March Writing Roundup

I don’t think we’ve ever had a month like March 2020, and am sure we’re all happy to move on, and hope better times are ahead. Things are not good, and it’s early still to see what kind of impact Corona will have on our space. That said, the stars sure have lined up for collaboration players, and it’s kept me quite busy, and I’m thankful for that. On that note, here’s what I was writing about last month, and I hope you find some of this of interest.

What Collaboration Metrics Determine an App’s Business Value?, TechTarger, March 30

The Cons of Remote Work - the New Normal?, Toolbox.com, March 24

How Speakerphones Add Value to Collaboration, BCStrategies, March 18

The Pros of Remote Work - the New Normal?, Toolbox.com, March 18

Remote Work Best Practices Emphasize UC Collaboration Tools, TechTarget, March 16

4 Reasons Why Video Makes for Better Remote Collaboration, Toolbox.com, March 12

Getting UX Right Starts with End Users, No Jitter, March 10

Why Businesses May be Getting it Wrong with the Cloud, Toolbox.com, March 9

New Podcast - Remote Working with Monday.com

Regular followers will know I’ve been doing a lot of podcasts lately, and it ‘s just one channel I’ve been busy with sharing my thoughts on the trend of the moment - remote working, aka WFH - work from home.

This time around, I was in conversation with Matt Burns of Monday.com about remote working, and how businesses should be thinking about it. Their approach is a bit different and complementary to what UC and team messaging platforms bring - they call it a Work OS - and you’ll just have to listen to our conversation to get the bigger picture.

The podcast was hosted by UK-based EM360, and it’s been posted now to their portal. Here’s the link, and as always, comments and sharing are welcome.

My Next Webinar - with Metaswitch - Enabling Remote Working

Remote working is the topic du jour now, and everyone is either asking about it or weighing in on how to do it. Being an analyst, I fall into the latter category, and it doesn’t hurt that I’ve been home-based for a long time.

For this webinar, I’m a guest speaker, and will be joined by John Gillespie from Poly, and another independent, Andrew Ward. The event will be hosted by Metaswitch, so the audience will mainly be their carrier customers, but it’s open to all.

We’re doing a Town Hall format, so after some brief presentations, we’ll open it up to the floor, not just for questions, but also hear how their customers are dealing with remote working. The webinar is next Tuesday, March 31 at 11am ET, and here’s the landing page to register. Hope you can join us.

Sharing my Latest Podcast - Future of Work Expo Review

In every way imaginable, things are off-schedule these days, but in time, it all gets done. For this month, I’m about a week or so behind in getting this post out.

Regular followers will know that my Watch This Space podcast is exclusive to newsletter subscribers for a couple of weeks, and then I share it publicly on my website. Some topics are more timely than others, but the content is usually pretty relevant once my podcasts are shared.

Of course, that’s up for you to decide, and to find out, please visit my Current Podcasts archive, where you can access the latest episode as well as earlier ones. Since the “future” is always somewhere down the line, I think you’ll still find the takeaways from my Future of Work Expo event of interest - and I can assure you, much of what was presented there has yet to happen, so no FOMO here.

Our latest podcast is also noteworthy as it marks the first use of new graphics and a logo to help give Watch This Space some identity. Hope you like it, and while you’re there, feel free to check out earlier episodes, and your thoughts are welcome on future themes for Chris and I to discuss.

Finally, I’d be remiss to close out here if I didn’t say that life would easier if you subscribe to my newsletter, in which case you wouldn’t need to read this post, and by now the podcast would be old news for you. What are you waiting for?

New Podcast - Talking Voice Bots and Audio Quality on No Jitter

I do all kinds of podcasts, and this time around, I was interviewed by No Jitter’s Beth Schultz as part of a series sponsored by Spearline.

With that out of the way, Beth started by getting my back story and how I got into this space. I don’t get to talk about that often, so if you’re wondering how-did-I-get-here?, you’ll enjoy this podcast.

