What even is a Contact Centre in 2025?

A rising tide may lift all boats — but what if we’re all standing on a different shore now?

In the wake of the 2025 Forrester Wave for CCaaS, I posted a thought that struck a chord with many of you: these analyst reports increasingly feel like they’re describing a world that’s shifting underfoot. Sure, we see the usual big names cresting the wave — Genesys, Amazon, NICE — but the analysis often misses or underrepresents other major market moves and the broader evolution underway.

Which got me thinking — perhaps the reason these comparisons feel off is because we’re still anchoring to a definition of Contact Centres that no longer fits reality.

So… what is a Contact Centre in 2025?

The Traditional Definitions

Here’s how a few of the go-to sources define a Contact Centre:

·      Auscontact — Australia’s peak industry association — frames Contact Centres as organisations delivering exceptional customer service across all channels, supporting over 1.2 million Australians working in or around them. It’s a people-first definition focused on service, channels, and industry growth.

·      Gartner defines a Contact Centre as a function supporting customer interactions across multiple channels, including phone, email, web chat, and social media — clearly distinguishing them from old-school, telephony-only call centres.

·      Forrester offers a similar take: a Contact Centre is a department managing customer interactions across phone, email, social media, and online chat — again, multichannel by design and distinct from voice-only legacy systems.

All fair. But in the context of today’s digital businesses, hybrid workforces, and AI-native tooling — are these definitions holding up?

Let’s Be Honest: Things Have Changed

Think about the average digital-first retailer or eCommerce brand. Many of them never went near traditional CCaaS platforms. Instead, they provide support and service through tools like Zendesk, Gorgias, Intercom, or WhatsApp — all integrated into their eComm stack, not their telephony stack.

Their staff might be:

•       Sitting in an office, at home, or anywhere globally.

•       Handling DMs, live chat, and email without ever touching a phone.

•       Engaging in ticketed, asynchronous conversations with built-in AI automation.

And yet, they’re doing Contact Centre work.

So, who’s right? And is it time to reframe?

A Modern Definition

Here’s my take — and I’d love your views...

“A Contact Centre is any coordinated capability, team, or system that manages non-face-to-face customer interactions, regardless of channel, device, or location — physical or digital — and regardless of whether it’s supported by human, AI, or hybrid agents.”

Why this matters:

📌 It’s channel-agnostic

📌 It’s technology-agnostic

📌 It allows for AI and human collaboration

📌 It fits modern, decentralised, and digital-first organisations

It focuses less on the tools used and more on the purpose: delivering customer service and support in non-face-to-face settings — whether that’s SMS, chat, email, WhatsApp, bots, voice, or emerging channels.

So… Is CCaaS Still the Right Category?

The term Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) served us well when we were focused on moving on-premise voice systems into the cloud. But now?

The CX stack is converging.

Today’s modern CX solutions often combine:

• Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

• Unified Communications

• CRM

• AI-powered Assistants

• Digital Engagement Tools

• Knowledge & Content Management

• Workforce Management for both humans and AI agents

• Embedded QA, sentiment, and analytics

Some call them CXM Platforms (Customer Experience Management). Others are just doing the job — integrating all the above into seamless customer journeys.

So, when we read reports comparing “CCaaS platforms,” are we really comparing the tools that matter most? Or are we benchmarking yesterday’s toolkit in today’s game?

Final Thought

It’s no longer about voice vs digital, or inbound vs outbound, or even cloud vs on-prem. The question now is:

How well does your organisation support customers across all interactions, with the right blend of people, process, technology, and data?

That’s the real competitive edge. And I reckon it’s time the market definitions — and analyst comparisons — caught up.

Over to you — what’s your view? Is the term “Contact Centre” due for retirement? Do CCaaS platforms still capture what matters most in customer interactions? Or is it time we talked about CXM and left the siloes behind?

👂 Keen to hear from leaders, techies, analysts, and operators alike.

Who is Michael Clark?

Michael Clark is a real person, he is not a bot, nor is he the famous former cricketer almost as famous for his blonde highlights and trips to Noosa as he is from playing cricket!

Michael is a veteran of the CX and Contact Centre Industry and was recognised in 2023 and 2024 as one of the Top 100 Influencers in the Contact Centre Industry in APAC, and as one of Australia's Top 50 Small Business Leaders in 2022.