Explore every episode of the podcast Advice from a Call Center Geek!
Dive into the complete episode list for Advice from a Call Center Geek!. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Dear Santa: Here is the AI Contact Center Tools We Actually Want!
This episode is my AI Christmas wish list for CCaaS.
Not toys.
Not buzzwords.
The real AI tools contact centers should already have but don’t. Everyone is focused on making AI talk to customers.
That’s missing the point.
AI in CX isn’t supposed to just talk. It’s supposed to run the contact center.
I break down the biggest opportunities CCaaS platforms are skipping, from AI flow builders you can prompt in plain English, to real-time workforce orchestration, predictive routing that replaces “next available agent,” dashboards built instantly by prompt, in-call coaching that actually helps agents in the moment, and real-time billing with zero surprises.
This is a wish list, but it’s not fantasy.
This is practical, achievable AI that would make life easier for the people running the floor every day. If you’re tired of AI demos that look good but don’t change operations, this episode is for you.
All I want for Christmas is CCaaS AI that actually works.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Join us for an inside look at Expivia Digital and the current state of contact center technology. We share our 30-year journey from running contact centers to consulting on CCaaS platform selection, AI quality assurance, and NICE CXone implementations. As members of NICE's Executive Advisory Board, we discuss the biggest trends shaping the industry in 2025: usage-based pricing, AI automation, agent experience, and how to cut through vendor promises to find technology that actually delivers ROI. Whether you're evaluating platforms, implementing AI, or trying to optimize your current stack - this is the real talk contact center leaders need to hear.
Come check us out at Expiviadigital.com
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
In this thought-provoking episode of Advice from a Call Center Geek, we dive deep into one of the most contested questions in customer service technology:
Can artificial intelligence truly demonstrate empathy, and how do we meaningfully measure it?
While tech companies tout their AI's emotional intelligence capabilities, we'll cut through the marketing hype to examine what empathy really means in customer interactions.
We'll explore practical examples from call centers where AI handles emotionally charged situations, comparing them with human responses to similar scenarios.
Through real case studies and expert insights, we'll break down the components of empathy, from emotional recognition to appropriate response selection - and assess how AI systems measure up against these criteria.
Rather than accepting the binary "AI can/cannot be empathetic" debate, we'll examine the nuanced reality of how AI systems process and respond to emotional cues.
We'll discuss concrete metrics used in call centers to evaluate emotional intelligence, whether applied to human agents or AI systems, and question whether these measurements truly capture the essence of empathy.
This episode challenges both AI skeptics and enthusiasts to reconsider their assumptions.
For call center leaders and CX professionals, we'll provide actionable frameworks to evaluate AI solutions beyond the buzzwords, helping you make informed decisions about implementing emotionally intelligent automation in your customer service operations.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
That one call contact center agent that is consistently late by 1, 3, or 6 minutes every day to shift or coming back from break/lunch. This can be a tricky situation to handle and one that we all deal with in the contact center environment.
You get frustrated, WFM is on you, other agents are irritated because they can go on break until that agent comes back...it can be a mess if left unchecked.
In this episode, we discuss that it's ok to hold agents to certain standards as long as it's part of the core competency that you need from them and that's been explained. We also talk about certain ways to avoid this and when to move it to progressive discipline.
This should be a pretty valuable episode to any call center manager or supervisor.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Middle management is the absolute lifeline of your contact center. Have you educated and given them the tools they need to be successful.
We are in the process of overhauling our management training program and want to give all of you an inside look at what you should be converting and how to do this.
This includes chapters on : TECHNOLOGY/OPERATIONS
Telephony understanding
KPIS (Already created a dictionary for this)
Reports- What to look for
Supervisor Checklist
Starting the Day the Right Way
Motivations
Analytics understanding
Daily Synopsis format
HR
Dealing with agent issues (top 10 issues and how to handle)- Script and Video
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
In this totally unscripted episode, I sit down with 5 of our contact middle management to discuss how they manage their teams.
