by Larry Fleischman, on Jan 7, 2026 9:32:31 PM
I am an end user, and I also run sales for a cx contact center outsourcing company.
That combination gives me a unique privilege. I get to be annoyed twice.
Once as a customer.
Once as someone who knows exactly why this should have worked.
Let’s start with the truth. Customer support is fragile. Always has been. One broken handoff, one bad integration, one half-baked automation—and the entire experience collapses.
And when AI is layered on top of bad design, things do not improve. They get worse. Much worse.
A broken Digital Front Door is more frustrating than the worst customer service agent you can imagine. At least a bad agent can hear you sigh.
AI Is Not the Problem. Sloppy Design Is.
I hear this a lot: “Customers don’t want AI.”
That is not true.
Customers do not want bad AI deployed inside a contact center without context, intent, or empathy.
They do not want to repeat themselves.
They do not want a chatbot that pretends to understand them.
They do not want to be trapped in a loop designed by someone who never tried to use it.
I know because I am that customer. All the time.
AI works when it is invisible and helpful.
It fails loudly when it is bolted onto broken systems and called a customer experience solution.
The Old Goal Was Call Deflection. That Was a Mistake.
The first wave of digital CX was obsessed with one metric: fewer calls.
- Hide the number
- Push self-service
- Hope customers give up
They didn’t. They just showed up angrier and now they had receipts.
Digital Front Door 2.0 is not about deflection. It is about intent.
Figure out why I am here.
Route me correctly.
Do not make me earn the right to talk to a human.
If it is simple, let automation handle it.
If it is messy, emotional, or urgent get me to a real person fast.
This is not complicated. It just requires discipline.
Self-Service Only Works When I Trust It
Most self-service fails because it was designed to protect cost, not experience. AI changes the equation only if it knows when to stop.
Good AI solves the issue or hands me off cleanly. Bad AI keeps guessing while I lose patience.
Here is the line: if I say “agent” three times and nothing happens, your cx management services are broken.
I do not care how advanced your model is.
Agents Do Not Need to Be Faster. They Need to Be Prepared.
This is the part I care about most as someone who sells contact center services.
AI should not turn agents into script readers.
It should turn them into problem solvers.
When AI works, agents show up with context. They know what I tried. They know where things failed. They are calm because they are not hunting for information across six systems.
When AI does not work, agents become the apology layer for bad technology.That is not fair to them. And customers feel it immediately.
Integration Is Everything. Miss This and CX Falls Apart.
Here is the uncomfortable truth.If your integrations are not built correctly, your customer experience will still suck. Actually, it will suck more.
Disconnected systems plus AI equals confident nonsense delivered at scale. That is worse than silence. That is worse than a bad agent. That is how trust erodes.AI does not fix broken plumbing. It exposes it.
Customers Move Across Channels. Your Systems Should Too.
I do not think in channels. Neither do your customers.
If I start on chat, move to email, and end up on a call, do not make me relive the journey. That is not omnichannel. That is punishment. AI should carry the thread forward. Quietly. Cleanly. If it cannot, stop pretending you have omnichannel CX.
What Matters Now
Call volume is not the win.
The win is simpler:
Effort + Resolution = Trust
And for agent providers, agent confidence matters more than ever. Burned-out agents do not deliver great experiences. No amount of automation fixes that.
The desired outcome is trust.
You only earn it through effort and resolution.
My Take
Digital Front Door 2.0 is not humans versus AI. That is a false debate.
It is humans plus AI, built with restraint.
AI should handle speed and scale.
Humans handle judgment and empathy.
But only if the foundation is solid. Otherwise, all you have done is automate frustration.
As a customer, I can tell immediately when this was designed with care.
As someone who sells contact center solutions, I can tell you it is not easy.
But when it is done right, it works.
And when it is done wrong, I will be the first one yelling “representative” into my phone just like everyone else.
If this resonates, take a moment to look at your Digital Front Door through the lens of a real customer journey, not a dashboard.
