For decades, contact centers have operated on a simple principle: “First In, First Out.” When a customer calls, they wait in a queue until the next agent, any agent, becomes available. While this ensures fairness in terms of wait time, it fails to account for a critical variable: capability. Not every agent is equally equipped to handle every type of inquiry. The result? A customer with a complex technical issue might be routed to a novice agent, leading to long hold times, frustration, and eventual transfers.
In the modern CX economy, “next available” is no longer good enough. Today’s standard is “best available.” This is where Predictive Routing enters the equation. By harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), contact centers can move beyond static queues to a dynamic, data-driven matchmaking system that ensures every customer is paired with the agent most likely to solve their specific problem efficiently.
Moving Beyond “Next Available”
Traditional routing relies on static rules and skills-based tags. You might tag an agent as “Spanish speaker” or “Tier 2 Support,” but these labels are rigid. They don’t capture an agent’s recent performance trends, their proficiency with specific sub-topics, or how well they mesh with certain customer personality types.
Genesys Cloud CX Predictive Routing fundamentally shifts this paradigm. Instead of asking, “Who is free?” the system asks, “Who is the best match?”
It achieves this by analyzing hundreds of data points in real-time. The AI examines the customer’s profile (history, sentiment, reason for contact) and compares it against the profiles of all available agents (skills, tenure, recent performance data). It then generates a “predictive score” for every possible agent-customer combination. The higher the score, the higher the probability of a successful outcome, such as a lower Average Handle Time (AHT) or a higher Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score.
The “Surplus” Secret: Optimizing Both Sides of the Equation
To truly understand how AI ensures the “best possible connection,” it is vital to look at how it handles the two most common states of a contact center: Agent Surplus and Interaction Surplus.
1. Agent Surplus (The “Cherry Pick” Scenario) Imagine a lull in call volume. You have one incoming call and five available agents. In a standard queue, the call goes to the agent who has been idle the longest. With predictive routing, the AI instantly scores all five idle agents against that specific incoming call. Even if Agent A has been waiting longer, the AI might route the call to Agent B because she has a 20% higher predicted success rate for that specific billing issue. This ensures the customer gets the best help, not just the first help.
2. Interaction Surplus (The “Smart Match” Scenario) Now imagine the reverse: a busy Monday morning with ten callers waiting in queue and only one agent becoming available. A standard ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) would blindly dump the longest-waiting caller onto that agent. Predictive routing is smarter. It calculates a score for that newly available agent against each of the ten waiting customers. It weighs this score against wait-time logic to find the optimal pairing. If the agent is a specialist in “Returns,” the system might prioritize the fourth caller in line who is calling about a return, rather than the first caller who has a complex technical question that this specific agent typically struggles with.
The Tangible Benefits: Efficiency and Empathy
Implementing this level of intelligence drives measurable results across the board.
- Reduced Average Handle Time (AHT): By consistently routing interactions to agents with a proven track record for that specific topic, issues are resolved faster. Genesys data suggests that matching customers to the right agent can significantly shave down handle times without sacrificing quality.
- Fewer Transfers: “Let me transfer you to someone who knows more about this.” That phrase is a CSAT killer. Predictive routing minimizes these hops by getting the routing right the first time.
- Improved Employee Engagement: Agents burn out when they are constantly bombarded with queries they feel ill-equipped to handle. By aligning interaction types with agent strengths, staff feel more confident and competent, leading to higher morale and lower attrition.
Implementation: A Phased Approach to Value
For contact center leaders, the prospect of handing over routing decisions to an AI black box can feel daunting. Star Telecom addresses this with a transparent, “crawl, walk, run” implementation strategy that proves value before you fully commit.
Phase 1: Benefit Assessment: Before you change a single setting, the system runs a simulation on your historical data. It analyzes your queues and tells you exactly which ones have high optimization potential. You might find that your “General Support” queue is ripe for improvement, while your “VIP Support” queue is already performing well.
Phase 2: Comparison Testing: Once you select a queue, you don’t have to flip a switch and hope for the best. You run a controlled A/B test. The system routes 50% of calls using your existing logic and 50% using the new predictive model.
Phase 3: Ongoing Value Monitoring: After proving the concept, you can move to a “Value Monitoring” phase, typically an 80/20 split. The AI handles the majority of calls to maximize efficiency, while a control group remains on standard routing. This allows you to continuously measure the “lift” or benefit the AI provides, ensuring the system remains effective as business conditions change.
Conclusion
The days of treating customers as identical tickets in a waiting line are over. Predictive routing represents a maturity milestone for contact centers, transitioning them from reactive cost centers to proactive experience hubs. By using AI to connect customers to the right agent every time, you aren’t just saving seconds on a call timer, you are building trust, reducing friction, and respecting the time of both your customers and your agents.
For more information on AI powered routing, fill out the form here or book a meeting using the scheduling tool below!
References
https://www.genesys.com/blog/post/genesys-predictive-routing-supercharge-connections-with-ai
https://help.mypurecloud.com/articles/use-of-ai-in-predictive-routing/
https://www.genesys.com/article/how-predictive-routing-boosts-contact-center-efficiency