Next Stop - London, for BT Analyst Event and UC Expo

I don’t travel overseas much, but on Monday I’m flying to London for two events. First is Focus 2024, British Telecom’s analyst event, then back again for UC Expo at the Excel Center. Will definitely be a full week, and I’ll share updates on LinkedIn as time allows.

For UC Expo, I’ll be speaking on three sessions - one is invite-only, and links are here for the other two:

Thursday at 1pm - a fireside chat on tech-driven inclusivity in the workplace

Thursday at 1:35 - Ask the Analyst panel session

If you’re attending, and want to meet up, please drop me a line. Also, the event hashtag is #UCX24.

New White Paper - Digital Self-Service for NICE

Got another white paper to share - this one is for NICE, and the topic is about self-service. More specifically, with legacy forms of this being so limited, the focus is about digital self-service, and how these new capabilities can play a bigger role in making CX - customer experience - better.

As the title says - “it has to be better” - and to find out why, I hope you check it out for yourself. Here’s the link, and it just takes a moment to register first.

Latest Interview - State of AI with Nutun

I don’t post a whole lot on LinkedIn - and I dropped off from Twitter/X last year - but I’m busier than things might appear based on my social media activity.

Over the spring/summer, I had two surgeries, which slowed things down quite a bit, but am past that now, and for the writing and speaking I’ve been doing, some is coming to market now.

Here’s one of them, which was recorded during the summer, and just published last week. This was a video interview, where I was the guest Episode 2 of The Global Experience. It’s probably more accurate to call it a podcast, and is available in two formats - video and audio-only. More on that in a moment.

The podcast is produced by Nutun, a BPO provider based in South Africa, and I’ve been getting to know them since first meeting at Enterprise Connect earlier this year. I was interviewed by Bryce Cressey and Natalie Billson from Nutun, and let’s just say we’ve become fast friends.

Being Episode 2, the series is brand new, and I was happy to be an early guest. The broad topic was AI, and we talked about its evolution, how it’s being used with both UCaaS and CCaaS, and where it’s going. We could have gone on much longer, and maybe we’ll get to do it again soon.

As mentioned, the replay is offered in two flavors, and here are the links to check it out. First, for audio-only, it’s hosted here on Buzzsprout. Then for the full video experience, you can watch it here on their YouTube channel. Either way, I hope you like it, and any feedback or sharing would be much appreciated.

Next Stop - Verint Engage Event, Orlando

Am off to Orlando on Sunday for Verint’s Engage event in Orlando, FL. This is their customer/partner event, so it’s quite a bit larger than the analyst-only event they host for us at a different time of the year.

This will be my first time for their Engage event - not to be confused with other vendors and their Engage events - but the agenda is pretty full, and I’ll be sharing updates on LinkedIn, and will post takeaway thoughts soon after.

Talkdesk CX Innovators Awards - Back Again as a Judge

It’s time for the 2024 edition of the Talkdesk Innovators Award. I’m back as a judge, and our group will be evaluating entries after the cutoff date of September 30, with winners announced on October 30. There are 11 categories, so lots to choose from if you’re thinking about entering. Details are here, and good luck if you submit an entry!

New Podcast - AI in Contact Centers, with EM360

I have another EM360-related update to share. They produce a few different podcast series, each focused on a particular technology theme. I was just a guest for their Tech Transformed podcast, and as the name implies, it’s about technologies having a transformational impact on enterprises.

On that note, there’s nothing bigger than AI, and for this espisode, the focus was on the contact center, which arguably is the most attractive use case for AI inside a business. I was interviewed by Paula Rios Maya, and thought the conversation went well. Hope you’ll agree, but you’ll have to hear it for yourself - here’s the link - would love to get your thoughts.

Expanded Reach for Watch This Space Podcast - now on EM360

I’ve been a long-time contributor to UK-based EM360, and you can see more about that here on my profile page. While you’re there, I encourage you to explore their website, which has just gone through a big refresh.

My followers will know about my Watch This Space podcast, which can be picked up here on my website, along with a dedicated WTS website. While my reach is mainly North America, I now have more exposure for the EU market via EM360. Last week marked the start of them now carrying WTS on their site, and I have two links to share for that:

• First - here’s a direct link to the September episode.

