The future of The Keep Call Centers in America Act may be uncertain, but the legislation serves as a wakeup call for contact center leaders.
The bipartisan bill, which was introduced this summer in the House of Representatives and Senate, aims to tackle the issues of offshoring and AI with an eye toward protecting U.S. jobs by penalizing companies that move customer service jobs overseas. It would also require call center agents to disclose if AI is being used.
The place where contact center location and AI automation come together is the cost of agents, where both location and AI issues can have a significant impact on operations, according to Deborah Alvord, VP analyst with Gartner’s global customer service and support research group.
Cost is the biggest pressure on contact centers in recent years, and the bill could exacerbate the issue if it passes, according to Alvord. Many companies outsource or offshore their operations to save money, and this legislation may make them rethink their strategy.
“Now they're going to have the reality of, ‘Do we lift this and shift this to a more expensive location?’” Alvord told CX Dive. “Now is the time to look at your volumes. Is all of this live assistance really necessary? Is there something we can remove all together? Is there something that can be redistributed to self service, for example?”
While AI will play a major role in the future of the contact center, technology isn’t a replacement for human support. “That's not what we're advocating at all,” Alvord said.
Instead, the intersection of evolving AI agents and the threat of government penalties creates an opportunity for leaders to rethink their operations.
“It's how to remove or redistribute interactions,” Alvord said. “It shouldn't be 100% lift and shift of the number of agents you have today. I think this is going to be the catalyst for looking for ways of removing interactions.”
Reduce call volumes by listening
Gartner advised leaders to reduce call volumes by identifying and removing avoidable customer interactions altogether.
One way to find opportunities to reduce volumes is to listen to the calls that come in, according to Alvord. Modern call centers are equipped with analytics capabilities that can detect problems like repeat calls, which can help leaders pinpoint areas for improvement.
“Could the call have been avoided?” Alvord said. “If yes, why? Trim the data, and understand what needs to be done to remove or redistribute those interactions.”
Human quality control teams also have a role to play, according to Alvord. They shouldn’t be listening only to score an agent’s performance — they can also report when they come across common topics of repeat calls or other avoidable issues.
Once a team has the basic insights, the strategy becomes a matter of applying the right solution. If calls for very simple problems are a trend, the company might consider updating its FAQ pages in case they are confusing or contain broken links.
Apply AI to support CX, not just cut costs
Companies that analyze their use of AI in preparation for the call center act can also examine whether their current AI solutions are meeting customers’ needs.
While self-service can help cut costs, the focus should be on technology that is more valuable for customers who want it, according to Mario Matulich, president and managing director of Customer Management Practice. This includes using AI to support live agents.
“When done right, AI is not a threat to the customer experience,” Matulich said in an email. “It is a vehicle for empowering agents to transition from reading scripts to making human connections.”
Leaders should invest in AI and other technology with a clear outcome in mind, according to Alvord. AI won’t necessarily replace customer service representatives, so teams should have a clear vision of what problems it will fix or what kinds of calls it will handle.
Nearly three-quarters of business leaders expressed moderate or high regret after buying new technology in a recent study, according to Alvord. Starting the process with a preferred outcome in mind, rather than working toward it later, can help leaders choose technology that will offer the best outcome for the business and the customer alike.
Companies shouldn’t start by creating a request for proposal, then sending it out to vendors, according to Alvord.
“Get the vendors involved in creating what it is that you need, what help you need in order to help to achieve reducing the volumes, or supporting agents to deliver better quality,” she said.
What to do if the act passes
In the event that The Keep Call Centers in America Act passes, companies will need to perform a cost analysis to determine their next steps, according to Alvord.
One of the provisions of the act is that companies will need U.S.-based support available for customers who request a transfer. For companies that are wholly offshored, they should look at whether it would make more sense to in-house their own operations domestically or outsource operations to an onshore provider, according to Alvord.
“I think the biggest challenge is going to be predicting the percent of volumes that may be transferred,” Alvord said. “That's where you're going to have to do some scenario planning, and you need to have the ability to quickly ramp up or ramp down the beginning as needed, until you have some sort of historical data that's going to give you an idea of transfer volumes.”
It doesn’t make sense to actually begin onshoring efforts before the bill’s passage, but teams may want to start scenario planning, according to Alvord. This is not only an opportunity to strategize ahead of future costs, but a chance to reduce costs while improving service.
“Don't wait until it's passed as a catalyst to try and improve things,” Alvord said. “Go ahead and start looking at your operations and understand the root causes.”
Leaders should avoid preemptively cutting their workforces as they examine their operations, according to Matulich. Even if they find room for AI to take on a larger role, live agents still have an important place in the contact center.
“If the impact of this bill is to demonstrate the enduring importance of human employees in the support process, then it is well-intentioned,” Matulich said. “But if it discourages technological innovation and prevents us from preparing agents for next-generation work, it will ultimately come at the expense of the customer experience and job security.”
