As demand for and adoption of AI-fueled capabilities grow, annual Global Customer Engagement Report data reveals opportunities to enhance CX and address common customer challenges

Vonage, a global leader in cloud communications helping businesses accelerate their digital transformation and a part of Ericsson, has released its Global Customer Engagement Report 2025. Now in its 13th year, this year’s annual report outlines data and insights into customer communications preferences with businesses, highlighting emerging trends in artificial intelligence (AI) that are having a direct and positive impact on customer experience and engagement.

Commenting on the report, Reggie Scales, Global Head of Applications for Vonage said: “This year’s findings really underscore the power of emerging technology and how AI in particular continues to elevate the way today’s consumers expect to engage with their favorite brands. A highlight of this year’s results is the reinforcement on the importance of layering AI over existing programmable communications vehicles – voice, video, messaging and so many more. Engaging with customers on their channel of choice with features and capabilities that are more personalized, more automated and more meaningful will continue to set businesses up for success.”

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The Power of AI in CX

This year’s data builds on trends from last year’s report, showing a continued increase in comfort with and adoption of AI-powered interactions. The new data suggests a growing demand for these interactions across a wide offering of communications vehicles to meet customers on their channels of choice. For example:

• Chatbot: 32% will increase usage in next 6-12 months (up from 23%)
• Video chat: 28% will increase usage in next 6-12 months (up from 26%)
• Voice personal assistants: 26% will increase usage in next 6-12 months (up from 22%)
• Automated phone support: 25% will increase usage in next 6-12 months (up from 21%)
• Webpage/in-app calling: 25% will increase usage in next 6-12 months (up from 22%)

By automating and personalizing the customer experience with AI, businesses today can elevate everyday transactions to create real-time, more meaningful conversations embedded directly into the applications they already use to connect with their customers.

A Global Perspective on AI

The Global Customer Engagement Report 2025 also uncovers global preferences when it comes to AI-enabled communications channels. In APAC, AI is core to connecting across messaging via non-SMS apps (31%), phone calls via messaging apps (30%), as well as live chat via mobile app (25%), and video chats (14%).

In the U.S., consumers are focused on SMS text messages, mobile phone calls, and email, showing moderate interest in moving toward more AI-enabled channels, such as messaging via non-SMS apps (26%), push notifications (23%), and phone calls via messaging apps (20%).

Preferences for traditional methods like mobile phone calls and email remain strong in most EMEA markets, with some emerging interest in moving more toward AI-enabled channels, such as messaging via non-SMS apps (28%), phone calls via messaging apps (22%), and live chat or messaging from a mobile app (16%).

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AI and the Road to Resolution

This year’s findings also reiterate some of the common customer challenges and frustrations that are paving the way for AI-powered solutions with respondents reporting the highest level of frustrations with:

• Long wait times to speak to agent – 65%
• Contacting customer service multiple times – 65%
• Describing issue to multiple agents/being transferred multiple times – 63%

By enhancing these connections through the power of AI, a virtual assistant, chatbot, or smart IVR can eliminate long hold times or respond to inquiries around the clock, while skills-based routing can transfer to the right agent when a human touch is required. This can go a long way toward mitigating the risk of customer attrition as the study shows that, after a bad customer experience, 75% of customers are likely to take their business elsewhere and 48% of customers only need one or two bad experiences before they leave for good.

Conversely, after a great customer experience, 52% of customers will become more loyal to a company or provider and 35% of customers will make additional purchases.

The Global Customer Engagement survey included more than 7,000 participants across 17 global markets. Conducted in September 2024, the survey explored the varied channels customers use for communicating with friends, family, and businesses — including voice, messaging apps, email, social media, chat, and more — and the immense value of delivering excellent customer service.