Contact Centers Ditch Containment Metrics for AI Era

At theCUBE Research's AI ROI in Contact Center Summit, executives from Cisco, Five9, Zoom, and Talkdesk declared containment and deflection dead as meaningful contact center metrics. Speakers argued these measures can mask poor customer outcomes, with Cisco's Vinod Muthukrishnan noting a contained call could simply mean a customer never calls again. The summit emphasized that true agentic AI requires an enterprise-grade operating model, not just a tool purchase. Talkdesk data showed AI leaders achieved 22% NPS gains versus 5% for less mature peers, proving cost savings alone understates AI's value. Leaders were urged to measure full problem resolution time rather than average handle time.