We talk about coaching tips, QA, dealing with motivation issues, and how to handle confrontation that sometimes arises in any work environment from their perspective.
Really unique episode and one that we want to do more of!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Educating associates is a core competency of any solid contact center operation. In episode 141 of Advice from a Call Center Geek, we look at 7 Effective Call Center Training Tips You Can Implement Easily.
Topics in this episode include: Focusing On the Major Call Center Skills Equipping Your Agents with Sufficient Product Knowledge Creating KPIs for Every Training Session Making Training Sessions Practical and Easy to Implement Fostering Continuous Improvement Provide Constructive Feedback Map Out a Clear Growth Pathway for Your Agents
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
This episode is definitely in my top 3 favorite episodes and a MUST listen for any Call Center Geek out there. I re-recorded this episode 4 times to make sure I got across what I needed!
In this episode, we take a deep dive into the Metaverse and How it will fundamentally change CX, service, rewards programs, and customer retention.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Turnover...the arch-nemesis of every contact center.
While it's never going to be perfect, there are some tactics that we can take to improve the culture and the turnover of the contact center environment.
In this episode, we look at 5 ways that we battle turnover here in my contact center, Expivia.
These include a dive into:
Culture Associate Pay Agent Engagement Growth and Progression Having a Say Difficult Processes and Procedures
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
I love this episode. If you are a call center geek, it's for you, if you are not but want to understand the power of the oncoming NFT revolution, this is for you as well!
NFTs are going to be a large part of business and service in the coming years. They are not a fad, they are a tool that all of us will need to understand, and the earlier that happens, the more ahead of the game you and your organization will be!
I have gone down the rabbit hole with NFTs, Crypto, Defi, and blockchain, and what to tell you all I have learned. In this episode, we discuss all the ways NFTs can and will be disrupting business. This is a brainstorming session where I want to plant the seed in all my listener's minds as to how you can utilize these new technologies.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
"What's the one tip that you would give to a brand new call center supervisor managing his/her first team of 15 customer service agents? GO...."
The many answers I got were amazing and I think really helpful.
So in this episode, we break down some of the top answers that we received. You are going to really like this one, so many smart and talented call center operators out there!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
It's time to look at your center and develop a strategic plan for the new year. In this episode of ACG, we take a look at four-five aspects of your center and talk through what we look at every year to improve. These include:
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
NEW BOOK! Advice from a Call Center Geek 3.0! is done!
Ok I just posted the full 204-page book for FREE on our Linkedin group Call Center Tips and Tactics, you can download it right now!
I will also be offering the Amazon Kindle version for free for 3 days after it goes live on Amazon ( by Jan 10)
Amazon is taking longer than normal to review all the published books as they are dealing with staffing issues I'm sure.
I didn't want to wait for them to be ready as I already pushed this back once!
This new version has over 200 pages and 10 new chapters. We added about 70 pages to the last update.
I hope it adds value to all of you!
I will upload the book here to my LinkedIn as well in the coming days but if you want it now, head over to the Tips and Tactics Group: https://lnkd.in/dDC-VUx
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Tired of the AI hype cycle? In this straight-shooting episode, we're diving into what's actually happening with AI in customer experience operations right now. Not what vendors are promising, not what futurists are predicting, but the real deal from someone in the trenches.
You'll discover what's genuinely working, what's still smoke and mirrors, and most importantly, how to build your roadmap for 2025.
We're unpacking real implementation stories, revealing common pitfalls, and sharing the frameworks you need to evaluate what's right for your organization.
Key takeaways:
The truth about current AI capabilities in CX (no sugar coating)
Which use cases are delivering real value today
Critical steps to prepare your team and infrastructure
A practical framework for your 2025 planning
The mistakes you can't afford to make
Whether you're just starting your AI journey or trying to optimize your current operations, this episode gives you the unfiltered insights and actionable steps you need to move forward with confidence.
