October Writing Roundup

Had a very heavy month fulfilling client work, along with attending two conferences - and a long drive to Florida for a family visit. Life happens, and there wasn’t much room for writing, but here’s what I’d like to share for October for those who want to read more of my work.

Twilio SIGNAL Day 2 Thoughts and Pix - OK Go, and do you Believe in Magic?, my blog, Oct. 19

Mavenir Analyst Day - Quick Take and Pix, my blog, Oct. 19

What Potential Security Threats Could AI Introduce?, TechTarget, Oct. 17

AI in Contact Centers Offers Agents Behavioral Analytics, TechTarget, Oct. 16

Collaboration Endpoints - Understanding the Bigger Picture, Toolbox.com, Oct. 11

Cybercrime and Collaboration - On A Collision Course?, No Jitter, Oct. 9

3 Things to Remember About Amazon Mayday, Toolbox.com, Oct. 8

Look to the Laggards to Drive Collaboration Adoption, Toolbox.com, Oct. 5

Twilio SIGNAL - Day 1 Pix

Been a fast-paced event so far, with a firehose of updates and announcements. For now, I’ll just steer you to some press releases, but will have more to say later after the conference. Namely: Autopilot for develping bots that can be deployed across multiple platforms, Flex contact center platform going GA, and acquiring SendGrid to integrate email into their platform.

Just too much going on, so that will have to wait for a quieter time. Otherwise, here’s a flavor of what I’m seeing so far. Co-founder/CEO Jeff - great energy and a passionate vision. Same from Al Cook annoucing GA for Flex, putting the call center space on notice. And, Rahma Javed from Deliveroo - diversity definitely spoken here! More coming about all these themes, so stay tuned.

My New Podcast with Genesys - Business Case for CCaaS

Well, this is actually two podcasts - a long one broken up into two parts. Been working on this one a while - it’s hosted by UK-based publisher EM360 - Enterprise Management 360, and sponsored by Genesys.

Joining me on the podcast was Bobbi Chester and Randy Carter of Genesys, and we covered a lot of ground around digital transformation, and why businesses need to be thinking about the cloud as a deployment model for contact center. This may be first nature for us, but legacy-based contact centers have a lot of catching up to do, and if this sounds like you, our commentary will be timely, and hopefully informative.

The discussion ran long, so EM360 wisely broke it up into two episodes, and you can give them a listen here. As always, your comments are welcome, as is any sharing.

Next Webinar with Genesys - Exploring Options for Moving to the Cloud

Onwards and Cloudwards is how Genesys is framing the topic, and it should be a good one. These are heady times for the contact center, as the case for moving to the cloud seems to get stronger by the day. There’s still lots to think about, and to do this right, you need a plan. If you’re in that situation now, this is the webinar for you.

My followers will know that I’ve been doing several webinars lately, and this topic has definitely been keeping me busy. For this webinar, Genesys is the sponsor, and following my presentation, I’ll be joined by Barbara Gonzalez, their VP of Global Business Consulting.

Full details are here on the registration page, and if you’re coming, save the date - Wed, Oct.3 at 2pm ET. Genesys has been doing a great job promoting this on their channels, and I’ll be keeping that vibe going as we get closer to the date.

My September Newsletter is Out Now

If you're a subscriber,  you'd know that by now, but for everyone else, am just letting you know about my newsletter, which provides exclusive content about what I'm up to and what I'm seeing the collaboration market. Just takes a moment to sign up, so here you go.

Of particular interest  would be my regular podcast, this time being a recap of last month's Blockchain Futurist Conference that I attended in Toronto. In time, the podcasts will be shared on my website, but if you need to check it out now, just sign up for the newsletter.

Newsletter Time - August Edition

It's been fairly quiet lately on the blog front, as well as my broader activities, and I think summer just might have something to do with that. Read what you may into that, and while the content is light, my August newsletter is now out.

The main highlight - especially if you're new to the newsletter - is a set of links to the podcasts I've produced so far, and I hope you find those of interest. There's certainly more to come in future newsletters, along with other features I'm planning to add.

If you're not a subscriber, it just takes a moment. There are signup forms on my website, and if you can't be bothered to look, here's a direct link.

Feedback is always welcome, especially for new things you'd like to see covered in our podcasts, and I would consider guest posts if there's a good fit. Summer is short, and I've never been busier, so come September, I should have more to report in the newsletter. Until then, I hope you enjoy the current edition.

