Contact Containment With AI Agents

Evidence and data. Interviewees said that before adopting Five9, their organizations lacked customer self-service options, customers faced long hold times and onerous IVR experiences, and agents fielded a substantial volume of calls. But they said with Five9, their organizations deployed AI Agents to handle common customer inquiries, which successfully contained contacts and reduced the burden on live agents.

• A CTO at a healthcare company shared that their organization was able to contain 28% of contacts with Five9 AI Agents.

• A lead application analyst for a healthcare organization explained that more than half of their company’s monthly calls were for common inquiries and that by using Five9 AI Agents, it was able to contain 45% of those contacts. For the remaining contacts, the information gathered by AI Agents could be passed to live agents to reduce contact times and improve customer experiences.

• A workforce manager for an automotive retail organization said their company is building out use cases and seeing improved contact containment rates with Five9.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite organization receives 2.5 million contacts per year, and they are primarily voice contacts.

• In the composite’s legacy environment, there was no contact containment. All contacts were handled by live agents.

• Using Five9 AI Agents, the composite contains 23% of contacts in Year 1. The containment rate increases year over year as new use cases are developed, with 25% of contacts contained in Year 2 and 28% contained in Year 3.

• The AHT for a contact is 900 seconds.

• The fully burdened hourly rate for an agent in the US is $25.

Risks. An organization’s realization of benefits related to contact containment with agents will vary depending on a variety of factors, including:

• The channels and use cases for which AI Agents are deployed.

• The nature and complexity of inbound contacts.

• Deployment and integration of Five9 within the organization.

• The time and effort the organization dedicates to maintaining, tuning, and expanding use cases for Five9 AI Agents.

• The average hourly rate for a contact center agent.

• Any existing solutions in place and how effective they are at addressing customer needs.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $8.8 million.

Increased Efficiency From Task Automation

Evidence and data. Interviewees explained that for contacts that could not be contained, the Five9 AI Agents and Agent Assist technologies provided time savings for live agents on common tasks by verifying customer identities before passing the contact to the agent and summarizing the conversation at the end of the contact.

• With the Five9 Agent Assist tool, interviewees’ organizations automated the writing of post call summaries, allowing agents to simply review and make minor edits. A director of operations for a telecommunications company shared that their organization’s after-call work time went from 15 seconds to 7 seconds, and a security analyst for an IT services company noted their organization’s after-call work time dropped from 5 minutes to 90 seconds.

• Interviewees said AI Agents were crucial in verifying patients or customers in accordance with HIPAA and organizational compliance standards and that they saved the time of live agents. A CTO for a healthcare company noted time savings of 15 to 40 seconds on contact verification, while a lead application analyst for a different healthcare organization said the patient verification experience is 2.5 times faster with Five9.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• After containment, the number of contacts handled by live agents decreases from 1.925 million in Year 1 to 1.875 million in Year 2 and 1.8 million in Year 3.

• Five9 AI Agents verify the composite’s customer contacts before they are passed to a live agent, saving interaction time. Five9 Agent Assist provide contact summaries at the end of each interaction, which further reduces the time agents spend on contacts. The combined time savings on automated tasks totals 120 seconds per contact.

• The fully burdened hourly rate for an agent is $25.

Risks. An organization’s realization of benefits related to increased efficiency from task automation will vary depending on a variety of factors, including:

• The use cases and scope of deployment for AI Agents, Agent Assist, and any other Five9 solutions.

• Integrations with other systems such as CRMs.

• Other existing solutions in place and their ability to address customer issues.

• The time live agents spend on activities such as contact authentication and contact summarization.

• The average salary of a live agent.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $3.5 million.

Decreased Agent Turnover

Evidence and data. Interviewees said their organizations’ contact centers commonly experience high agent turnover, but using the Five9 Intelligent CX Platform provided new flexibility and transparency in staffing, better visibility into individual performance for agents and their managers, and better support for routine tasks with tools like Agent Assist. They explained that, as a result, their organizations saw notable decreases in agent attrition and increases in agent satisfaction.

• A CTO for a healthcare organization shared that Five9 allows their company to better monitor quality and reward agents who perform well, which contributes to low turnover rates.

