Customer Experience Technology: 18 Options To Improve CX

Delivering a top-notch customer experience (CX) does more than just create happy, loyal customers. It can differentiate your business from competitors and make you the talk of the town. But customers have more options than ever and less patience — they expect you to meet and exceed their expectations. 

Knowing what your customers want, how to measure CX, and how to assess ROI is tricky without the right tools at your disposal. In this guide, we’ll explore the top customer experience technology available right now and explore use cases for each so you can keep more customers satisfied.

Let’s get started.

What Is Customer Experience Technology?

Customer experience (CX) technology are the tools and solutions businesses use to manage and improve customer interactions, aiming to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Why You Need Customer Experience Technology

CX technology comes in many different forms. You’ll find that the CX tech you choose offers these benefits.

Improves customer satisfaction and loyalty

CX technology improves customer satisfaction (CSAT) and creates loyalty by helping you deliver exceptional, personalized experiences. It also plays a critical role in reducing customer churn by addressing pain points before they lead to dissatisfaction.

With the right CX tech, businesses can:

• Personalize interactions.
• Provide timely support.
• Offer seamless cross-channel experiences.

Better customer experiences not only drive repeat business and positive word-of-mouth but also help retain existing customers.

Enhances data-driven decision-making

CX technology implementations provide valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. You can use these details to make informed decisions that are more likely to resonate with target audiences.

Streamlines customer service processes

Chatbots, automation tools, and other CX tech can handle routine inquiries and free up human agents for more urgent or complex customer service goals and issues. This lowers response times and improves overall service quality.

By giving agents access to pertinent customer information before, during, and after interactions, agents can also give more efficient support and tailored solutions for better satisfaction.

Increases sales and revenue

CX tech can help you increase sales and revenue by making personalized recommendations based on customer preferences and behavior, which can lead to higher conversion rates.

These tech solutions can even increase:

• Customer advocacy
• Repeat business
• Referrals

Each can drive growth significantly over time by nurturing long-term customer relationships. CX technology keeps customers engaged and satisfied, increasing retention and extending their lifetime value (CLV). A higher customer retention rate and CLV mean that customers spend more time with your business, over time — a benefit more valuable than acquiring new customers.

Drives brand reach

The right customer experience technologies can amplify your brand and extend your reach by delivering a unified message across multiple channels. Here are a few ways:

• Personalized marketing: Businesses can use customer data to create highly targeted campaigns and deliver tailored experiences.
• Omnichannel experiences: CX tools enable seamless transitions across digital and physical channels.

Social media engagement: With real-time monitoring, businesses can respond quickly to customer feedback and support requests.

18 Customer Experience Technologies

Customer experience technology encompasses various tools, including CX software for customer feedback, communication, data analysis, and process automation to deliver a personalized and efficient customer experience. CX technology is about driving a digital transformation in customer experience.

These are the top CX technologies available right now.

1. Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is a powerful contact center CX technology because it can process and analyze vast amounts of data quickly and accurately. In fact, our 2024 State of Customer Experience Report found that 57% of customers prefer AI-generated responses.

This data-driven approach allows you to better personalize your customer interactions by tailoring recommendations, options, and support based on their individual customer history.

Contact center AI can automate repetitive tasks like customer inquiries, order processing, and email marketing. This automation allows human agents to focus on more complex and high-value interactions.

AI algorithms can create incredible opportunities to boost CX and satisfaction:

• Predictive customer analytics to scrape past actions and predict future behaviors like purchasing patterns or the likelihood of customer churn
• Voice-activated assistants provide customers with hands-free access to information or services
• Dynamic pricing by analyzing market trends, competitor pricing, and customer behavior to optimize prices in real time

With AI support, you can proactively address customer needs before they even happen, helping your customers trust that you have their best interests in mind.

2. Chatbots

Chatbots excel as a CX technology because they can provide instant, personalized, and efficient customer service.

These intelligent virtual agents offer immediate responses to customer inquiries, significantly reducing response times compared to traditional support channels — the critical speed in a world where customers expect quick resolutions. Chatbots can also handle a large volume of inquiries simultaneously so that no one is left waiting for assistance.

You can also program chatbots to personalize interactions based on data and behavior. They can remember past interactions, preferences, and purchase history and tailor their responses and recommendations for each customer.

