Automate smarter: how to identify what to automate in your contact centre

The pressure to introduce AI in contact centres has never been greater. But automating the wrong interactions doesn’t just waste investment - it actively frustrates customers and creates more work for your team. Here’s how to get it right from the start.

This article is based on a recent webinar - Watch the full replay on YouTube.

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The real challenge isn’t how to automate - it’s what

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Most business leaders today aren’t asking whether to use AI in their contact centre. They’re asking where to start. And that’s exactly the right question to be asking.

We recently hosted a webinar exploring this challenge with Kayleigh Tait, Marketing Director at MaxContact, and Conor Bowler, Principal Product Manager. Together, they walked through the research, the common pitfalls, and a practical framework that helps contact centres make confident, data-driven automation decisions.

Here’s what they covered.

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What UK consumers actually think about AI

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MaxContact commissioned an independent survey of over 1,000 UK consumers who had interacted with a contact centre in the last 18 months. The findings from the Voice of the UK Consumer Report are revealing.

• 45% of UK consumers say they’re comfortable interacting with an AI-powered chatbot or virtual assistant. But 36% say they’re uncomfortable.
• Only 36% say AI has improved their experience. Almost the same number - 32% - say it has made things worse.
• 65% of 25–34 year-olds are comfortable with AI, compared to just 27% of over-55s.
• 70% want a human when explaining their specific situation. 67% for emergencies. 61% when making a complaint.
• 55% of consumers have abandoned calls because of excessive wait times. 26% because they had to repeat information.

The takeaway? Automation isn’t automatically improving customer experience. It depends entirely on how and when it’s used - and critically, whether the strategy has been built around the customer or around internal efficiency targets.

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The modern inbound customer journey

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Most businesses treat every interaction the same, routing everything to queues. But inbound demand isn’t evenly distributed. It follows a pattern.

At the start of the journey, volumes are high and queries are simple: balance requests, payment dates, appointment changes, status updates. This is where AI and automation deliver the greatest impact - resolving queries quickly, reducing cost to serve, and freeing agent capacity without compromising experience.

As complexity increases, the role of automation shifts. Intelligent routing, context preservation from AI to human handover, and real-time agent support all help agents handle harder conversations faster and with more confidence.

At the resolution and advocacy stages, humans lead - supported by AI insights, not replaced by them. The goal is that automation removes repetitive workload at the top of the funnel, so people can focus on the interactions where judgment, empathy, and experience really matter.

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How Conversation Analytics uncovers automation opportunities

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Before you decide what to automate, you need to understand what’s actually happening in your contact centre. Conor Bowler demonstrated exactly how MaxContact’s Conversation Analytics makes this possible - at scale.

In the demo, Conor surfaced 28,000 calls from a single month, immediately identifying intent clusters: appointment booking accounted for 10% of interactions, technical challenges for 4%. Together, that’s 14% of call volume with clear automation potential - identified in minutes.

Using MaxContact’s AI assistant within the platform, teams can drill into individual calls, ask whether elements of those interactions could be automated, and use those insights to design workflows in MaxContact’s Workflow Studio. Those workflows can then be deployed directly to chatbots, voice agents, or email channels - with built-in escalation paths when automation reaches its limits.

For contact centres without Conversation Analytics today, this process is still possible — but relies on manual call sampling, disposition codes, and CRM data. It’s achievable, but slower and harder to repeat consistently over time.

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The MaxContact Automation Framework

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Based on research findings and direct experience working with contact centres of all sizes, MaxContact has developed a four-step framework for identifying automation opportunities.

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Step 1: Start with real interaction data

Automation decisions should be driven by evidence, not assumption. Too often, automation projects are led top-down - driven by boardroom pressure or a use case that sounds innovative rather than one grounded in data. Starting with call recordings, chat transcripts, CRM data, disposition codes, and repeat contact patterns gives you the factual foundation to make better decisions.