Time to cut through the noise and get real about AI in CX.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
My New Book (Kinda) will be out on Jan 4th! We have taken "MORE Advice from a Call Center Geek" and added 10 chapters to it and over 50 pages.
New chapters on AI, KPIs, Engagement, Outsourcing, WFH, new pricing guide, and more!
We also included a Final Exam that you can take with your team that will allow for a deep dive into your contact center to improve every facet of it.
If you are a listener to the podcast and want the new book FREE, all you have to do is join our Linkedin Call Center Tips and Tactics Group. Not only will you get the book free, but you will also get to join a community of like-minded call center pros that can help with any issues or contact center questions you may have!
I will be offering my new call center ops book free for three days in the group!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
I got a Linkedin inMail from a listener that said: Hey Tom! Thanks for accepting my connection request so quickly. I recently stumbled across your "Advice from a Call Center Geek" podcast and have been loving the content. I'm a supervisor in a 25 head center about to apply for the manager position. I've listened to your New Manager cast from August and was wondering if you have a cast (or simply any advice) around what advice you would tell your 25-year-old self? Thanks! John- Avid Learner
This really got me thinking about what I would tell myself if I could go back in time and teach my 25-year-old call center self. Being this episode is being recorded 2-3 days before the new year, I thought a self-reflection episode would make sense. So I did it.
I hope this helps all the younger (and older) call center team leads, supervisors, and managers out there!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Let's look at your contact centers efficiency as we head into the new year. In this episode, we look at:
Call Routing and Skilling Mistakes Utilizing Self Service the Right Way Making sure we are Measuring the Proper Efficiency KPIs *Adherence *Occupancy *AHT
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! As we record this episode, it is December 23rd, 2021, two days before Christmas.
We wanted to take some time at the time of year when you are off with family and away from work with an episode to get you to think a little about what will be happening in the contact center in 2022. Here are our Top Ten trends that we are looking at and talking about in our contact center, what we have seen at all the contact center conferences, what what is being talked about in the industry.
*AI Revolution? *Agent Assist Becomes Real *New KPI's Emerge *Emergence of Non Contact Center CX *Security for 2022 *At Home Training *Realtime Reporting Upgrades *NFT's, Smart Contacts, Metaverse *Cloud Apotion in All Parts of Business *Crypto from Payments
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
I am doing a down and dirty episode here with my knee-jerk reactions to the Customer Contact Week (aka call center week) conference.
This episode has not been edited and has been recorded on my iPhone as I left my mic back at home but I didn’t want to wait to record as I didn’t want to forget anything.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Friends, we have done deep into the law here with our attorneys to create a full policy for the upcoming January 4th mandated date for all companies, (we are focusing on contact centers) that have over 100 employees to comply with the government vaccine mandate.
After you listen to this episode, you will be fully versed in the law, the dates that are of importance, what constitutes vaccinated, and what you can and cannot legally ask your employees about their vaccination status.
On top of all that, if you do not have a Vaccine Mandate Policy, I am more than happy to not only give you ours, but also our one-pager for the employees, and the documents you need to keep track of is employees are vaccinated, unvaccinated, getting weekly testing, or have exemptions.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
The week before Thanksgiving is a great time of the year. It's time where you can reset some of the negativity that you may have in your contact center, and accent the positivity using some motivational tactics that really get a boost when paired with the holiday season.
In this episode (129) we talk about ways to engage and motivate employees during the holidays, ways you can utilize social media with your teams better to motivate and enhance culture, and we also discuss bonuses and some bonus structures that I have used in the past in the contact center environment.
This episode is all about your agents and helping develop the culture you want.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
I am always thinking about how can my contact center be different? How can we have better quality, how can we as management engage our employees better?
One of the thoughts that I had when I was out sick with Covid, was doing a Reddit style Ask Me Anything (AMA) and having all the employees do just that, and me anything they want.
