Nima Hakimi, CEO of Convoso comments on the current technologies driving contact center performance in this catch up with SalesTechStar:

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Hi Nima tell us about yourself and your role at Convoso

I’m Nima, I co-founded the company with my brother, Bobby Hakimi [Chief Product Officer], in 2006.

We’d love the top highlights of Convoso Ignite, how does it benefit end users?

We’re seeing a lot of benefits for our customers using Convoso Ignite.

First, it automates the procurement and management of DIDs, which means a lot of time savings and less risk due to human error resulting from what used to be a very labor-intensive manual process.

It provides a DID health score, which is much more meaningful and accurate.  The old way of looking at DIDs was a binary approach– they were either good or bad. However, Convoso Ignite scores them on a scale of 1 to 100, based on usage, flags, and performance with different carriers.

Finally, Convoso Ignite employs real-time dialing optimization, which means that for every call placed, Ignite selects the best DID for that situation, taking into account the carrier, lead, and campaign context. This is the key to driving higher contact rates.

Jeramee Douglass, Workforce and Telephony Administrator at Quintessa Marketing, (our customer) told us: “We’re seeing a lot of success since we started on the Convoso Ignite beta. The contact rate on our leads has doubled – we went from around 4.5% to about 9% contact rate, and that’s including leads that are over 30 days old.”

To briefly recap, the key benefits for end users are:

• Fewer flagged calls
• Higher contact rates
• Lower admin overhead
• Smarter spend per lead
• More sales conversations

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What should contact centers today focus on more to optimize digital transformation efforts and help their team members reduce the extent of manual labour?

Without automation, contact centers cannot scale. Their campaigns and overall operations will be far less efficient than those of their competitors, who have automated technologies and processes. This means they will not only be less competitive, but their costs will be higher and their revenue will be lower.

We’ve seen many businesses transition from manual operations to the intelligent, automated functionalities of our platform, experiencing substantial improvements in their cost per acquisition, contact rates, revenue, and, importantly, agent morale and productivity.

Contact centers should review their tech stack and consider how easily and efficiently their technologies integrate to optimize campaign operations.

Their dialing platform should not only provide a fast connection rate to leads [eg, in less than three seconds], but intelligent workflow automations that recycle those leads into dialing cadences and multi-channel outreach. They should have auto-dialing capabilities at scale to handle multiple campaigns simultaneously. Other critical tools contact centers today should be taking advantage of include answering machine detection, caller ID reputation management, built-in compliance management, and real-time reporting with predictive analytics.

What tips would you share with outbound teams to enable better optimization of workflows based on current industry challenges?

Outbound contact centers today face mounting pressure to do more with less, as rising lead costs, declining contact rates, and tightening compliance regulations challenge traditional workflows. To meet these demands, many teams are moving away from manual processes and embracing intelligent automation to streamline operations, reduce agent fatigue, and improve outcomes. Key strategies include using automated dialing cadences, real-time lead recycling, omnichannel outreach, and advanced voicemail detection to ensure agents spend more time in productive conversations.

Workflow optimization also hinges on visibility and adaptability. Contact centers that prioritize real-time reporting and campaign analytics can quickly identify performance gaps, adjust outreach strategies on the fly, and better allocate resources. Integrating tools that support caller ID reputation management, compliance monitoring, and skills-based routing further reduces risk and boosts efficiency across campaigns.

Ultimately, the most resilient outbound teams are those that treat workflow optimization as a dynamic process. By combining automation, data-driven decision-making, and seamless technology integration, they’re able to navigate industry headwinds while maintaining high performance and compliance standards.

How can outbound teams effectively use AI to boost their processes and outcomes?

Artificial intelligence is, of course, what everyone is talking about, and they have the sense that they should be using it somehow. But in the case of outbound revenue teams, it’s not that they should be “using AI” so much as using technologies with built-in AI that give them the benefits of intelligent functionalities.

You buy a car with a powerful engine and the capabilities you’re looking for to provide you with a smooth driving experience, but, unless you’re a mechanic and a car enthusiast, you’re not shopping for engines or computer technologies to add to your vehicle. The same with sales teams – they need to invest in AI-powered technologies that play well together and not worry about how they should be adding AI to their current processes.

Five thoughts on the future of contact center software?

Based on where we are now, some of this will not be new, but indeed, the trends show that emphasis should be given to these areas:

1. Carrier flagging will reshape outreach strategy.  Carriers have become much more aggressive and sophisticated in their call blocking and caller ID flagging. They have basically been given safe harbor to slap flags on any calls based on carrier algorithms, without any regard for whether that call was placed to a consumer who had in fact given their consent to be contacted by the company making that call. As a result, compliant-minded companies are being caught in the traps meant for bad actors and illegal robocallers. Given this situation, contact centers are being forced to develop new strategies and technologies to connect with leads more effectively. Software platforms will need to offer more dynamic, real-time tools to monitor and automate managing phone number reputation. The ability to adapt quickly—by rotating numbers, monitoring performance metrics, and preemptively addressing issues—will be essential for maintaining contact rates and reaching qualified leads.
2. AI will be built in, not bolted on.  Artificial intelligence is becoming foundational to contact center operations, but the shift isn’t about flashy features. It’s about embedded intelligence that quietly powers better outcomes. Expect AI to drive lead scoring, conversation routing, compliance triggers, and behavioral automation, all behind the scenes. The focus will shift from using AI to benefiting from it.
3. Compliance will become proactive, not reactive.  As regulations change how and when outreach is permitted, software will need to play a central role in helping businesses manage compliance by design. Built-in safeguards, adaptive logic, and auditable trails will be standard, removing the burden from agents and putting compliance into the workflow itself.
4. Smarter, not more, channels.  While omnichannel communication will remain important, the future lies in smarter orchestration, not simply adding more channels. Software will need to prioritize timing, personalization, and cadence across voice, SMS, and email to meet people where they are, without overwhelming them or burning through lists inefficiently.
5. Performance ops will take center stage.  Contact centers are shifting from manual campaign management to performance-driven operations. The next wave of software will emphasize real-time optimization that excel at surfacing insights instantly, automating campaign adjustments, and giving teams the ability to pivot fast. High-performing operations will be measured less by volume, and more by the precision and profitability of every outreach attempt.

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