Glossary

CX, contact centre and AI terms, explained simply

58 plain English answers to the abbreviations and terms you will hear from platforms, consultants and your own IT team. No jargon, no sales pitch.

Customer experience

The language of how customers feel about dealing with you.

CXCustomer experience: Everything a customer feels about dealing with your organisation, across every call, message, visit and bill. Good CX keeps customers; poor CX sends them elsewhere.

EXEmployee experience: How your people feel about their work and the tools they use. It shapes CX directly: frustrated teams rarely give great service.

Customer journey: The full set of steps a customer takes to get something done with you, from first contact to resolution.

Omnichannel: Joining channels such as phone, email, chat and WhatsApp so a conversation and its history move with the customer, whichever channel they use.

CSATCustomer satisfaction score: A simple rating customers give after a contact, usually out of five. It shows how a single interaction felt.

NPSNet Promoter Score: How likely customers are to recommend you, scored from 0 to 10. It measures loyalty over time rather than a single contact.

CESCustomer effort score: How easy customers found it to get something done. Lower effort is one of the strongest signs a customer will stay.

Vulnerable customer: A customer whose circumstances make them more likely to suffer harm, for example through illness, bereavement or money worries. Regulators expect you to spot and support them.

Contact centre

The terms behind answering, routing and measuring customer contact.

Contact centre: A team, and the technology behind it, that handles customer contact across phone and digital channels. The modern version of a call centre.

CCaaSContact Centre as a Service: A contact centre platform that runs in the cloud and is paid for by subscription, rather than hardware you own and maintain.

ACDAutomatic call distribution: The part of a contact centre that decides which call goes to which person, based on rules you set.

Skills based routing: Sending each contact to the person best able to handle it, by language, product knowledge or experience, not just whoever is free.

IVRInteractive voice response: The automated menu callers hear, such as press 1 for sales. Modern versions let callers simply say what they need.

FCRFirst contact resolution: The share of contacts resolved the first time, with no need to call back or chase. One of the clearest signs of good service.

AHTAverage handling time: The average length of a contact, including talk time, hold time and the notes afterwards.

ASAAverage speed of answer: How long, on average, customers wait before a person answers.

Abandonment rate: The share of callers who hang up before they are answered. A high rate usually means customers going elsewhere.

SLAService level agreement: A target for how quickly contacts are answered, for example 80% of calls within 20 seconds.

WFMWorkforce management: Tools that forecast demand and plan rotas, so the right number of people are ready at the right time.

Wallboard: A live screen showing queues, wait times and performance, so teams and supervisors can act before problems build.

Callback: Offering customers a call back at a time that suits them instead of holding in a queue.

Unified communications

The terms behind phones, meetings and messaging working as one.

UCUnified communications: Calls, meetings, messaging and video brought together in one system, so people can reach each other and customers easily.

UCaaSUnified Communications as a Service: Unified communications delivered from the cloud on a subscription, instead of a phone system on site.

CPaaSCommunications Platform as a Service: Building blocks that let developers add calling, SMS or messaging into your own apps and systems.

VoIPVoice over Internet Protocol: Making phone calls over the internet rather than traditional phone lines.

PSTNPublic Switched Telephone Network: The traditional phone network. In the UK it is being switched off, so every business needs a digital replacement.

SIP trunkSession Initiation Protocol trunk: A digital connection that carries calls between your phone system and the wider phone network.

Direct Routing: A way to make and receive external calls in Microsoft Teams using a telephony partner of your choice.

Operator Connect: A simpler way to add calling to Microsoft Teams, with the phone service managed by an approved operator.

Number porting: Moving your existing phone numbers to a new provider, so customers keep calling the numbers they know.

Hunt group: A set of phones that ring in turn or together, so calls to one number reach the next free person.

Auto attendant: An automated greeting that answers your main number and directs callers to the right person or team.

Softphone: A phone that runs as an app on a laptop or mobile, rather than a handset on a desk.

Presence: A live status showing whether a colleague is available, busy or away, so calls and messages go to someone who can help.

AI and automation

The terms behind AI that answers, assists and automates.

AIArtificial intelligence: Technology that can understand language, spot patterns and complete tasks that once needed a person.

Generative AI: AI that creates new content, such as replies, summaries or answers, based on what it has learned.

LLMLarge language model: The type of AI behind tools such as ChatGPT and Claude. It understands and writes natural language.

Conversational AI: AI that holds natural conversations by voice or text, understanding what people mean rather than following a fixed script.

AI voice agent: An AI that answers phone calls, understands what callers need and resolves routine requests, handing over to a person when needed.

Virtual agent: An AI that handles customer conversations on voice or digital channels. Often used for routine questions, day and night.

AI receptionist: An AI that answers your main number, routes callers and takes messages, especially out of hours.

Chatbot: Software that answers questions in a chat window. Older chatbots follow fixed rules; modern ones use conversational AI.

Agent assist: AI that supports people during a live conversation with suggested answers, knowledge and guidance.

Self service: Letting customers get things done themselves, through an app, website or AI agent, without waiting for a person.

Human handover: The point where AI passes a conversation to a person, ideally with the full history so nobody repeats themselves.

Knowledge base: A single store of answers and policies that people and AI both draw on to give consistent replies.

RPARobotic process automation: Software that completes repetitive tasks across systems, such as copying data or updating records.

Analytics and compliance

The terms behind understanding every conversation and keeping it safe.

Conversational intelligence: Using AI to capture, transcribe and analyse conversations, turning what customers and teams say into insight and action.

Conversational analytics: Analysis of calls, chats and messages at scale to find why customers get in touch, how they feel and where things go wrong.

Speech analytics: Analysis of recorded or live calls to spot topics, sentiment, compliance risks and coaching opportunities.

Sentiment analysis: AI that judges how a customer feels during a conversation, from happy to frustrated, so issues are spotted early.

Transcription: Turning spoken conversations into text that can be searched, shared and analysed.

QAQuality assurance: Checking conversations against agreed standards. Traditionally 1 or 2% of calls were sampled; AI now makes it possible to check them all.

Call recording: Capturing calls so they can be reviewed, used for training or provided as evidence. Required for many regulated firms.

PCI DSSPayment Card Industry Data Security Standard: The rules for handling card payments securely. Compliant tools mean agents never see or hear card details.

Consumer Duty: The Financial Conduct Authority rules requiring firms to deliver good outcomes for retail customers, including those who are vulnerable.

MiFID IIMarkets in Financial Instruments Directive II: Rules for investment firms that include recording and keeping relevant client calls and messages.

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