SHALIMA BHALLA
From cost centre to intelligence hub: rethinking the telco contact centre Telcos internally operate some of the largest contact centres in the world, serving their vast customer base across wireless, broadband, enterprise and wholesale.
“ Most telcos still treat their internal contact centers as cost centres measured by call volumes and handle times. Yet those interactions contain real-time signals about customer issues and growth opportunities that very few operators mine systematically.
“ Rather than just looking at contact centre data as call volumes or performance metrics, if you take that richness of data and extrapolate patterns, you can see in real time what’ s going on and what your customers are telling you,” Shalima says.“ When businesses dive deeper and understand those patterns, they can design retention campaigns and churn prevention strategies very quickly and efficiently.”
The shift requires using contact centre data as a real-time feedback mechanism rather than managing incoming calls as efficiently as possible. The business case is straightforward: identify problems before they become churn drivers.
“ Telcos have been sitting on a gold mine of data”
Shalima Bhalla, CX Solutions and Go-to-Market Leader & Customer Signal Podcast Host
Beyond connectivity: how telcos are embedding themselves into customer operations Telcos already power almost every business with bandwidth and connectivity. When they extend that footprint with CCaaS, the system becomes woven into daily operations, replacing that system means disrupting how the company functions. That creates switching costs beyond contract terms.
“ Telcos already have the trust and long-standing relationships with their business customers. CCaaS becomes the most natural entry point to turn that trust and their data advantage into real value,” Shalima Says.
“ When they move from just providing bandwidth to a complete suite of customer experience applications – CCaaS, AI and analytics under one brand – they not only increase margins but also improve customer loyalty and stickiness, because they embed into customer workflows.”
How cloud and AI agents provide a better, more personalised experience Cloud infrastructure combined with AI changes what agents can accomplish during customer interactions. Before a customer reaches a human agent, these systems surface complete transactional history, a sentiment score indicating whether the customer is angry or neutral, and the probable intent behind the contact.
“ That empowers the agent to provide a service that’ s more contextual and personalised,” Shalima says.
144 January 2026