What CX Leaders Need to Know (and Do) as FCC Call Center Rules Advance

Last Thursday (March 26, 2026), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously advanced a set of proposals that could significantly reshape the future of customer support in the United States. While still in the notice-and-comment phase (with feedback expected in May and a final order anticipated in late 2026 or early 2027), the intent is clear: improve service quality, reduce scam exposure, and introduce greater transparency and control for consumers.

Proposed measures include requiring English proficiency, limiting certain types of foreign call handling, and allowing customers to request a U.S.-based agent, all of which signal a meaningful shift in how brands conduct their customer care operations. 

For customer experience (CX) leaders, this is not simply a regulatory development — it is a strategic inflection point. For decades, contact center models have been optimized around global delivery, balancing cost efficiency with scalability and coverage.

These proposals introduce a new compliance dynamic that could reshape how brands approach CX, potentially creating operational complexities for verticals subject to heavy regulation, including finance, healthcare, travel/hospitality, and other high-touch industries. Ultimately, this could become an opportunity to differentiate. Furthermore, if customers are given more control over where their support comes from, organizations may need to rethink their delivery models, potentially creating new, flexible approaches that might accommodate both preference and practicality.

This raises fundamental questions about cost structures, staffing strategies, and how brands define and deliver consistency across channels and regions. 

What CX Leaders Should Be Evaluating Right Now

As these conversations begin to take shape, CX leaders should consider engaging with their C-suite counterparts now. Understanding current exposure to offshore support, modeling the financial implications of increased onshoring, and evaluating the role of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) in facilitating necessary changes. In many ways, these proposals could accelerate trends already underway.

As labor constraints tighten and expectations rise, AI-powered self-service and agent-assist technologies may play an even more central role in maintaining efficiency while supporting a potentially more localized workforce. At the same time, organizations will need to carefully consider how they preserve experience quality, particularly as customer expectations around clarity, communication, and trust continue to evolve. Now is the time to analyze and understand both the go-forward plan and the eventual impact on customers. 

Transparency, Tradeoffs, and the Customer Experience

Communication with customers will also become a more strategic lever. If implemented, these proposals (particularly those related to consumer control over call routing) offer brands an opportunity to reframe parts of the service experience around choice and transparency, giving customers greater control over how they receive support. But that choice must be paired with clear expectations.

If requesting a U.S.-based agent introduces longer wait times or different service pathways, those tradeoffs will need to be communicated proactively and thoughtfully. Done proactively and well, this change could strengthen trust and reinforce a brand’s commitment to both service quality and customer assurance — an increasingly important differentiator in a landscape shaped by automation, AI, and heightened scrutiny around safety and security. Most leaders tasked with making these changes might benefit from getting ahead of the curve and engaging their counterparts and various stakeholders now. 

Preparing for 2027 Starts Now

Looking ahead to 2027, the organizations best positioned will be those that begin adapting (or planning steps to do so) now. This means evolving routing logic to account for customer preferences and regulatory requirements, reassessing workforce strategies to include more flexible domestic capacity, and strengthening quality assurance frameworks to align with emerging expectations around communication and performance.

Perhaps most importantly, it means shifting the mindset from reactive compliance to proactive design. These proposals are not just about where support happens … they are about how trust is built and maintained in every interaction. And in that sense, they may ultimately define the next chapter of customer experience. 

Look for more on this topic in the months to come, and practitioners can connect with peers in the Know It All (KIA) community to compare notes on getting ready for these imminent shifts.