Call Center Automation Technology Before You Hire More Agents
- Justin Hill
- 24 hours ago
- 11 min read
When call volumes increase, hiring more agents can seem like the obvious next step. But additional employees will not fix calls that reach the wrong department, sit in poorly organised queues, go unanswered after hours, or create unnecessary admin work.
The real issue may not be the number of agents. It may be how calls move through the business.
Call center automation technology helps manage repetitive steps such as greetings, routing, queues, voicemail, recording, and transcription. This gives agents more time to handle conversations that require judgement or personal attention.
SwitchBoard brings these capabilities together in a Twilio-powered cloud phone system, allowing businesses to manage IVR menus, queues, browser calling, recordings, and voicemail through one platform.
Before expanding your team, review whether the pressure comes from genuine demand or from an inefficient call flow.
Before You Add More Agents, Review Your Call Flow
Look at where calls are transferred, missed, delayed, or manually documented. Fixing these areas may reduce workload before additional hiring becomes necessary.
More Agents Won’t Fix a Broken Call Flow
A growing call volume is often treated as a staffing issue, but the real problem is usually hidden inside the call journey.
Consider what happens when a customer contacts a business:
They call → wait in a queue → explain their issue → get transferred → repeat the explanation → wait again.
Even with more agents available, this process remains frustrating for both customers and employees.
Some common problems that make teams feel understaffed include:
Calls reaching the wrong department
Employees answering questions outside their expertise
Customers waiting too long during peak hours
Missed calls outside business hours
Agents manually recording information after every conversation
Managers spending hours reviewing calls for basic insights
These issues are not always solved by adding more people. They require better systems.
Before adding users, map the complete call journey. Decide why customers call, where each request should go, what happens when no one answers, and how after-hours calls should be handled.
Adding employees before correcting these gaps can spread the same inefficient process across a larger team.
This is where call center process automation becomes valuable. By automating repetitive steps in the customer communication journey, businesses can reduce unnecessary workload while creating a smoother experience for callers.
The goal is not to remove the human element. The goal is to make sure human agents spend their time where they provide the most value.
The Calls Your Team Should Not Be Handling Manually
Not every customer interaction needs an employee on the other end.
Many businesses still use agents for tasks that can be completed faster and more consistently through automation.
Here are some examples:
Call Type | Manual Process | Better Approach |
Business hours questions | Agent answers the same information repeatedly | Automated information prompts |
Department selection | Receptionist transfers every call manually | Intelligent call routing |
Appointment enquiries | Employee identifies the request and transfers the caller | IVR routes the call to the appropriate team or queue |
After-hours calls | Customer reaches voicemail without guidance | Automated responses and routing |
Call documentation | Agent writes notes manually | AI-powered transcription and summaries |
Not every call should be automated. Complaints, sensitive requests, sales conversations, and situations requiring judgement still need human involvement.
A simple rule is to automate tasks that are repetitive, predictable, and low-risk. Always keep a clear route to a person when the automated options do not match the caller’s needs.
Where Call Center Automation Technology Creates the Biggest Impact
The biggest value of automation comes from improving everyday operations that affect both customers and employees.
Faster Call Routing
Customers do not want to explain their problem multiple times before reaching the right person.
Automated routing systems can direct callers based on their needs, department, language preference, customer type, or available team members.
For example, a customer calling about billing should not need to reach a general receptionist first and then wait for a transfer.
A smarter routing process gets them closer to the right solution immediately.
Build routing options around why customers call, not around internal department names. Options such as billing, appointments, and technical support are usually clearer to callers.
SwitchBoard IVR menus can route customers to an agent, department, or queue based on their selection.
This improves customer experience while reducing unnecessary workload for front-line employees.
Fewer Missed Calls
Every missed call represents a possible lost opportunity.
This is especially challenging for businesses operating across different time zones or those receiving calls outside standard working hours.
Automation allows businesses to handle calls even when employees are unavailable through options such as:
Automated greetings
Call forwarding
Voicemail management
Self-service information
Scheduled routing
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, customer communication and responsiveness play an important role in building strong customer relationships.
Businesses that create reliable communication processes are better positioned to maintain customer trust.
A missed-call plan should explain what happens next. That may mean placing the caller in a queue, directing them to voicemail, forwarding the call, or playing a separate after-hours message.
Simply forwarding the call to another employee may move the bottleneck rather than solve it.
Reduced Agent Workload
Much of an agent’s workload begins after the call. Employees may need to replay recordings, write notes, identify the outcome, and assign follow-up actions.
Recordings, transcripts, summaries, and call records support different parts of this process. A recording preserves the conversation, transcription makes it searchable, and a summary helps employees review the main points faster.
SwitchBoard supports call transcription, AI-generated summaries, and sentiment analysis for eligible conversations.
