I’ve spent the past 20 years immersed in customer experience, and what makes my perspective a little different is that I’ve lived it from all sides. I’ve led contact center operations firsthand. I’ve built and run end-to-end CX programs, from voice of the customer to journey mapping and operational feedback loops. And I’ve been on the solution partner’s side too, helping organizations adopt AI solutions to improve their contact center performance.

That mix lets me bring a holistic view when I work with clients and prospects. At Afiniti, I’m not just talking about technology for its own sake. I’m focused on solving real problems, because I’ve been in the chair and I know what it takes to make change stick.

We’ve Come a Long Way 

Over the last two decades, organizations have invested heavily in broadening how customers engage, through self-service tools, mobile apps, agentic AI, and more. These advances have brought real benefits: lower effort, faster resolution, and greater customer control. 

That’s a good thing. Customers want options. And companies have rightfully responded by expanding digital channels. 

But despite all that progress, many customers still pick up the phone. 

What Hasn’t Changed 

Even with excellent digital tools in place, there are still moments when people need to speak to someone. And when they do, those moments are rarely simple. 

What remains in the contact center today are the emotionally charged, high-value, or complex interactions that digital channels often can’t fully resolve. That means the calls that do reach a human agent matter more than ever and they’re harder than ever to handle. 

It’s not a volume game anymore. It’s a quality game. 

Why the Contact Center Deserves Renewed Attention

These moments, when someone calls you because nothing else worked, are critical. They’re often the difference between retaining a customer and losing one, between resolving an issue and deepening customer frustration. 

And yet, the contact center is still too often treated as an afterthought, even as the nature of the work becomes more demanding. 

If you’ve already made great strides in digital experience, this isn’t a call to rewind the clock. It’s a reminder not to forget the value of the voice channel. It’s still where trust is won and lost. 

Agents Need Support, Too 

Because today’s calls are more complex, agents need better support. It means giving them the tools, training, and context to respond with clarity and empathy. 

I got into customer experience during the Sprint–Nextel merger back in 2005. I was asked to help lead part of the integration. At the time, the contact centers were struggling. High call volumes, frustrated customers, and unhappy agents. We pulled together a task force to figure it out. 

What we uncovered changed the way I think about CX. 

It wasn’t really a contact center issue. It was a wider customer experience problem. Customers weren’t calling us just to talk. They were calling because something had gone wrong. Their bill didn’t make sense. Their coverage was poor. They didn’t understand the contract they just signed. The contact center was left trying to clean up the mess. 

That was a turning point for me. I stopped seeing contact centers as support functions and started seeing them for what they really are: the front line of trust. 

The Metrics That Matter 

Years ago, during my time at Sprint, we used dropped calls as a measure of network quality. The logic was sound, until we noticed elevated churn in areas with “good” coverage. 

It turned out some customers had stopped making calls altogether in places where the signal was bad. Our metric was clean, but it masked a problem. 

That experience taught me to always ask: are we measuring what really matters? Are we looking beyond the numbers and understanding the full story? 

That mindset applies to CX today more than ever. 

One Last Thought 

The contact center is not a relic of the past. It’s a vital channel in a multichannel world. And as interactions become more complex and emotionally loaded, it’s time to give it the attention it deserves. 

If you’ve made great strides in digital experience, keep going. But don’t forget what happens when your customer calls and needs help. That’s still one of the most important moments in the customer journey.