It was AWESOME!
So many times we just assume that people understand why we do what we do, why this policy is in effect, why we don't allow that. If we dont explain then may times there is the assumpltion of "thats just how it's always been done" or " they just want to be mean", or even "that makes no sense!"
This allowed me to explain questions, policies, procedures, and topics that I did t realize needed to be discussed in more depth. It was a great experience and really enhanced our corporate communication culture.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
This episode is a little different than what we normally do, much more personal. 10 days before recording this, I tested positive for covid, this at a time when Covid has hit our Expivia contact center family petty hard, much harder than in 2020.
I want to give you my perspective on how I dealt with this and how it changed my perception of my WFH agents and my thought process on dealing with agents, even WFH agents that test positive. This was a big wake-up call for me.
I also want to talk through the vaccine mandate that will be coming into play for many of us the first week of January, how we are dealing with team members that don't want to get vaccinated, policies that we are having to put in place, and just overall how we are dealing with the mandate.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
One of my roles as the CEO here at Expivia, is to make calls on where I see technology and CX intersect to try to position us to be ahead of the curve.
Facebook (at the time of this recording) just announced they are changing their name. The name is a small piece of what they are doing. One of the largest companies in the world is changing its entire business model to focus on the Metaverse. This should open all of our eyes as tho what is coming, it definitely opened mine.
In this episode, we look at customer experience how the metaverse, VR, AR, and some other newer platforms coming to play in Customer Experience 3.0
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
As we wrap up another year, it's time for our highly anticipated ACG 2025 Predictions Episode! In this special forecast, we'll dive deep into the future of technology and customer experience, sharing valuable insights from the entire Expivia team.
What groundbreaking technologies will reshape the CX landscape? How will AI continue to evolve in the customer service space? What new challenges and opportunities await contact centers in 2025? Join us as we break down our expert predictions and analyze the trends that will define the industry over the next 12 months.
Drawing from our hands-on experience and industry expertise, we'll explore everything from emerging digital solutions to shifting customer expectations. Whether you're a CX professional, technology enthusiast, or business leader, you won't want to miss these critical insights into what's coming in 2025!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Covid had changed the way many of us operate our contact centers. In this episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!" we take a look back at where we were and all the policies, procedures we changed, the technology we now utilize, and the engagement that we have evolved.
This is a great episode for you to take a look at your internal operation and see what areas you can improve with all the changes in the workforce and technology we have all seen.
If you would like to appear on "Advice from a Call Center Geek! make sure you shoot tom an email at tlaird@expivia.net!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
The Ultimate Guide To Contact Center Outsourcing Episode...we created it! This episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!" is designed to give you everything you need before you outsource.
What to look out for, what to negotiate, pricing... it's all here.
This episode will give you everything you need to make the right decision about outsourcing (or not to outsource) your contact center.
If you would like to appear on "Advice from a Call Center Geek! make sure you shoot tom an email at tlaird@expivia.net!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
What should your service level KPI's be in your contact center?
In this episode, the voice of the Geek, Tom Laird, gives the "official" "Advice from a Call Center Geek!" SLA benchmarks for Voice, Chat, Email, QA, and Sentiment.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
In this week's episode, we take a look at a really cool team-building exercise that I have done here at Expivia. We sat down with some of our management and HR team and tried to discuss the top 10 customer service skills that an associate would need to be a world-class agent.
The discussion was lively and fun! Every organization will have a different set of ten, but going through this exercise you really were able to see what some of your management most value and what are they missing as well.
Well worth the time and effort to go through this exercise.
Once you do, make sure you post your top 10 on LinkedIn with the #callcentergeektop10
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
In this episode of Advice from a Call Center Geek! we dig deep into 13 questions that all contact center leadership teams should be able to answer and have a plan for.
