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A short note for navigating this section - scroll below for the most recent posts, and then for more, click on the Blog Archive box, where you can view all of my posts, going back to the beginning in March 2005.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Was a light month for writing, and just about everything else, but will hit the ground running after Labor Day - things are set to ramp up again then, and will be as busy as ever. Just two posts to share, and I hope you give them both a read!
RingCX AI: Blending Intelligent Automation with Personalized Support, Aug. 29, RingCentral blog
How AI Helps Address Core Challenges for Utilities, Aug. 21, No Jitter
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.
I’ve been meaning to share some photos from last week’s NCEC conference in Wilmington, NC. This was my first visit to that part of the US, and really liked it - next time I’ll go back for fun.
The back story about the rural utility market was covered in this earlier post, and for this post, I’m mainly just sharing some photos for the vibe of the event. More analysis and takeaways can be found in my latest No Jitter post - here - and I’ll be talking about it as part of our next Watch This Space podcast episode, which will publish just after Labor Day.
For more background, here are my takeaways and photos from last year’s conference.
A follow-on writeup is also in the works, focusing on two pressing security issues for utilities - both cyber and physical. The conference had very interesting sessions on each topic - stay tuned.
In short, this is the world of utility co-ops, which basically serves the non-urban population, and just like everyone else, they’re struggling to modernize and adopt new technologies, especially AI.
Customer service is an important vector for this, and I presented on the role of AI for making CX better. Later in my session, I was joined by Hardy Myers from Cognigy to talk about real-world examples where their AI technologies are being used now to improve CX.
This is a very interesting vertical that I’ve been involved with for over 15 years, and I find that many of their challenges are similar to what we experience in the communications technology space.
Below - opening panel session with industry execs talking about making the grid more resilient and reliable; view from the show floor
Casey Werth from IBM talking about the role of AI for modernizing utilities; signage for my breakout session with Cognigy on Conversational AI in the contact center; from the show floor - I believe this is a current transformer - utilities are very hardware-intensive, just like telcos used to be
Two fascinating keynote sessions and speakers. First, Jesse Tuttle - “Hackah Jak” - talking about the dark side of hacking and cybersec - yeow. Second is two speakers from CACI - Lance Manthey and Chuck Jackson. Both are ex-Marines, providing a very sobering, military perspective on how vulnerable utility infrastructure is to attacks, along with how they conduct threat assessments. More on both of these sessions later.
My breakout session on Conversational AI and CX for utilities (photo: Josh Conner, NCEC), and a selfie with Jesse Tuttle and his off-the-charts sharp daughter/protege, Reese.
I recently recorded another on-demand webinar for VentureBeat, this time in conversation with Gary Sorrentino from Zoom. Moderated by Thom Langford, we discussed how today’s “workplace” has been evolving, and the impact AI is having both for workers and organizations in general. AI is more than just technology, and we touched on related issues such as generational change, hybrid work models, and what constitutes productivity in today’s workplace.
The webinar has been posted now by VentureBeat, and here’s the registration link. I hope you give it a listen, and happy to hear your thoughts as well.
Around this time last year, I spoke at this conference on a couple of sessions about the growing role of AI, with a particular focus on the utility sector. In some ways, utilities are leading adopters of tech, but in others, they lag, so I was there to bring them up to speed on AI. The audience was rural coooperatives, who provide power throughout much of North Carolina, and their organizing body is the NCEC - North Carolina Electrical Cooperatives.
Well, they’ve asked me back for their 2024 conference, which runs next week in Wilmington, NC, and am very much looking forward to it. The format will be a bit different this time, where I’ll be providing an update on the AI landscape, along with specific use cases for customer service - an area where they definitely lag. To make things even more interesting, my session will also include a fireside chat with Cognigy, where they’ll share real-world successes in this space.
I’ll share what I can on social while there, but follow-on takeaways will be coming for sure. Until then, to get a flavor for this event, here’s my blog post with some highlights from last year’s conference.
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 further explored the topic of “workplace strategy”, which draws from my recent No Jitter article (both newsletter and podcast include the link), and why I see this as an opportunity for both UCaaS and CCaaS vendors.
We also talked about how recent missteps from CrowdStrike, Patagonia and Ticketmaster reflect concerns about Big Tech that we regularly voice on Watch This Space. To give it a listen, here’s the link, and would love your feedback any time.
There was no travel during July, but I kept busy on many fronts, including writing. As per below, I only had two articles with my byline, but three others were published last month that I wrote, but sans my byline. You might be surprised by the variety of ways we indie analysts ply our trade - and I’d be happy to tell you more about that any time!
No Jitter - my latest article, AI in the Enterprise - Are We Missing the Best Use Case of All?, July 17
Aizan Blog - my latest guest post: Communications Tech Events to Attend - an Analyst’s Take, June 28 (did not run in time to be included in my June writing roundup)
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.
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
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.
J Arnold & Associates is an Independent Technology Research and Analyst, helping businesses understand the strategic value of communications technology as they adapt to the digital transformation of work
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