Over Two-Thirds of Customer Experience Industry Professionals Believe Immersive CX Will Become a Mainstream Support Channel within the Next Five Years 

Content Guru, Europe’s leading cloud contact center and customer experience (CX) technology provider, today released research findings that highlight strong belief amongst CX industry professionals that customer support through virtual environments will grow within the next five years. The research, carried out at the Call & Contact Center Expo London 2022*, highlighted that 70% of respondents see virtual interactions joining traditional and digital methods as a recognized front-line support channel by 2028.

In the more immediate future, 63% of event attendees surveyed believe AI is set to be the technology that defines the CX industry in 2023; with personalization (46%) and digital channels (37%) also leading the way. When focusing on expected challenges, respondents highlighted that agent recruitment (63%) and attrition (47%) will be amongst the top challenges. CX providers will be working hard to provide the best environment for agents to thrive in. The workstyle will likely continue to include remote and hybrid options, as nearly 9 in 10 (88%) of industry professionals support remote working options for contact center employees.

The proliferation of digital channels will continue in 2023, but over half of respondents (54%) believe that digital integrations are going to be a common pain point for organizations delivering CX. Digital interactions create valuable data that can be analyzed and actioned, but 56% admitted they don’t think their organization uses customer data to the best of its potential.

Martin Taylor, Deputy CEO at Content Guru, commented: “With virtual environments receiving billions of dollars in investment, it is clear to see why expectations for immersive CX are high. The hyper-personalized environments displayed in virtual reality will connect businesses with consumers, catapulting humanity, and in-turn CX, into a new digital realm. However, time will tell how successful the mainstream adoption of virtual environments will be. The immense capabilities of AI meant it was a key theme of the discussions we had at the Call & Contact Center Expo, and it’s no surprise industry professionals see AI as defining the CX industry in the coming period. Brands must ensure they have the technical capabilities to reap the benefits of AI. If they tap into AI’s potential successfully, features such as conversational machine agents and semantic voice analysis with enhance organizations’ CX, whilst cutting down on repetitive and monotonous agent tasks that drive frustration and agent attrition.” 

*Research was carried out at Call & Contact Center Expo in London across 22nd and 23rd November 2022. The data points represent insights from 57 CX industry professionals surveyed at the event by Content Guru.