Singapore – Voice remains a key customer service channel despite the growing adoption of AI, with new research from Zendesk showing that phone interactions account for 40% of contact centre volume while demand for AI-native voice solutions continues to rise.
The company said 75% of contact centre leaders surveyed believe legacy technology prevents them from delivering a fully integrated omnichannel customer experience, prompting businesses to modernise their contact centre operations with AI-first platforms.
According to Zendesk, organisations are increasingly seeking to integrate voice with digital customer service channels so agents and AI systems can access the same customer history and context across interactions. The company said this approach can reduce friction between channels and improve customer service while supporting customer loyalty.
The update comes one year after Zendesk acquired Local Measure and introduced its AI-native voice offering as part of the Zendesk Resolution Platform.
Over the past 12 months, Zendesk said its contact centre business secured more than 100 opportunities across global markets, displaced several legacy contact centre providers, and expanded deployments among organisations with between 250 and 750 agents. The company added that it also recorded customer wins in the 600- to 1,000-agent segment, including a deployment covering 4,000 seats, signed individual seven-figure annual recurring revenue agreements, and gained official support for HIPAA-enabled accounts.
During the company’s Zendesk Relate event, customers shared their experiences using the platform.
“The value of a single interface has been huge for us, especially as we scale,” said Bridget O’Sullivan, HR Manager at Five Iron Golf.
Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk, said businesses are looking to integrate voice more closely into AI-powered customer service operations.
“Voice can no longer live in an isolated operational silo,” said Tom. “Our incredible contact centre momentum over the past year proves that businesses want voice natively woven into a single, AI-first resolution platform. By eliminating the friction of disconnected tools, we are giving organisations the exact foundation they need to run a modern, autonomous contact centre workforce.”
Zendesk Contact Centre combines Amazon Connect’s global telephony infrastructure with Zendesk’s AI capabilities through a unified agent desktop designed for omnichannel customer service. The company also offers a bundled commercial arrangement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that includes enterprise telephony, platform minutes and AI capabilities under a single billing agreement.
Jonathan Barouch, General Manager of Zendesk Contact Centre, said the company’s approach aims to simplify deployment and management for contact centre operators.
“The future of service belongs to the unencumbered,” said Jonathan. “By harmonising deployment, support, and cutting-edge AI under one roof, we’ve removed the invisible boundaries that have held contact centres back for decades. This isn’t just a milestone year for Zendesk — it’s a defining moment for where the industry goes next.”
