In CX circles, tool fatigue has become a familiar complaint. But according to Stuart Aldridge, Head of UK, Ireland, and South Africa at Mitel, the industry still hasn’t reckoned with the full scale of the problem.
Speaking to CX Today, Aldridge discussed the findings of Mitel’s State of Workforce Communication in the AI Era report, a survey of over 2,000 IT decision-makers, desk workers, and frontline workers across the UK, US, Canada, Germany, and France.
The numbers are stark: 70% of frontline workers say poor communication tools actively get in the way of delivering good customer service, and 61% report losing meaningful productivity time just from switching between applications.
For contact center agents, the reality is even more acute. Aldridge described agents routinely navigating 10 to 14 tools simultaneously on a live call, while still being held to the same service standards:
“If you work in a CX environment, you have, let’s say, nine, 10, I’ve heard 12, 14 tools that I might have to navigate around as an agent while handling the communication tools. I’m still expected to deliver the very best customer service for that inbound call, whatever that might be.”
The fix, Aldridge argues, isn’t more technology; it’s vendors and resellers taking a genuinely consultative approach, spending time with end users rather than just IT buyers, and auditing what already exists before adding anything new.
With 76% of workers admitting to using non-approved tools simply because they’re easier, the compliance risks alone should be enough to force a rethink.
