The latest 2025 UK Public Sector CX Report, published by 8x8, Inc. in collaboration with Cavell Group, reveals growing urgency across the UK’s public sector to overhaul outdated contact center systems. Amid tight budgets, fragmented platforms, and increasing citizen expectations, government institutions are under pressure to adopt secure, AI-enabled customer experience (CX) solutions.
Budget Constraints and Legacy Systems Are Hindering Progress
Public sector organizations are balancing rising service demands with limited financial flexibility. The report notes that over 80% of decision-makers plan to change or are considering switching contact center providers within the next two years. This signals a pivotal shift in how the public sector plans to manage citizen engagement going forward.
According to Jamie Snaddon, Managing Director of 8x8 EMEA, outdated legacy platforms are struggling to keep pace with evolving expectations. He emphasized that the need to modernize is urgent, and the time to act is narrowing.
Omnichannel Expectations Clash with Disconnected Systems
While citizens now use a mix of traditional and digital communication methods, ranging from email and phone calls to social media and live chat, most public sector organizations still rely on isolated platforms. This lack of integration disrupts the customer journey and limits the ability of public service teams to collaborate internally or respond efficiently.
Roughly one-third of organizations identified fragmented communication systems as a major internal barrier. These disconnected tools create unnecessary delays, operational inefficiencies, and inconsistent service quality.
Operational Shortfalls Affect Service Delivery
The report identifies persistent service-level challenges across government institutions. These include Long wait times, Repeated identity verifications, Poor call quality, and Inadequate reporting tools.
Additionally, insufficient training for frontline staff was flagged as a recurring issue. These gaps contribute to subpar experiences for citizens and diminish trust in public services. Without AI-enabled, unified platforms, most agencies are unable to automate interactions or respond in real time.
Sector-Specific Hurdles Require Tailored Approaches
While certain challenges are common across the public sector, others are unique to specific verticals:
Healthcare organizations are concerned with patient data security, rising regulatory pressures, and the need for integration with other systems. The shift toward cloud platforms is gaining momentum, but complexity remains a challenge.
Educational institutions face outdated communications tools and struggle with student data privacy and AI adoption limits. Email and phone still dominate, and system upgrades are slow.
Local government bodies are grappling with expensive digital transformation costs, weak network infrastructure, and internal resistance to automation. Cloud migration is a key goal, but funding gaps are a major barrier.
Housing associations report issues with disjointed communication, poor integration with public services, and the difficulty of supporting remote and mobile teams. Many still rely on consumer messaging apps, raising serious security concerns.
A Unified, AI-Driven Future Is Becoming Essential
The report underscores a growing consensus around the need for a secure, unified CX platform. 8x8’s solution, which merges contact center, unified communications, and communications APIs, is designed to meet this demand. It offers advanced analytics, omnichannel capabilities, and robust security features to support mobile teams and improve citizen interaction across every touchpoint.
AI and Integration Will Shape Public Sector CX by 2030
Looking ahead, nearly 60% of public sector leaders beli`eve that AI will be the most influential force shaping contact center operations by the year 2030. However, most organizations are still in the early stages of digital transformation. Regulatory complexity, legacy systems, and internal silos continue to slow progress.
When selecting new CX providers, decision-makers highlighted product performance, compliance expertise, and brand reputation as their top priorities. Yet migrating to a new platform is not a simple process, it can take more than a year to fully transition.
With rising public expectations and a rapidly evolving digital landscape, the urgency to modernize CX infrastructure is growing. Public sector organizations must move beyond outdated systems and embrace unified, AI-powered platforms that deliver efficiency, security, and long-term value.