Look for patterns: what are the most common reasons for contact? What consistently takes under three to four minutes to handle? What drives re-contact within 24 to 72 hours? Technology makes this repeatable - so you’re not starting from scratch every quarter.

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Step 2: Cluster by intent

Rather than analysing by channel (voice vs email vs chat), cluster interactions by customer intent. Instead of ‘20,000 calls’, ask: how many were payment date queries? Balance requests? Appointment changes? Customers don’t think in channels — they think about the problem they want to solve.

Conversation Analytics surfaces these clusters automatically, saving hours of manual analysis and revealing patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

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Step 3: Rank by volume and effort

Not every repetitive query should be automated. Ranking by two lenses — volume (how often does this occur?) and effort (how much friction does this create?) - helps you prioritise strategically.

• High volume + low effort: immediate automation potential.
• High volume + high effort: may require journey redesign before automation.
• Low volume + high effort: remain human for now.
• Low volume + low effort: monitor and consider as a pilot.

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Step 4: Validate with your team

Before you automate anything, validate the decision with the people who handle those conversations every day. Ask: Is this emotionally sensitive? Is it a brand touchpoint that customers value? Does it spike seasonally? Does what looks like a simple query often become a complex one underneath?

A payment query might look straightforward - but if it frequently leads to a conversation about payment difficulty, that’s not a candidate for full end-to-end automation. This step prevents automation decisions that look good on paper but frustrate customers in practice.

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How do you know your automation is working?

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Automation is working when three things improve simultaneously: business outcomes (cost to serve, conversion, retention), customer experience (faster resolution, less repetition), and operational performance (agents spending less time on repetitive tasks and more on complex conversations). If automation only improves one area, it’s likely not deployed in the right place.

Monitor containment rates, drop-off points, and escalation paths on a weekly basis for early warning signs. Review and optimise on a quarterly basis - or more frequently in fast-moving markets with changing regulation or customer expectations.

Ready to start your automation journey?

Watch the full webinar replay on YouTube.

Download the Voice of the UK Consumer Report.

Book a complimentary automation consultancy session with our Customer Success team and we’ll run you through the MaxContact Automation Framework for your organisation: https://www.maxcontact.com/book-a-demo

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According to our latest Benchmark Report, 66% ​​of contact centres are currently using or piloting AI with the aim of reducing operational costs and driving productivity.

But measuring ROI from AI automation isn’t straightforward.

A contact centre specialising in debt collection may measure ROI through reduced cost per contact, improved payment completion rates, or increased compliance consistency. Meanwhile, an outsourced contact centre that handles high-volume inbound enquiries may focus on deflection rates, average handling time or agent utilisation.

Channel mix can also influence impact. Voice-reliant operations see ROI through reduced call queue pressure and lower cost per call, while digital-first environments may prioritise customer containment and response speed.

Measuring AI ROI properly means understanding what success looks like in your specific environment, rather than relying on generic savings estimates.

Start with a baseline: what does a human-handled interaction really cost?

Before you can begin to measure the return from AI automation, you need a clear picture of what interactions cost when they’re handled by people.

For most UK contact centres, the average cost of a human-handled voice call sits between £5.50 and £6.50 per interaction. This is often used as a headline figure, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

The total cost is driven by other factors, including:

• Agent salaries and on-costs
• Training and onboarding, which are made more expensive by high attrition rates
• Quality assurance and compliance overhead, including call monitoring and reporting
• Out-of-hours staffing, which significantly increases the cost for 24/7 coverage
• Inefficiencies caused by repeat calls, transfers and long handle times

Even when handled efficiently, live calls demand dedicated agent time, whereas digital interactions can be managed asynchronously and at a greater scale.

A voice-heavy operation will feel cost pressure very differently from a digital-first one, and ROI calculations need to reflect that reality.

By contrast, AI-handled interactions typically cost a fraction of a human-handled call, often coming in at under £0.50 per interaction, depending on channel, complexity and volume. That gap is where ROI potential starts to emerge, but only if you understand what you’re replacing or augmenting in the first place.