• A workforce manager for an automotive retail organization explained that having better fairness and visibility into staffing decisions improved agent satisfaction and contributed to a 50% reduction in attrition.

• A senior director of customer care for a transportation services organization said Five9 improved the overall agent experience and decreased turnover by providing agents with a better user interface and better tools than they had before, and because migrating from an on-prem solution to a cloud-based solution allowed them to work from home part-time. The interviewee also said Five9’s Clearview offers agents real-time visibility into their own performance. They said, “It allows the agents to see their own stats in real time, which they love, and it gives them the ability to self-manage more effectively.”

• A security analyst for an IT services organization noted that agents’ happiness increased due to improved tools and support provided by Five9.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite employs 500 contact center agents.

• Prior to Five9, the average agent turnover rate was 40% per year.

• A 30% reduction in agent turnover rate per year is attributable to Five9 and, as a result, the organization avoids hiring 60 new employees.

• The average replacement cost per agent is $15,000.

Risks. An organization’s ability to reduce its agent turnover rate will vary depending on a variety of factors, including:

• The organization’s current agent turnover rates and the reasons for attrition.

• The organization’s policies and technology that might impact requirements to work on-site.

• Existing tools for measuring agent quality and performance.

• Other company policies impacting agent satisfaction.

• The scope of the Five9 deployment.

• The average cost to replace an agent.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.0 million.

Reduced Downtime

Evidence and data. Interviewees said that in their organizations’ legacy environments, they experienced outages and downtime that significantly impacted operations. They explained that with Five9, the organizations experienced notable improvements in system stability and uptime.

• A senior director of customer care for a transportation services organization shared that in their company’s prior environment, it experienced multi-hour outages three to four times per year, leaving agents idle and customers unhappy.

• Interviewees consistently noted that their organizations almost never experience downtime with Five9. They said the platform is reliable and ensures continuous operation that minimizes disruptions and enhances overall productivity.

• Interviewees also highlighted the support provided by Five9, saying it further contributed to reducing downtime and maintaining smooth operations. The workforce manager for an automotive retail company said, “The overall relationship and the ability to address concerns head-on — even if it’s something like an outage — has stood out with Five9.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the customer interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• With its legacy solution, the composite experienced 20 hours of system downtime per year.

• For each outage, 375 agents are impacted (assuming not all agents work at all times).

• With Five9, the composite organization sees a 99% reduction in downtime.

• The average fully burdened hourly rate for an agent is $25.

Risks. An organization’s realization of benefits related to reduced downtime will vary depending on a variety of factors, including:

• Any legacy systems in place, how long they last, and the number and scale of outages experienced with them.

• The number of agents impacted per downtime event and the impact of that downtime.

• The hourly rate for an agent.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $415,000.

Increased Profit

Evidence and data. Before adopting Five9, contact centers at interviewees’ organizations struggled with siloed operations, inefficient call routing, and minimal automation, which led to missed revenue opportunities and inconsistent customer experiences. Interviewees said agents were bogged down by manual tasks and outdated tools, making it difficult to effectively upsell or cross-sell if the opportunity arose. With Five9, the organizations increased profits through improved cross-selling, upselling, and conversion.

• The director of operations at a telecommunications company said that by leveraging real-time AI tools like Five9 Agent Assist, their organization empowered its agents with contextual prompts and dynamic soundbites during live calls. These tools guide agents to identify and act on upsell and cross-sell opportunities, whether by recommending relevant add-ons, upgrades, or premium services tailored to the organization’s profile and usage patterns.
  
  Interviewees said Agent Assist provides intelligent nudges embedded directly in the call flow, which transformed routine service interactions into revenue-generating moments and empowered agents to upsell more effectively. In some cases, even in highly regulated environments where outbound sales were restricted, this approach enabled teams to drive measurable revenue increases. The director of operations at a telecommunications company said, “We were able to increase revenue year over year mostly due to efficiencies from Five9’s Agent Assist.”

