Time for Next Newsletter

The September issue of my newsletter went out yesterday, so subscribers should have it by now. With summer fading fast, it’s time to get busy again, and the newsletter is the best way to keep tabs on what I’m writing about, speaking about, and which industry events I’ll be attending.

If interested in subscribing to JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review, signing up to my newsletter is easy - it’s free - the signup page is here.

Although my Watch This Space podcast is on pause for now, you can still subscribe on all the major platforms, or listen to any episode directly here on my website, or here on the dedicated WTS website. There are 85 episodes to choose from, so I’m sure you’ll find something of interest. And if you have any topics you’d like to see covered in future episodes, drop me a line!

August Writing Roundup

Writing was light for August, but my overall workload was light by design. That will change once things get back to full swing after Labor Day. Until then, I hope you check these out, and would love to hear your thoughts.

Navigating the Telecom Alphabet Soup of UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS, guest post for Aizan’s blog, Aug. 12

How Zoom is Becoming AI-First, EM360, Aug. 4

Newsletter Time - August Edition Out Now

Things slow down at this point in the summer - at least for me! - but the newsletter routine continues. My July was pretty busy - and productive - so there are definitely updates to share. As you may know, my Watch This Space podcast is on hiatus, so for now, it’s just the newsletter, which went out to subscribers yesterday.

If interested in subscribing to JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review, signing up to my newsletter is easy - it’s free - the signup page is here.

Although Watch This Space is on pause for now, you can still subscribe on all the major platforms, or listen to any episode directly here on my website, or here on the dedicated WTS website. There are 85 episodes to choose from, so I’m sure you’ll find something of interest. And if you have any topics you’d like to see covered in future episodes, drop me a line!

July Writing Roundup

Was a light month for writing, but pretty busy on the video front. The latter is a different mode, and I still put a lot of stock in writing for expressing thought leadership and articulating the impact of tech on the things that we do.

Sidebar - am definitely concerned about AI’s impact now on creativity and original thinking, and if anything, I’ll double down on maintaining my writing output. That’s another conversation, for sure, and for now, I’ll just stick to July’s writing.

NiCE + Cognigy - What Took So Long?, BCStrategies (joint byline with Blair Pleasant), Aug. 1 (including this for July since it’s breaking news now)

3 Ways UC Offers the RTO Metrics You Need, TechTarget, July 31

We Have Proof AI is Improving CX, No Jitter, July 10

And, ICYMI, my review of Infobip’s analyst event, which ran at the very end of June:

One Communications Platform - Billions of Conversations: Infobip Analyst Event Review, EM360, June 27

NiCE Interactions Review - and More - my Latest on No Jitter

A big highlight from last month - but not the only one - was the NiCE Interactions event in Las Vegas. Aside from this being the not-so-new-anymore CEO Scott Russell’s debut keynote - and introducing their new branding - the event was a great showcase for the strides made from last year on the ever-improving AI front.

There was a lot to digest, and this post serves to share my latest reflection on Interactions, along with being a one-stop-shop summary of all the other sharing I’ve been doing about the NiCE event.

First, the latest - my Interactions review is running now on No Jitter. Here’s the link, and I hope you check it out.

Next - throughout the event, I posted photos and commentary on LinkedIn. If you follow me there, you can track my in-the-moment take on things.

Otherwise, during and after the event, I did various video segments, and for those that have since been published, the links are below.

• CX Today, onsite interview with Charlie Mitchell - view here on LinkedIn

• BCStrategies - event review with colleagues Blair Pleasant and Tom Brannen - Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.

• NiCE TV - segments with Sharang Sharma from Everest Group, and Neeraj Verma from NiCE. These are still being edited, and will share once ready.

That should keep you busy for a while, but if you just want to chat, I’m not hard to find!

New Month - Time for July Newsletter

In case you’re looking for some quick beach reading during the holiday weekend, the July edition of my newsletter went out to subscribers today.

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review has been running steady for several years now, but for the first time, it’s going solo - as in, no new Watch This Space podcast episode.

