Telvana Guides
Field notes on AI in the contact center.
Practical writing on voice AI, call automation, and the operational details that decide whether a caller gets helped.
Latest
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Metrics and operations
Call Center Statistics: What 181,555 AI Agent Calls Show
Call center statistics from 181,555 AI agent calls: how many calls came after hours, the busiest hour, how long calls last and how many were callbacks.
· 10 min read
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Choosing a platform
Bland AI Alternatives: 9 Options Compared for Contact Centers
Nine Bland AI alternatives compared on who builds the agent, how calls reach it and published price, plus what to export before you leave Bland.
· 13 min read
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Metrics and operations
Call Center Shrinkage: Formula, Benchmarks and How to Apply It
How to calculate call center shrinkage in two stages, what the 30 to 35 percent benchmark rests on, and what adding it instead of dividing costs a queue.
· 12 min read
AI agents in the contact center
What AI agents handle on calls, texts and web chat, and how contact centers add them.
4 guides
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Call Center Automation: What to Automate First and What Changes
What call center automation covers, a worksheet ranking your call types by agent hours and feasibility to pick what to automate first, and what to check after.
· 16 min read
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Will AI Replace Call Center Agents? What AI Takes and What Stays
Will AI replace call center agents? The BLS projects a 5.3% decline by 2035 with 289,500 openings a year. Score which of your call types AI takes first.
· 11 min read
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Conversational AI for Customer Service: What It Handles and How to Test It
What conversational AI for customer service handles on calls, texts and chat, how it fails, and a 12-conversation test to run before any customer hears it.
· 14 min read
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AI Call Center Agents: What They Handle and How to Add Them
What an AI call center agent is, how it works on a call and how to test it, which calls it can finish, where to deploy one, and what it costs.
· 17 min read
Inbound calls and IVR
Phone menus, call flows, and getting callers to an answer sooner.
4 guides
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Call Center Call Flow: Examples, a Diagram and a Test Sheet
How a call center call flow works, the blocks it is built from, three worked examples, the branches that get forgotten and a test sheet for each one.
· 15 min read
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Call Center IVR: When to Keep It, Tune It or Add AI Agents
What an IVR does in a call center, the six numbers that show whether yours is working, what menu minutes cost, and when to tune it or add AI agents.
· 11 min read
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Inbound Call Center: How to Set One Up and Run It
What an inbound call center is, how a call moves from carrier to agent, a build sheet to fill in first, the metrics to run it on, and where AI agents fit.
· 16 min read
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Conversational IVR: What It Is, How It Works, What It Costs
Conversational IVR explained: how it routes a spoken request, what it costs, when touch-tone still works better, and how it differs from an AI agent.
· 17 min read
Outbound calling
Reminders, confirmations and campaigns by call and text.
4 guides
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Appointment Confirmation Call Script: Templates for Every Answer
A confirmation call script with a line for every answer, reminder and voicemail versions, and the facts to collect from each client before the first call.
· 12 min read
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Predictive Dialer vs AI Agents: How to Choose
What a predictive dialer predicts, the agent count each campaign needs for it to work, the three percent abandonment ceiling, and when AI agents fit instead.
· 11 min read
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Outbound Call Center: How to Set Up and Run One
What an outbound call center is, the programs it runs, a spec sheet to fill in before the first dial, the federal pacing rules, and the metrics to run it on.
· 15 min read
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AI Outbound Calling: How It Works and Which Calls to Automate First
How AI outbound calling works in a contact center: what the system includes, what the agent does on each call, which calls to automate first, and the rules.
· 14 min read
Metrics and operations
The numbers contact centers run on, and which ones AI agents move.
12 guides
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Call Center Statistics: What 181,555 AI Agent Calls Show
Call center statistics from 181,555 AI agent calls: how many calls came after hours, the busiest hour, how long calls last and how many were callbacks.
· 10 min read
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Call Center Shrinkage: Formula, Benchmarks and How to Apply It
How to calculate call center shrinkage in two stages, what the 30 to 35 percent benchmark rests on, and what adding it instead of dividing costs a queue.
· 12 min read
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Call Center Occupancy: Formula and Targets by Queue Size
How to calculate call center occupancy, how it differs from utilization, what occupancy an 80/20 target allows by queue size, and what a forecast miss costs.
· 12 min read
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Call Center Service Level: Formula, Targets and SLA Terms
How call center service level is calculated, where 80/20 comes from, what one agent or 30 seconds of handle time does to it, and what an SLA should say.
· 15 min read
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After Call Work (ACW): What It Means and How to Cut It
What after call work (ACW) means in a call center, how platforms time it, the work that hides outside the ACW number, and a worksheet for cutting it.
· 14 min read
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Call Deflection: What It Is and How to Measure It
What call deflection means, how it differs from containment, the deflection rate formula, and a worksheet that subtracts the calls that come back.
· 12 min read
Choosing a platform
AI call center software, outsourcing, and how to compare your options.
5 guides
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Bland AI Alternatives: 9 Options Compared for Contact Centers
Nine Bland AI alternatives compared on who builds the agent, how calls reach it and published price, plus what to export before you leave Bland.
· 13 min read
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AI Call Center Software: 14 Vendors Compared, With Prices
Fourteen AI call center software vendors side by side: what each sells, how calls reach it, who builds the AI agent, and the prices each one publishes.
· 16 min read
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SimpleTalk AI Shut Down: What to Check and Do Next
Simpletalk, LLC filed Chapter 7 on October 5, 2026. What the public docket shows, how to find out what you still own, and how to choose a replacement.
· 9 min read
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AI Voice Agent Platforms: How to Compare What They Charge
Five AI voice agent platforms, their published rates and concurrency caps side by side, and the worksheet that turns any quote into a cost per contact.
· 15 min read
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Call Center Outsourcing vs AI Agents: Cost, Control and How to Choose
What call center outsourcing actually costs, how AI agents are priced instead, and a scorecard for deciding which one should take a given call type first.
· 14 min read
Put AI agents to work in your contact center.
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