We dig deep into these questions to start anyone in management or working on the first lines of a contact center thinking on how they can improve as individuals and as a call center management team.
Some of these questions we discuss include: Do your supervisors all manage differently? What is tolerated or not tolerated on the call center floor? How does management treat peers? Do your supervisors all manage differently?
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
We had the privilege of talking to NICE CXone (inContact) CEO Paul Jarman on this episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!"
In what will be one of our cornerstone episodes, we had the opportunity to get into the mind of a true CX leader and visionary.
We talk about the state of AI, speech analytics, changing customer preference, the oncoming digital transformation, and where he sees the contact center and CX going in the next 5 to 10 years.
The discussion also covered the story on how inContact was started as a seller of unified long distance in the late '90s, through the transition of becoming one of the first CCAAS companies, all the way through the merger with NICE and where the company is today.
Very interesting discussion for any call center geek, great insights into where we are now, and where are going in the near future!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
You just got the job as the new call center manager, you are super excited!!! But then you realize, " I AM THE NEW CALL CENTER MANAGER!!!!", what do I do!
In this episode, we take a look at what the first three weeks should look like for a new call center manager. how to earn trust and respect, creating a culture to be proud of, and getting your team to row in the same direction!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Speech analytics is an extremely powerful tool in creating a positive agent and customer experience. sentiment, trending keywords, even frustration level and be monitored and tracked.
What we all have been waiting for though is real time analytics. Technology that will help and empower agents in call.
Well we have found a call center leader and a forward-thinking company that is doing just that.
Balto CEO Marc Bernstein joins Tom in discussion in the state of analytics, the technology behind it, how they are doing agent assist, and the technology behind their August 9th launch of real time coaching and real time QA.
The ability for technology to be one actually scoring calls may not be science fiction after all.
Fascinating episode on a company that is leading the way in the speech analytics space. We are very excited to present this episode.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
What Is Customer Service Experience? "Customer service experience is the opinion your customer forms about the quality of the service you provide."
Blocking and tackling. Fundamentals. This is what makes us excel at things that are important to us. In this episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!" we take a look at 8 topics that can instantly and easily improve your organization's CX.
1. The Tone is the Message 2. Branding 3. Motivate 4. Technology and your associates 5. Customer Immersion 6. Fun! 7. Customer Journey Inspection 8. Appropriate Staffing ( I know, I know...easier said than done sometimes :)
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Back to the basics of what you all love about the podcast! Let's talk about contact center coaching, how to improve it, have a plan for it, and improve our culture with it.
Proper coaching is the most underrated way to improve (or ruin) the culture of your contact center.
In this episode we talk about 10 Tips on Improving your Contact Center Coaching:
1. Praise Publicly But Coach Privately 2. Sandwich Negative Feedback with Positive Feedback 3. Be Specific 4. Tie Performance to Data 5. Have Your Agent Assess Themselves 6. Role Play 7. Discuss Roadblocks 8. Redefine KPI Goals 9. Understand Expectations 10. Remonitor
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
(I apologize for the poor audio on this episode, we had a mic failure, but the content is awesome so I hope you still find value!)
In this episode of the ACG podcast we explore the future of contact center outsourcing in 2025. We dive into what a modern BPO RFP should include, moving beyond buzzwords like 'white glove service' and 'scalability' to focus on the advanced capabilities and innovations shaping next-gen outsourcing.
If you're planning to outsource your contact center operations, this session will provide actionable insights to help you make informed decisions and unlock the full potential of your partnerships. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay ahead in the evolving world of customer experience.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Conversational AI...a topic that confuses some and fascinates others.
In today's episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!", we have the opportunity to sit down with two industry leaders that are shaping how AI impacts customers and contact centers, especially contact centers that are sales and lead gen focused.
Aktify CEO Kreg Peeler and CRO Craig Daly, join us in a conversation tailored for those looking to learn where conversational AI is today, where it's going in the future, and some of the amazing use issues that Aktify is solving day in and day out through its use.