If you follow me, you should know by now that I’m taking a brief hiatus from the podcast, and that’s explained a bit further in this month’s newsletter. I hope you check that out, and if you have any bright ideas for WTS 2.0, let’s get in touch!

For the handful of you out there not subscribed, signing up to my newsletter is easy - the signup page is here.

Although Watch This Space is on pause for now, you can still subscribe on all the major platforms, or listen to any episode directly here on my website, or here on the dedicated WTS website. There are 85 episodes to choose from, so I’m sure you’ll find something there of interest. And if not, then we really don’t have much to talk about, do we? :-)

June Writing Roundup

Plenty on the go during June, including some new writing. I’ve got three articles to share that had my byline last month - hope you check these out if not seen yet. More coming for July.

One Communications Platform - Billions of Conversations: Infobip Analyst Event Review, EM360, June 27

The Telco to Techco Reinvention Playbook: Three Moves that Matter, Aizan guest article, June 25

How UC Can Support Return to Office, TechTarget, June 9

The Telco-to-Techco Reinvention Playbook, Part 2

I’ve been doing guest posts for Aizan Technologies for some time, and my latest article is running now. A theme I’m following with interest at the moment is “telco-to-techco”, where service providers are trying to evolve from the legacy telephony business model to being an AI-driven platform play built around digital applications.

It’s a major shift on many levels, and this post builds on Part 1, where I outlined the tech trends that are making this change necessary. For Part 2, the focus is on what telcos need to be doing for this to work. I hope you give both of them a read, and the link to Part 1 is in the article here.

NiCE Interactions 2025 - Photo Share

The 2025 version of NiCE Interactions did not disappoint, and that’s saying a lot with this being new CEO Scott Russell’s first time, saying farewell to CMO Einat Weiss and her 17-year run, taking in the vibe for their new branding, and not to mention their huge strides with AI since last year.

I’ll cover that ground in an upcoming review article, and if you follow me on LinkedIn, I posted there steadily during and just after the event. Three video interviews are in the works as well - stay tuned. To complement all that, here are some photos - all are mine other than a few that I’m in (I don’t do selfies as a rule of thumb).

Loved seeing this ad right after getting off the plane at LAS airport. And yes, it was HOT!

Dan Belanger and Scott Russell getting things started.

Fantastic dance performance from Aussie-based Brent Street - really set the tone.

Perhaps the biggest news from the event - their partnership with ServiceNow, and perhaps a sign of things to come as software vendors jockey to get the inside track to provide an AI platform to manage all the data inside an organization. This is a much bigger story than CX, and this partnership puts NiCE closer to the center of things for how things are unfolding.

Customers telling their success stories with NiCE - Brendan Mulryan from H&R Block, and Rahul Magan from Charles Schwab.

From the Best Practices sessions - using AI for augmenting employee performance, and branded calling to make outbound messaging more effective.

Keeping busy in other areas - one of two segments I did for NiCE TV, a sit-down with Charlie Mitchell from CX Today, and a booth visit with Klearcom, one of NiCE’s partners.

Day 2 speakers - Barry Cooper, and Tim Harris.

More customer success stories - a clever visual here from Carnival, summarizing their key CX challenges with cruise customers; Arun Chandra from Disney.

On the fun side, we all got bussed to the Theater at Virgin Hotel to see OneRepublic - they were new to me, but very good. Later on, a speakeasy - really - behind a doughnut shop in our hotel - great little venue, loved the band, and yes, there was dancing.

Best for last - CEO Scott Russell saying thanks, with AC DC walk-on music - very apropos. Then, a fun sit-down with celeb guest speaker, Kristen Bell - and if you don’t know, she’s the NiCEst person on earth!

June is Here - Time for New Podcast and Newsletter Editions

Am on target again for publishing my newsletter and podcast on the first Tuesday of the month.

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’s podcast was special, as it marks a change in plans for what Chris and I have been doing over 85 episodes the past eight years. The Last Waltz kinda comes to mind, and we’re taking a hiatus, as it’s time for a refresh on what I’m doing with the podcast.

