Customer support provided or obtained through virtual environments will grow within the next five years as virtual interactions join traditional and digital frontline-support channels, according to new research from UK cloud communications provider Content Guru.

The research, representing insights culled from a November survey of 57 CX industry professionals at the Call and Contact Centre Expo in London, shows that 70% of respondents believe strongly in the ascent of virtual support to its projected lofty state by 2028.

“With virtual environments receiving billions of dollars in investment, it is clear to see why expectations for immersive CX are high,” says Martin Taylor, deputy CEO at Content Guru. “The hyper-personalized environments displayed in virtual reality will connect businesses with consumers, catapulting humanity—and in turn, CX—into a new digital realm.” However, time will tell how successful the mainstream adoption of virtual environments will be, Taylor notes.

Digital channels, meanwhile, will continue to proliferate in 2023, even though 54% of respondents believe that digital integrations will continue to be a common pain point for organizations that deliver CX, additional findings from the research disclose. Moreover, 56% say they do not think their organizations maximize the use of customer data and its potential.

In the immediate future, 63% of those surveyed believe AI is set to be the technology that defines the CX industry in 2023, with personalization (46%) and digital channels (37%) also placing prominently. Expected challenges include agent recruitment (63%) and attrition (47%), despite CX provider efforts to furnish more conducive work environments like remote and   hybrid options, especially as almost 9 in 10 (88%) of industry professionals support remote working options for contact center employees.

Founded in 2005 and currently headquartered in Bracknell, England, Content Guru consists of various wholly owned subsidiaries of the Redwood Technologies Group of companies located across North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. Most of the revenue generated by Redwood comes from the delivery of cloud services through storm, the Group’s contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) solution and infrastructure. All told, Content Guru services are provided in more than 60 countries directly to customers and with telecom partners such as Vodafone in the UK, KPN in the Netherlands, and Rakuten in Japan.