Cisco Collaboration and Contact Center Analyst Events - Quick Pix

Last week was quite the blur with back-to-back industry events, and am chairing another one this week. As such, time is short, and for now I can only manage to share a few photos from last week’s Cisco double-header in San Jose.

First was their Collaboration Analyst Summit, followed by their Contact Center Deep Dive. I was in the cohort of analysts attending both events, and there’s lots to talk about. I’ll get my thoughts collected over the next few days, and until then, here are some photos. In short, the team is solid, the vision is strong, and they seem to be executing very well. More to come.

Strong leaders, strong team - Amy Chang, Omar Tawakol, Vinod Muthukrishnan , Zack Taylor

Fireside chats with the collaboration leadership team, then for contact center. Slideware for Webex Meetings, and Contact Center Experience Management.

Cool stuff - Panorama, taking immersive video conferencing to the next level. Next - gesture-based interaction to manage your meetings. For contact center - word cloud, leveraging AI from Voicea. Finally, the biggest boardroom table I’ve ever seen - would love to see how well all this new AI technology would work here in a full room - that would be impressive!

Newsletter Time - February Issue Out

If you don’t know that I have a monthly newsletter, this post may be timely. The current edition of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review is out now, and subscribing is real easy - here’s the link.

Aside from being a digest of my industry activity and thought leadership, I also produce a podcast with colleague Chris Fine - Watch This Space. The podcast is exclusive to subscribers for a couple of weeks, and the screenshot below will give you an idea of what our latest episode is about. So, if you just need to hear it now - as well as follow along with real-time transcription - that may be the best reason yet to subscribe.

Witz End Podcast - JAA Profile, Music, History and More

The stars lined up for me to do a podcast with Rich Williams and Millie Allen for their Witz End podcast. Was great to be interviewed for a change, and once we got past the tell-us-about-being-an-analyst part, we had some fun. They quizzed me about music and Canadian history, and there was even some impromptu piano playing. Not your everyday podcast, but it keeps things interesting, and if you want to check it out, here’s the link. Ok -back to work now.

Avaya Engage - Quick Post and Pix

It’s been a blur at Avaya Engage during the early part of this week in Phoenix, and I was only able to stay for part of it. I’ve moved on to part 2 of back-to-back events this week, and will have a more of an analysis once I get back from my travels.

In short, Avaya is “all in” - and while that can mean many things, the underlying message is that Avaya is in it to win it, and there’s a good story shaping up here. Until I can tell that story, I’ll leave you with some photos from my time at the event.

Jim Chirico going “all in”, with Vlad Shmunis from RingCentral, new CMO Simon Harrison, Ian Mofford from Avaya’s consultant relations program

Some shots from the show floor - IAUG, demo booth for ACO - Avaya Cloud Office (RingCentral partnership for UCaaS), main Avaya area, Noble Systems, one of their many partners there.

On the fun side — smokin’ house band playing during the event (didn’t catch their name), with the king of social media Evan Kirstel, lucky me to be in a zelfie with Zeus, at the Super Bowl party held at Chase Field where the D Backs play.

Future of Work Expo Preview - Feb. 12-14

Before you know it, ITExpo will be here - well, there, in Ft. Lauderdale. This is prime time for TMCnet, and I’m happy to be participating again, mainly as Chair for the Future of Work sub-event. Last year, I was co-Chair, and the program has largely filled out, so it’s time to talk it up. I hope you can join us, and to help you make that decision, I’ve got two links to pass on.

1. Event agenda - it’s still filling out, but this should give you a good idea of what to expect in our sessions

2. Q&A about FoW - both the event and broader trends - I’m interviewed here by TMCnet’s Rich Tehrani

January Writing Roundup

Another month, and another round of new writing on the usual mix of topics. I was busier last month with podcasts and client work, and should have richer update on the writing front for this month.

