Expivia Interaction Marketing Group Inc.

Thomas Laird serves as the CEO of the distinguished USA contact center outsourcing company, Expivia Interaction Marketing Group. An industry trailblazer, he is the creator/host of the popular podcast "Advice from a Call Center Geek" and author of the companion book, "Advice from a Call Center Geek 3.0". His notable contributions to the industry have earned him recognition as a Top 25 CX and Contact Center thought leader by ICMI.

Under his leadership since 2011, Expivia has flourished from a modest team of four to a dynamic workforce of over 600 dedicated professionals. The company's remarkable growth trajectory was acknowledged when it received the 2016 Erie PA Startup of the Year award.

Expivia's approach seamlessly melds the capabilities of a quality-focused contact center with a forward-thinking software company. By leveraging state-of-the-art technology such as Speech Analytics, AI, WFO, API Integrations, and Advanced Routing Techniques, and combining it with tried-and-true education and employee engagement strategies, Expivia has established itself as a benchmark in contact center outsourcing.

In addition to his role at Expivia, Thomas has the privilege of serving on the NICE CXone Executive Advisory Board and the NICE Cxone Omni-channel Board. These selective panels consist of NICE CXone customers who provide crucial insights to guide the development of new products, features, and future innovations.

Before founding Expivia, Thomas led the contact center operations for a large BPO specializing in financial services. This experience provided him the opportunity to manage numerous service and sales programs for the majority of the top 15 largest financial institutions in the USA.

As a further testament to his expertise, Thomas's book on call center operations, "Advice from a Call Center Geek 3.0", is available on Amazon. His podcast of the same name consistently draws a large audience, recently surpassing 175,000 total downloads. 

www.expiviausa.com.

Author of two call center operations and strategy books published on Amazon and available in digital and paperback.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WT6KHBH

Author of "Advice from a Call Center Geek! and "Advice from a Call Center Geek 3.0!"

OttoQa

Leading the transformative journey at OttoQA, where we are integrating cutting-edge AI solutions like ChatGPT to revolutionize quality assurance for contact centers. Our mission is to elevate the QA process for contact centers, steering them away from traditional spreadsheets towards more intelligent and adaptive solutions. With a deep belief in the power of artificial intelligence, we're building a community of forward-thinkers, innovators, and industry disruptors. As we prepare for our pre-launch, I am committed to driving excellence, embracing innovation, and positioning OttoQA as a beacon of the next-gen QA landscape!

Chief Executive Officer

Expivia Digital

Expivia Digital (ExD) is a technology spin-out of Expivia Interaction Marketing and will be one of the first high-end, full-service, outsourced customer service providers for NFT (Non-Fungible Token) and Web3 project development companies. 

ExD is creating an enhanced customer service and support system for these digital currency production companies to enhance their customer’s success and increase the value of the NFT’s being minted.

Advice from a Call Center Geek Podcast

"Advice from a Call Center Geek" is the #1 weekly podcast in the contact center industry, focusing on providing actionable insights to help supervisors, managers, and executives operate their contact centers at optimal levels. 

This podcast highlights technology, training, operations, and industry trends, offering perspectives from industry leaders on the current state and future direction of the industry.

The podcast is hosted by Tom Laird, the founder and CEO of the award-winning Expivia Interaction Marketing Group, and an ICMI Top 25 Contact Center thought leader. With 25 years of experience across all facets of contact center operations, Tom shares the highlights of his experience to change how call centers are run. His past expertise has enabled him to run many service and sales programs for most of the top 15 largest financial institutions in the USA.

As the top-rated podcast in the call center space, we currently have around 4,000-5,000 downloads per month and are closing in on a total of 170,000 downloads. Our listenership is highly targeted toward contact center managers and C-level executives.

Listen to the podcast on your favorite platform or on the online home of ACG here:
expiviausa.com/podcasts

Creator and Host

ICMI

Named one of the Top 25 most influential thought leaders in the contact center and CX space for 2022.

ICMI Top 25 Contact Center and CX Thought Leader 2022

Telatron Marketing Group, Inc.

I was in charge of the P&L and operations of a 700 seat BPO Call Center with a focus in the financial services industry.

Head of Call Center Operations

As a Production Supervisors I was in charge of a team of between 16 to 20 representatives.    I was to make sure that each individual team member met and exceeded their individual goals for specific programs. 

Responsibilities included: 
• Daily team and individual attendance 
• Making sure each team member met or exceed their individual daily goals 
• Motivating and leading the representatives 
• Providing weekly agent analysis reports to the AM Production Coordinator

Production Supervisor

Join our Linkedin Group  (Call Center Tips and Tactics): https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/ 

Hi There!

I am the founder and CEO of the award-winning Expivia Interaction Marketing Group. Expivia is a USA BPO omnichannel contact center located in Pennsylvania. I have 25 years of experience in all facets of contact center operations.  

Expivia is a bridge between a high-quality contact center and a high-tech software company.  We have integrated the latest technology (Speech Analytics, AI, WFO, Chatbots, API Integrations, Advanced Routing Techniques) with time-tested education and employee engagement tactics to create what we believe is the new standard in call center outsourcing.