Here are a few ways chatbots help to up your CX:

• 24/7 customer support to answer FAQs and resolve simple issues.
• Lead generation and qualification by engaging website visitors and collecting contact information
• Personalized recommendations by analyzing conversations and purchase history

These round-the-clock support superstars can enhance your customers’ shopping experiences and drive more sales.

3. Virtual and Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are the future of customer service, adding immersive, interactive elements to the customer experience. 

• AR can overlay step-by-step instructions onto malfunctioning products to help customers resolve issues independently. 
• VR enhances e-commerce by allowing customers to explore virtual stores with personalized shopping assistants to guide their journey. 

For example, the Warby Parker app uses augmented reality to allow customers to try on glasses virtually. Likewise, TOMS Shoes uses virtual reality to enable customers to meet the person in need — from across the world — who directly benefitted from their purchase.

4. Voice Recognition Technology

Voice recognition technology provides seamless, hands-free customer experiences for various needs. These CX systems use automatic speech recognition (ASR), enabling natural virtual assistant interactions. Customers can get help performing tasks, troubleshooting issues, or getting answers — simply by giving voice commands. 

Voice assistants can also analyze speech patterns, accents, and preferences to provide personalized recommendations and tailored support.

Examples of voice recognition technology include well-known apps like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. When you ask them “How do I return this item?” the technology will deliver instant support.

5. Cloud computing

Cloud computing is a strong CX technology because it virtualizes the customer service experience. This also centralizes customer data with a server-based thin client that doesn’t require on-premises physical space.

With cloud computing, you can scale your customer service operations up or down based on demand, ensuring that you can provide a consistent level of service even during peak times. You can also employ a cloud telephony tool that helps manage your business phone system via an online dashboard.

This scalability allows you to quickly deploy new features and services to meet evolving customer expectations and stay competitive in an evolving market.

Use cases

Cloud computing can improve CX in several ways:

• Virtualization to lower costs by removing the need for in-person hubs or offices
• Scalable data management as a thin client by centralizing the storing and managing of vast amounts of customer data securely
• AI-powered insights from analyzing customer data

The insights gained from cloud computing can help you better understand customer behavior and preferences in real time, no matter what channels your customers use.

6. CRM systems

Customer relationship management (CRM) technology is a cornerstone of CX because it enables you to build and maintain strong customer relationships.

By centralizing customer data and interaction history, CRM gives you a comprehensive view of each customer, allowing you to understand their unique needs at a glance. Then, you can tailor service and support to meet their individual needs.

Customer management tools like CRM facilitate smooth internal communication and team collaboration. Data silos become a distant memory as all departments have access to the same customer information. This helps your team provide a more integrated and consistent customer experience.

CRM is an important technology to create an enhanced customer experience:

• Customer data management stores and manages data in a centralized location to track interactions and preferences.
• Sales and marketing automation like lead management, email campaigns, and follow-up tasks.
• Customer service and support give agents access to customer history for more efficient support.

With the right type of CRM tool, you can gain more complete insights into your customer behaviors and target them with better, more personalized support and service.

Related: How to Turn Customer Experience Transformation Into a Business Asset

7. Omnichannel communication tools

Omnichannel communication tools create a better CX because they allow you to provide seamless and consistent communication across multiple channels.

These omnichannel CX tools allow customers to interact with businesses through their preferred channels, whether email, chat, social media, phone, or elsewhere, without experiencing service disruptions.

Omnichannel is all about continuity and seamless support — both for your customers and your team. Omnichannel gives your agents one view of the customer so all their history is instantly accessible, meaning your agents will spend less time looking for important information.

Omnichannel is an essential tool for a seamless customer experience with:

• Seamless interactions across multiple channels create a more convenient experience.
• Unified customer engagement gives you a single view of each customer for easy tracking.
• Efficient customer support enables agents to handle inquiries from multiple channels on a single interface.

Omnichannel support reduces the need for customers to repeat information and helps your agents resolve issues more quickly.

8. Natural language processing (NLP)

Natural language processing fuels a great CX by using conversational AI to chat with customers in a way that feels human and natural.

NLP is key for intuitive, conversational customer experiences that don’t feel robotic. NLP-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can interpret customer questions and requests and provide immediate, accurate responses. They can also analyze customer feedback and return valuable insights into customer preferences by crawling CSAT data for actionable takeaways.

