REGGIE SCALES
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Channel-hopping is a classic symptom of a broken journey. A customer might start on the app to query a bill, move to the website for more detailed information and finally end up on a call with an agent, where they are forced to repeat their issue for the third time. Each step adds friction and erodes confidence, pushing the customer closer to considering a competitor. Self-service promises to eliminate such friction, but achieving it can only be through a truly unified, omnichannel approach.
The blueprint for a unified journey Resolving fragmented customer journeys means telcos must embrace the philosophy articulated by Apple’ s co-founder, Steve Jobs:“ You’ ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way around.”
But taking a customer-first approach needs a fundamental architectural shift. It is no longer enough to provide multiple channels simply: these must be intelligently interconnected so that the customer’ s context is preserved throughout their journey. The objective is to create a seamless ecosystem where data and history flow just as effortlessly as the customer moves between touchpoints.
“ Businesses must meet these expectations by ensuring customers can access up-to-date service seamlessly, anytime, anywhere,” Reggie outlines.“ Portals should recognise individual customers with the fewest
REGGIE SCALES
TITLE: HEAD OF PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
COMPANY: VONAGE INDUSTRY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Reggie Scales, Head of Applications at Vonage since 2018, leads the global Contact Centre, Unified Communications and Residential VoIP teams, overseeing sales, product development, partnerships and customer experience.
necessary authentication steps, and complete basic tasks in-channel with full context of the issue.”
A crucial component of the unified vision is designing for intelligent escalation. Since even the best selfservice portal has its limits, the actual test of the system is how gracefully it manages them. When automation reaches its ceiling, the handover to a human agent must be frictionless. Reggie continues:“ Escalation to human agents must be quick, painless and only carried out when all other options are exhausted. When this occurs, agents must have real-time, unified access to a customer’ s current issue and historical data well before they get on the phone.” It ensures the agent becomes a saviour, not just another hurdle, as they can enter the conversation fully informed and ready to add immediate value.
138 November 2025