My July Newsletter is Out!

Just a quick heads-up on this. My subscribers already have the curreent edition, and if you'd like to get it, you just need to sign up here - or wander around my website to find a signup page.

Of particular interest may be the podcast, where I partner again with long-time colleague Chris Fine. This time around, we take a closer look at some findings from the recent Internet Trends 2018 report, compiled by tech guru Mary Meeker. We could do 10 podcasts to do this set of research justice, but for now, one will have to do. That said, if you like what we have to say, let us know - ditto for any other topic you'd like to hear our take on.

For now, my podcasts are exclusive for subscribers, but am thinking of making them publicly available a short time after the newsletter goes out. For my subscribers - not to worry - the rest of the content there will alway be exclusive, so the podcasts will just be that way for a short time, meaning you'll get access before everyone else.

Contact Center 2.0 - More Than Just Going to the Cloud - No Jitter

That's the title of my latest post for No Jitter. Am a bit behind posting about it, as I'm on vacation this week. 

This time around, I'm drawing from a current study commissioned by RingCentral about how contact centers are trying to embrace new technology to meet changing customer needs. Digital transformation is a big theme, as is the cloud and CX, and addressing them all isn't easy.

I've taken select data sets from the study to connect those dots, with the intent being to show just how hard this really is, along with steps that I think will make that journey easier.

The article is posted here on No Jitter's site, and as always, your comments are welcome, along with any sharing you care to do.

June Writing Roundup

Sure has been a while since my last blog post. I was on the road three weeks out of four last month, so blogging has been light, and same for my writing output overall.

The time, however, has been well spent, and I now have a number of new projects starting up. No conferences til late September, and I'll be plenty busy close to home fulfilling client work. Since we're in a new month, it's time for my June roundup, but also a heads-up for my next newsletter. It should be in subscriber's hands - or inboxes more accurately - by this Friday, so if you get it, the wait won't be long.

If you don't subscribe yet, this would be a good time to sign up, and here's the form. As a sneak peak, I've got another podcast coming with my colleague, Chris Fine - and if you're a fan of Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trends report, you'll want to hear our discussion about some highlights.

Ok, back to the writing - it's a short set, but here's what I was up to in June.

How do you train an AI service for collaboration?, TechTarget, June 28

Internet Trends 2018 - How Digital Technologies are Driving Digital Behaviors, Toolbox.com, June 25

AI, Chatbots and Business Success, my blog, June 20

Is Ribbon Communications the New BroadSoft?, BC Strategies, June 19

Collaboration - Think About Outcomes, not Technology, Part 2, Toolbox.com, June 18

NEC Advantage - Quick Thoughts and Photos, my blog, June 15

Cybercrime - are you Paying Attention?, Toolbox.com, Jun 12

AI, Chatbots and Business Success

I've just completed a series of writeups for Upstream Works on the growing role AI is playing in the contact center. The third and final Strategic Insight in this series can now be downloaded from their website, and I've written a blog post that serves as a preview for my analysis.

Before steering you there, in case you haven't been following this series, here's the preview post for the first writeup, and here for the second writeup. Each of these blog posts includes a URL where you can download the full analysis, and if you read these, I'd love to hear your thoughts - as would Upstream Works.

Coming back to the latest Strategic Insight, below is the opening para of the post now running on Upstream Works's blog - to read the rest, click here, after which I hope you download the full writeup.

Technology change presents both challenges and opportunities for all types of businesses, and over this three-part series, I’ve been addressing its impact on contact centers. In particular, I’ve been focusing on the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and the role chatbots can play in driving a better customer experience. The full potential will take years to realize, but there’s an urgency for contact centers to adopt new technology, and AI presents viable opportunities that can be deployed now.

May Writing Roundup

Was a fairly quiet May on the writing  front, but plenty busy otherwise. The ongoing work I've been doing with Upstream Works is now finding its way here and on their website, and things have been active on the conference front, both for attending last month and prepping for what's coming in June.

In terms of visibility, I also did a webinar and a Google Hangout in May, and highlights from the latter will be available soon. Also, I continue to fine-tune my website, and last month's newsletter - you can subscribe here - marked my first podcast for what will be a regular feature going forward.