Will likely hit pause for 2-3 months, and to learn about our thinking and what we’ve taken away from doing all these episodes, I hope you give give it a listen - here’s the link. In one form or another, Watch This Space will be back, so just bear with me, and if you have any suggestions for topics or sponsors, please drop me a line!

May Writing Roundup

May was another month with a lot of video activity, but I managed to get some writing done as well. Aside from published articles, I’ve decided to include here some writeups I posted on LinkedIn, as they would be easy to miss if not following me regularly. Caveat - you do need to be logged into LinkedIn to read them - but if you can’t do that, please let me know, and I could share any of those posts in another format. With that said, here’s the digest.

8x8, Q4 earnings - my takeaways, LinkedIn, May 23

Legacy to Leadership: Telcos Rewrite Their Future as Techcos, Aizan, May 19

NICE, Q1 earnings - my takeaways, LinkedIn, May 16

RingCentral Q1 earnings - my takeaways, LinkedIn, May 14

The Difference Between a Traditional and Hybrid Meeting Room, TechTarget, May 12

New White Paper for NICE - CX, AI and Mpower

I have a new white paper to share here. This one is for NICE, and while it was published recently, only now do I have the details to post publicly. Mpower is the platform that brings all their AI capabilities together, and the focus of my writeup is how their vision for AI takes CX to another level - based more on a customer’s complete history with a brand, rather than just their recent contact center experiences.

In time, most of the CX vendors will move to this more holistic view of the customer, but at the moment, I would say that NICE is leading the way. The paper is gated, so you need to register - here’s the link. If you give it a read, I’d love to hear your thoughts, and if you’re attending Interactions next month, perhaps we could connect in-person.

Catching Up - Latest Updates

Finally off the road for a few weeks, but staying busy on several fronts. I haven’t blogged much lately, so am sharing a few recent updates in this post.

• Will start things off with an award, why not? I recently did a podcast with PolyAI’s CEO for EM360, and it was just named winner of the Most Engaging Podcast for Q1 2025 - yay.

• My takeaways on NICE’s Q1 earnings results - here on LinkedIn

• Was part of the most recent BCStrategies podcast, where a group of analysts reviewed industry highlights for Q1 - you can check it out here.

• Was a guest on the latest episode of the AI Show, hosted by Rob Scott and Kevin Kieller, with a catchy title - AI Just Ate the Enterprise - here’s the link, and if you can’t get in, I can get you the link to watch on their AI News YouTube channel.

• Another podcast to share, this time with GoTo. I was a guest on their Practically Tomorrow podcast, speaking about the value AI can bring for SMBs - details are here on LinkedIn, including a teaser clip - and you can watch the full episode here on their Spotify page.

• My takeaways on RingCentral’s Q1 earnings results - here on LinkedIn

That should keep you busy for now, and I’ll be back to more regular blogging next week, including updates on where my next travels will be taking me.

New Month - Time for May Podcast and Newsletter

My target date for publishing is the first Tuesday of the month, and for May, things were on target. Both newsletter and podcast editions went live yesterday, and I hope you check them out.

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’s podcast was a recap of the industry events Chris and I took in last month; namely Jeff Pulver’s vCon, 8x8’s analyst event, Cloud Communications 2025, and Vector Institute’s Remarkable event. Never a dull moment, and you can check it all out here.

April Writing Roundup

Was a busy month on several fronts, and event travel kept me on the move. I have three writeups to share from April, and I hope you give these a read.

What is a Hybrid Meeting?, TechTarget, April 28

Cloud Connections 2025 Takeaways, LinkedIn, April 18

8x8 Analyst Summit Takeaways - Track Some Mud on the Carpet, BCStrategies, April 10

Cloud Communications Alliance 2025 Event - Photo Highlights

Am back now from Cloud Connections 2025, the main event run by the Cloud Communications Alliance. I’ve known CCA for some time, but this was my first time attending - and speaking - at this particular event, held in St. Petersburg, FL.