I have the honor of being a member of the NICE inContact ICVC Board. The iCVC is a select group of inContact customers selected to join as trusted advisors to help InContact validate ideas for new products and features and plans for future innovations.

Prior to starting Expivia, I was the head of call center operations for a large BPO that specialized in financial services.  Having this past know-how has given me the honor of running many services and sales programs for most of the top 15 largest financial institutions in the USA.

I am also the author of the call center operations book "Advice from a Call Center Geek" which can be found on Amazon.  I also host a weekly podcast by the same name (Advice from a Call center Geek) and it can be found on iTunes, Spotify, Sticher, Google Play or here:
https://expiviausa.com/call-center-geek-podcast/

For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek:
Text me: 814.247.0366
Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/ (Call Center Tips and Tactics)
Watch us: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIMsfiynnK02IKwPZZmxmg

CCAAS is building the wrong AI for 2025 customers.

The contact center industry is sprinting toward AI voice bots. 
But while everyone's automating the conversation, we're ignoring the bigger opportunity: automating the operation.

AI in CX isn't supposed to just talk to customers. It's supposed to RUN the contact center.

Here's what CCaaS platforms should actually be building IMO:

𝟭. 𝗔𝗜 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗪/𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗢 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗥 - 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛, 𝗗𝗘𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗬 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗦
Imagine typing: "Build me a script that checks if the caller is a repeat customer within 30 days, sends returning customers to the same agent group, prioritizes gold-tier members, deflects password resets to self-service, and escalates calls exceeding 90-second waits to retention specialists."
No programming. No node mapping. Just describe what you want and let AI build, validate, and test it.

𝟮. 𝗔𝗜 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗟 - 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗣𝗦
Prompt: "Keep service level above 85% for sales, 80% for service. Maintain ASA under 30 seconds, conversion above 18%, abandonment below 3%. Keep occupancy under 75% and adjust time between calls to prevent burnout."

The AI reads WFM forecasts, cross-references live metrics, moves cross-trained agents between queues, controls occupancy intelligently, and syncs with schedules automatically. Not just scheduling, AI-driven orchestration.

𝟯. 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘, 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗔-𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚
"Next available agent" needs to die.
Route using sentiment, agent empathy data, conversion likelihood, and lifetime value. 

Consider agent performance THAT DAY. Let the system learn which pairings drive resolution and satisfaction.
Customers shouldn't go to whoever's free, they should go to whoever's most likely to succeed. That's not queueing. That's matchmaking.

𝟰. 𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗧 𝗕𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗧
"Show me average handle time by sentiment over 7 days. Compare it to conversion rate. Drill into sales team by hour. Highlight where CSAT dropped 5% week over week."
Each prompt instantly builds a live dashboard. AI explains patterns: "Handle time increased 9% due to billing complexity."

𝟱. 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟-𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚
Live feedback: "You're speaking too fast." "Customer frustration rising, pause." "Your empathy improved 12% yesterday, apply that tone here."
No delayed coaching sessions. Just intelligent feedback that helps agents adjust in the moment.

𝟲. 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟-𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 & 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗚
Why are CCaaS bills still monthly mysteries?
Show what's spent today, forecasted costs by queue, projected month-end totals, and which features drive expense. AI flags anomalies and recommends: "Shift 10% of volume to self-service to save $1,400 weekly."

Everyone is trying to make AI talk. It's time to make it THINK.


If this was interesting to you, check out the full in-depth article I wrote on this in the comments.

Thomas Laird

expiviausa

call-center-geek

expivia-vr

expivia

Talks about #cx, #nfts, #callcenter, #contactcenter, and #customerservice

Running a USA BPO, fixing QA with AI, and podcasting like the true Call Center Geek I am.

At the time of the brazen heist of $102 million in jewels from the Louvre last month, the password to the museum's video surveillance system was simply "Louvre”.

Not since the password for the air shield protecting Planet Druidia was revealed to be 12345 has there been a greater lapse in security


Lolol

Saw this on Twitter.

Starting to see a mistake with CCAAS user conferences as leaders are forgetting what made them different and stand apart from the big contact center mega conferences.

The CCAAS user conferences used to be places where customer could go to and learn from other users and see a demo if they wanted to. They could get free professional services for technical questions, and learn how how to get more out of the platform.

Now they are turning it sales only events showcasing only the tools from the company.  They have gone the way of the mega shows.

This is very disappointing and shows that many of the big CCAAS companies are listening to the street more then to customers.

All these CCaaS companies do now is weaponize fear through silly AI marketing. 

They throw around phrases like "moving from Agentic Experience Generation to Universal Agentic Orchestration," and we all nod along like we understand what the hell they're talking about.

They dont sell on the value, the ROI, increased CSAT, NPS, Agent retention, customer surveys, lower churn, better customer outcomes, better journeys, fixing broken processes, meaningful cost savings.

They just talk about "AI".  

And Agentic AI.  

