With 2025 well underway, many companies are making changes in their industries, driven by the introduction of AI and the ever-evolving preferences of customers.
The contact centre industry is no exception. But what can contact centres expect this year, and how can they prepare for these changes to ensure they are ready to adapt effectively?
We spoke to Ben Booth, CEO and Founder of MaxContact, who shared insights into the trends businesses in the contact centre industry can expect to see in the year ahead, along with tips to ensure they are well-equipped to navigate these shifts.
AI evolution and implementation
“One of the biggest trends we are likely to see get bigger in 2025 is the continued implementation and evolution of AI within contact centres, but with a twist.
“AI has been present in contact centres for a long time, but it was only in the last few years that it gained significant traction, largely due to the mainstream adoption of tools like ChatGPT. The widespread use of large language models (LLMs) prompted many companies to rush into launching or implementing AI-driven products. However, these initiatives often lacked a clear focus on delivering measurable value to businesses and customers. At the moment, AI implementation has improved efficiency and resource utilisation by 20–30%, rather than the marketed 70–80%.
“This year, the use of AI in contact centres is likely to shift towards demonstrating return on investment (ROI) and delivering tangible value, rather than adopting AI without clear goals.
“Additionally, we are likely to see a move away from broad, general-purpose LLMs towards smaller, domain-focused AI models. These will enhance personalisation, enable real-time language translation, and introduce accent modification—helping contact centres better understand and serve their target markets and audiences.
Continued increase in security and awareness
“Throughout 2024, we saw a growing focus on security and compliance as technology has advanced and global incidents have increased.
“With the introduction of AI, a significant shift in data security and protection is essential in 2025 to ensure personal information remains secure. Contact centres collect vast amounts of customer data to enhance services, so they must handle this data carefully to comply with regulations and maintain customer trust.
“With this in mind, we can anticipate a greater emphasis in the coming year on protecting vulnerable customers from being manipulated by emerging technologies. More rigorous security measures will likely be introduced as well to safeguard data privacy and ownership.
Hybrid models need to succeed
“Post-COVID, the rise of fully remote and hybrid working models has reshaped workplaces, including contact centres. Many businesses have recognised the benefits of hybrid models, but challenges have still remained for a lot of contact centres.
“Key issues have included ensuring smooth onboarding processes, creating a sense of team belonging among remote workers, and maintaining high levels of employee engagement.
“In 2025, refining hybrid working policies to make them fit for purpose will be a major focus. CEOs, myself included, want hybrid models to succeed, so businesses will need to adopt and implement technologies that facilitate this while continually reviewing and refining these policies to ensure they benefit employees and the business.
Increased efficiency and cost reduction
“With the current economic climate, many businesses are seeking ways to enhance efficiency while reducing costs. This has increased pressure on contact centres and other businesses to achieve more with fewer resources.
“At present, many contact centres use separate systems for different channels, which not only drives up costs but also reduces agent efficiency.
“In 2025, a key trend will be the integration of reporting suites and a more pragmatic approach to technology implementation. Tools like speech analytics will become more prevalent in capturing customer sentiment, and LLMs will continue to aid with summarisation tasks such as note-taking and post-meeting action planning. These technologies will allow agents to focus on strategic initiatives, increasing efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Customer personalisation and experience
“In 2025, we are likely to see increased efforts to enhance customer personalisation and experience. This trend has been evolving in recent years, supported by AI’s ability to provide deeper insights into customer needs.
“Interestingly, customer satisfaction levels have been declining despite technological advancements; this could be due to frustration with the lack of human empathy and interaction provided by current AI models.
“In response, contact centres will likely focus on using technology to personalise customer interactions while respecting privacy and avoiding intrusive practices. Contact centres may also integrate multiple data sources to gain a holistic understanding of their customers, enabling them to tailor and enhance their experience.
Better metrics and performance
“Despite the introduction of new technologies and AI models, many companies still rely on traditional methods to gather metrics. This has made it challenging to track customer journeys across multiple channels.
“In 2025, companies are likely to embrace AI-driven technologies such as speech analytics to consolidate customer data in one place. These tools will not only improve customer personalisation but also enhance performance metrics.
“Currently, agents close leads successfully on only 27% of calls on the first attempt and make an average of 65.5 calls per day. By adopting better metrics and tools to improve efficiency, we may see these performance metrics among agents increase significantly.
Economic impact
“Finally, the economic landscape and government policies, particularly the autumn budget, will have a significant impact on businesses in 2025. Labour’s announcements of increased national insurance contributions and rising minimum wages are likely to put additional strain on contact centres that are already struggling financially.
“To navigate these challenges, many contact centres may explore offshoring options or focus on higher-skilled roles to justify the rising costs. These strategies will help businesses adapt to the economic shifts while maintaining their competitive edge.”
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