The Best Customer Service Doesn't Sound Like a Call Center

A field report on the quiet revolution in customer service: the shift away from the scripted, hold-music call center toward conversations that sound human. It maps the companies rebuilding support from the ground up - Genesys, NICE CXone, Five9, UJET, Talkdesk, and Bret Taylor's Sierra - and argues that in an age of AI agents, the winners are the ones who make talking to a company feel less like filing a ticket and more like getting help from someone who remembers you.