NLP helps support a positive customer experience in many ways:

• Automated customer support with chatbots and virtual assistants to understand and respond to customer inquiries in natural language.
• Sentiment analysis from product reviews or customer feedback to gauge how customers feel about products and services.
• Personalized recommendations from analyzing customer interactions and behaviors.

With smart natural language processing, you can better understand your customers’ intent and behaviors to provide more relevant and targeted recommendations.

9. Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics is an important function of AI that helps anticipate customer needs so you can proactively address issues and provide personalized recommendations.

Predictive call center analytics analyzes historical customer data and identifies patterns and trends to forecast future outcomes, such as purchasing behavior, churn likelihood, or product preferences.

The ability to see into the future (or at least to predict it) has valuable implications for your business:

• Churn prediction can spot customers who are at risk of churn and implement targeted retention strategies.
• Personalized marketing helps identify patterns and preferences and tailor marketing messages accordingly.
• Inventory management can forecast demand based on historical data, seasonal trends, and other factors.

The more you can proactively address customer demands, the more your customers will be able to trust that you have their needs covered.

10. Voice Analytics Software

Voice analytics software goes beyond simple transcription. It lets businesses analyze emotions, detect keywords, and uncover patterns in conversations. It can even assess customer sentiment by monitoring vocal signals like tone and volume, enabling proactive responses — such as routing angry callers to experienced agents.

Advanced voice analytics tools provide businesses with features such as: 

• Real-time dashboards that help identify and resolve issues faster
• Interactive maps that allow you to drill into data 
• Detailed call activity reports that provide actionable insights for individuals, teams, and the business

Businesses can monitor performance metrics like call volume, missed calls, and top-performing agents, gaining both a historical and real-time overview of their operations.

11. Customer Experience Analytics

Tracking CX analytics is important to ensure you can find a CX baseline to improve upon. That is, without CX measurements, your CX strategy won’t have a metric of success to determine ROI.

By collecting data on CX analytics like customer satisfaction (CSAT), Net Promoter Score® (NPS), and Customer Effort Score (CES), you can spot areas for potential improvement and track those improvements over time. Those metrics also help you benchmark your performance against industry standards and direct competitors to see where you can differentiate yourself in the market.

Measuring CX allows you to create new initiatives to track and analyze data as well as implement changes:

• Customer journey mapping helps visually represent the customer’s interactions across touchpoints and identify pain points and wins.
• Voice of the customer (VoC) programs can collect and analyze direct feedback and ensure you’re meeting customer expectations.
• Benchmarking and comparison to show how you stack up against industry standards and competitors.

By assessing your customer service metrics, you can better understand the effectiveness of your CX approach and make changes as necessary.

Related: 14 Customer Experience Best Practices to Master CX

12. Contact Center As A Service

Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) is a cloud-based solution that removes the need for on-premise hardware and extensive IT support. It’s a scalable, cost-effective model where businesses pay only for what they use. CCaaS technology minimizes upfront investments and allows businesses to quickly adopt tools to optimize customer interactions.

CCaaS provides businesses with features such as:

• Unified communication channels that help customer service reps manage phone calls, SMS, email, live chat, and social media interactions seamlessly from a single platform.
• Intelligent call routing that matches customer inquiries with the most qualified agent based on skills, availability, and context.
• Automation features, like AI chatbots and IVR systems, can handle routine inquiries.

13. Sentiment analysis

You can’t underestimate the importance of customer reviews. With AI comes impressive capabilities to analyze the intent behind customer comments and complaints. AI can conduct real-time sentiment analysis to help agents address critical issues and even trigger helpful communications to customers.

It can also help you spot where you excel to reward or reinforce those systems, processes, or behaviors internally. It can even help product and support teams improve offerings by analyzing where customers are the least happy.

It’s important to gauge customer opinions and feelings to improve CX or continue doing what you do well:

• Social media monitoring so you can respond promptly to comments and messages, improving brand reputation.
• Feedback analysis helps to identify common themes and areas for improvement.
• Competitor analysis gleans insights into their strengths, weaknesses, and market perception.

More than just a temperature check, sentiment analysis helps make data-driven decisions to enhance CX, drive business growth, and maintain brand integrity.

14. Co-browsing

Co-browsing is a form of hands-on support that allows your agents to help customers navigate their site or mobile app in real time. Co-browsing allows agents to view and interact with the customer’s screen to guide them through complex processes, troubleshoot issues, and provide contextual information.