Otherwise, we talked about the evolution of voice in the workspace, leading to today’s AI-driven world where it’s getting hard to know what’s human, and what’s a bot. And yes, tracking and ensuring voice quality is a big part of the story, and that’s where Spearline comes in.

I’ll leave it at that, and hope you give the podcast a listen. Here’s the link, which also takes you to No Jitter’s On Air portal, where you can check out their other pods, including the other episodes in this Spearline series.

How Speakerphones Add Value for Collaboration

Things definitely are not business as usual now, but I’m keeping plenty busy, and being home-based, I really haven’t missed a beat. Not quite as productive as normal, but am still getting some public writing done. Here’s my latest one, running now on the BCStrategies portal.

This post is one in a series sponsored by Yealink, each authored by different BC Experts, so watch for those soon. This is actually a pretty interesting topic given the rise of remote working, as well as more forms of small, ad hoc meetings in offices. These are prime use cases for speakerphones, and, it’s a problem set that Yealink has looked at pretty carefully.

BCStrategies Podcast - Our Take on Corona Virus

Challenging times for sure, and we’ve got a few BCStrategies podcasts coming with various perspectives on the impact of Corona. Many UC&C vendors have already responded with free or discounted offerings to enable more home-based working, and this could well be a permanent shift.

In the wake of Enterprise Connect being postponed - along with many other industry events - our first podcast in this series looks at the bigger picture for how enterprises should be thinking about remote working. Lots to talk about, including my thoughts on who could really benefit from this disruption - and you might be surprised.

The podcast is running here now on our portal, and watch the site for more as this series continues.

Getting UX Right for Mobile UC - My Latest for No Jitter

I’ve long advocated the importance of user experience - UX - for any form of collaboration offering, and it especially matters for mobility, since this is where workers spend so much of their time now. Technology will only get more complex - not less - and it’s easy to overlook the fact that most workers only have a basic grasp of the tools and applications they rely on day-to-day. We’re not all engineers, and most workers are on the wrong side of 30, and that reality is not well-reflected in the usability for most collaboration offerings.

I don’t have a magic wand to fix that, but I have just done some qualitative research with mobile users to better understand all this, and there’s a lot to learn. Since the work was done for a client, I can only share high-level findings here, but even these should be of interest to anyone wondering why mobile UC applications aren’t more widely-used. I’ve summarized that in my latest No Jitter post, and you can read it here. I’ll have more to say about this soon, and until then, your comments are welcome.

New Podcast - with 2600Hz and Cloud Contact Center

I’ve been doing a lot of podcasts recently, and here’s the latest one. This time, I’m in conversation with Alisa Bartash of 2600Hz, as part of their ongoing podcast series. The main topic was CCaaS - contact center as a service - what it is, what’s driving the shift to cloud, how it adds value, where it’s heading, etc. It’s a great add-on for cloud providers like 2600Hz, and I hope the podcast helps educate end customers about the opportunity.

2600Hz has a pretty good archive of podcasts in the Resources section of their website, but when new podcasts come out, they’re initially shared on Spotify. That’s where you can find our podcast now, and here’s the link to give it a listen. I don’t know when it will turn up on their own site, so you’ll have to check there a bit later on. Hope you like it, and comments are always welcome.

Newsletter Time Again - March Issue

Just a quick note to say my latest edition of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review is out now. Subscribers already know that, and they also get first shot at our latest Watch This Space Podcast. We have a new graphic now - hope you like it - and for this segment, the focus was mostly on last month’s Future of Work event that I chaired. That’s the story for now, and if you want the rest of the story, here’s an easy way to subscribe.

February Writing Roundup

Last month was a whirlwind with Future of Work Expo, conference planning, podcasts, video interviews, judging for Best Of Enterprise Connect, and starting up new projects. Not sure how, but I still managed to get some writing done, and here’s the roundup.

