BroadSoft Connections - Recap on Microsoft's Blog

Just when you thought I was done with BroadSoft Connections! Wait - there's more, but with a twist. Microsoft's Communications Sector recently started a blog called Behind 3 Screens - referring of course to the three screens they're trying to serve in our digital world - PC, TV and mobile.

Anyhow, they've been on me for a while to submit a guest post, and this is my first one for their blog. If you follow my blog and/or BroadSoft, you'll know they're working closely with MSFT, especially for hosted UC. As such, they were keen to hear my thoughts about Connections, and I prepared an exclusive recap post for their blog, which is running today.


So, if you haven't quite got Connections out of your system, I welcome you to read my post there, and I'm sure MSFT would love for you to leave a comment or two behind. Even Microsoft likes to hear words of encouragement from time to time! Me too...

BroadSoft Connections - More Day 2

Am not quite done yet posting about Connections. I wanted to share a few more highlights from the Solutions Showcase. Aside from having 60 exhibitors, BroadSoft had pavilions of their own, and this year they had dedicated showcases for their various UC solutions as well as their home-based solutions. Aside from that, they had some nice demo setups for specific aspects of the BroadWorks platform and the Xtended Marketplace, which just launched.

For me, Marketplace is the coolest step forward from what was on display. It's exactly like the Apple apps store, but for BroadSoft customers. Most of the apps are for business use, like SpinVox or Salesforce, and it's pretty easy to see how this can be a great value-add for carriers to generate new revenues that make their customers more productive. There are a few consumer-type apps there as well, but I suspect this area will take a bit longer to develop. Anyhow, BroadSoft claims to have 2,000 developers in their Xtended ecosystem, and I have no doubt we're going to see some great apps coming in 2010 that will really help re-define what communications services can be in the world of 2.0. It's great way for BroadSoft to differentiate themselves as a solutions partner, and it's equally true for what this brings to service providers who are ready to get beyond TDM and even basic VoIP.

Finally, I'd be remiss to say nothing about the after party Tuesday night. It was every bit as fun as the House of Blues parties at Supercomm two weeks back, and I'm lucky enough to have been at both. BroadSoft has an in-house jam band of their own, and I had no idea Alex Doyle loves to rock. They sure were fun, and if the stars line up right, you just might see me up on stage with them at the next Connections. I'd better keep practising.

BroadSoft Connections - Day 2 - The Appys

Well, it didn't take long for the buzz around apps to reach iconic status, but BroadSoft has taken things to a whole... otha... lay-vel. Yes, yesterday we saw the Appys - their Academy Awards of sorts for the best apps from their ever-expanding community of Xtended developers.

I'll have more on this later, but wanted to post some photos before boarding my flight home...

Yes, they even had the red carpet out...


Shirish and the two Alexes kicking things off


Polycom's Mike Seto - their phones were quite prominent for the demos - gee, it looks like product placement is finding its way into our space now...


BlackBerry mobile integration with BroadWorks


All the way from New Zealand - Zazu - a neat way to integrate all your social media/messaging into one app


IBM's mashup portal with Broadworks. Between IBM and Microsoft, BroadSoft has the market nicely covered.

BroadSoft - Day 1, Part 2 - Video Everywhere

The show goes on, and it's all good. Got a lot to talk about, but I only have the brainpower right now to post photos. This post has a single focus - video. Yesterday afternoon I walked through the Solutions Showcase, which had 60 exhibitors. That's a pretty nice group and shows the depth and diversity of BroadSoft's partner base.

The prevalance of video is what really jumped out for me - either as an interface for deskphones, or variations on HD video monitors. It's all very high quality and sure gives the handset a very 2.0 look and feel. My only question, though is utility. I don't know about you, but I have a PC screen next to my phones. These phones certainly do a lot, but I think it will take some getting used to when a much bigger PC screen is right nearby. Obviously, these vendors don't agree, and they all add some spice to support the BroadWorks platform, which is the reason we're all here.

More posts coming, but here's a sample of what I'm talking about...



Grandstream...



Telio's phones, made by LG/Nortel...


Lifesize...


Tandberg...


Snom...


Radvision...

BroadSoft Connections - Day 1

Finally getting a chance to post about BroadSoft Connections here in Scottsdale. Broadband service has been a bit problematic, let's just say. I'm convinced that the fancier the hotel, the worse the broadband experience is. And this is a pretty fancy hotel.

Enough whining. I'm now WAY behind on everything, so this is my first post from Day 1. I just have time to get some quick photos up, and will add commentary later. Got more photos coming too. Overall, I'll just say this event keeps getting both bigger and better, and the buzz here is as strong as you'll see at any industry event.

Voice and Vision - that's the theme for this year, and BroadSoft is breaking new ground in both spaces.



CEO Mike Tessler kicking things off. He cited some stats to illustrate their growth from last year, and it's pretty impressive given the tough economy.



Author Nicolas Carr - pretty interesting talk about why cloud services is gaining traction and what this means for the future of IT - and by extension communications services in a Web 2.0 world



Lunch - it's not like this back in Toronto...



Peter Radizeski's afternoon panel on SIP Trunking

Next Stop - BroadSoft Connections

Busy travel time for me right now. Am home tonight, then flying out early Sunday for BroadSoft Connections. It's in Scottsdale this year, and they always put on a great event. I'll be pretty busy out there, and will be posting regularly. It's cool, rainy and gray here in Chicago, so I'm looking forward to the change in scenery....

BroadSoft Xtended Updates

Yesterday, BroadSoft issued a press release to update the market on how things are progressing with its Xtended platform. I was briefed on it earlier this week, but with all the preparations for the IT Expo and client work, I haven't had a chance to post until now.

While there was no groundbreaking news, it was a helpful update with some proof points about how the platform is gaining traction since launching in March 2008. They talked about 5 commercial deployments - Alteva, SimpleSignal, Telesphere, Unity and WorldxChange Communications - and how the Xtended developer community grown to almost 1,500. That's a lot of brainpower working on cool Web 2.0 apps, and I really like what BroadSoft is doing here. I attended their Connections event back in October, and you can get a good sense of this community from my post.

Just like the Apple Apps Store or the Android Marketplace, BroadSoft has their Xtended Marketplace, so that's where you should visit to see the specific apps and mashups they have on tap.

My favorite is the Chumby - what a great name! I saw this at Connections - very cool. It's like a bedside clock radio, but is digital and web-enabled. Sort of a cuddlier gadget to sleep with than your smartphone - which I'm sure lots of people do. I don't want to get started on how people can't bear to be "disconnected" - even when they sleep - but you have to admit, this is a great gadget. Not something you'd normally associate with BroadSoft, but get used to it. Like Cisco, they're trying very hard to create a real consumer presence, and on some levels, I like their chances.

While all this good news was welcome, one has to ask the question as to why no updates were given about their progress integrating Sylantro. Well? Isn't that the news most of us are waiting for? Let's just say they're not ready to go there yet, but there will be some news coming about their relationship with IBM.

I'd have to say that's a good sign of how BroadSoft is making inroads with enteprise communications platforms. They already have some good things going with Microsoft, and the IBM story can only mean Lotus Notes, and together, this would give them very strong coverage. Of course, Sylantro had some history with IBM as well, and I'm sure one of their challenges is consolidating these Tier 1 relationships where there was duplicate coverage.