This CX approach can increase satisfaction and loyalty by providing immediate, tailored support to address an urgent need.

Co-browsing creates opportunities for collaboration that provide direct CX benefits:

• Technical support allows agents to provide step-by-step instructions, visual demonstrations, or other assistance.
• Sales assistance helps customers navigate your site, find products that meet their needs, and complete transactions.
• Form completion for complex applications or registrations assists agents in ensuring accuracy.

All of these contribute to CX technology’s ability to solve problems faster and improve satisfaction.

15. Self-Service 

Self-service tools empower customers to find answers to their questions and solve problems independently without needing contact support. These helpful resources can include knowledge bases, FAQs, video tutorials, interactive guides, and even community forums. They can also sync visitor data back to your CX platform to track customer engagement and usage.

Self-service helps customers help themselves, which creates several use cases for a better CX:

• 24/7 self-service support typically includes a user-friendly interface and a comprehensive library of articles and tutorials.
• Product education with resources teaches customers how to use products or services effectively, giving them more out of their purchase.
• Community engagement allows customers to contribute knowledge and expertise via questions, tips, customer feedback surveys, or forums.

By making resources available that help customers get the most out of their purchases, you can drive customer engagement and loyalty — and track their journey to gain new insights into how they used the technology.

16. Knowledge Management Systems

Knowledge management systems (KMS) provide a solution for organizing scattered data and effectively delivering information. These systems act as a centralized hub to ensure that customer service agents and customers have quick access to the most relevant and up-to-date information.

An effective KMS offers these capabilities and benefits:

• Consolidates data and interaction history from phone, chat, and social media into a single platform, giving agents a 360-degree view of the customer
• Streamlines workflows by eliminating the need for agents to toggle between systems.

Analyzes ongoing conversations with AI and suggests the most relevant articles or answers in real time for faster, more accurate responses.

17. Web journey tracking

Web journey tracking crawls customer journeys across your website or app and provides diagnostics and feedback on visitor experiences. These insights can act as canaries in the UX coal mine, directly revealing opportunities for CX improvement.

This customer journey map can also help you further personalize customer experiences by understanding individual behaviors in context with their interactions on your site. For example, for customers who spend time browsing product features, you can engage them over chat to try a product trial.

Tracking web journeys is a big part of monitoring your CX trends and can help boost CX in many ways:

• Behavioral insights show you the paths customers take through the website, the pages they visit most frequently, and the actions they take before making a purchase or abandoning their cart.
• Personalization options guide customers to frequently visited pages or previous interactions.
• Optimized conversion rates spot trouble areas like confusing navigation or lengthy checkout processes.

Optimizing your customer journeys across your website or app can enhance the customer experience and increase the likelihood of conversion.

🤓 Learn More: 30+ Contact Center Statistics You Need To Know

18. Callback requests

Callbacks enable customers to request phone support from a live human, improving CX by removing the need to wait on hold to engage customer support. Hold times can lead to frustrated customers, and callbacks (from an outbound call center or your in-house team) reduce the effort they have to commit to a support ticket, instead putting the burden on you to reach out to them.

Requesting a call via the web can trigger an automation that sends your customer support team the full context regarding the customer’s site interactions leading up to the request. This reduces the need for customers to catch agents up-to-speed, lowering overall customer effort and improving satisfaction. 

CX tech that allows users to request a callback and avoid holds can improve CX in several ways:

• Complex support issues require more time and attention or need to happen at a convenient time for the customer.
• High-value sales opportunities address questions or concerns before purchasing a high-ticket product.
• Lead generation helps you schedule consultations or sales meetings for a later, more convenient time.

Building comprehensive customer support, nurturing leads, and driving sales can become easier with the right tools.

Related: Intelligent Customer Experience (ICX): How to Deliver It

The Ultimate Customer Experience Starts with Nextiva

Customer experience technology offers you a powerful toolkit to make your CX better. You can create more seamless and personalized experiences that keep customers hungry for more while you also gain valuable insights into their usage patterns and behaviors.

With Nextiva, you can set yourself up to improve continuously through constant customer experience management. Surprise your customers by exceeding their expectations: communicate faster and more clearly, talk to them where they want, and create opportunities to gather critical customer feedback.

Related: What Is Digital CX & Why Does Every Business Need It in 2024?

Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS are registered trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.

Customer Experience Technology FAQs

For more on customer experience technology, check out these frequently asked questions.