Deloitte's Global Call Center Survey released mid-May polled executives from over 450 contact centers in 16 countries about their current and future priorities over the next two years.  Results show close to 90% of respondents named 'Improving Customer Experience' as a strategic focus, and all respondents said they are planning to invest in "Emerging Technologies".

Here are some highlights from Deloitte's Global Call Center Survey:

• 88% percent cited 'Improving Customer Experience' as their largest driver of investment.
• 66% of respondents say that customer experience is predominantly influenced by 'Providing Accurate Service', and 62% say by 'Making Interactions Effortless'.
• "All respondents say they are planning to invest in 'Emerging Technologies'"… specifically, 66% named 'Advanced Analytics', 34% named 'AI', and 33% named 'Process Automation'.
• 73% said they will use analytics to 'Better Align Staff, and 63% said they will 'Expand Training Programs'.
• "Overall, integrated analytics continues to be the holy grail for most organizations surveyed as they struggle to merge data from channels and enterprise systems (operational, customer and financial) into a single analytics solution."  
• "The biggest obstacle to realizing intended ROI is integration with existing systems, cited by 63 percent of respondents."
• Voice remains the most prominent channel at 64% of contacts but is projected to fall to less than 50% while chat, messaging, video chat and social media channels continue to grow.

Overall, results show we're trying to drive more accurate and efficient service,  by integrating systems, using data and technology to support omni-channel operations, and better developing workers to elevate interpersonal experiences.  In short, it's about harmonizing our people practices and processes with our business intelligence and our technology tools!  And this is where AI and machine learning can play a huge part in evolving operations to meet these new complexities - integrating data, standardizing workflows, and automating tasks, tracking and follow-through.