Better Customer Experience
Customers usually do not expect every interaction to be automated.
They expect businesses to be:
Easy to reach
Quick to respond
Available when needed
Able to understand their issue
A well-designed automated phone system supports these expectations by removing unnecessary delays.
Modern automated call centers should make the customer’s next step clearer. Every menu, queue, and after-hours message should either move the caller closer to the right person or explain what will happen next.
Signs You’re Ready for Automation Instead of More Hiring
Not every business needs to automate every part of its call operations. The right time to consider automation for call center operations is when your existing communication process starts limiting growth.
Here are some signs that your business may benefit from automation before adding more agents:
Your Team Handles the Same Questions Every Day
If employees spend hours answering basic questions about business hours, services, pricing, order status, or appointment details, automation can reduce repetitive workload.
These interactions are important, but they do not always require an employee’s time.
Automating common requests allows agents to focus on conversations that require problem-solving, decision-making, or personal attention.
Customers Are Being Transferred Multiple Times
A customer should not have to navigate your internal structure.
If callers regularly hear phrases like:
“Let me transfer you to another department,”
followed by another transfer, your call flow may need improvement.
A well-designed routing system helps customers reach the appropriate team sooner and reduces avoidable transfers.
Your Business Misses Calls During Busy Periods
Peak hours can create unpredictable pressure on support teams.
Even highly skilled agents can only handle a limited number of conversations at once.
Instead of immediately increasing staff, businesses can use automation to manage overflow calls, organize queues, and provide customers with clear next steps.
This ensures customers are not ignored simply because the team is temporarily busy.
Managers Lack Visibility Into Customer Conversations
Improving customer service requires understanding what is happening during calls.
Without proper tracking, businesses often rely on assumptions:
Why are customers calling?
Which issues appear repeatedly?
Where are delays happening?
Which departments receive the most requests?
Searchable call records, recordings, and transcripts make it easier to identify recurring call reasons and review conversations without relying only on employee recollection.
What Modern Automated Call Centers Actually Look Like
The best automated call centers do not prevent customers from reaching a person. It automates predictable steps and transfers the caller to an employee when judgement, expertise, or empathy is required.
A typical automated call journey may look like this:
Customer calls
↓
IVR presents the relevant options
↓
The caller selects a department or request type
↓
Routing rules send the call to an agent or queue
↓
The agent answers through a browser, SIP phone, or mobile device
↓
The call is recorded when recording is enabled
↓
Transcription and AI summaries support review
↓
The team records follow-up actions
This structure keeps routine steps consistent while ensuring customers can still reach a person when the conversation requires one.
Call Automation Terms to Know
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Features That Matter More Than Just Adding AI
Artificial intelligence has become one of the biggest topics in customer communication, but businesses should not choose a solution based only on AI features.
The most valuable automation capabilities are the ones that solve everyday operational challenges.
Intelligent Call Routing
Intelligent call routing uses predefined rules to send callers to the most appropriate destination.
In SwitchBoard, IVR selections can route calls to agents, departments, or queues. Routing can also change based on business hours and availability.
Keep the options simple and define a fallback route for calls that cannot be answered.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Interactive voice response, or IVR, is the menu callers hear before reaching a person.
SwitchBoard uses IVR menus to direct calls to departments, agents, or queues without requiring a receptionist to transfer every caller.
Avoid long menus. Use clear options and provide a route for callers who are unsure what to select.
Call Recording, Transcription, and AI Review
Call recording preserves the original conversation. Transcription turns the audio into searchable text, while AI summaries help employees review the main points faster.
SwitchBoard supports transcription, call summaries, and sentiment analysis. These tools are useful for reviewing calls, identifying recurring issues, and supporting follow-up.
These AI-generated outputs should still be reviewed before they inform an important customer or business decision. The National Institute of Standards and Technology identifies reliability, transparency, privacy, security, and accountability as important characteristics of trustworthy AI.
They work best when the team also assigns responsibility for the next action.
Browser, Mobile, and VoIP Calling
A cloud phone system allows employees to answer calls without depending only on traditional desk phones.
The Federal Communications Commission explains that VoIP carries voice calls over a broadband internet connection instead of a traditional phone line. Depending on the service, calls can be handled through computers, mobile phones, dedicated VoIP phones, or adapters.
SwitchBoard includes a WebRTC browser phone and also supports compatible SIP phones and mobile devices.
This gives office, remote, and hybrid employees access to the same phone system while allowing the business to choose the device that fits each role.
Audit Your Call Workflow Before You Automate
Before choosing a platform or hiring more agents, review how calls move through your business.
What are the most common reasons customers call?
Which calls are transferred more than once?
Which calls regularly reach the wrong team?