Put simply, you can’t measure ROI without first understanding what each interaction costs you now. Without a baseline, your savings might look impressive on paper but will prove impossible to validate in practice.

The core ROI generators of AI automation

Not every AI capability is designed to solve the same problem, and not every contact centre will prioritise the same outcomes.

The key to measuring ROI accurately is understanding where value is being created in your operation.

1. AI Agents: reducing cost per interaction and extending capacity

AI Agents deliver ROI by reducing the cost of handling routine interactions and extending service availability without increasing headcount.

Instead of relying solely on human agents to manage every enquiry, AI Agents can handle high-volume, repetitive interactions end-to-end. This includes tasks such as customer authentication, balance enquiries, payment queries and status updates. Each interaction handled by an AI Agent reduces the cost of a human-handled call.

From an ROI perspective, contact centres typically measure:

• Cost per AI-handled interaction (often under £0.50)
• The percentage of total interactions fully handled by AI
• Reductions in out-of-hours staffing costs
• Reduced call queue pressure during peak periods

When AI Agents are used to automate between 40-60% of repetitive interactions, the cost impact is significant. Organisations frequently see monthly savings running into tens of thousands of pounds, driven purely by lower cost per interaction and improved utilisation of human agents.

Extending availability without adding cost is one of the strongest ROI drivers for AI Agents. We explore this in more detail in How to Offer 24/7 Customer Support Without Increasing Headcount.

ROI in Real Terms: Indebted

For Indebted (a contact centre in the debt collection industry), automating repetitive interactions with an AI Agent led to a 30% increase in contact centre productivity and a 12% uplift in resolution rates.

Read the full case study.

2. AI Chatbots: deflection, containment and digital ROI

While AI Agents reduce the cost of handling interactions, AI Chatbots drive ROI by preventing interactions from becoming calls in the first place.

AI Chatbots aren’t a separate intelligence layer. They’re a digital channel through which AI Agents operate, using the same logic, workflows and compliance rules. The difference is where the interaction happens.

From an ROI standpoint, AI Chatbots are measured through:

• Deflection rates (queries resolved without reaching an agent)
• Reduction in inbound call volume
• Digital containment rates
• Cost difference between chatbot interactions and human-led webchat or calls
• Impact on Average Handle Time (AHT) by removing routine demand

When routine queries are resolved digitally, contact centres reduce inbound pressure, shorten queues and protect agent capacity. Customers benefit from instant responses, while the organisation avoids the higher cost of voice-based interactions altogether.

For a deeper look at how reducing routine demand directly impacts handle time, see How to Reduce Average Handle Time in Your Call Centre.

3. AI-powered conversation analytics: ROI beyond cost reduction

Not all AI-driven ROI comes from removing interactions. Some of the most valuable gains come from making existing interactions more effective.

AI-powered conversation analytics deliver ROI by improving visibility, performance and compliance across every conversation. Teams gain insights across 100% of interactions instead of manual samples.

From an ROI perspective, contact centres typically measure:

• Reduced manual QA effort and review time
• Faster onboarding and agent coaching
• Improved compliance monitoring and risk identification
• Earlier identification of call drivers and friction points
• Improvements in agent effectiveness over time

Conversation analytics don’t directly reduce demand. Instead, they help contact centres understand why interactions are happening, where time is being lost, and how performance can be improved at scale.

ROI looks different depending on your contact centre model

The value AI automation delivers depends on how your contact centre operates, what pressures you’re under, and what success looks like to you.

Below are three common models, and how ROI typically shows up in each.

Debt collection & financial services

In debt collection and financial services, ROI is closely tied to cost control, compliance and availability.

Key ROI drivers typically include:

• Lower cost per contact
• Consistent, auditable compliance
• Always-on availability without expensive out-of-hours staffing

AI Agents are particularly effective here because they can handle structured, repeatable interactions reliably, including:

• Customer authentication
• Payment flows
• Balance and status updates

By automating these journeys, organisations reduce inbound demand on human agents while ensuring interactions are handled consistently and compliantly.

