As the workforce and conversation intelligence battle rattles on, Calabrio has thrown down the AI gauntlet by announcing a slew of new workforce engagement management features.
Over 70 innovations have been rolled out across its Calabrio ONE suite since January this year, with many being powered by AI.
This evolution signals not just product expansion but a deeper reimagining of how contact centers can optimize agent wellbeing and customer satisfaction in an AI world.
The timing is pertinent, as the recent State of the Contact Center report found that 32% of contact center leaders cite agent distrust in AI as a significant issue, yet surprisingly 59% fail to provide ongoing coaching and support to help agents navigate AI-driven workflows.
This disconnect is echoed in Calabrio’s Voice of the Agent research, where 56% of agents say AI tools don’t actually help them with their day-to-day tasks.
The gap is clear: organizations must invest in the proper support, not just the right technology, to truly empower agents.
An Intentional Approach to AI
Calabrio’s embrace of AI isn’t unique within the customer service and experience sector. The technology is now a prerequisite of any serious vendor in the space.
But implementing AI and implementing AI effectively are two very different things, and this is where Calabrio differentiates itself from its competitors.
Dave Rhodes, CEO of Calabrio, detailed how his company has taken a considered approach to its AI solutions. He said:
“Calabrio has made very thoughtful investments to create AI-driven features, not just for the sake of AI, but for the humans who use them.”
From performance management to vacation planning, Calabrio’s enhancements aim to simplify workloads and give agents and managers the insights and autonomy needed to perform at their best.
Feature Highlights: Efficiency Meets Experience
The Calabrio ONE suite now includes a robust set of AI-enabled tools designed to help contact centers pivot from reactive cost center to proactive intelligence hub.
Auto QM delivers AI-powered quality management by evaluating 100% of interactions and surfacing coaching opportunities through configurable generative prompts. And for contact center managers with no time to configure questions, Auto QM has a pre-tested question library built on Calabrio’s decades of QM experience to get you up and running quickly.
Complementing this, Trending Topics automatically identifies conversation themes to accelerate issue resolution and support targeted training initiatives.
Interaction Summary produces concise overviews of agent-customer exchanges, ensuring compliance and audit readiness.
Meanwhile, Real-Time Desktop Analytics monitors agent behavior across desktop environments to expose bottlenecks and enhance overall performance.
Other features include:
- Vacation Planner Pro: Brings fairness and transparency to leave scheduling while slashing administrative overhead.
- Activity Requests for WFM: Enables agents to self-schedule approved tasks, enhancing flexibility and accountability.
- Periodization: Aligns actual hours worked with scheduling targets on a rolling weekly basis, aiding compliance and forecasting.
- WFM Notifications: Delivers real-time updates to agents and supervisors for better day-to-day awareness.
While all of these features have individual strengths, as a collective they are designed to reduce friction, ensuring agents can spend less time navigating systems and more time delivering meaningful customer experiences.
How Does Performance Management Fit Into This?
Plainly put, high attrition is one of the most persistent, and costly, issues today’s contact centers face.
With average annual rates frequently topping 30%, attrition can cost a 500-seat organization $2-3 million in direct and indirect costs each year.
This is where Calabrio ONE Performance Management becomes an indispensable tool bringing AI-powered recommendations directly to agents and supervisors.
The new Performance Management solution eliminates the need for third-party tools with intelligence woven into every workflow, and elevates contact centers by:
- Driving consistent coaching with curated insights and auto-surfaced opportunities
- Giving agents ownership with on-demand visibility into goals, progress, and performance
- Recognising top performers and closing gaps using unified data
- Supporting agent growth with personalised feedback, recognition, and development tools
- Reducing manager workload with streamlined workflows and automated feedback loops
In describing what differentiates the tool, Calabrio stated:
“Our end-to-end solution empowers you to overcome your biggest challenges and build a culture of performance that sticks.”
From Manual Oversight to Strategic Enablement
At the heart of this transformation is a fundamental shift in how managers approach contact center operations.
Managers can now move away from reactive oversight and toward proactive strategy, while agents benefit from actionable insights and more control over their working lives.
Magnus Geverts, VP of Product Marketing at Calabrio, captured the essence of this pivot: “Contact centers need to balance efficiency with employee wellbeing and customer satisfaction. These features help organizations create a more agile, efficient and engaged workforce.”
The message is clear: AI should not replace people; it should empower them. With this bold rollout, Calabrio gives contact centers the tools to reimagine operational excellence from the inside out.