What happens when no one answers?
What happens outside business hours?
Who is responsible for voicemail follow-up?
Which conversations require recording or transcription?
Which calls genuinely require human judgement?
How much work happens after each call?
Does the workload remain high after these problems are corrected?
If repeated questions, unnecessary transfers, and missing fallback rules are causing the pressure, improve the workflow first. If demand remains high afterwards, additional hiring may be necessary.
How to Evaluate Call Center Automation Technology Before You Buy
Choosing an automation solution is not just about selecting the platform with the longest feature list.
The right solution should fit your current workflow and support future growth.
Before investing, ask these questions:
Does It Work With Your Existing Phone Setup?
Check whether the system supports your existing numbers, number porting, preferred devices, and current call flow.
Also confirm who controls the underlying phone account and whether carrier usage is included in the platform price or billed separately.
Can It Scale With Your Business?
A system that works for five agents should not become a limitation when your team grows to fifty.
Consider whether the platform can support:
Additional users
Multiple departments
New locations
Increased call volume
Scalability should also include remote users, browser calling, new queues, changing business hours, and additional call destinations.
Does It Improve Agent Productivity?
Automation should make employees more effective, not create additional complexity.
A useful system should simplify daily tasks such as:
Answering calls
Transferring customers
Recording information
Reviewing conversations
Managing availability
If the platform adds more steps than it removes, it will be difficult for employees to use consistently.
Does It Provide Useful Insights?
Automation creates more value when businesses can learn from their communication data.
Look for capabilities that help answer questions like:
Which calls happen most frequently?
Where are customers experiencing delays?
Which processes need improvement?
How are teams performing?
The reporting should help managers identify repeated call reasons, delays, missed calls, and follow-up gaps; not simply provide a larger volume of data.
What Does the Initial Setup Involve?
A useful setup process should cover the IVR menu, business hours, queue rules, voicemail destinations, users, extensions, and answering devices.
SwitchBoard provides an assisted setup process and handles the technical configuration after the business approves its call flow and greetings.
Should You Automate or Hire More Agents?
Automation and hiring solve different problems. Automation is most useful when repeated tasks or poor routing create the workload. Hiring becomes necessary when genuine demand remains high after those problems have been corrected.
Hiring also creates a continuing cost beyond the initial recruitment process. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that customer service representatives earned a median wage of $20.59 per hour in May 2024, before benefits, training, equipment, and management costs are considered.
The purpose of call center automation technology is not to replace employees. Improve the workflow first, measure the remaining workload, and then hire for the capacity that automation cannot responsibly handle.
How SwitchBoard Brings These Call Workflows Together
SwitchBoard adds a business phone system and management layer on top of Twilio’s communications infrastructure.
Businesses can manage IVR menus, queues, extensions, voicemail, recordings, and
browser calling through a central web-based platform rather than building directly with Twilio’s APIs.
Configure the Call Journey: Businesses define what callers hear, where each call should go, and what happens when no one answers. SwitchBoard uses IVR menus, queues, and routing rules to support that flow.
Give Employees Flexible Answering Options: Employees can answer through the WebRTC browser phone, compatible SIP devices, or mobile options. This supports office, remote, and hybrid teams.
Review Calls and Follow Up: SwitchBoard combines recordings, voicemail, call records, transcription, summaries, and sentiment analysis to support post-call review.
Update the System as Needs Change: Administrators can adjust prompts, routes, queues, and user assignments as business hours, teams, and responsibilities change.
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Final Thoughts
More agents may eventually be necessary, but hiring should not be the first response to every increase in call volume.
Start by reviewing routing, queues, missed calls, after-hours handling, and post-call work. Automate the repetitive steps, then measure whether genuine capacity problems remain.
The goal of call center automation technology is not to remove human support. It is to help agents spend more time on conversations where their judgement and experience matter.
See How Your Call Flow Could Work in SwitchBoard
Configure IVR options, queues, business hours, fallback routes, and answering devices before adding more agents.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can small businesses benefit from call center automation?
Yes. Small businesses can use automation to manage customer calls, improve routing, reduce missed calls, and provide faster responses without immediately increasing staff.
2. Does call automation replace customer service agents?
No. Effective automation supports agents by handling repetitive tasks, while employees focus on complex conversations that require human judgment and personalized assistance.
3. How long does it take to implement call automation?
Implementation time depends on the system and business requirements. Cloud-based solutions can typically be configured faster than traditional phone systems requiring hardware installation.
4. Is automated call handling secure?
Reliable automation platforms include security measures such as access controls, encrypted communication, and user permissions to help protect business and customer information.
5. What types of businesses use call automation?
Call automation is useful for businesses across industries, including healthcare, professional services, retail, education, and customer support teams that handle frequent inbound calls.
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