Very interesting discussion from two leaders that are shaping the power of what Conversational AI is and where it is going. JOIN US!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
In this episode, "A Day in the life of a Contact Center Supervisor", we talk about what a full day looks like for our middle management.
From greeting reps, planning goals, monitoring/coaching, to the end of the day synopsis, we talk about what we have found to be the best way for our supervisors to handle their day to add the most value to our associates and to our organization.
1. Check Closeouts 2. Greet Reps 3. KPI Team 4. Individual meetings 5. Staying Relevant 6. Monitoring/Coaching 7. Dealing with issues that may arise 8. Checklist 9. Daily Synopsis 10. Weekly Agent Analysis
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
It seems there is a big struggle to get people back to work post-pandemic. For various reasons, many service sector jobs, including the contact center are finding it harder and harder to find the quality help need to staff appropriately
In this episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek" we dig into proven hiring techniques to try to help all our listeners through this workforce shortage.
We talk about what social platforms work the best, how to best use them, and what type of budget do you need.
Many other options as well are talked through such as how to set up an employee referral program, using your present workforce to mass post, and looking at many other options that will hopefully give you some ideas to increase your call center hiring capacity not just for now but for the future as well
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Announcement- Expivia Virtual Reality Contact Center Concept Expivia is going to be attempting to build out a 100% fully Virtual Reality Customer Service Contact Center, and we want to show you how we are doing it, in fact, we want you to be a part of it!
The goal is to have a 100% functioning POC that allows live customers to interact with LIVE virtual customer service Expivia team members in a fully virtual and brandable world.
We will be posting videos/blogs/pics multiple times a week to show you how we are doing this, our mistakes, and our triumphs a look behind the scenes at everything we are doing. We will not hide anything...
Please take the time to like our Facebook channel and follow us on our other social outlets!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
We have the honor of having in the "Michael Jordan" of Contact Center Solutions, an encyclopedia of call center platforms, the players in the space, and the technology that is out there, Brandon Knight VP Advanced Solutions- Contact Center at Telarus.
This is a can't miss episode for anyone looking to possibly change their call center technology or platform, or are interested in the main players in the space and how they operate differently.
We discuss the established players (Nice CXone, 5/9, TalkDesk...), well known premise-based brands and their journey to the cloud (Mitel, Avaya...), and up and comers ( Edify, Ujet, Amazon Connect...).
We talk about the difference between platforms that operate on micro-services compared to a cluster model.
How AI will really impact the contact center.
What new technologies are coming to a contact center near you that you need to understand?
Lastly, we discuss tips and ideas to make your call center investment worth every penny.
A ton of value here for all Call Center Geeks!
If you are interested or need help discussing any call center software needs please feel free to email Tom Laird at: tlaird@expivia.net
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Customer experience is a multi-tiered onion that has so many different layers. In this episode we take another look at call quality, we define that are the pieces that make up quality calls, and then we give an in depth look at 10 Ways to Improve Your Call Center Quality and Monitoring.
These entail:
1. Investing in a Speech Analytics Software
2. Set Up a QA Team
3. Set Call Quality Standards
4. Creating a Scorecard
5. Monitor the Quality of Live Calls /Evaluate the Quality of Recorded Calls
6. Making the Agent Part of the Evaluation
7. Identifying the Pain Points
8. Document the Results of Call Quality Monitoring
9. Use QA as a Management Teaching Tool
10. Commit to Regular Call Quality Monitoring
Join our SMS Text Group, Text "Call Center" to 814.247.0366
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
When we go in to consult for a call center that is not operating at its peak, there are about 35 different aspects of the center that we look at.
In this episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!", we give you the top 11 call center topics that you need to look at and how to break them down to do your own process improvement plan.
Many call center managers get overwhelmed if their center is underperforming. In this episode, we show you have to look at small pieces of your center to make constant improvements over the long haul to remake your center.