Project Voice - the Future is in Chattanooga, BCStrategies, Jan. 30

Speech Tech 2020 - More About Innovation than Disruption, No Jitter, Jan. 28

How Does AI for Meetings Improve Collaboration?, TechTarget, Jan. 27

Why Digital Transformation Needs to be Customer-Driven, Toolbox.com, Jan. 16

3 Benefits of UC for Small Business, TechTarget, Jan. 16

2020 Outlook: The State of Collaboration, Toolbox.com, Jan. 15

How Collaboration Impacts the Workplace Experience, Toolbox.com, Jan. 7

Project Voice Redux - Our Video Podcast with Bradley Metrock

Well, it’s taken some time, but this finally posted late last night, and I wanted to add this to my Project Voice coverage before the week/month is out. Earlier this week, I posted my takeaways of the event, and before that, I had some shorter blog posts and social media updates. There will be video clips coming from our SIPtones gig there, but those aren’t quite ready yet.

Prior to the conference, the event founder, Bradley Metrock invited me to guest on his long-running This Week In Voice podcast - one of his many ventures to track the latest in voice technology. Joining us were my colleagues-in-arms, Rick Hathaway and Steve Leaden. Not only are we all SCTC members, but we’re the core of the SIPtones. Fellow bandmate/SCTC member Chuck Vondra was invited as well, but couldn’t make the call.

The video podcast runs about 50 minutes, and was supposed to serve as a preview of the event, as I was leading a panel session about AI voice in the enterprise, with my SCTC colleagues up there as well. Equally important, Bradley wanted to use it as a vehicle to introduce us to the Project Voice community, not just as industry experts, but also wearing our fun hats as the house band for the event.

If you’re still feeling the Project Voice buzz, then, you’ll really enjoy this, so it’s just a click away, here, or just click on the player below. Hope you like it!

Next Stops - Go West - Avaya, Then Cisco

Got travel for back-to-back events this coming week. Every now and then, events overlap, so I’m doing my best to attend major events for Avaya and Cisco. Starting Sunday, I fly to Phoenix for Avaya Engage, which caters mainly to partners and consultants. It’s not really for analysts, but I have good reasons to be there, and it will be a great window to take in their 2020 “All In” go-to-market messaging.

On Tuesday, I depart Phoenix for San Jose for a twofer Cisco event - both their Collaboration Analyst Summit and Contact Center Deep Dive. We’ll be getting roadmap updates on both lines of business, so it’s going to be an intense series of sessions.

Considering these are two of the biggest players in both collaboration and contact center, I expect to return home next Friday jazzed about what these companies are doing for 2020. It will be a firehose week for sure of information, so I’ll be taking lots of notes. Blog updates will come as time allows, and same for my social channels. I’m not hard to find on Linkedin, and my Twitter handle is @arnoldjon.

Project Voice - the Future is in Chattanooga

That’s the title of my latest post on BCStrategies, and if you followed my earlier posts and tweets about this event, I think you’ll find my takeaways here of interest.

As a long-time BC Expert and regular contributor to our portal, I saw lots of examples in Chattanooga where consumer-based applications of AI-driven voice could translate for enterprise collaboration. Much of this is already happening in the contact center, but I found this event a pretty good test lab for what we could be seeing in the workplace sooner than later.

I could only touch on a couple of themes in this post, so if you really want to hear the rest of the story, you know where to find me. Otherwise, the post is running now on our portal, and as always, comments and sharing are welcome.

My Enterprise Connect Talk on Enterprise Speech - 2 Previews - Article and Podcast

Well, the multimedia stars lined up this time around, so I have two previews to share here. Enterprise Connect is about two months out - but it already feels near - and I’ll be doing another iteration of my update on speech technology in the enterprise on Day 1 - Monday, March 30, bright and early at 8 am.

To get a better sense of what I’ll be talking about - and why you might want to attend - my preview post is running now on No Jitter. You’ll also find details there about the location of my talk, along with a special link to save $400 off your registration fee.

Complementing that, I was interviewed by No Jitter’s Beth Schultz for her podcast series No Jitter On Air. The episode was published today, and is titled Talking Up Speech Tech for the Enterprise - here’s the link to give that a listen.

Watch This Space Podcast - What's Ahead for 2020

In short, it’s AI and CX, but to get the rest of the story, please check out our latest podcast here.

As usual, newsletter subscribers got this earlier in the month, and now I’m sharing it publicly. Lots of change coming in this new decade, and would love to hear your thoughts on our outlook.