As seen with Indebted, automating high-volume, predictable enquiries helped reduce the cost per interaction while maintaining service availability across extended hours.

Outsourced contact centres and BPOs

For outsourced contact centres, ROI is less about absolute cost reduction and more about margin protection and scalability.

Typical ROI focus areas include:

• Improving agent utilisation
• Protecting margins under fixed-price or SLA-based contracts
• Maintaining service levels during demand spikes

AI plays a key role by absorbing predictable demand during peak periods, reducing the need to rapidly scale your headcount. This helps BPOs meet SLAs without over-recruiting or burning out agents during busy periods.

There’s also a longer-term ROI impact through reduced pressure on frontline teams, which can help lower churn and stabilise delivery costs.

Public sector, health and support services

In public sector and support-led environments, ROI is often measured in capacity, continuity and service quality, not just financial savings.

Key ROI considerations include:

• Extending service availability with limited budgets
• Reducing pressure on frontline staff
• Protecting agent wellbeing in emotionally demanding roles

ROI in Real Terms: Quitline Victoria

Using AI Agents to support outbound engagement, Quitline Victoria achieved a 62% answer rate, 18% completion rate and 10% re-engagement rate, extending service reach without increasing pressure on frontline counsellors.

Read the full case study.

In this context, ROI is realised through better allocation of human effort, improved service continuity and a more sustainable operating model, rather than simple cost removal.

A practical framework for calculating AI automation ROI

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Common ROI mistakes to avoid

When measuring the ROI of AI automation, it’s easy to focus on the headline numbers and miss what actually drives long-term value. These are some of the most common pitfalls contact centres run into.

Measuring AI in isolation
AI rarely delivers ROI on its own. Its impact comes from how well it’s embedded into existing journeys, channels and workflows. Measuring AI separately from call routing, workforce management, or analytics often underplays its true value.

Expecting 100% automation
AI isn’t designed to handle every interaction. The biggest gains come from automating the right interactions. The interactions that are predictable, repeatable and time-sensitive. Complex or sensitive conversations should always be assigned to human agents.

Focusing only on call deflection
Reducing inbound volume matters, but it’s not the whole picture. ROI also comes from shorter handle times, better first-contact resolution, smoother handovers and improved agent productivity.

Ignoring quality, compliance and experience
Lower cost interactions mean very little if service quality drops or compliance risk increases. ROI should always be measured alongside consistency and customer outcomes, especially if you’re operating in a regulated environment.

Treating ROI as a short-term metric
AI ROI compounds over time. As models learn, workflows improve, and teams adapt, the value of it grows. Measuring success only in the first few weeks can hide the longer-term gains in capacity, scalability and higher resilience.

ROI is about balance, not replacement

The strongest ROI from AI automation comes from supporting people rather than replacing them.

Used as part of a human-AI hybrid model, AI Agents, AI Chatbots and analytics help contact centres reduce cost per interaction and extend capacity to deliver a more consistent service, without increasing headcount or burning out teams.

ROI isn’t something you measure once and move on from. The most successful contact centres refine automation over time as demand, channels and expectations change.

If you want to understand what ROI could look like in your contact centre, start by exploring how AI can support your existing operation.

Explore AI contact centre solutions

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Today, an always-on, 24/7 approach to inbound and outbound customer journeys is what contact centres must deliver, allowing customers to access information, ask questions or respond to communications whenever it suits them.

And automated customer support isn’t confined to phone calls. Customers want channel choice: the ability to engage and switch across SMS, email, live chat and chatbots, without friction or disruption.

When those expectations aren’t met, the impact is immediate. 42% of customers have switched providers following a poor experience handled in the contact centre, making availability and responsiveness a commercial priority rather than a “nice to have”.

