National Customer Service Week 2026 to spotlight people, technology and customer experience
Contact centre and customer experience leaders are being encouraged to use this year’s National Customer Service Week (NCSW) as an opportunity to recognise frontline teams, reinforce service culture and explore how technology can support better customer outcomes. NCSW 2026 will run from 5 to 9 October and will once again focus on celebrating the people […]
Contact Centre Workforce Management: Building a more responsive operation
Customer expectations continue to rise, while contact centres face increasing pressure to do more with fewer resources. Operations must balance service levels, employee wellbeing, omnichannel communications and operational efficiency, all while maintaining a consistently high customer experience. Effective contact centre workforce management has become much more than producing staff rotas. Modern workforce management platforms combine forecasting, scheduling, […]
September 2026 is Knowledge Management Month on Contact Centre Briefing – Make sure your solutions are part of the story!
Each month on Contact Centres Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on a different part of the customer care market – and in August we’re focusing on Knowledge Management solutions. It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help customer care industry buyers find the best products and services available today. So, if you’re a […]
Beyond speech recognition accuracy: Why conversation quality now defines AI success in the contact centre
For years, success in automated contact centre engagement was measured largely through technical indicators such as speech recognition accuracy, word error rate (WER), latency and speech-to-text performance. While these measures still matter; accurately, fast transcription remains a critical foundation for intent detection, routing, summarisation, compliance monitoring and analytics. Baseline technical performance is no longer enough to determine whether […]
Contact Centre Performance Management Systems: Improving agent development and service quality
The modern contact centre has evolved far beyond measuring call volumes and average handling times. Customer service leaders are expected to deliver consistently high-quality customer experiences while supporting employee wellbeing, improving operational efficiency and responding quickly to changing customer expectations. As hybrid working, AI-assisted customer service and omnichannel engagement become the norm, organisations need greater […]
South Africa: The BPO destination everyone is talking about and why it matters
By Merchants South Africa has rapidly emerged as one of the most talked-about global destinations for customer experience outsourcing and for good reason. In an environment where organisations are under increasing pressure to deliver seamless, high-quality customer interactions while managing cost and complexity, South Africa offers a rare combination of human capability, cultural alignment, and […]
MEET THE TEAM: Jake Healy, Event Sales Manager at the Contact Centre Summit
Jake Healy has been part of the Forum Events team for four years and recently took over as Event Sales Manager for the Contact Centre & Customer Services Summit. Working closely with solution providers across the customer experience sector, Jake helps suppliers connect with senior contact centre leaders looking to invest in new technologies and […]
Contact Centre Summit: Learn from the best this September
The Contact Centre & Customer Services Summit is taking place in September, where top speakers such as Jack Barmby, CEO at Gnatta, will be sharing their experience and knowledge! 14th & 15th September 2026 | The Manchester Deansgate Hotel Free attendance – Book Now! (Places are limited) Seminar “From Zero to One with AI in Customer Service” How leaders can […]
August 2026 is Training & Development Month on Contact Centre Briefing – Make sure your solutions are part of the story!
Each month on Contact Centres Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on a different part of the customer care market – and in August we’re focusing on Training & Development solutions. It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help customer care industry buyers find the best products and services available today. So, if you’re […]
Is hybrid the right answer for customer experience?
For years, organisations faced a relatively straightforward outsourcing decision: keep operations in the UK or move them offshore to reduce costs. Today, the reality is more nuanced. As customer expectations rise and budgets remain under pressure, many organisations are looking for a model that balances cost efficiency, quality, flexibility and customer outcomes. Increasingly, that answer […]