For this post, I’m just sharing photos, and it’s really a companion to my takeaways post that is live now on LinkedIn. Also, I posted photos and commentary regularly on LinkedIn during the event.

Below - Masters of all ceremonies, Clark Peterson and Amy Bailey - great job all around. Center-of-the-universe Mike Tessler sharing his view from on high, including his Top 5 strategies for success with AI.

Michael Quinn and Brian Kornmann from Q Advisors, with their PE perspective on building value for your business, and key reasons why deals succeed or fail. Next - Clark Peterson moderating the analyst panel, with Robin Gareiss, Matthew Townend, Elka Popova and myself.

Master entrepreneur and Shark Tank alum, Kevin Harrington - this is the kind of vision MSPs need to keep growing, and he gave them plenty of food for thought - and a free book. Nice social shot, where a few us got in the mix with him before he left.

Two more solid panel sessions. First, Dino Di Palma, with Brian Beutler of Alianza, and Peter Eisengrein of XTIUM - talking about the climate now for M&A. Brian has “never been more excited” about the future for growing his company. Next - Gerry Christensen of 46 Labs, moderating a fascinating panel about branded calling and KYC. Lots to talk about here, and he’s with Alexis Buese of Bradley Law and Chakra Devalla of tekVizion.

Brandon Knight of Zoom, Doug Green doing a podcast with me, and Mr. CCA, Joe Marion kicking off the first night fun.

Event venue - the Vinoy - very Florida and very upscale. Loved the music and pool - who wouldn’t?

Next Webinar - with Cognigy, Agentic AI

Agentic AI is arguably the hottest trend in AI, especially for the contact center, and if you need to get up to speed - especially for CX leaders - you’ll want to join us on April 24. The webinar is being hosted by TMCnet’s CUSTOMER Magazine, with Erik Linask moderating.

I’ll be in conversation with Cognigy’s Alan Ranger, and we’ll be covering the latest developments, along with how agentic AI is being used to great effect today. We’ll also share learnings from Cognigy’s recent Nexus 2025 conference, where several success stories were shared for both agentic and conversational AI.

We hope you’ll join us - it’s at 2pm ET on April 24 - and details to register are here.

8x8 Analyst Summit - Photo Highlights

Been going full-out since back from last week’s 8x8 analyst event in Southampton, UK. I’ve written an extensive review on the BCStrategies website, which has just been updated, so that’s another reason to go visit.

My review just went live - read it here - and before doing that, I’ll share some of my photos from the event, along with some social time while there. I hope you enjoy these, along with my review of the event.

Below - CMO Bruno Bertini and CEO Sam Wilson

Hunter Middleton and Fabio Ramos

At the harborside hotel, and an obligatory Guinness at the soccer match

Customer panel, onsite at the stadium; some images from their new branding

Partner panel, executive Q&A panel near the end of the event

More social - at the soccer stadium, pub stop with Blair Pleasant, followed by dinner with Simon Harrison

Inside the stadium before the game, and the marching band outside - loved it

Next Event - Cloud Comms Alliance - Speaking on Two Panels

The annual Cloud Communications Alliance conference - Cloud Connections 2025 - is running soon - April 14-16, in St. Petersburg, FL. I’ve been to their finance event, but not the main one, so am looking forward to attending - and speaking.

It’s a very familiar group, and many of the topics will be comparable to what I see at most of the vendor events I attend as a matter of course. If you’re still thinking about attending, details are here on their site.

Both panels that I’m on are on Tuesday, and analysts will be the speakers, so there will lots of opportunity to hear from our perspective, and get the bigger picture on industry trends, and what they mean for carriers.

April 1 - No Foolin' - New Podcast and Newsletter Editions Out Now

Last month, publishing was a week late, but for April, we’re right on time. Both newsletter and podcast editions are live now, and I hope you check them out.

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’s podcast was a recap of three March events - Leesman Focus Forward, Enterprise Connect, and Cognigy’s Nexus 2025. Lots to talk about, and you can hear all about it here.