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Paul Stockford

Saddletree Research


Paul Stockford was the President and Chief Analyst at Saddletree Research, a veteran-owned business based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1999, Saddletree Research provided focused communications industry research, including analysis of market trends, issues, technologies, and companies in the Contact Center industry with special emphasis on emerging technologies and developing markets.

In addition to over 30 years as an industry analyst, Paul has also done telecommunications research and analysis at Cahners In-Stat Group, Vanguard Communications and Dataquest. Paul began his telecommunications career with GTE.

Paul has authored numerous articles on contact centers and related technologies for several industry journals in the U.S. and abroad, and is a frequent speaker at major industry conferences in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.  Since 1993 he has authored monthly columns in such magazines as Call Center, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Interface, Voice+ (U.K.), Enterprise Communications and Voice Processing.  He currently authors the monthly “View from the Saddle” column in Contact Center Pipeline magazine and is a member of that magazine’s editorial board.  In addition, he has sat on the Editorial Advisory Boards of several European industry magazines and has served on the advisory boards of a number of industry organizations and events. 

Paul is currently a member of the board of directors at the National Association of Call Centers (NACC), a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit industry organization based at Middle Tennessee State University.  He also serves as research director for the NACC where he is directly involved in research activities on behalf of the NACC membership.  He is a regular contributor to the monthly NACC “In-Queue” newsletter with a circulation of over 8,000 contact center professionals. 

Paul graduated cum laude from California State University at San Francisco with a BS degree in Marketing and holds an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Author Wall of Fame

What is one thing other people don’t know about you?
To quote Rockin’ Rod Stewart, “Every picture tells a story, don’t it?”

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Articles by Paul Stockford


On-Trend: At-Home Agents

There’s a 10-year track record of work-at-home results in the contact center environment. It’s become hard to ignore, even for those executives who personally don’t prefer or like the thought of a distributed work environment.

Operations Contingency Planning Virtual Contact Centers COVID-19 Remote Work Remote Work Operations


The Roarin' Twenties Redux

The more I researched the Roarin’ Twenties of a century ago, the more I began thinking that we may be on the cusp of a Roarin’ Twenties of our own. This could be a decade that defines the current millennium.

Technology


Turning Up the Heat on the Contact Center: A Fireside Chat

Without a doubt, 2020 will surface more ways, both practical and innovative, to leverage AI and improve both customer and employee experience.

Technology


Contact Center 2020: Yesterday and Today

There are some interesting parallels in the contact center in terms of how technologies can transition while still relying on the tenets that made them important in the first place.

Technology


Analytics Coming of Age

Despite all the talk about the value of analytics, most companies still struggle to understand the practical ways they can benefit from it and how to implement it.

Software Platforms


True Confessions

If asked what the differentiator for Saddletree has been for the past 20 years, I’d have to say it’s the kind of relationships I’ve built with so many of my clients.

Technology


Voice in the Contact Center: The Heart of the Matter

Analytics has brought an unprecedented degree of intelligence—yes, I’ll say it—artificial intelligence (AI), to the call-routing process.

Technology


Eight Days a Week: The Always-On Contact Center

Sixty percent of consumers globally expect to be able to engage with an organization at any time and on any channel.

People Culture Workplace Environment Technology Software Platforms Artificial Intelligence COVID-19 Customer Retention


Robocalls? Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Harmonica Player

The practice of spoofing has gotten so inexpensive that it has grown exponentially, leading to the proliferation of these calls and the nearly nonstop ringing of the phone.

Technology Assisted Service


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