3 Ways CPaaS Enhances Collaboration and Workplace Productivity, Toolbox.com, Feb. 26

Avaya Engage - They’re All-In - Are You All-In?, BCStrategies, Feb. 24

3 Ways AI Takes Voice Beyond Telephony, Toolbox.com, Feb. 12

Natural Language Generation - the Next Wave in AI-Driven Speech, EM360, Feb. 11

What are the Risks and Benefits of AI-Driven Speech Technology?, TechTarget, Feb. 10

How CPaaS Differs From UCaaS, But Also Improves Collaboration, Toolbox.com, Feb. 7

Future of Work Preview, my blog, Feb. 4

New Video Talking About Tech and a Dylan Hat Tip

Well, this was fun, and since it was just posted on Youtube, I thought it would be good to share here to close out the month with a smile.

This was recorded towards the end of TMCnet’s ITExpo in Ft. Lauderdale earlier this month, and it was pretty ad hoc, but it turned out ok. The TMC folks had a videographer there to cover the show, and we happened to be alone in the press room, so we just did this in one straight take. Kudos to Arthur at amage.media - they’ve got a pretty cool-looking production company, so if you need video to spice up your messaging, tell Arthur I sent you.

That aside, I’m just talking here about what analysts do, and the key trends to watch for in the collaboration space, with a particular focus on future of work. My main role at the show was to chair the Future of Work Expo, but that’s another conversation.

I hope you enjoy the video, and if you’re too young to pick up on my homage to Bob Dylan, everything you need to know is down below! :-)

My Next Webinar - Is Your Cloud Vision 2020?

I’ve got a new webinar to post about, and this one will be hosted by Channel Partners. The sponsor is Flexential, whom I got to meet on the show floor at the recent ITExpo. The topic is about cloud migration, and how to be strategic about it. For a change, I’ll be moderating, and leading a discussion with Carl Norman, their Solutions Architect, along with Michael Piccininni of Dell Technologies.

The webinar will be on Thursday, March 19 at 2pm ET, and I hope you can join us. Here’s the landing page with more details and the registration form.

Avaya Engage - They're All-In - Are You All-In?

That’s the title of my latest post for BCStrategies, and it’s a follow-on to my earlier post about Avaya’s recent Engage event in Phoenix. I was one of a handful of analysts at Engage, so you may not have seen much coverage from our circle, and I trust you’ll find this writeup of interest.

In short, it was clear from Engage that Avaya has gone all-in, not just to compete, but to win. The bigger question is whether Avaya’s customers and partners will reciprocate and go all-in with them. There’s a lot at stake here, with plenty of advocates on both sides of the fence.

Being an analyst, I try to present a balanced perspective, and on the whole, I’m coming down on the plus side. Half-measures won’t work in this market, and if Avaya can execute on their all-in strategy, they should be able to hold their own for years to come. Here are my thoughts from Engage, and I’d love to hear whether or not you’re all-in now with Avaya.

Watch This Space Podcast - Digital Workplace Drivers and Cool Voice Tech from Chattanooga

Things are never dull around here, so how’s that for a mix of topics for a podcast?

That’s what’s on tap for my current Watch This Space podcast, and it’s now publicly available. Chris Fine and I reflected on recent conferences we attended, and on the voice + AI front, this podcast is just one of several forms of thought leadership I’ve been producing lately.

If you don’t know, I produce a monthly newsletter - JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review - and subscribers get exclusive access to my podcasts for a couple of weeks. Another benefit of subscribing, btw, is the inclusion of real-time transcription; so you have the choice of listening, reading, or doing both at the same time.

The public version of my podcast is audio-only, and if you don’t mind the wait, here’s the link, and I’d love to hear your thoughts after giving it a listen. If you need it sooner, just sign up for the newsletter, which also provides a digest of what I’m seeing over the course of my travels and research.

Finally, I’ve been talking for a while about upgrades to the podcast, and starting next month, you’ll see a new graphic that I think will help give Watch This Space more of an identity. More upgrades are coming, so stay tuned.