Then orchestrated AI.  

Fear. 

Buzzwords. 

Tell Everyone they are falling behind.

Then tell us 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 special brand of ai is "Magic".  

The issue is they went all-in on voice AI when most customers aren't ready for it yet. 

Most 2025 customers want to see other AI tools added to their stack first, things like AI-powered analytics, knowledge management, or workflow automation, AI QA, Agent Assist.... before deploying agent-facing AI bots.
 
It's not customers who should be scared of falling behind. It's the desperate marketing from CCaaS players (that is telling) who may have completely misread the 2025-2026 CX AI demand curve.

The street/market seems to be thinking the same thing:

𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲𝟵 (𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗡) May 2024: $40-45 Today: $18.59 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝟱𝟲% 📉
 
𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗟𝘁𝗱. (𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘) May 2024: $170-180 Today: $101.63 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝟰𝟰% 📉
 
𝟴𝘅𝟴 (𝗘𝗚𝗛𝗧) May 2024: $2.80-3.20 Today: $1.89 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝟰𝟬% 📉
 
𝗥𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 (𝗥𝗡𝗚) May 2024: $32-35 Today: $26.96 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝟮𝟬% 📉

Genesys predicts enterprises will begin the move from Agentic Experience Generation to Universal Agentic Orchestration in the next 12 months.

Keith Fulford, Director of Business Value Engagement at Genesys, explained how organizations are going to need to gear up to adapt to this constant trend change.

He said, “Month to month, AI is evolving, so you’ve got to adapt your organise to adapt to that change process”

 This approach requires enterprises to adopt a change mindset, continuously shifting how AI plays a role in the business.

 “Move AI from being a tool to a teammate.”

Stay tuned for more from Call And Contact Center Expo.

Ai Powered Auto QA is being screwed up by tech companies. 

The contact center and call center tech industry is massively screwing up how Ai powered auto Qa is being sold and unused in our industry. 

Here is why.

Everett and I will be there Saturday!  Should be a fun game!!

The value of OttoQa Inc. outside of just contact center Qa has been amazing. 

Otto is being used for telehealth, political campaigns to understand messaging, determining why customers are canceling, market research, and even scoring scoring TED talks!!

It’s a tool that’s so inexpensive and accurate that it is now being used for many “non core call center” info gatherings.

I got to know Arun a little from both of us being on the NICE Executive Customer Advisory Board together. Really great guy, really smart, amazing operator, and understands the products. Should be a natural fit.

We’re excited to announce the appointment of Arun Chandra as Chief Operating Officer. Arun will lead our newly formed Global Customer Operations division, helping advance operational excellence and accelerate NiCE’s AI-first customer experience strategy.

Arun brings decades of global leadership experience from Disney, Meta, and HPE, with a strong track record in operational transformation and customer experience innovation.

Learn more in our press release: https://bit.ly/4nWl7RJ

Welcome to NiCE, Arun Chandra!

#CustomerExperience #createaNiCEworld #AI

If you are under 200 seats, under 100 seat, heck under 15 seats... OttoQa Inc. is the only Ai Powered QA tool build specifically for you.

The easiest tool to use on the market (your frontline supervisors and leads will use it), zero IT know how to setup (we do it for you), usage based no long term commitment model...and no mins.

Nothing to be scared about.  

Of and we give you a full Proof of concept first.

For all my local Erie Pa followers. 

We Just Dropped the Report on the Erie County GOP Collapse from Last Weeks Local Elections. 

Last week’s election wasn’t just a bad night, it was a total breakdown for the local Republican Party.

Our new 16-page report lays out what happened, why it happened, and what must change if the Erie County GOP wants to survive.

The reality is harsh:
With no clear messaging, no communications plan, and no real strategy, current leadership has put every future race at risk. If nothing changes, no statewide Republican will be able to compete here — and Pennsylvania’s 16th District could soon be in play.

📘 Read the full report (in comments)

This was one of the only things that ChatGPT had over Anthropic. 

This will make our outputs for OttoQa even better and easier to show.

OpenAI's release of ChatGPT 5.1 today feels like a masterclass in hollow marketing. 

They're hyping a "nicer, more conversational" update as if it deserves its own version number, as though tweaking tone and personality warrants a major release.

It's the AI equivalent of me issuing a press release announcing "Expivia 2.0" because we bought our agents new headsets. 

Sure, the headsets are nice. 

The agents appreciate them. 

But calling it a transformative upgrade? 

That's just noise dressed up as news.

When you slap a new version number on incremental changes, you're not showcasing innovation, you're showcasing desperation to stay relevant in the news cycle to the Groks and Anthropic. 

Real advancement speaks for itself. This just speaks to how little they had to say.

When your CcaaS company “throws in” their QA tool why do you think that is?

I'm manning the OttoQa Inc. website Chat!  Have a questions that you always wanted to ask privately about Otto?  Im here for the next 3 hours!

Link to the site is in the comments!

The one thing that we understand at OttoQa is that clients don't pay for complexity, they pay to not think about the problem anymore.

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