One of the constants of the human experience is coping with disasters. And as their nature changes (which is also a constant), so must our responses to them.
Contact centers sit at the nexus of business continuity and disaster response (BCDR). They must simultaneously inform customers what is happening and provide the latest recommendations for actions when an event threatens and strikes: while safeguarding their staff and operations.
To find out and understand more about the evolving disaster dangers - and to learn how contact centers can best plan and respond to them - we had a virtual conversation with Lou Corbeil, General Manager, Platform Operations, NiCE.
Q. What are, and please rank, the top five disaster threats facing contact centers? Have these changed over the past 12 months? Do you expect them to change over the next 12 months?
The biggest risks to contact centers have continued to evolve. Today, the top five threats can be ranked as follows:
- Cyberattacks are more sophisticated and relentless, making strong security and compliance frameworks essential.
- Platform outages remain a top concern, and multi-site redundancy and high availability are table stakes for continuity.
- Severe weather and climate-driven disasters are hitting more regions, which has elevated the importance of geo-redundant deployments.
- Workforce disruption, whether illness, evacuation, or staffing shortages, has become more unpredictable.
- Finally, vendor and telecom failures remain systemic risks, underscored by the need for transparent incident reporting.
While not a disaster, the possibility of government mandates quickly implemented around data residency and sovereignty may require rapid rerouting of operations.
Looking ahead, the core risk categories are unlikely to change, but greater emphasis will be placed on cyber resilience and AI governance.
Q. Are your clients experiencing increases in disaster-caused/related contacts and interactions with worried customers (e.g., outages, flight cancellations/delays)?
When issues occur - like travel disruptions and extreme weather - contact centers see sharp spikes in customer interactions, and the capacity to absorb those surges is now considered an expectation. Industries like travel and utilities are especially exposed.
In response to these events, we consistently see that proactive incident communications can significantly reduce customer anxiety and help manage volume.
Q. Has the rise in automation, lifted by new AI tools, shifted more of the BCDR focus to digital customer service? So that when disasters occur, agent-provided service is shut down, the agents are evacuated, and the contacts are shifted to AI agents, IVR/online self-serve, etc.?
Automation and AI play a key role in maintaining operations, particularly during disruptions, seamlessly handling queries if staff aren’t reachable.
As organizations adopt more AI-driven self-services, continuity planning increasingly includes digital channels as a first line of response.
“...we consistently see that proactive incident communications can significantly reduce customer anxiety and help manage volume.” —Lou Corbeil
Coordinated AI assistants, combined with user-driven platforms, increasingly support emergency response plans. Strong observability and governance of automated systems are critical to ensuring consistent access during crises.
Q. Conversely, with automation already handling a large share of contacts, and with those answered by agents being high-value, emotionally charged, and/or urgent, should contact centers place a greater emphasis on business continuity by keeping their staff available, safely?
As automation takes on the more routine interactions, it raises the stakes for keeping staff available and protected to handle those that require human engagement.
Hybrid operations and secure remote access are critical to ensuring staff can remain available safely. Staff safeguards - like emergency plans, secure devices, and key personnel lists - must be treated with the same priority as technical backup systems.
Staying operational involves aligning digital resilience alongside human safety and availability.
BCDR and RTO
Many organizations, for-profit, not-for-profit, and government have returned to office (RTO) since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But have they RTO’ed their contact centers? Have the growing disaster risks, like from severe weather and fires, given, or should be giving, pause to RTO?
“RTO trends are mixed,” says Lou Corbeil. “While many organizations have resumed on-site operations, contact centers are increasingly adopting hybrid or distributed models to hedge against localized risks such as severe weather or fires.
“Spreading operations across regions cuts reliance on a single site, while secure remote agent capabilities let agents remain productive from anywhere. Given rising disaster risks, a blended model combining regional backups with partial remote staffing offers stronger protection.”
Q. Are contact center organizations doing enough to ensure effective BCDR? If not, why not? Where are the common deficient areas? Or is it a case of putting together a strong business case, along with educational and training programs (including drills) for staff?
Most organizations have plans in place, but gaps remain. End-to-end testing tends to be minimal, vendor dependency management is incomplete, AI governance is still maturing: and remote agent protections differ significantly from one site to another.
Resiliency guidance emphasizes the need for regular drills and architectural safeguards, while governance frameworks highlight compliance expectations.
Still, many organizations underinvest in overflow capacity or site redundancy, exposing operations to spotty disruptions or telecom failures. Strengthening business cases and integrating practice routines can help address these shortcomings.
Q. Following up on your answers to the preceding question, remote agents have long been a proven BCDR strategy. But are these agents adequately protected?
Home networks, electrical stability, and device safety differ, introducing gaps in consistent operations. While protected logins and uniform device rules set starting points, remote agents should be treated as critical infrastructure.
Alternate connections, encrypted hardware, or clear communication protocols remain necessary. Operational resilience must extend beyond software to include those providing support remotely.
Q. What are your recommendations for contact centers to ensure safe, reliable customer contact operations?
The path forward involves building layered safeguards:
- Organizations should map customer journeys to potential failure modes and match recovery goals with the right levels of resiliency. They also should orchestrate AI and human failover, ensuring routine inquiries are absorbed digitally while urgent cases reach trained agents.
- Cyber resilience must be hardened through robust controls, audits, and monitoring.
- Remote agents should be equipped with protected devices and backup connectivity, and joint practice exercises with vendors should simulate high demand and partial outages.
Business continuity becomes possible when technology, governance, and human safety are integrated.