Contact centres are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) agents to help scale staffing in line with real-time demand while supporting team wellbeing and customer experience.
Rising service expectations and ongoing agent wellbeing concerns are contributing to multiple challenges for the sector, including surging call volumes, staffing constraints, and difficulties managing off-peak or high-absence shifts. These difficulties are exacerbated by traditional staffing models that often cannot adapt fast enough to changing operational conditions.
Julie-Anne Hazlett, Head of WFO Strategy at Call Design, outlined the situation, stating, "Contact centres don't get to press pause. When demand spikes or agents call in sick, customer experience is at risk and so is team morale."
Many organisations are responding to these challenges by turning to AI-driven workforce management solutions designed to add flexibility and resilience to resource allocation. Rather than relying solely on the availability of human agents, firms are deploying virtual agents to fill service gaps, especially during sudden demand surges or when conventional rostering approaches fall short.
Platforms such as Call Design's calld.ai enable contact centres to dynamically scale resources based on live operational data. This approach leverages real-time analytics to identify fluctuations and adjust staffing coverage, ensuring continuous service delivery while protecting frontline staff from excessive workload.
Unlike traditional automation, intelligent virtual agents are designed to complement human teams rather than replace them. These digital agents manage routine queries, triage calls, and support outbound communications to allow skilled agents to focus on more complex, emotionally demanding interactions.
Hazlett explained the platform's approach, stating, "It's not about removing people from the equation. It's about using AI to create breathing room for your agents and your operations so you can continue to offer great service without all the stress."
The calld.ai platform is structured with workforce welfare in mind. By taking on high-frequency interactions and stepping in during periods of intense activity, it helps organisations manage performance expectations while aiming to maintain employee engagement and retention.
Key features of intelligent agent systems like calld.ai include the ability to scale in real time during spikes in customer demand, provide automatic coverage during periods of staff absenteeism, support less desirable shifts to ensure consistent service, and improve customer experience without increasing the risk of burnout among staff teams.
As organisations prepare for the financial year ahead, many are contending with tighter budgets and heightened service expectations. Investing in agile, data-driven technologies is seen by several industry participants as critical not only for meeting service targets but also for maintaining a healthy and high-performing workforce over the long term.