Best of Enterprise Connect Award Program - Are You In?

Got a timely shout-out to share about Enterprise Connect 2020, which is a bit later than usual - at the end of March - but in its usual habitat of Orlando.

The main thing is to draw your attention to this awards program. So, if you don’t know about it, this could be a great opportunity for your company to get some industry-based recognition. There are four categories, plus an overall “best of” award, and formal details are here.

Also, No Jitter’s Beth Schultz has a good post about it here, which also lists the four judges who will be evaluating the entries, and am happy to say that I’m one of them.

Entries close Friday, January 31, so if you’re on the fence, there’s not much time left.

Speaking of time, I should mention that early bird pricing for the conference end this Friday - January 24 - and if you want to save $400, you can use this link to register.

My schedule for Enterprise Connect is filling up, and aside from this judging role, I’ll be doing one of the very first talks during the conference, at 8am on Monday, March 30. My session will be another update on the state of enterprise speech technology, and all the details are here.

You’ll be hearing more about that in the coming weeks, and this morning, in fact, I’m recording a podcast with Beth Schultz as a preview for my talk, so watch for that soon. That will be complemented by a writeup I’ll be doing for my next No Jitter post, which should run early next week.

Project Voice - First Take

Last week, I attended the Project Voice event down in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and both were first-time experiences for me. Bradley Metrock is the driving force behind all this, and we recently became fast friends, not just because of my focus on voice, but also both being life-long piano players. If you know me well, you’ll know where this is going, and I’ll get to that.

I’ve had some mitigating circumstances that kept me from posting here until now - so I’m not going to do a day-by-day recap at this point - but I have something better. Earlier today, Bradley posted his own review of the event, and that will do the job for now - here’s the link if you want to read it. On that note - no pun intended - thanks Bradley for mentioning our SIPtones performance during the event!

To keep that vibe going, I’m sharing a few photos below, and please watch for three more things coming soon:

1. I’ll have my own writeup coming next week on BCStrategies

2. Prior to the event, I was a guest on Bradley’s This Week in Voice video podcast, along with Rick Hathaway, Steve Leaden and Chuck Vondra. We wore both our hats as a way to introduce ourselves to the Project Voice community - first as SCTC members previewing our panel session on conversational AI trends in the enterprise; as well as our SIPtones hats, and the kind of music we would be playing at the event. The podcast hasn’t been posted yet, but I’ll update that for sure.

3. Video highlights from our SIPtones gig from the event are being compiled now, and I’ll share some of that shortly on the My Music section of my website. If you can’t wait to see/hear us, check that section out any time, as I’ve posted video and photos there from our other gigs. Need a band for your next event?

Below: Bradley Metrock, Amazon’s Jeff Blankenburg, Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, Mayo Clinic - my photos

Below: panel I moderated with my SCTC/SIPtones colleagues, another panel I moderated on voice tech trends in the enterprise, and the SIPtones on stage. Photos are from others, used with permission.

UC Summit 2020 - Sneak Peek and Our Video Interview

U.K.-based Rob Scott has been working on his virtual event for some time now, and the UC Summit 2020 opens on January 20. It runs for five days, and the content will be available on demand after for a three month period.

I’ve always been a bit skeptical of virtual events, but to be fair, with today’s technologies, it can be a pretty engaging experience, and sure beats travelling overseas and staying at hotels. Rob has been busy putting the content together, and I’m on one of the panel sessions - AI Powered Communications - along with colleagues Zeus Kerravala and Kevin Kieller.

So, we recorded our session today, and below is a screen shot of us on the call. For now, we’ve done our part, and this will be added to the mix of content that registered attendees can access starting January 20. Aside from sharing what we did today, this post serves as a shout-out for the event, and all the details to register are here. If you end up attending, and get to see our session, I’d love to hear your thoughts - as would Rob, Zeus and Kevin as well.

2020 Collaboration Preview - Our BCStrategies Podcast

Last week, I posted about our BCStrategies 2019 in-review podcast for the collaboration space, and we’ve followed that up now with our 2020 outlook. As always, there’s no shortage of perspectives, and we had 13 analysts and consultants share their views on what the year ahead holds.