Future of Work Expo - Day 2 Pix

Just trying to post content as quickly as I can, as my two week/four event travel run comes to an end.

This week, I’m chairing TMCnet’s Future of Work Expo in Ft. Lauderdale, and yesterday I posted some photos from Day 1. Things wrap up at noon today, and before heading to the venue for my sessions, here are some photos from yesterday. Over the next few days, I’ll get a writeup posted, along with writeups from last week’s events at Avaya and Cisco. Go, go, go.

Thought-provoking panels moderated by Hugh Goldstein and Doug Mohney - thanks guys. Hugh’s topic was AI’s role in comms/collaboration, and Doug’s was about issues/threats around voice authentication. We also had a deeper dive from Google about how AI and ML are being used in G Suite, and attendance has been strong - and engaged - throughout the sessions.

The Cloud Voice Alliance is one of Jeff Dworkin’s many ventures, and he invited me to speak on a panel about how resellers should be thinking about cloud voice/collab services to grow their business and help end customers move away from legacy telephony.

My Channel Partners Panel Session - Getting in on the CPaaS Opportunity

Am keeping pretty busy lately on the conference circuit, and in a few weeks I’ll be making my second visit to the Channel Partners Conference in Las Vegas. I’ll only be there two days, and on the Wednesday - March 11 - I’ll be moderating a session on how channels can embrace CPaaS to help grow their business. Joining me will be executives from Fonative, Phone.com and SkySwitch, and full details about the session are here.

Also, if you haven’t firmed up your plans yet, I can extend some discounts for registration - details here.

Future of Work Expo - Day 1 Photos

However fast I was running at last week’s events, I’m somehow going faster here in Ft. Lauderdale. Our Future of Work sessions have been solid, attendance has been strong, and lots of good questions. I only have time now for some Day 1 photos - will have more pix tomorrow, and soon I’ll have a writeup to share. I’ve been posting to Twitter and Linkedin fairly regularly, so you can follow those feeds for more in-the-moment updates.

FoW agenda, Cisco’s Zack Taylor, slides about the evolution of AI and the high cost of poor meetings experiences.

ITExpo keynotes from Cisco and Google, Frank Stinson moderating our panel on AI-enabled comms, Zack and me!

A few shots from the show floor - Avaya, Phone.com, CoreDial and Flexential

Spotlight on Natural Language Generation - Next Wave in AI Speech

Natural Language Generation is pretty new for me, but it fits squarely into my coverage for all things AI, voice and collaboration. My entree has been through Arria NLG, one of the leading players in this space, and they sure are doing some interesting things. While this doesn’t fit cleanly into the collaboration bucket, NLG has great use cases in the enterprise, especially to enrich Business Intelligence.

In short, this is about giving voice to data, and it’s a very different side of AI-driven voice that I think needs to be in the broader enterprise speech discussion. That’s why I wrote this Spotlight analysis, and it’s running now in U.K.-based Enterprise Management 360, a portal that I post to from time to time. Here’s the link, and I hope you find it a good read. If you’re attending Enterprise Connect later in March, you can learn more at my state of the market update on enterprise speech tech.

Next Stop - Ft. Lauderdale and Future of Work

Time to go from snow to sun. Florida in February - what’s not to like?

I’ll be flying to Ft. Lauderdale today ahead of tomorrow’s Future of Work Expo, which is one of several sub-events for TMCnet’s flagship ITExpo. Last year, I was co-Chair of the event, and now I’m Chair, so I’m moving up in the world. We’re still filling a few speaking slots, but the program is strong, and if you’re attending, I hope you’ll check out our sessions.

As with all the conferences I attend, details can be found in the Event Calendar of my website, and you can also peruse the FoW agenda here on the event website.

Also, in case you missed it, here’s the Q&A that TMCnet’s Rich Tehrani did with me as a preview for what's coming at our event. Hope to see you there!