• The CTO at a healthcare company said that with Five9, their organization centralized its scheduling operations with IVA and Auto Dialer tools and integrated an automated outbound campaign to proactively reach customers with appointment reminders and scheduling prompts. They said this shift in strategy transferred the action to the customer, which prompted a surge of inbound calls ready to book, increased conversion rates, and effectively pulled revenue forward. The interviewee stated, “With centralized scheduling, the agents have visibility not only across centers that are close to each other, but also across multiple states.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite’s annual revenue is $2 billion.

• With Five9, the organization increases cross-selling and upselling. This results in a 0.2% increase in revenue in Year 1 worth $4 million, a 0.25% increase in Year 2 worth $5 million, and a 0.3% increase in Year 3 worth $6 million.

• The composite organization’s operating margin is 10%.

Risks. An organization’s realization of increased profits from Five9 will vary depending on a variety of factors, including:

• The channels and use cases for which Five9 is deployed.

• The nature of user contacts.

• The organization’s industry, products, sales motions, and customer buying behaviors.

• Whether the organization’s inbound service contact center agents are able to engage in selling activities with customers and how they do so.

• The time and effort the organization dedicates to maintaining, tuning, and expanding use cases for Five9.

• Any existing solutions in place and how effective they are at addressing customer needs.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $982,000.

Legacy Environment Savings

Evidence and data. Before implementing Five9, many interviewees’ organizations operated on outdated, on-premises systems that lacked basic digital engagement capabilities, required extensive IT support, and imposed high costs for even minor changes. One interviewee reported their company paid up to $20,000 for simple IVR modifications with its previous provider.

• Interviewees explained that transitioning to Five9 allowed their organizations to retire fragmented infrastructure and consolidate their operations into a single, cloud-based platform.

• They also said this shift eliminated the need for costly professional services, reduced IT overhead, and enabled rapid deployment of new features (e.g., IVA, chat, AI-powered tools, CRM connectors). This reduced operational costs while significantly improving agility, scalability, and customer experience.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• By retiring physical hardware, reducing reliance on third-party vendors, and freeing up internal IT resources, the composite saves $2.5 million.

• The organization eliminates internal patching, system upgrades, and security maintenance by leveraging Five9’s cloud service model.

Risks. An organization’s realization of benefits related to legacy environment savings will vary depending on a variety of factors, including:

• The types and scale of legacy systems.

• The costs of legacy systems and associated maintenance.

• How the organization implements and scales Five9.

• How well and how quickly the organization can replace legacy solutions.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $5.6 million.

Unquantified Benefits

Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:

• Better customer experience. Interviewees said with Five9, customers experience reduced wait times and tailored interactions. They also reported better first-call resolution, reduced repeat call volume, and improved CSAT and NPS scores.

• Improved security and compliance. Interviewees explained that because Five9 supports robust security and compliance standards, including HIPAA, it’s a reliable solution for organizations operating in highly regulated industries (e.g., healthcare).

• Strong vendor partnership. Interviewees said their organizations have strong, collaborative partnerships and noted responsive support, ongoing innovation, and a high level of trust. They described TAMs as proactive and knowledgeable and said they often go beyond standard support to help solve complex challenges and enable new capabilities. Interviewees explained that this close relationship fosters confidence in Five9 as a strategic partner with a shared commitment to the long-term success of their organizations.

Flexibility

The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement The Five9 Intelligent CX Platform and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:

• Scalability and agility. With Five9’s cloud native architecture, an organization has the ability to stand up new contact centers, launch campaigns, pilot new AI solutions, and add agents quickly, which can enable fast responses to growing business needs. Flexible staffing models support hybrid and remote work, allowing organizations to adapt to workforce shifts. Interviewees said this agility ensures the business can respond to spikes in volume or urgent customer demands with minimal friction, maintaining service quality while accelerating time to value. A senior director of customer care at a transportation services company stated: “Five9 allows us to dynamically schedule staff based on call-arrival patterns. We generate new schedules weekly, which helps us balance staffing and improve service.”

• Future benefits with AI Insights. Some interviewees said their organizations are evaluating or piloting AI Insights, and they look forward to better understanding customer intent and drivers for customer contacts to allow them to tailor customer experiences for better outcomes.

Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Total Economic Impact Approach).