At the recent 8×8 analyst event in Southampton, there was a particular takeaway that really stood out to me — UCaaS platforms are sitting on a goldmine of customer experience intelligence but this remains mostly untapped. Combining UC and CC data could create a powerful new perspective on customer experiences. Until now the cost of mining that data has been too great to fit within UCaaS license margins, but, with advanced Gen AI it’s not only possible but relatively easy to do so.
Author
The Current State of Voice of the Customer (VoC)
To understand and improve customer experience, organizations typically invest in Voice of the Customer (VoC) programs. These initiatives focus on collecting structured and unstructured data. A Net Promoter Score or a select option form survey is structured whilst an email or phone call is very unstructured. So, there are different insights to capture and different perspectives. In an email you may learn more about why a customer is unhappy vs a scorecard that’s quite purposefully asking a specific question.
Then, there is direct, indirect and inferred feedback to consider:
- Direct feedback is typically collected through event- and relationship-based surveys where the brand is directly asking the customer for feedback.
- Indirect feedback is feedback that customers share about their experiences but they’re not necessarily sharing it with the brand as feedback. Such as in contact center interactions (voice and digital) and public sentiment from social media.
Leading VoC platforms such as Medallia and Qualtrics excel at collecting and integrating this feedback with inferred feedback, (call wait times, digital journey progression, order status, and more) to present a well-rounded customer perspective. For example, you can infer from a long wait time that they’re going to be unhappy.
The Internal Comms Blind Spot
HR may have an internal program established for Voice of the Employee (VoE), however, none of the above practices factor in the conversations going on within a business about a customer ambition or problem.
Platforms such as 8×8, Microsoft Teams, RingCentral, Slack and Zoom, serve as the primary modes of internal communication. Increasingly, they are also used for direct customer interactions that fall outside of traditional contact center workflows.
Despite the maturity of VoC and VoE programs insights embedded in internal employee conversations and post-contact center customer engagements occurring within UCaaS environments are not being considered as part of understanding how customers actually feel about the brand, product or service. In a world powered by Customer Experience driving loyalty, this is a huge problem. And one that is solvable.
Introducing the Voice of the Business (VoB)
To address this gap, organizations should consider inclusion of a broader and more integrated framework.
- VoC reveals what customers are saying and experiencing.
- VoE surfaces employee sentiment and frontline perspective.
- VoB captures operational context: how internal teams interpret, discuss, and act upon customer-related issues.
There is a prevailing assumption that an organization inherently “knows” what is happening within itself. In practice, however, internal knowledge is often fragmented across departments, hindered by communication silos, and distorted by informal information channels.
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) now make it feasible to analyze internal conversations at scale—providing an unprecedented window into how work actually gets done, and how that affects the customer journey.
UCaaS platforms that provide VoB are foundational to modern workplace communication. They are also increasingly involved in customer-related scenarios beyond the contact center, including:
- A back-office expert resolving a technical issue with a transferred customer over video
- A sales rep calling a customer post-support for a relationship-building chat
- Internal meetings where recurring customer issues are dissected
- Digital “watercooler” chats that spark product or process improvement ideas
- Perspectives of different teams and departments on customer-related matters
These conversations are rich with qualitative insight and it’s important to be considering this data to truly realize the benefits of a more complete Voice of the Customer program.
The Benefits of UCaaS Data Integrated Into the VoC Ecosystem
There are four critical capabilities that strengthen customer experience programs and operational execution:
- Aligning Internal Realities with Customer Perceptions
While surveys may reflect high satisfaction scores, internal communications can reveal a very different story—operational inefficiencies, employee burnout, or confusion around process execution can all signal future CX risks. Incorporating UCaaS data enables organizations to pinpoint critical actions that prevent CX degradation and ensure customer expectations continue to be met.
- Exposing Cross-Functional Misalignment
UCaaS conversations reveal how different departments discuss and prioritize customer-related issues. This visibility surfaces conflicts, disconnects, and blind spots that can undermine coordinated customer experience efforts. - Strengthening VoC Root Cause Analysis with Operational Context
Internal conversations provide valuable insight into how customer issues are framed, escalated, and resolved across teams. Incorporating this operational context into VoC programs strengthens root cause analysis and supports more targeted, systemic CX improvements. - Visualizing the True End-to-End Customer Journey
While surveys and contact center data capture frontline interactions, UCaaS conversations document what happens before, between, and after those touchpoints—completing the customer journey map with critical behind-the-scenes insights.
Final Thoughts on Intelligence as the Future of CX
VoC programs that rely solely on web/contact center and survey channels are only capturing part of the picture. UCaaS conversations contain essential insights—from hidden friction points to behind-the-scenes collaboration and innovation.
The future of customer experience lies in connected intelligence—the integration of external customer voice with internal operational voice – VoB. Organizations that embrace this model will gain a significantly more accurate, aligned, and actionable understanding of how they deliver value.
