7 Best Practices for Implementing Contact Center AI in 2025

Are you concerned about the negative impact of AI on customer experiences? You’re not alone. In a recent study by Gartner, 64 percent of consumers expressed a preference for companies not to use AI, and 53 percent said they would consider switching to a competitor if AI was involved. Additionally, a SurveyMonkey poll found that 90 percent of people would rather deal with a human than a chatbot.

But before you swear off AI altogether, consider this: the problem isn’t the technology itself, but how it’s being implemented. In a recent episode of CX Today’s Contact Center Talk, Matt Dickson, COO of Eclipse Telecom, shared seven best practices for implementing contact center AI in 2025.

Here are some key takeaways from the discussion:

1. Personalize Your Brand Voice: Just like you train your human agents to embody your brand’s voice, make sure your chatbots and AI systems reflect that same tone and personality. Collaborate with your marketing team to ensure consistency in customer interactions.

2. Provide Clear Exit Options: Customers should always have an easy way to exit automated systems and speak to a human if needed. Use sentiment analysis to identify when customers are frustrated and offer human assistance proactively.

3. Implement “Circuit Breakers”: Not every use case is suitable for AI. Evaluate when to bypass automated processes and route customers directly to human agents based on their history and needs.

4. Focus on Agent Enablement: Empower your agents with tools that enhance their performance and provide real-time coaching. By investing in agent-assist solutions, you can improve customer service and gain valuable insights for business optimization.

5. Test AI Tools with Agents First: Start small and iterate with your workforce before rolling out AI solutions to customers. This bottom-up approach ensures that your automation processes are ready and effective.

6. Explore Underrepresented Use Cases: Look beyond automation and generative AI to applications like automated quality assurance and mining unstructured data. These use cases can provide valuable insights for improving customer experiences.

7. Continuously Monitor and Enhance Your AI: Assign resources to regularly evaluate and refine your AI systems. AI is not a one-time solution; it requires ongoing maintenance and optimization to drive sustainable progress.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that your contact center AI initiatives are successful and positively impact customer experiences. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to leverage AI effectively in your customer service strategy. Stay tuned for more insights from CX Today’s Contact Center Talk series.