Our May issue marks a sign of the times. As the technologies we deploy in our centers help with operational efficiencies and enhance customer experiences, they can also make us more vulnerable as an industry.
Fraudsters, account takeovers, voice deepfakes, call spoofing, and cyberattacks are a few examples of the new era of complexity we face in safeguarding our centers and customers. Agent training, defense technology, fraud detection and ID verification are some of the ways we can improve our capabilities against such attacks.
These issues are only a few that we face. We are always understanding new FCC rules, labor issues, compliance and the myriad of new government policies.
Indeed, these days managing our contact centers is just like docking a ship in turbulent seas! Thanks to our industry experts in helping us navigate these rough waters.
Have a wonderful month.
Table of Contents, May 2025
FEATURE ARTICLE
Docking Contact Centers in Turbulent Seas
By Brendan Read; Q&A with John H. (Jack) Boyd
Labor costs, AI, and White House policies are shaping decisions.
IDIOM INSIGHTS
Evolution of the Contact Center
By Kathleen M. Peterson
Past, present, and future.
AI READINESS
Why AI Readiness Should Be a 2025 Priority
By Fred Stacey
Laying the foundation for sustainable AI success.
INSIDE VIEW
Understanding FCC’s New Rules
By Brendan Read; Q&A with Paul St. Clair
How best to comply with them.
EMERGENCY CONTACT CENTERS
Why NG911 is No Longer Optional
By D. Jeremy DeMar
But providing it still faces technology, institutional challenges.
REGULATIONS
Steering Through Europe’s Regulations
By Frank Sherlock
AI can help comply while facing its own rules.
SOCIAL ENGINEERING
Is Evil Contacting Your Contact Center?
By Roger A. Grimes
How to defend against harm.
DEEPFAKES
Defending Against Deepfakes
By Richard Tsai
Contact centers are in fraudsters’ crosshairs.
VOICE SECURITY
The Growing Dangers Through Voice
By Brian McDonald
AI has magnified the risks and threats.
AGENTIC AI
The Lurking Dangers of Agentic AI
By Aaron Painter
How to minimize its risks to reap its benefits.
COMPLIANCE
The Competitive Advantage of Compliance
By Ryan Kahan
How AI can help provide it.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Humanizing the AI Experience
By Amitabh Misra
How Agentic AI plays a key role.
A special thank you to our authors this month for sharing their insights and wisdom: D. Jeremy DeMar, Roger A. Grimes, Ryan Kahan, Brian McDonald, Amitabh Misra, Aaron Painter, Kathleen M. Peterson, Brendan Read, Jonjie Sena, Frank Sherlock, Fred Stacey, and Richard Tsai.
Sincere appreciation to our vendor community: 2Ring, AWS Marketplace, Calabrio, CallMiner, Centrical, Cognigy, Human Numbers, MediaSmith, NECCF, NICE, PowerHouse, Regal, Strategic Contact, TTEC Digital, Verint, Webex, and WFH Strategies.
