Customer service is going through a reset and the Channel has a real opportunity to shape where it goes next.
BT and Sky are closing their in-house contact centres, and Foundever is moving to a more decentralised, hybrid model. These shifts reflect that traditional service setups are struggling to keep up with digital expectations.
But technology alone isn’t the answer. Businesses need partners who can guide them through meaningful change, blending automation with empathy and scale with a human touch.
That’s where the Channel comes in: not just in delivering tools, but helping clients build smarter, more people-focused ways to serve and support their customers.
Shaping the new service model
Traditional contact centres, with their high overheads and siloed systems, are being phased out. In their place, organisations are adopting cloud-based, AI-augmented service environments that enable better scalability, flexibility and customer experience.
In the UK, this shift is already underway. KPMG’s 2024 Customer Experience Excellence report found that leading brands like First Direct and Ocado are setting new benchmarks by blending AI with human empathy to deliver more intuitive and responsive service experiences. Similarly, Salesforce’s UK research shows that 88 per cent of service professionals using AI say it saves them time and allows them to focus on more meaningful, complex interactions.
For UK resellers and managed service providers, this shift isn’t just a trend, it’s a big opportunity. By helping clients move away from legacy systems and adopt flexible, cloud-based platforms, with the right mix of automation, analytics and self-service capabilities, the Channel can step into a more strategic role. It’s no longer just about selling tech. It’s about helping businesses truly change the way they serve their customers.
Turning automation into competitive advantage
AI-driven automation such as chatbots, self-service portals and virtual assistants has already proven its ability to cut costs and improve availability. But forward-thinking channel providers are taking things further with AI augmentation: enhancing human performance with contextual intelligence.
This includes tools that automatically surface the right knowledge articles, recommend next-best actions or route calls based on real-time sentiment. For channel partners, offering these AI capabilities as part of a broader managed service or bundled solution creates stickier relationships and recurring revenue streams.
For example, BT launched its AI-powered assistant Aimee and the service now handles up to 60,000 customer conversations a week, with automation success rates nearing 50 per cent, freeing agents to focus on more complex issues.
But even the smartest AI tools can only go so far if they’re built on outdated, disconnected systems.
Moving beyond legacy infrastructure
One of the biggest obstacles clients face is the sprawl of outdated, on-premise customer service systems. Many UK businesses still operate with disconnected tools that make it hard to deliver seamless, omnichannel experiences.
This challenge is especially pressing as infrastructure shifts accelerate across the UK. Openreach’s nationwide copper switch-off is forcing businesses to migrate away from legacy connectivity and toward full-fibre services, with millions affected. Meanwhile, the UK government has admitted that more than one quarter of its digital systems are outdated, costing the public sector £45 billion a year and making service innovation harder to deliver.
Here lies another strategic opportunity for channel partners: becoming enablers of cloud migration and platform consolidation. Whether it's integrating UCaaS and CCaaS offerings or helping clients shift to modern CRM systems, channel providers can step in as trusted advisors, removing complexity and unlocking new service potential.
But modernisation shouldn’t come at the expense of people. Smart channel partners will frame technology not as a replacement for human agents, but as a tool to empower them. This human-first approach is what will differentiate channel offerings in a crowded market.
The people behind the headsets
Crucially, modern service models must not devalue the human element. While AI and automation can handle routine queries, emotionally complex issues still require empathy and human judgement. Channel partners should ensure that technology implementations elevate the human experience for both customers and frontline agents.
This is more than a best practice, it's a growing necessity. Customer complaints about poor service in the UK have surged by 24 per cent in the past year, with many frustrations tied to impersonal chatbot experiences and long waits for human support.
By giving agents the tools to work smarter, cutting down on complexity, making systems easier to use and surfacing the right information at the right time, the Channel can help turn busy service centres into places that genuinely add value.
It’s not just about making things better for customers. It’s about making things better for the people supporting them too.
Building what comes next
The changes unfolding in customer service aren’t temporary - they’re foundational. And for the Channel, that’s an open door. This is a real chance to step up, not just as providers of tech, but as partners in shaping smarter, more human ways to support customers.
Clients don’t just need new tools, they need guidance. They need help making sense of the shift from legacy systems to cloud platforms, from reactive support to proactive engagement, from disconnected processes to empowered people. Players who bring that clarity and who balance innovation with empathy won’t just stay relevant, they’ll become essential.