As customer expectations rise, contact centres must respond with greater speed, accuracy, and personalization.
Smart routing, powered by AI and speech-enabled IVR, is helping centres streamline operations and create better experiences for both customers and agents.
To find out more, we asked Jonathan “Kenu” Escobedo, Customer Success Manager at MiaRec, to outline five key ways this technology is making a difference.
Video: Smart Routing: Process the Caller’s Enquiry Through Voice Recognition
Watch the video below to hear Jonathan explain smart routing and how you need to process the caller’s enquiry through voice recognition:
With thanks to Jonathan “Kenu” Escobedo, Customer Success Manager at MiaRec, for contributing to this video.
This video was originally published in our article ‘Enhance FCR With Smart Routing’
How Smart Routing and AI Improve Contact Centre Efficiency
Smart routing is transforming how contact centres operate. Here are five ways it’s making a difference:
1. Intelligent IVR With Voice Recognition
Modern IVR systems do more than offer simple menu options – they listen. Using voice recognition and natural language processing, these systems can understand a caller’s spoken enquiry or button input.
“Smart routing powered by AI and speech enabled IVR systems processes the caller enquiry through voice recognition or button input. It also uses historical data to better understand the caller’s needs.”
This enables the system to begin assessing customer intent from the moment the call starts, making the interaction smoother and more intuitive.
2. Self-Service for Simple Tasks
For routine queries like checking an account balance or booking an appointment, smart IVRs can handle requests directly, no agent required.
“For straightforward tasks like checking account balances or scheduling a meeting, the IVR system handles it directly, saving the agent time.”
This saves time for both the customer and the agent, reducing queue times and ensuring agents focus on higher-value conversations.
3. Skill-Based Agent Matching
When an issue is too complex for self-service, AI steps in to route the call to the right agent, as Jonathan explains:
“For more complex issues, smart routing ensures that the caller is passed to an agent, but not just any agent – an automatic call distributor matches the issue with the agent who has the right skills to solve it.
By using smart routing technology contact centres provide faster, more accurate resolutions, ensuring both callers and agents succeed.
And how does AI match customers with the right agents? AI works in real time to analyse each enquiry and find the best agent for the job. With skill-based matching, AI pairs customer issues with agents who have the specific expertise to solve them.”
Using automatic call distribution (ACD) and AI-driven skill matching, the system evaluates which available agent has the specific expertise required to resolve the issue.
The result: faster resolutions and higher first-contact success rates.
4. Predictive Routing Based on Data
AI doesn’t just respond to what’s happening now, it predicts what might happen next.
“It also uses predictive analytics to anticipate future customer needs and routes calls to agents with relevant experience.
AI’s natural language processing understands the intent behind enquiries, leading to smarter agent assignments.”
Using historical interaction data and predictive analytics, AI anticipates future customer needs and connects them with agents who have relevant experience, even before the caller fully explains the problem.
5. Real-Time Monitoring and Learning
AI monitors every interaction as it happens, constantly adjusting to balance agent workloads and avoid bottlenecks.
“Plus real-time monitoring allows AI to manage agent workloads ensuring efficient call distribution. As AI learns from past interactions, it continually improves, resulting in faster resolutions, more accurate outcomes, and a better customer experience.”
Over time, it learns from every call, improving intent recognition, enhancing routing decisions, and making the entire system smarter and more efficient.
If you are looking for more great insights from the experts, check out these next:
- 4 Ways Purpose-Built AI Is Transforming CX
- The Secret to a Successful Tech Upgrade
- How Flexible Scheduling Can Help Reduce Agent Stress
- How Gamification Can Improve Scheduling
Author: Robyn Coppell
Reviewed by: Xander Freeman
Published On: 25th Jul 2025 - Last modified: 1st Aug 2025
Read more about - Video, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Call Routing, Jonathan Kenu Escobedo, MiaRec, Videos