You can hire a call center consultant to help you, or just listen to this episode and put a plan in yourself!
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
What is the proper way to pay your hard-working call center associates?
In this episode, we talk about making sure we have agent and management salary paths for our call center workers to go down to make sure we are showing the proper progression and appreciation for all the work that they do on the front lines.
There are a million different ways to do this but hopefully, this will give you the framework of building out a pay structure in your call center that matched your culture.
Join our SMS Text Group, Text "Call Center" to 814.247.0366
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
These are not just technologies to be ignored as passing fads. There is a wave that is coming to the call center and to CX that you need to know about, you cannot put your head in the sand and hope it goes away.
In this episode, we talk specifically about the role of blockchain in how call centers and service centers will operate in the near future. We discuss the changes that are coming to sending/receiving payments, sending/receiving products, smart contracts, customer record keeping, PCI, and data security all because of blockchain technology.
It's coming, if you are a call center leader, you need to start to get yourself informed, hopefully, this is your start.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
Our new Linkedin group on call center operations tips and tactics is now live! You asked for it, you got it! MISSION: The purpose of this group is to engage with call center executives, managers, supervisors, and associates and provide ways to run their call center more effectively. We want to use the themes of the "Advice from a Call Center Geek!" podcast to try to improve the agent and customer experience in call centers throughout the world.
RULES: This is a group whose sole purpose is to prove tips and tactics on helping others improve their contact center operation. Any solicitation for products or services will be deleted from the group and the member will no longer be allowed to post. Please keep all topics related to best practices and questions on call center ops.
We are very excited to have a place where we all can talk openly about any help or ideas to make our call centers better without any sales pressure.
We hope that you will join and add to the conversation.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
The way contact centers approach Quality Assurance is undergoing a major transformation, and AI is at the heart of it.
In this episode, we explore how advanced tools are enabling intent analysis, uncovering customer behavior patterns, and streamlining QA processes to deliver more meaningful insights.
Learn how solutions like OttoQa are helping contact centers move beyond traditional scoring models, driving smarter evaluations, and creating better customer outcomes. If you're looking to future-proof your QA strategy, this conversation is a must-listen.
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
How many supervisors, trainers, team leads, and HR staff should you have to manage your call center?
In this episode, we take a look at all aspects of management to associates ratio and make sure you are neither under nor over-staffing your management roles.
Also, we are introducing our new "Advice from a Call Center Geek, Call Center Ops Tips and Tactics" Linkedin Group. If you are reading this, you are a call center geek! The purpose of this group is to engage with call center executives, managers, supervisors, and associates and provide ways to run their call center more effectively. We want to use the themes of the "Advice from a Call Center Geek!" podcast to try to improve the agent and customer experience in call centers throughout the world.
For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek: Text us: 814.247.0366 Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/ Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
In episode 103 we talk about the touchy subject of discipline policies in your call center and what should happen when you have to put an associate on an improvement plan.
We talk about the touchpoints that should happen in the first 30, 60, and 90 days of a new hire, how to be proactive with your associates when it comes to discipline, and what should happen if your culture thresholds are not being met and an associate needs to go on an improvement plan what that should look like.
For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek: Text us: 814.247.0366 Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/ Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.
In this week's episode, we dive deep into a really awesome call center motivation that we are doing here at Expivia. This will hopefully give you some thoughts on setting up something like this in your call center.
We also added in a bonus motivation/game that we did today as well that has blown away our expectations when it comes to call center rep engagement.
Love to know your thoughts on this!
For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek: Text us: 814.247.0366 Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/ Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel
Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center leaders on CCaaS platform selection, AI implementations, and NICE Studio and integration services.
Same honest, vendor-neutral advice you hear on the Call Center Geek podcast, applied directly to your specific operational challenges.
Schedule a consultation at ExpiviaDigital.com to discuss your contact center technology strategy.