This pressure lands in an already challenging environment for contact centre leaders:

• Cost per call is at a five-year high, averaging between £5.50-£6.50
• First-call sales close rates are down year-on-year, with a 25% reduction in 2025
• The volume of customer interactions continues to grow across multiple touchpoints
• Many leaders report higher agent workloads than the previous year

At the same time, simply increasing headcount is rarely a viable option. As it brings significant financial and operational implications.

As a result, contact centres are balancing on a tightrope: deliver high-quality, always-on customer experiences without increasing costs or overwhelming agents.

It’s a tall order. Traditional contact centre models struggle most. Whereas those that treat AI and automation as a necessity, not an experiment, are far better positioned to succeed.

Why traditional contact centres can’t support a 24/7 approach

Contact centres that rely heavily on manual processes are far more likely to miss the mark on consistent, high-quality customer experiences. Not through lack of effort, but instead through lack of capability.

Without automation or AI-enabled workflows, manual contact centres lack the visibility needed to shape effective contact strategies. Disconnected channels and siloed data across multiple systems make it difficult to understand what’s driving demand, where workflows break down, and where agent intervention adds the most value.

As a result, agents often spend a disproportionate amount of time handling repetitive, low-value enquiries instead of focusing on complex or high-impact conversations. This creates inefficiency and, over time, contributes to lower morale and higher fatigue.

Traditional 24/7 models attempt to solve availability problems with people alone. But scaling this way gets expensive fast. In a typical mid-market contact centre, automating just 50-55% of repetitive interactions with AI Agents can reduce monthly handling costs by £80k-£100k (for midsized contact centres), depending on volume and channel mix.

Without connected, automated systems in place, scaling availability scales cost and pressure, but leaves customer experience to chance.

Orchestrating a multi-channel customer journey

Customer support shouldn’t be confined to a single channel. In omnichannel contact centres, customers regularly move between different channels, including SMS, email, chat and chatbots - sometimes within the same interaction.

A customer might receive an SMS, reply with a question, switch to chat for clarification, and later call expecting the conversation to continue seamlessly. Managing this consistently is difficult in manual contact centres, where channels and context are often treated as separate streams.

AI Agents and AI Chatbots make this easier by connecting voice and digital channels into a single, coordinated experience, handling conversations, retaining context and supporting smooth handovers to human agents when needed.

This orchestration is what makes always-on, 24/7 support achievable at scale, and sets the foundation for supporting inbound and outbound journeys more effectively.

What “always-on 24/7” really means for inbound and outbound support

Inbound and outbound interactions are different. And so is the way that customers expect to access 24/7 customer support.

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When inbound and outbound journeys are properly orchestrated and integrate AI customer service solutions:

• Customers can ask questions after receiving outbound messages, without waiting for office hours
• Routine follow-ups are handled digitally, so they don’t automatically become inbound calls
• Conversations continue seamlessly across voice and digital channels, regardless of time zone
• Human agents are reserved for moments where judgement, empathy or complexity matter most

This is what distinguishes always-on availability from simple 24/7 coverage. So, how do contact centre leaders make it a reality?

This is where AI-powered contact centre software becomes essential. Not as a replacement for human agents, but as the execution layer that makes always-on 24/7 customer support possible.

The role of AI Agents in continuous customer support

MaxContact’s AI Agents play a central role in delivering an always-on, 24/7 approach to inbound and outbound customer support, particularly in voice-led contact centres where consistency, compliance and context matter.

Rather than acting as basic automation, AI Agents handle natural, human-like conversations across voice and digital channels. They understand intent, ask clarifying questions and complete tasks end-to-end, from authentication and verification through to troubleshooting, routing and account actions, all without customers waiting in a queue to speak to an agent.

This makes AI Agents especially effective outside core operating hours, when customers still expect fast, accurate responses but human availability is limited. Every interaction is handled consistently and compliantly, with the same rules, prompts and safeguards applied every time.

AI Agents are designed to operate as part of a human-AI hybrid model, not as a replacement for human agents. When a case needs to be escalated due to complexity, risk, sentiment or customer preference, it is, with full conversational context passed on, so customers never have to repeat themselves.

