If you lead a contact center or customer experience transformation program, you already know that omnichannel isn't new, but execution is still the issue. Despite years of investment, too many organizations are still juggling disconnected systems, inconsistent customer journeys, and rising service costs.
New data from "The Inner Circle Guide to Omnichannel" by ContactBabel paints a detailed picture of where the U.S. contact center industry really stands. The findings show both real progress and critical gaps and highlight where to focus next.
1. The Big Shift: Voice Down, Digital Up
Voice still dominates, but its grip is slowly slipping. In 2007, 83 percent of U.S. inbound contact center interactions were voice-based. Today, that figure is 71 percent.
Non-voice channels like email, web chat, social media, and self-service now make up around 28 percent of all inbound interactions.
Some of the most significant changes are happening under the surface:
- Web chat volume is growing and will be accelerated by chatbots and AI assistants that go beyond simple rules-based functionality.
- Voice self-service interactions will come to the fore as intelligent voicebots are rolled out.
- Email is declining by 3.9 percent year on year as customers shift to faster conversational channels.
This isn't just about channel preference; it's about expectation. Customers want the same speed, empathy, and resolution whether they type, tap, or talk. They'll choose the quickest channel that also provides the best outcome with the least amount of overall effort.
The challenge for CX leaders is that channels are being added rather than replaced. The average contact center now supports more touchpoints than ever, while customers expect seamless movement between them. That's omnichannel in theory, but not always in practice.
2. The Omnichannel Gap: Fragmented Journeys, Frustrated Customers
A true omnichannel experience means customers can move from chat to call to email without repeating themselves, but the data shows that's still a long way off. Eighty-four percent of U.S. contact centers say that their applications are not fully integrated or optimized to support the full user journey across channels.
That fragmentation hurts both sides: agents waste time searching for history, and customers get frustrated when they're asked to repeat details. Businesses pay the price in lower first-contact resolution, higher churn, and higher costs. The result is a huge disconnect between what customers expect and what most businesses can deliver.
ContactBabel's consumer research found that 63 percent of customers rate having their issues solved the first time as one of their top three most important CX factors, followed by short wait times and having polite, knowledgeable staff. Having a choice of channels alone ranked far lower, with only 31 percent placing this in their top three (although this was higher with younger customers).
That's a critical insight: Customers don't want more channels;: they want joined-up ones.
3. The Cost Equation: Digital Pays Off When Done Right
One of the biggest myths in CX is that digital is always cheaper. In practice, digital channels only deliver savings when they're automated, integrated, and intelligently routed. The 2025 data proves it:
- Voice interactions average $7.16 each.
- Email average $6.05.
- Web chat averages $5.06.
- Social media averages $5.75.
Those gaps are widening as automation takes hold. Web chat, for example, has seen its cost per interaction drop by more than 25 percent in five years, largely thanks to AI chatbots handling simpler queries. The share of web chats using automation has grown from 15 percent in 2019 to 39 percent today.
That shift frees agents to handle higher-value, more complex interactions that require empathy, judgment, and emotional intelligence and that result in customer loyalty and advocacy.
The message is clear: Cost savings only happen when digital and AI are part of a single, orchestrated system, not a patchwork of disconnected tools.
4. The AI Catalyst: From Data Silos to Dynamic Journeys
AI has moved from hype to necessity. AI is now the key enabler of true omnichannel capability, not just another feature, as the following data shows:
- AI unifies data by stitching together information from calls, emails, chats and social media, creating a single view of the customer in real time.
- AI drives context continuity. If a customer starts with a chatbot and escalates to an agent, the conversation picks up seamlessly.
- AI empowers agents through real-time recommendations, sentiment analysis, and summarization, supporting faster resolutions and more personalized service.
- AI predicts intent. Proactive outbound engagement moves contact centers away from just being reactive service hubs.
- The most advanced CX leaders are already using AI as a connective layer by enabling predictive routing, dynamic scripting, and journey orchestration across all channels.
The result? Consistent experiences, happier agents, and measurable efficiency gains.
5. The Customer Factor: Emotion, Urgency, and Complexity Still Rule
Not every customer interaction is equal, and the data backs that up. ContactBabel's "Customer Interaction Cube" identifies the following three factors that drive channel preference: emotional importance, urgency and complexity.
- High-emotion issues (like complaints) still push customers to phone or in-person contact.
- High-urgency issues are increasingly handled by phone, especially since the pandemic, with customer preference having moved from web self-service to live phone.
- High-complexity interactions also lean heavily toward live support, as customers want reassurance and expertise. Pre-pandemic, customer preference was slightly toward face-to-face interactions, but live telephony is very much preferred now.
In other words, as AI and automation handle routine tasks, human agents are increasingly dealing with the hardest moments. Those moments of truth when empathy and problem-solving matter most are where long-term loyalty and advocacy are won or lost. Omnichannel strategy must reflect that. Atomate the simple, empower the human, and connect the journey between the two.
6. The Proactive Opportunity: Stop Waiting for Customers to Call
Omnichannel isn't just about managing inbound demand; it's about preventing it. Twenty-eight percent of U.S. contact centers say more than a quarter of their inbound calls could be avoided through proactive outreach. Think SMS alerts before a bill issue, push notifications when an order is delayed, or automated follow-ups to confirm resolution.
ContactBabel estimates that avoiding just 20 percent of unnecessary inbound calls could save the U.S. contact center industry $36 billion annually.
But it's not just about efficiency; it's also about customer experience. People appreciate companies that anticipate their needs rather than react to their problems.
7. Where the Industry Is Heading
So, what does all this mean for 2026 and beyond? The data points to a clear direction:>
- Voice isn't dead, but it's becoming more strategic. It's where the toughest, most emotional interactions happen.
- Digital and self-service will continue to grow, but only if they deliver consistent, reliable outcomes.
- AI will become the glue of CX, connecting systems, channels and journeys into a unified experience.
- Empathy will still be the differentiator. Even as automation expands, customers still crave connection and understanding when it matters most.
The winners in this next phase won't simply add more channels, but integrate, personalize and predict the customer journey across every touchpoint. The contact center of the future isn't a cost center; it's a hub for CX orchestration, powered by data, intelligence, and humanity in equal measure.
Steve Morrell is managing director of ContactBabel, which was founded in 2001 to provide research and analysis to the U.S. and U.K. contact center industries.