Advice from a Call Center Geek!
Advice from a Call Center Geek!
Thomas Laird
Advice from a Call Center Geek is a weekly podcast with a focus on all things call center and contact center. Tom Laird, CEO of 600+ seat award-winning BPO, Expivia Interaction Marketing and Ai auto QA startup OttoQa, ICMI Top 25 Contact Center thought leader discusses topics such as call center operations, hiring, culture, technology, and training while having fun doing it! 
AI Customer Bots Are Coming to You Call Center!
Send us Fan Mail The onslaught of customer AI agents. In the next 9 to 12 months, your customer will be able to say “hey Siri, call my subscription company and cancel my plan, then chat with the ABC airline and move my flight from Tuesday to Wednesday.” The AI agent launches the call or chat. It acts on their behalf. Think about what that does to your cx volume. Interactions are going to skyrocket. This is when and why AI in your contact center stops being optional. You’ll need it j...
Jun 11
22 min
Everything I Have Learned about Ai Powered QA
Send us Fan Mail Everything I've learned about AI QA after 2 years of building OttoQA and being one of the first companies to fully automate contact center quality assurance with AI. I'm breaking down the biggest lessons, the biggest mistakes I see people making, and what actually works when you're implementing AI powered QA in a contact center. I cover why you should never reinvent your scorecard on day one, what "false hustle" questions are and why they're killing your QA program, why most ...
Mar 4
17 min
Why You Should Not be Scoring 100% of Your QA Calls
Send us Fan Mail Most contact centers still believe scoring more calls means better QA. It doesn’t. In this episode, we start with the Law of Large Numbers and break down why scoring 100% of calls doesn’t give you better insight. It just gives you more work. We talk about where the push for full coverage really comes from. Fear. Compliance pressure. Old spreadsheet thinking. And why that mindset quietly hurts coaching, accuracy, and confidence. We also cover what the data actually shows, how ...
Jan 8
19 min
Dear Santa: Here is the AI Contact Center Tools We Actually Want!
Send us Fan Mail This episode is my AI Christmas wish list for CCaaS. Not toys. Not buzzwords. The real AI tools contact centers should already have but don’t. Everyone is focused on making AI talk to customers. That’s missing the point. AI in CX isn’t supposed to just talk. It’s supposed to run the contact center. I break down the biggest opportunities CCaaS platforms are skipping, from AI flow builders you can prompt in plain English, to real-time workfor...
Dec 17, 2025
31 min
Inside Expivia Digital and the State of Contact Center Technology
Send us Fan Mail Join us for an inside look at Expivia Digital and the current state of contact center technology. We share our 30-year journey from running contact centers to consulting on CCaaS platform selection, AI quality assurance, and NICE CXone implementations. As members of NICE's Executive Advisory Board, we discuss the biggest trends shaping the industry in 2025: usage-based pricing, AI automation, agent experience, and how to cut through vendor promises to find technology that act...
Oct 3, 2025
13 min
Keep Call Centers In America Act- The Truth
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we dig into the Keep Call Centers in America Act and uncover the truth behind the headlines. On the surface, it sounds like a patriotic move to keep jobs here in the U.S., but when you look closer, the story gets more complicated. We break down what the bill actually says, how it could affect American contact centers, and why the reality isn’t as simple as politicians make it sound. We also share our perspective on what really drives growth for U....
Aug 18, 2025
15 min
Inside NiCE: Strategy, AI, and the Future of CX- Special Episode from NiCE Interactions
Send us Fan Mail This episode sounds as good as it gets — huge thanks to Christopher Irwin-Dudek, VP of Marketing Communications at NICE, for joining me. We dive into a wide-ranging conversation covering: The new leadership vision at NICE and what it means for the futureWhether NICE sees itself as a CCaaS platform, an AI powerhouse, or bothThe evolving role of major CRMs in the contact center AI landscapeAnd a whole lot more behind-the-scenes insight from one of the most influential CX tech c...
Jun 26, 2025
15 min
Listen to This Before You Build or Buy an AI Auto QA Platform
Send us Fan Mail Everyone’s rushing to add Auto QA. But most are thinking too small. In this episode, I break down what most platforms get wrong, why scoring calls is just the beginning, and what to look for if you actually want impact, not just another dashboard. Before you build your own or sign a contract, listen to this. It’ll change how you see QA, coaching, and the real future of AI in your contact center. Through Expivia Digital, Tom works with contact center le...
May 29, 2025
26 min
2025 Geek Gauge CCaaS Rankings!
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Advice from a Call Center Geek podcast, we unveil our highly anticipated 2025 Geek Gauge CCaaS Rankings. We break down the comprehensive analysis of the top 19 Contact Center as a Service platforms, showing which vendors truly lead the pack in 2025. Using a groundbreaking approach that combines ChatGPT's analytical capabilities with Deep Research, we've evaluated each platform across 18 critical criteria. Whether you're considering a C...
Apr 17, 2025
18 min
What to Demand from Your 2025 Outsourcing Partner- Setting Up Your RFP
Send us Fan Mail In 2025, outsourcing isn’t just about price, it’s about AI, partnership, tech, and long-term CX strategy. In this episode, Tom Laird breaks down exactly what to look for in a modern contact center outsourcing partner and how to build an RFP that separates real CX tech players from the fluff. From AI expectations and data transparency to platform flexibility and agent experience, this is your blueprint for setting the bar higher and finding a partner who can actually mee...
Apr 3, 2025
23 min
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