Used this way, AI Agents extend contact centre capacity. They absorb repetitive and time-sensitive demand, pre-qualify and verify customers, and ensure agents are connected to the right conversations at the right time.

The result is faster responses, reduced queue pressure and consistent 24/7 support, without increasing headcount. In cost terms, organisations typically see AI-handled interactions delivered at under £0.50 per contact, compared to £6+ when handled by a human agent.

The role AI Chatbots play in always-on customer support

AI Chatbots aren’t a separate capability from AI Agents. They’re one of the digital channels through which AI Agents operate.

MaxContact’s AI Agents provide the intelligence that understands intent, manages logic and then controls workflows. AI Chatbots maximise that capability across digital touchpoints. This means that the same AI-powered conversations and workflows run consistently across chat, messaging and other digital channels.

In practice, this means customers can get instant answers and can complete simple tasks, such as scheduling a call, or respond to outbound communications through the AI Chatbot, without needing to call or wait in a queue.

Behind the scenes, the AI Agent handles intent, applies rules, and manages the conversation in exactly the same way it would in a voice-led interaction.

This is what makes AI Chatbots so effective in an always-on model. They extend AI Agent capability into digital channels, so contact centres can resolve routine and time-sensitive queries instantly, at any time of day. All whilst maintaining quality and compliance.

How to use AI Chatbots in everyday contact centre situations

In always-on customer journeys, AI Chatbots are particularly effective for handling predictable, high-volume interactions such as:

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Reducing pressure without reducing service

The goal of always-on, 24/7 customer support isn’t to replace human agents or cut corners on service. It’s to remove unnecessary pressure on people, costs and operations while delivering high quality customer experience.

By handling repetitive, predictable and time-sensitive interactions, AI Agents and AI Chatbots absorb demand that would otherwise sit in voice queues or overwhelm frontline teams. Customers still get fast, accurate support, but agents aren’t tied up answering the same questions or repeating the same checks.

This shift allows human agents to focus on high-value conversations. The conversations that need judgement, empathy, reassurance or problem-solving. These moments are where human input makes the biggest difference to outcomes.

Crucially, service levels aren’t reduced. They’re improved. Customers get quicker responses, fewer handoffs and more consistent experiences, while agents work in a more sustainable, focused environment.

Always-on customer support needs the right operational foundations

AI Agents work as a standalone capability. They handle conversations and automate tasks without needing a full contact centre platform.

So, for organisations that don’t operate within a traditional contact centre, AI Agents still deliver immediate value by providing always-on customer support. They handle routine and time-sensitive interactions, and also ensure that customers get fast and consistent responses outside core operating hours.

On the other hand, for organisations that do operate with a contact centre platform in place, AI Agents and AI Chatbots can be easily integrated with core CCaaS capabilities such as:

• intelligent diallers
• real-time call routing
• call queue management
• and contact centre analytics
  

In a contact centre environment, AI Agents extend and enhance existing workflows, and help contact centres manage demand more intelligently by prioritising interactions, and continuously optimising performance across both inbound and outbound journeys.

With the ability to operate independently, or as part of a wider CCaaS set up, AI Agents give a wide variety of businesses the flexibility to scale availability and responsiveness without increasing headcount or incurring ongoing costs. Turning 24/7 customer support into a sustainable capability rather than an operational headache.

Deliver always-on support without always-on staffing

Customers now expect an always-on, 24/7 approach to inbound and outbound customer journeys. Meeting that expectation is reliant on operational foundations that encourage automated workflows, rather than expanding teams and ongoing costs.

By combining AI Agents, AI Chatbots and contact centre capabilities within a single, connected CCaaS platform, contact centres can deliver continuous, high-quality support that scales efficiently and sustainably.

In this model, 24/7 customer support isn’t a strain, it’s a strength that protects customer experience, teams and costs at the same time.

Deliver always-on customer support without increasing headcount.

Explore AI contact centre solution

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