprecedented data processing and analysis capabilities, but it requires a base of relevant, high-quality information to be truly effective. Only real-time automation provides this by capturing and processing data as it’s generated and making it instantly available as a best-in-class foundation for AI to build on.

With that in mind, what should you ask when evaluating contact center technology vendors?

1. What Does “Real Time” Mean in Your Solution?

Not all vendors define “real-time” the same way, and understanding a vendor’s version is essential to evaluating the actual responsiveness of their solution. For instance, “real-time” updates that occur every 15 minutes may be insufficient in an environment where every second counts—i.e., when dealing with dynamic contact center customer demand and protecting service levels.

Factors to Consider

  • Defining real time in your solution
  • Handling variance in Intraday
  • Automating off-phone activities
  • Integrating with existing technology
  • Delivering on ROI

RESOURCES

Why Real-Time Automation Must Come Before AI in Contact Centers

Intradiem’s Contact Center Automation

What to Ask:

  • How frequently is data updated in your system?
  • Does the solution integrate with ACD and WFM platforms?
  • How does the system respond to spikes in call volume or agent availability changes?

2. How Does Your Solution Handle Intraday Variance?

Legacy systems require manual interventions to adjust staffing levels to align with real-time demand. That’s why they struggle to keep up with day-to-day, hour-to-hour, and even minute-to-minute variations​​. Real-time automation will dynamically adjust staffing without manual intervention. That will optimize staffing, cut costs, and enhance service levels—all of which are critical in fluctuating call center conditions.

What to Ask:

  • What level of intraday automation do you provide to manage unexpected demand?
  • How does your system adjust staffing or activity based on real-time variance?
  • Can your solution automate training or breaks without impacting service quality?

Execution needs to be based on real-time data to provide effective responses to your real-world challenges.

3. What Types of Off-Phone Activities Can Your System Automate?

Traditional WFM relies on pre-scheduling for activities like training or coaching. But advanced automation can use real-time data to identify pockets of time for coaching, training, or wellness breaks and deliver these sessions at opportune moments, balancing agent productivity with service levels.

What to Ask:

  • Can your system automate training and coaching based on real-time availability?
  • How does your system balance service levels with employee development activities?
  • What rules or thresholds are in place to deliver wellness breaks?

4. How Does Your Solution Integrate with Existing Technology Systems?

Seamless integration with ACD, WFM, and other essential components of your existing tech stack is critical for any automation solution, especially if you plan to implement AI in the future. It’s also indicative of a vendor’s experience and expertise with contact center technologies. Real-time automation solutions integrate with all major platforms to ensure that updates and changes are efficiently reflected across your systems​​.

What to Ask:

  • Which WFM and ACD systems does your solution integrate with?
  • Can it improve adherence and reduce average handle time (AHT)?
  • Does it eliminate manual processes like exception entry?
  • Is there flexibility to incorporate AI tools in the future?

5. What ROI Does Your Solution Deliver?

Automation should deliver a clear return on investment (ROI) by reducing staffing overtime costs, increasing service levels, and/or lowering attrition by supporting agents in real time. High-maturity automation solutions can also significantly reduce costs by managing staffing levels more effectively, minimizing wasted resources, and optimizing agent productivity​​.

What to Ask:

  • What specific ROI have other clients realized from your solution?
  • How does your solution reduce operational costs? Improve customer satisfaction?
  • What impact can we expect on metrics like agent productivity and attrition?

Conclusion | Align Real-Time Automation with Your Strategic Goals

The right automation platform should position your contact center for scalable growth and lay a solid foundation for future enhancements, such as AI. Asking these critical questions will help ensure that you select a solution that provides genuine real-time capabilities, flexibility for future evolution, and a measurable return on your investment.

Want to learn more?

Connect with us to explore how Intradiem’s real-time contact center automation can support your strategy and move you up the workforce management maturity curve.

Where does your contact center stand today?

Contact us to explore how we can help you transform your operations and achieve world-class performance.

To get in touch with us, fill out the form
or call (678) 356-3500.

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