Managing CX from the Inside-Out, No Jitter, May 23

How Ambient Interfaces will Replace Phone Systems, Toolbox.com, May 14

How will speech technologies intergrate with UC apps?, TechTarget, May 14

My May Newsletter is Out, Including a New Podcast - Subscribe Here, my blog, May 10

How Telephony Evolution is Impacting the Contact Center, Toolbox.com, May 8

Preview for New Series - AI, Chatbots and New Value in Contact Centers, my blog, May 3

AI, Chatbots and Improving Customer Satisfaction

I've been working on a series of writeups for Upstream Works on the growing role AI is playing in the contact center. The second Strategic Insight in this series can now be downloaded from their website, and I've written a blog post that serves as a preview for my analysis.

Here's the opening para of that post, and you can read the rest here on the Upstream Works blog.

Contact centers are not alone in trying to keep up with fast-changing technology, but they face two distinct challenges that are highly related. First would be various constraints that limit their ability to provide agents with the tools needed to effectively support today’s tech-savvy customers. This challenge was addressed in my previous blog post, which in turn supports a deeper analysis that you can access here.

Managing CX from the Inside-Out - my Latest on No Jitter

I draw writing inspiration from many sources - industry events, news items, personal interviews and research studies. Regarding the last item, publicly-available studies cross my path on occasion, and if there's interesting data, I like to add my own take.

Sometimes I do this because the findings simply need more attention, but other times I see things in the data that haven't been picked up on in the sponsor's writeup. In part this is due to my unconventional background, but I also come by it honestly, since I've been a market research practitioner for 30+ years. I don't see much of that expertise in this space, so I'm happy to add to the learning that can come from new research.

That's the preface for my latest No Jitter writeup, and it's drawn from a new study done by Genesys that was shared at a high level during their recent CX18 conference. I've focused on some specific findings that support what I call the "inside-out" approach to CX, and why most enterprises aren't getting it right. My analysis has been posted now to the No Jitter site, and if you give it a read, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Join Us - Fonolo's Next Google Hangout - Top Call Center Metrics

I've been following Toronto-based Fonolo for years, and they continue to stay on the leading edge of contact center technology. CEO Shai Berger hosts occasional Google Hangout panel discussions, and I'll be on the next one, taking place on May 31 at 3pm EST.

We'll be joined by Daniel Hong from Forrester, and Kevin Brown of Banner Health. This is a live broadcast, and to register, all the details are here.

My May Newsletter is Out, Including a New Podcast - Subscribe Here

I'm going to do a standard shout-out here each time my newsletter is published. You need to subscribe to get it, and all you need to do is provide your email address. Not all of you follow my blog, or understand the range of services I provide, and the newsletter addresses both by providing updates on my practice, broad insights about the collaboration space, and current examples of what I'm doing with my clients.

My newsletter is very much a work in progress, and this month marks the inclusion of a podcast as a regular feature. For this segment, I'm in conversation with colleague Chris Fine, talking about the MoNage conference we spoke at last month, and how technology is reshaping the way we work.

The content in my newsletter is exclusive for subscribers, so if any or all of this is of interest, you need to subscribe. Signup forms  can easily be found on my website - including this standalone page - and hopefully that will be your next stop. I should add that many of you follow me via RSS, but we'll both be better served by subscribing as well, and if you do, thanks!

5 Signs it's Time to Change Your Phone System - My Latest Webinar

Most webinars I do are recorded live, so it's important to know the date if you want to participate. This time around, I was involved doing an on-demand webinar, and like the podcasts I do with BCStrategies, there's no live audience. We record the session as if it was live, and make it available on demand soon after.

For the above-titled webinar, I was the featured presenter, and following my talk, I was joined by Randy Carter from Genesys for an interactive dialog about the topic. The webinar was hosted by Toolbox.com, and the registration page has now been posted to their site. To learn more about the topic and access the webinar, here's the link.

If you're interested in understanding how the role of voice is changing in the contact center, I think you'll find this worthwhile, as there's much more to consider than the state of your phone system. As always, your comments are welcome, and if there's another topic you'd like to see us tackle, I'd love to hear from you.

April Writing Roundup

Pretty light month on the public writing front, but I was busy with a couple of conferences, a webinar and a lot of post-conference follow up for new business. So, just a handful of links to share, and maybe this means you'll review more of them.