I don’t think you’ll find a richer set of perspectives in one place anywhere else, so this podcast will be time well-spent ( as would be our 2019 review podcast). It’s running now on our portal, and here’s the link to give it a listen.

Newsletter Time - January Issue Now Published

Well, technically, I’m now in my second decade of publishing my monthly newsletter - JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review - but that’s an easy claim to make at this point in time. Anyhow, if you’re a subscriber, you should have received your issue via email by now - and if you missed it, we do a second mail-out about two weeks later.

In terms of new content, the main feature is our latest Watch This Space podcast - “What’s Ahead for 2020 - AI and CX” - which is a follow-on to last month’s 2019 look-back podcast. If you want to check out the podcast sooner than later - as well as review the rest of what’s in the newsletter - just sign up here to subscribe, and you’ll have it in no time. Otherwise, just hang on for two weeks, when it will be added to the podcast archive here on my website.

Project Voice - One Week Away - Conversational AI and SIPtones

Just a quick shout-out for Project Voice, which technically starts next Monday in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Will be my first time there, and am definitely looking forward to it - not just as a speaker/moderator, but also to play again with the SIPtones.

Details are here in a recent blog post, including how to get a 20% discount on registration.

UPDATE - since then, I’ve been added to a 2nd session, which I’ll be moderating - Voice and the Enterprise - Wednesday at 3:45.

All the details are on the event website - and, if you register, you’ll get the daily e-letter update. The SIPtones were mentioned in today’s edition, so the buzz is building. We’ll be rehearsing all day Tuesday, and performing in three different settings on Wednesday, so we’ll be busy! I’ll be doing both my panels that day, so I’ll be going non-stop then. Wouldn’t want it any other way.

Reflecting on 2019 - Our BCStrategies Podcast

Another month, another year, another decade. 2019 isn’t old-news quite just yet - there was a lot of change to digest, and our latest BCStrategies podcast is a great way to do that. Everyone has something to say, and for this 2019 review segment, we had 13 analysts and consultants share their views.

Before 2020 gets too far along, I hope you give this a listen, and here’s the link for the replay. Jim Burton did a great job moderating, and if you like our perspectives, check back soon for the follow-on segment, our 2020 outlook. We just recorded that yesterday, and it should be posted next week.

December Writing Roundup

My plate was full for the last month of the decade, but this time around, that didn’t include a great deal of writing - at least with my JAA byline. I also do ghostwriting, and worked through five pieces across three clients last month on that front. If you’re not sure of how I can be of service with thought leadership to your company - writing or otherwise - you might be surprised by the range of possibilities shown on my website.

Is Hybrid Cloud a Long-Term UC Deployment Option?, Dec. 26, TechTarget

4 Ways a Cloud Provider Can Become a Trusted Partner, Dec. 16, Toolbox.com

How Digital Transformation Impacts Your Collaboration Plans, Dec. 11, Toolbox. com

IT: Managing Choice, Change, Careers in 2020; Dec. 10, No Jitter

Forests and Trees: Getting Full Business Value with Collaboration, Dec. 10, Toolbox.com

SCTC 2019 Conference: Opportunity There for the Taking, Dec. 5, BCStrategies

2019 in Review - our Latest Podcast

Closing out the year - and the decade - there’s a lot to think about for 2019, and everyone seems to be sharing their thoughts around this time. One vehicle for me is our Watch This Space podcast, which my newsletter subscribers get exclusively for a couple of weeks, and then I share it publicly.

I do these with my colleague, Chris Fine, and we started out planning to do both a 2019 look-back and a 2020 look-ahead in the same segment, but we ended up doing them in separate podcasts. The 2020 podcast will run in the January newsletter, so if you’re a subscriber, watch for that on or around January 7.

Subscribers have had the 2019 look-back podcast for some time already, and for everyone else, it’s posted now in the Podcasts section of my website. I hope you give it a listen, and if you like it, the archive includes all of our previous podcasts. Otherwise, my blog will likely go quiet until 2020, so I’ll wish you season’s greetings now!