Contact centres are under constant pressure to deliver fast, high-quality customer support—often with limited budgets and rising customer expectations. In fact, our State of Contact Centres 2025 report shows that managing high customer volumes is one of the biggest challenges facing CX leaders right now.
With teams stretched thin and manual processes slowing things down, many contact centres are turning to AI-powered virtual agents to help lighten the load — automating routine tasks, speeding up response times, and improving customer satisfaction.
But how exactly do virtual agents work, and why should your business invest in them? Let's break down the key benefits and how they could help your contact centre work smarter.
How virtual agents benefit contact centre operations
Automating routine tasks
One of the most time-consuming aspects of running a contact centre is managing routine queries. Questions like “Where’s my order?” or “How can I reset my password?” can flood contact centres, taking up valuable time that could be better spent on more complex issues.
Virtual agents can take these routine tasks off your agents' plates, providing instant, accurate responses 24/7. Whether it’s through chat, voice, or email, AI agents can autonomously handle FAQs, process transactions, and guide customers through self-service journeys—freeing up your agents to focus on higher-value conversations.
👉 Example: Puzzel Chat Agents can instantly answer common questions, like order tracking or appointment scheduling, without the need for human intervention.
Reducing wait times and boosting speed
Long wait times are one of the biggest pain points for customers. In fact, 53% of customers say waiting too long for a reply is the most frustrating part of interacting with a business, according to Tidio. And with 73% of consumers agreeing that AI-powered assistants can help reduce wait times, according to Liveperson, it's clear that customers value speedy support.
Virtual agents help contact centres dramatically reduce response times by providing instant answers without needing to queue. In high-volume environments, this makes a huge difference. AI agents can handle multiple conversations at once, ensuring customers get fast, consistent service without waiting in line.
Managing high customer volumes
Customer demand doesn’t always follow predictable patterns—spikes in volume can happen at any time. Scaling your human workforce to meet these peaks isn’t always practical or cost-effective.
Virtual agents can step in to handle large volumes of inquiries without compromising service quality. Whether it's handling hundreds of chat conversations during a product launch or managing routine email inquiries, AI agents can scale up or down to meet demand—ensuring no customer query goes unanswered.
According to the State of Contact Centres 2025 report, managing high customer volumes is one of the top challenges for contact centres this year—making virtual agents an ideal solution for keeping operations running smoothly during busy periods.
Increasing operational efficiency
Manual inefficiencies—like switching between systems or retyping the same information—can slow down your contact centre and frustrate both customers and agents. Virtual agents optimise processes by automating workflows, gathering information, and delivering consistent, accurate responses.
By reducing manual workloads, AI agents help your contact centre run smoother, faster, and with fewer errors—improving both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Empowering agents to focus on high-value tasks
Virtual agents don’t just benefit customers; they also empower your agents. By handling routine queries, virtual agents free up your human agents to focus on more meaningful conversations that require empathy, creativity, and problem-solving.
According to Deloitte, 81% of contact centre executives are investing in AI for agent-enabling technologies to improve both the agent experience and operational efficiency. And Puzzel's latest survey shows that 65% of CX leaders agree AI assistants can reduce agent burnout and boost agent performance.
When an AI agent reaches its limit, it can seamlessly hand over the conversation to a human agent—along with all the context—so customers receive the right level of support without repeating themselves. This helps reduce agent burnout, improve job satisfaction, and ultimately deliver better customer outcomes.
Better customer satisfaction
AI agents can help your contact centre deliver faster, more accurate, and more consistent responses to customers. By providing immediate support for routine inquiries, AI ensures that customers don’t have to wait for a human agent to become available. Plus, AI agents can be available 24/7, providing support at all hours of the day and night. Whether through voice, chat, or email, AI agents ensure that customers get the answers they need quickly, which leads to increased customer satisfaction. For example, Puzzel’s virtual agents can help customers with tasks like resetting passwords, while voice agents can handle more complex interactions like troubleshooting issues.
Examples of virtual agents in action
While there are a variety of AI agents available on the market, some examples include AI chat agents, voice agents, and email agents. For instance:
- Puzzel Chat Agent can handle online queries, instantly providing answers to frequently asked questions and resolving customer issues quickly.
- Puzzel Voice Agent can engage in natural-sounding conversations over the phone, reducing wait times and offering immediate assistance to customers.
- Puzzel Email Agent can automate email responses, ensuring that customer inquiries are processed quickly and efficiently without compromising on quality.
These AI agents can be tailored to your specific needs, allowing you to deliver a more personalised and efficient customer service experience.
Why invest in AI agents for your contact centre?
AI agents aren’t just a passing trend. With the ability to automate routine tasks, improve response times, and optimise contact centre operations, virtual agents are quickly becoming an essential tool for businesses looking to stay competitive. By integrating AI into your contact centre, you can do more with less, reduce operational costs, and provide your customers with a seamless, high-quality experience.
With the ability to scale, handle high volumes, and improve operational efficiency, AI agents can help your contact centre deliver faster, more personalised support to customers—while also boosting the efficiency of your team.
Ready to get started with virtual agents? Explore Puzzel's Virtual Agent suite and learn how these AI assistants can benefit your CX operations.
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