From cost to value: How does your contact center stack up?

Is your contact center a strategic asset or a cost center? Too often, contact centers are viewed as cost centers, draining resources rather than generating value, and it’s time to change that mindset. How do you prove the value of your contact center investments and demonstrate a tangible return on investment (ROI)? Balancing investments in customer experience, employee enablement, and strategic technology is key to this transformation, and the data proves it.

Talkdesk commissioned IDC to conduct a survey, the results of which are published in the IDC InfoBrief: Contact Center Performance*, involving 417 U.S. contact centers. It provides valuable data that can be leveraged to assess performance, identify areas for optimization, and transform contact centers into strategic assets that drive business growth. This paper offers insights into key metrics such as first contact resolution, agent attrition, and self-service rates to enable contact center leaders to benchmark their performance against industry averages and identify opportunities to improve the value proposition of their contact centers.

Frictionless customer journeys.

Contact centers must evolve from handling inquiries to becoming key drivers of customer satisfaction and loyalty. A seamless and positive interaction can be the difference between a loyal customer and a lost opportunity. The most successful businesses prioritize and put the customer at the center of every decision, creating frictionless journeys that exceed expectations. Central to this goal are:

First contact resolution across channels.

First contact resolution (FCR) is a key indicator of contact center efficiency, and the report shows notable variation across different channels. Agent-assisted digital interactions lead the way, with synchronous channels and chat achieving 81%, while asynchronous interactions are at 79%. Traditional phone-based channels are slightly less effective, with 74% for inbound calls and 70% for outbound. However, automated digital interactions, without any involvement from human agents, significantly underperform with just 51%. This gap suggests that while automation can handle basic tasks, there is a clear need for contact centers to invest in technology, such as AI agents, to maximize customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Self-service rates.

Leveraging automation and AI to handle routine, predictable tasks is more than just a cost-saving strategy, it helps transform contact centers into value drivers.

The paper’s findings reveal that, on average, respondents set a self-service rate goal of 68%—the majority of customer inquiries are expected to be resolved without the need for live agents. 5% of respondents have even set their self-service targets as high as 90%, while others maintain lower thresholds, highlighting a wide variance in self-service adoption across the industry. AI-driven tools, such as an autopilot, enable contact centers to offer 24/7 self-service support with minimal agent intervention. Other capabilities, such as agentic AI, can help anticipate customer needs, hyper-personalizing service for each customer.

Agent empowerment.

Empowered agents are key to exceptional customer service, as their knowledge, confidence, and engagement directly translate into positive customer experiences. Investing in agent training and providing access to innovative, easy-to-use tools boosts agent morale and significantly improves the customer experience.

Searching for answers is a significant drain on agent time and productivity. The paper reveals that, on average, 50% of respondents agree or strongly agree that agents spend valuable time searching for information rather than focusing on the customer. This wasted time translates into delayed resolutions, frustrated customers, and missed opportunities to improve service experience. Additionally, the breakdown by industry reveals that a higher percentage— 62%—occurs in the healthcare industry.

An intuitive, single pane of glass agent workspace integrates all tools and applications into a single, unified platform from which agents avoid toggling between multiple screens and systems. Finding information quickly saves valuable time, reduces errors, and allows them to focus on the customer, not the technology.

An AI-powered copilot is also key to reducing average handle time, which varies according to channel. For example, the report indicates 366 seconds of average handle time for outbound calls and 680 seconds for agent-assisted digital asynchronous interactions. The after call work, reported as 12% of the average handling time, is also affecting performance and productivity. A copilot listens, guides, and pushes the right information to agents during interactions, empowering them to resolve customer inquiries faster and reduce average handle time. Additionally, it can automatically summarize every customer interaction, shaving 30-60 seconds off after-call work with just one click; in some cases, it reduces handling time by up to 8 minutes.

Agent attrition rates.

High agent attrition rates are a significant challenge impacting operational performance, increasing recruitment and training costs, disrupting the customer experience, and reducing service consistency. While the average attrition rate is 15%, some respondents report rates as high as 39%, highlighting a widespread resource-draining issue.

Automation is critical to minimize repetitive, manual tasks that can lead to agent burnout. Automating simple customer queries, such as balance checks or common troubleshooting steps, frees agents to handle more complex, fulfilling tasks, improving job satisfaction and reducing turnover.

Workforce efficiency and performance.

Balancing occupancy and shrinkage rates through effective workforce engagement management (WEM) ensures agents are productive and available, maximizing resource utilization while maintaining service quality and controlling costs.

Occupancy and shrinkage rates.

Contact center occupancy rates—the time agents spend handling interactions compared to their total available time— reflect how busy agents are and how efficiently their time is being used. The average occupancy rate stands at 74%, with some respondents reporting as low as 50% and others as high as 90%.

Shrinkage rates—time agents are unavailable to handle interactions due to scheduled activities like breaks or training—measure how much scheduled time is lost to non-productive tasks. The average shrinkage rate on the paper is 17%, leaving 83% of the time for productive work. 5% of respondents did not track shrinkage rates, which suggests a lack of visibility into key performance metrics that can jeopardize their ability to optimize operations.

Workforce engagement management (WEM) tools are crucial to optimize operational efficiency. They leverage data-driven insights to ensure the correct number of agents are available at the right times, finding the perfect balance between meeting customer demand and preventing underutilization or overstaffing. Optimized occupancy ensures agents remain engaged and productive during peak periods, while idle time is minimized during slower hours. This intelligent allocation of resources is a game-changer for maintaining high levels of service quality while controlling costs.

Strategic growth.

The path to strategic growth is paved with customer trust. Addressing high call abandonment rates and unresolved issues, especially those resulting from ineffective IVR systems or long wait times, is crucial for preventing lost revenue and ensuring a positive customer experience. The paper thoroughly covers driving business growth with very interesting statistics, but here, I’ll focus on:

Understanding the impact of terminated and abandoned calls on customer trust.

Abandoned and terminated calls damage customer trust by creating frustration, unresolved issues, and a perception of poor service quality. The paper states that while 81% of customer calls are connected to an agent, 11% are abandoned after the customer chooses that option, suggesting long wait times or frustration. 8% of calls end within the IVR, raising questions about its effectiveness—is it successful self-service or a point of failure?

Regarding resolution, 15% of calls remain unresolved across industries. When customers reach agents, they resolve 50% of issues, highlighting the importance of agent skills and resources. 35% of issues are resolved within the IVR, indicating the potential for self-service and the need for optimization.

While most calls are connected to agents, abandonment rates and unresolved issues need to be addressed. Customers abandoning calls due to long wait times before speaking to an agent negatively impacts revenue growth because every abandoned call is a missed opportunity to close a deal, potentially driving customers to competitors. Improving technology, such as replacing old IVRs with AI-powered routing, is crucial for building customer trust with self-service channels.

Don’t let your contact center be a black box of guesswork and intuition. Improve customer satisfaction, agent engagement, and operational efficiency with data-driven precision. Our ROI calculator can help you quantify the potential benefits of AI and automation, providing a clear business case for investment.