Sudden surges in customer contact volume are one of the biggest operational challenges in customer service. These spikes — often hard to predict — can overwhelm your teams and directly impact customer satisfaction. The good news: with the right strategies and tools in place, you can anticipate, absorb and even turn these peaks into an opportunity to shine.
In this article, we break down the main causes of peak activity in contact centres and share practical, field-tested strategies to manage them effectively — including how Kiamo’s features can make a real difference.
What causes peak activity in a contact centre?
Understanding the root causes of volume spikes is the first step to managing them efficiently. The most common triggers fall into three categories :
Seasonality
Certain periods naturally drive higher interaction volumes: end-of-year holidays, sales periods, subscription renewals, or tax deadlines. These are predictable and therefore plannable.
Internal business events
A successful marketing campaign or TV ad, a product launch, a billing cycle or a regulatory update can suddenly saturate your lines. Poor coordination between departments is often the hidden culprit behind these spikes.
External events
Government announcements, health crises, or extreme weather conditions can also trigger unexpected call surges, particularly in sectors like insurance, healthcare, or utilities.
4 Strategies to manage peak activity effectively
Plan and organise your teams proactively
Good resource management is the foundation of peak activity resilience.
- Forecast call volumes. Analyse historical data, identify your key triggers, and align with other departments (marketing, IT) to staff up days or weeks in advance. This is the basis of Predictive Quality of Service planning.
- Build internal flexibility. Identify your critical time slots like Monday mornings or end-of-month periods and and set up overflow or mutual support mechanisms so calls can be rerouted to available teams before saturation hits.
- Extend opening hours when needed. Smoothing volumes over a wider time window reduces the intensity of any given spike.
Communicate proactively with your customers
A well-timed message can significantly reduce inbound volume before it becomes a problem.
- Push notifications and SMS alerts to inform customers of an incident or change before they pick up the phone.
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR) messages to guide callers toward the right channel or provide real-time status updates.
- Callback options to let customers choose when they’re contacted, but only if your team can genuinely commit to the promised timeslot.
Embrace omnichannel and self-service
Voice remains the preferred channel for most customers, but offering alternatives can meaningfully reduce pressure during peak periods.
- Messaging channels (WhatsApp, conversational SMS, Facebook Messenger, …) allow agents to handle several conversations simultaneously, synchronously or asynchronously. When centralised in a unified interface like Kiamo, messaging becomes a powerful load-balancing tool. Discover Kiamo’s messaging capabilities
- FAQ pages and chatbots that handle first-level queries autonomously, freeing advisors to focus on complex, high-value interactions.
- Visual IVR and callbots, available 24/7, to orient customers toward self-service paths without human intervention.
Optimise team performance with the right tools
Even the best staffing strategy falls apart without the right technology.
- CRM integration. Connecting Kiamo with your CRM gives advisors instant access to full customer context the moment an interaction begins, reducing handle time and improving first-contact resolution.
- Ongoing training and streamlined processes. Well-trained advisors who know your products and services inside out can resolve queries faster, improving satisfaction and reducing repeat contacts. Contact centre feedback is also valuable input for continuous process improvement.
The role of technology in peak activity management
Omnichannel orchestration platforms built for customer service teams, like Kiamo, play a decisive role in turning operational pressure into a competitive advantage. From overflow management and skills-based routing to deep integrations with CRM, WFM and quality monitoring tools, the right platform helps you maintain service excellence even at peak load.
Anticipate to perform: key takeaways
Managing peak activity isn’t just about having more people on shift. It’s about strategy, preparation and the right tools working together.
- Analyse your data and know your triggers
- Communicate early to deflect unnecessary contacts
- Diversify your channels to distribute load intelligently
- Equip your teams with tools that make them faster and more effective
Done right, every peak becomes proof of your service team’s ability to deliver, even under pressure.
Looking to better manage high-volume periods? Discover how Kiamo’s messaging and omnichannel features help contact centres stay responsive when it matters most. Explore Text Messages & Messaging