1 Week, 6 Cities, 2 Conferences and 7 Takeaways, April 30, BCStrategies

Should You Buy Contact Center Services in a UC Bundle?, April 24, TechTarget

Is the Contact Center Going the Way of the PBX?, April 10, No Jitter

4 IT Success Strategies for Collaboration, April 9, Toolbox.com

Preview for New Series - AI, Chatbots and New Value in Contact Centers

I’ve recently been working with Upstream Works, an up and coming company helping contact centers leverage digital technology and migrate to omnichannel. There is no straight path to follow, and to better help contact centers find their way, I’ve prepared a series of Strategic Insights that can be downloaded from their website.

I'll be writing preview posts here on my blog as each Insight is published, and this post serves to support the first one. You can also find this post here on the Upstream Works blog, and from there, you can access the full Insight. With that said, here's my preview post...

Today, most contact centers face a technology gap between customers and agents, and as long as agents remain constrained by legacy tools, productivity will invariably suffer. Chatbots represent one of the best ways to quickly close the gap, but before doing so, contact center decision-makers need to get up to speed on two things:

Artificial Intelligence – The Basics

First, they need to understand the basics of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Aside from the rapid pace of innovation, AI is complex and not native to the contact center. Ultimately, the goal should be to improve the customer experience, but AI won’t deliver unless your decisions are well-informed.

Using AI to Improve Agent Productivity

Secondly, the use cases need to be thought through in terms of how chatbots can improve agent productivity. There’s a temptation to view AI as a way to automate customer service simply for operational efficiency and cost savings, but there’s much more to consider.

There is no straight path to follow, and to better help contact centers find their way, I’ve prepared a series of Strategic Insights that can be downloaded from Upstream Works.

This series is focused on the rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence, and the various ways it can be deployed in the contact center. Chatbots are the most tangible application of AI, but it’s not easy to get past the hype to determine the best use cases. To do that, decision-makers need to take a holistic view across the entire customer care value chain, not just because there are many touchpoints along the way, but also because they are interconnected. Based on my ongoing research, this can be distilled to three focus areas – contact center agents, end customers and overall business performance.

Each of these will be addressed in separate Strategic Insights, and collectively, this series will provide that holistic view. The first Strategic Insight focuses on contact center agents, and how AI in general – and AI-driven chatbots in particular – can help improve agent productivity.

There’s an almost universal interest right now in AI and chatbots for customer service, and expectations are getting higher every day. While these technologies are far from perfect, they are certainly mature enough to be deployed, even if just for basic applications. Some decision-makers will hold off and learn from the mistakes of others, but it’s equally true that the sooner you start on the AI learning curve, the lower the risk as things improve – and there should be no doubt about that.

If the time is now to start your journey with AI and chatbots, I think you’ll find this series timely.

Empowering Frontline Agents for a More Personalized CX

My first Strategic Insight in this series examines two basic use cases that are built around improving CX. The first use case is about directly supporting agents to engage more effectively with customers, and the second one pertains to improving self-service capabilities so agents can focus on higher-value interactions.

The first Strategic Insight has now been published, and you can download it here. The next two in the series will follow over the next few months. I hope you find them of value, and your comments are welcome any time.

1 Week, 6 Cities, 2 Conferences and 7 Takeaways

That's the title of my latest writeup for BCStrategies. 

If you follow me, you'll know that I'm a BC Expert, and contribute a monthly analysis on the portal, and get on my share of podcasts. This time around, I've summarized my thoughts for two recent events - MoNage and Cisco's Customer Care Analyst Day.

It was a hectic week, but very worthwhile, and I hope you find my reflections of value. The writeup has been posted now to the portal, and as always, sharing and feedback are welcome.

Next Stop - Nashville and Genesys CX18

Haven't blogged in a while, mainly due to being so busy. Last week was MoNage and Cisco's customer care event, and this week has been month-end writing, getting plans in place for next week's Genesys event, and practicing music for the SIPtones gig we have next Wednesday night during CX18. Also been very active developing new projects based on inquiries from recent industry events, so things are never dull here.

Just doing a quick shout-out now about next week's event, and I'll be there from Tuesday through Thursday. Details about the event and our SIPtones gig can be found in the Event Calendar section of my website. While there, I'll be tweeting as time allows - @arnoldjon - and you can follow the event feed at #CX18.