Bridging the Summer Gap: How AI Can Sustain Productivity in the contact centre during the Peak Holiday Season
Although many people may be on summer holiday, contact centres cannot afford to be understaffed, as customer service remains a key priority for organisations throughout the year.
With some contact centre employees taking well-deserved rest over the holiday period, those who remain will need to manage the volume of calls with potentially fewer staff available to share the workload. These teams will also face growing pressure to maintain service quality despite reduced support resources. To avoid longer wait times, overwhelmed agents, and increased risk to customer satisfaction, companies need to implement solutions that will fill the gap.
This is where AI comes in. As McKinsey states, 71% of organisations now regularly use generative AI in at least one business function. Its role is not to replace people, but to act as a strategic co-pilot that supports continuity and boosts productivity. From automating routine tasks and providing real-time agent assistance to generating data-driven insights and enabling personalised customer interactions, AI helps contact centres bridge operational gaps and strengthen resilience when resources are limited. By taking on routine tasks and offering targeted support, AI keeps operations running optimally, reduces stress for agents, enhances customer satisfaction, and offers a stable performance when pressure is high.
Summer’s impact on customer experience and operational flow
Seasonal gaps in staffing can throw contact centre operations off balance. Holidays create scheduling blind spots, response times suffer, and it frustrates customers, especially in high-demand industries like travel, retail, and utilities. With fewer people working, the pressure intensifies for the remaining agents, amplifying stress levels and pushing the risk of burnout to the brink.
To keep up with summer’s unpredictability, contact centres need agile technology such as AI that adapts in real-time and transforms potential into performance. Always-on virtual agents and chatbots relieve pressure on frontline teams by managing tier-1 queries around the clock, allowing human agents to concentrate on complex, high-value interactions. Intelligent call routing prevents long and frustrating waiting times by connecting customers with the right person from the start.
AI-powered knowledge assistants provide real-time, context-aware support to agents, providing them with accurate information instantly, eliminating the need for time-consuming searches and reducing delays. This not only boosts productivity and effectiveness but also shortens the onboarding process for new or temporary staff, making it easier to scale teams when seasonal demand increases. Additionally, agile organisations can quickly reassign skilled back-office personnel to assist with frontline contact centre services during peak periods, ensuring seamless customer support even in times of fluctuating staffing levels.
Empowering Agents Through AI Assistants
AI serves as a powerful catalyst for agent success, amplifying their skills and enabling them to deliver exceptional service. By harnessing a suite of intelligent capabilities, AI provides real-time knowledge assistance, guiding agents with accurate information and context at every step. It suggests next best actions during customer interactions, helping agents resolve issues efficiently and with confidence. Importantly, AI leverages customer data and interaction history to help agents deliver more personalised service, anticipating needs, offering relevant solutions, and building stronger relationships.
Advanced summarisation tools distil lengthy conversations into actionable insights, saving valuable time and improving case management. Sentiment analysis enables agents to gauge customer emotions instantly, allowing for more empathetic and tailored responses. Integrated verification and identification features streamline authentication processes, minimising friction for both customers and agents. Additionally, robust fraud detection tools safeguard sensitive transactions and protect against emerging threats.
During peak times such as the summer season, these AI-powered solutions keep teams agile, connected, and empowered, resulting in happier agents, quicker resolutions, and a contact centre that adapts and thrives no matter the challenge.
Unlocking Performance: The Impact of AI in Contact Centres
AI is a proven catalyst for improved performance in the contact centre. As businesses grapple with rising customer expectations and operational complexity, AI provides a strategic differentiator. By automating routine tasks and intelligently routing enquiries, it reduces Average Handling Time (AHT) and enhances the quality of service from the very first customer interaction. The ripple effect is significant: higher satisfaction scores, better resolution rates, and insights that transform reactive staffing into proactive planning. It represents a shift towards smarter, more human-centred customer experience, powered by technology that learns, adapts and delivers.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Seasonal Workforce Management
The future of customer experience depends on seamless AI-human teamwork, with models designed to empower people and automate mundane tasks. As service expectations shift towards constant responsiveness, businesses must rethink how they scale support sustainably. AI provides the continuity and consistency customers require, even when individuals take well-deserved summer breaks to recharge.
Jurgen Hekkink is Head of Product Marketing at AnywhereNow
Founded in 2010, AnywhereNow is a Netherlands-headquartered and fast-growing provider of Customer Experience SaaS solutions. AnywhereNow empowers voice and digital dialogues for organisations worldwide and brings to life Agentic AI platforms for increased productivity and effectiveness. AnywhereNow’s products are award-winning, recognised by industry analysts, and trusted by over 2,000 global customers, including Rabobank, DHL, Emirates, KPMG, Swarovski, Mazda, Deloitte, Aldi, Vodafone and Zeiss.
