Contact centers rely on smooth, high-quality calls to deliver great customer experiences. But when something goes wrong, when calls drop, audio cuts out, or softphones fail, agents are the first to feel the pain.

Agents are on the front line of customer interactions, navigating technical issues in real-time while trying to maintain a seamless conversation. When an issue occurs, it doesn’t just affect the agent; it impacts the customer on the other end of the line and the overall effectiveness of the contact center.

Operata collects direct agent feedback through our browser extension to better understand the real-world challenges agents face, capturing reports on call disruptions as they happen. This data provides unique insights into the biggest call quality pain points and how they impact both agent and customer experience.

After analyzing 148,438 agent-reported issues, we’ve identified the most common problems affecting call quality. What stands out in the data is that certain issues occur again and again, meaning there are consistent areas for improvement.

The Scale of the Problem

The volume of reported issues highlights the scale of the challenge contact centers faces in maintaining reliable call performance.

From 69,230 unique agents, 11,132 reported at least one issue - that’s 16% of all agents experiencing a disruption serious enough to flag it.

These agents collectively worked through 935 million total minutes of call time. That’s a massive workload, and with that scale comes inevitable challenges. Some issues are caused by isolated incidents, temporary network congestion, headset failures, or software glitches. But when tens of thousands of issues are reported, patterns emerge that indicate broader systemic challenges.

For contact centers, the key question isn’t whether call quality issues exist (they do), it’s which issues happen most frequently and how they can be addressed at scale.

The Most Common Call Quality Issues

One-way or poor audio (54% of all reported issues)

More than half of all reported issues relate to audio problems. These complaints fall into three main categories:

• Could not hear the customer (16.7%) – The agent can’t hear what the customer is saying, leading to delays, misunderstandings, and the need for frequent clarifications.
• Customer could not hear me (16.7%) – The agent’s audio isn’t transmitting properly, forcing customers to repeat themselves or, in the worst cases, hang up.
• Poor sound quality (20.8%) – Distorted, delayed, muffled, or choppy audio makes communication difficult, increasing call handling time and customer frustration.

Poor audio quality is a direct barrier to effective customer service. Whether it’s one-way communication issues or degraded sound clarity, bad audio leads to longer calls, repeated information, and a frustrating experience for both parties.

Softphone problems (18-20%)

The second-largest category of reported issues is related to softphone performance. Unlike traditional hardware phones, softphones depend entirely on software, network stability, and system configurations, making them prone to technical glitches.

The most common softphone-related complaints include:

• Softphone would not work (9.8%) – The application fails to load, freezes, or crashes mid-call, disrupting the agent’s workflow.
• Missed call, softphone didn’t ring (8.6%) – Calls that never connect or fail to alert the agent, leading to missed customer interactions.
• Conversation delays (4.2%) – Noticeable lags in audio transmission, making natural conversation difficult and causing awkward pauses or interruptions.

Softphone reliability is extremely important in cloud-based contact centers, and when issues arise, they prevent agents from being able to do their jobs effectively.

Disconnections (11-12%)

Few things frustrate customers more than a dropped call, especially when they’re in the middle of resolving an issue. Disconnections accounted for 11.4% of reported issues, making them one of the most serious problems in terms of customer impact.

Unlike minor audio glitches, a disconnected call often means the customer has to start over. Some may call back, but others will simply abandon the process, leading to lost revenue, lower CSAT scores, and damaged customer relationships.

Other technical issues (13-16%)

The remaining 13-16% of reported issues fall into the “other” category, covering a mix of miscellaneous technical failures that don’t fit into the main three groups. These could include:

• System slowdowns affecting agent tools
• Browser compatibility issues
• Unexpected software bugs

While these issues are less frequent than audio, softphone, and disconnection problems, they still disrupt workflows and contribute to agent frustration.

The Business Impact of Call Quality Issues

When a call quality issue occurs, it not only cause cause challenges for a customer, it also creates a ripple effect across the entire contact center.

Longer call handling times

When agents and customers struggle to hear each other, calls take longer. Extra time spent repeating information or troubleshooting technical problems leads to increased Average Handle Time (AHT), which in turn reduces overall contact center efficiency.

Lower customer satisfaction

Poor call quality directly impacts trust which flows into Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores. If customers can’t hear the agent, if their call drops, or if they struggle to get through, their frustration levels increase, leading to negative brand experiences.

Increased agent stress and fatigue

Agents are already managing high call volumes, complex customer queries, and tight performance targets. When they also have to navigate constant technical issues, it leads to higher stress and frustration levels, burnout, and, ultimately, higher attrition rates.

Lost revenue and missed opportunities

For sales and support teams, dropped calls and missed connections mean lost revenue. A customer who can’t complete a purchase or resolve a billing issue due to technical failures may take their business elsewhere.

How to Fix These Issues at Scale

The good news? Call quality issues are measurable and fixable. By understanding where breakdowns occur, contact centers can take proactive steps to improve performance.

Optimize network and audio settings

• Monitor real-time network performance to detect instability.
• Use high-quality headsets and ensure proper microphone positioning.
• Optimize audio codecs and noise suppression settings for clarity.

Improve softphone reliability

• Ensure softphone software is fully updated and optimized for the agent’s environment.
• Identify and resolve integration issues between the softphone and other contact center tools.
• Provide alternative call-handling solutions in case of softphone failure.

Reduce disconnections

• Investigate network-level stability issues across ISPs, VPNs, and corporate firewalls.
• Ensure agents are using ethernet instead of WiFiWork with carriers to identify and resolve call routing failures.
• Implement auto-reconnect features to prevent abandoned calls.

Encourage more agent feedback

• Use the Operata browser extension to capture real-time insights from agents.
• Train agents to report issues consistently, so trends can be identified.
• Turn feedback into actionable insights that drive technical improvements.

Moving From Reactive to Proactive

Too often, call quality issues are reactive, only investigated after customer complaints pile up. By leveraging real-time agent feedback, contact centers can shift to a proactive model, identifying and fixing issues before they impact CX at scale.

At Operata, we help contact centers measure, analyze, and improve call performance, turning agent-reported data into meaningful actions. If you want to see how your organization compares, get in touch and create a better connection.let’s improve call quality and CX together.

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