Executive Summary Contact centers are the frst line of contact between most businesses and their customers. Theyplay a vital role in infuencing customer experience.In their quest to constantly raise the bar on customer experience, businesses are investingmore in contact centers, both in terms of people and technology. Emerging technologies likeAI are changing the very face of contact centers and the potential they hold in understandingand engaging with customers. Customers, in turn, are more demanding today than ever. Theyexpect to be served by businesses anytime, anywhere, and their patience is on a short leash. Tostay relevant, companies need to adopt these technologies faster and fnd more ways to connectwith their customers to provide them with a more personalized and seamless experience acrossall channels. This study aims to understand the state of contact centers today and the direction in which theyare poised to move in the future. We surveyed senior executives responsible for contact centeroperations across regions to gain insight. 02Profle of Respondents Industry Break up Revenue Break up Level Break up Employee Break up Computer & Network Security Telecommunications Information Technology & Services Computer Software & Internet 10,001+5,001-10,0001,001-5,000 501-1,000 201-500 51-200 11-50$1B $500M - 1B $250 - 500M $100 - 250M $50 - 100M $10 - 50M $1 - 10M $0 - 1M 22% 58% 3% 26%30% 4%7% 26%7% 10%8% 15%10% 13%21% 6%11% 6% 17% Vice Presidents Others Directors Managers 4% 8% 10% 78% 03State of Contact Centers 2018Key insights from the studyCustomer experience is topmost in priority for contact centersAutomation tools are expected to handle more customer queries in the next two yearsAI adoption is still low, but the majority of companies are planning to invest in AI in thenext two yearsPhone and email are the dominant communication channels for support Limited use of messaging and social mediaPredictive analytics and big data analytics are the primary area of investment forcompanies this yearTraining agents and engaging more with them are the key focus areas for companies in thepeople management space 04。。。。。。