• Second - link to the home page for Watch This Space on the EM360 website - once there, you’ll see an archive as well for the 10 most recent episodes.

Finally, to help promote this update to EM360 followers, Watch This Space was featured in the current issue of their LinkedIn-based newsletter, Contributors Corner. That would be Edition 15 from September 6, and here’s the link. If you check this out, you’ll see that two forms of my work have been featured here; the other being a re-posting of a guest post I recently wrote for a client’s blog.

Next Stop - Sprinklr Source 24, NYC

I’ve largely been off the road for industry events since June, and this is the first for the busy season for me. I’m really enjoying getting to know Sprinklr, and glad to be attending their analyst event, Source 24 in NYC starting next Monday. I’ll share updates on LinkedIn as time allows, and will add a follow-on writeup on my takeaways.

September - Time for New Podcast and Newsletter

The latest editions of both my newsletter and podcast are out now - JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review, and my Watch This Space podcast, now in its 7th season.

If you’re not a subscriber, signing up to my newsletter is easy - JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review - the signup page is here.

For my Watch This Space podcast, you can subscribe on all the major platforms, or listen to any episode directly here on my website, or here on the dedicated WTS website.

This month, Chris and I reviewed how streaming has really come into its own with the Olympics, and similarly how event platforms are finding broader use cases, both in the public and private sectors. I also provided a recap of the NCEC Technologies Conference that I spoke at last month, around how conversational AI is helping utilities improve customer service.

RingCX AI Updates - My Latest Guest Article

I’ve been closely following RingCentral’s move into CCaaS - along with all the other players of course - and they’ve now taken the next step with their AI story. Not surprisingly, RingCentral has developed their own platform to stake claim in this growing market. It’s getting crowded, but with this platform they feel ready to hold their own, and so far they’re getting good traction to validate that.

There’s lots to like with what they’re doing here, and my latest guest article about it is running now on the their blog. Would love to hear your thoughts, and happy to chat further any time.

Next Webinar - with NICE on Digital Self-Service

I recently authored a white paper for NICE about digital self-service, and in support of that, there’s a webinar coming on Aug. 8. I’ll be presenting along with Elizabeth Tobey, sharing highlights from the paper, along with how contact center leaders should be thinking about how AI is transforming what’s possible now with self-service. Details are here, and I hope you can join us.

Catching up on July Activity

Regular followers will have noticed I’ve been blogging less frequently, and am not really sure if this is a blip or a real change. As you know, I’m pretty old school, and I don’t know too many people who have been blogging continuously as long as I have - going back to 2005.

The reality is that most of my activity is tracked on LinkedIn, along with my newsletter and podcast. I continue to blog, however, as this is the entry point for many people who learn about my capabilities and offerings once they find my website.

Speaking of the website, there are some refreshes coming, and I’m very much aware that some sections aren’t up to date, and I’d like to make the site more engaging - more to come on that.

All that aside, I have been staying busy throughout July, but that’s not reflected here on my blog. So, I’m going to rectify that right now, with a simple tally of things you might want to check out, ICYMI.

Intelligent Thinking AI Summit - was a speaker at this virtual event, July 18

No Jitter - my latest article, AI in the Enterprise - Are We Missing the Best Use Case of All?, July 17

Let’s Do Video Boardroom - finally, my first guest appearance on David Maldow’s long-running interview series: the Future of UC and Contact Centers, July 15

UC Today - was cited as being a UC All-Star, July 11

Big UC News - was part of the panel for the latest edition of this industry news roundup, July 8

Watch This Space Podcast - our July edition: HPE Discover and NICE Interactions - Reflections on Latest Industry Events, July 3

Aizan Blog - my latest guest post: Communications Tech Events to Attend - an Analyst’s Take, June 28

Next Stop - Intelligent Thinking AI Summit

Well, not an actual stop - this is a virtual event, but one that I’m looking forward to. This one-day event is put on by IoT Marketing, and it’s my first time doing something with them.

I’m doing a fireside session with Tiffani Neilson of IoT Marketing, where she’s interviewing me about AI trends, use cases, opportunities, etc. Should be a lively session, and I hope you can join us next Thursday. Details to register are here, and our chat begins at 11am PST.