Next Webinar - with NICE on Digital Self-Service

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.

Catching up on July Activity

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

Next Stop - Intelligent Thinking AI Summit

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.

July Editions Out Now - My Newsletter and Podcast

Just in time for the July 4 break! 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 recent events each of us attended in Las Vegas - HPE Discover for him, and NICE Interactions for me. LOTS to talk about, and some other sidebars I think you’ll enjoy. To give it a listen, here’s the link, and would love your feedback any time.

June Writing Roundup

More writing and less spoken word for June - four public writeups, and all were reviews of recent industry events.

Zoom Perspectives - Five Takeaways, June 5, BCStrategies

Verint Analyst Days - Four Takeaways, June 10, BCStrategies

Zoholics 2024: How the Company Models a Different Path to Success, June 21, No Jitter

NICE Interactions 2024: Just CX It - Executing on the Vision, June 21, BCStrategies

Catching up on Analyst Events - 2 Reviews to Share

I’ve had four conferences over the past few weeks, and my run of travel has finally hit pause. Writing is a big challenge when on the road, and invariably this creates some gaps in getting timely analysis done, along with having time to share it.

So, in case you missed it, here’s where to find my reviews from two of these events. I’ve written reviews for the other two as well, and both are in line to publish any day now.

Verint Analyst Days - my review runs here on BCStrategies

Zoom Perspectives - this review also on BCStrategies

Newsletter and Podcast Time - June Editions out Now

The June 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, the podcast reviews two recent analyst events I attended - Zoom and Verint - along with examining the pros and cons for these companies going all-in with AI. To give it a listen, here’s the link, and would love your feedback any time.

Next Stop - Zoholics, Austin, TX

Make what you will of the event name, but that’s where I’ll be next week. Zoholics is Zoho’s customer/partner event, and they have several of these on a regional basis around the globe. Earlier this year, I attended my first Zoho event, and this will be my first Zoholics event - in Austin, woo hoo - so I’m getting to know this very interesting company a bit better now.

The weather will be hot, the BBQ will be great, and there’s no better city for live music, so it’s shaping up to be a pretty, pretty good week. I’ll post updates as time allows, and you can track the event more broadly using these tags on social - #Zoholics24 and #ZoholicsUS.

May Events - Zoom and Verint - Quick Pix

Last week I had back-to-back analyst events in the US, and just wanted to share some photos here. First was Zoom Perspectives in NYC, followed by Verint Analyst Days in Dallas. I’ll be doing a written review of these later this week. Not sure where it will run, but stay tuned.

Also, as a heads-up, I discussed takeaways from these events with my partner Chris Fine on our Watch This Space podcast, which will run next Tuesday, along with my June newsletter. I hope you check those out. Until then, here are some quick pix of mine from last week’s events.

First, Zoom Perspectives in NYC. Below - executive team during Q&A session, Gary Sorrentino, Mahesh Ram

More from Zoom - Jeff Smith, Smita Hashim, and our tour of the MLB studios, a high-profile Zoom customer - very cool

Now, on to Verint Analyst Days in Dallas. Below - Dan Bodner, Jaime Merritt, David Singer

More Verint - event sign, the “CX Automation Matrix” discussion, Jaime with the event-themed cocktails

UC Awards 2024 - Time to Meet the Judges

Application entries for the 2024 edition of the UC Awards have been open for a few weeks now, and the window is closing soon - June 7, to be exact.

If you haven’t checked it out - especially all the new categories - here’s where you need to go next. Aside from details about the application process, you can also review the profiles of all the judges.

NICE Interactions - June 10-12

Just a quick shout-out for NICE Interactions, coming soon in Las Vegas. I’ll be attending for the first time, and it’s a much bigger event than their Analyst Summit - you won’t believe where it’s being held this year!

I’ve attended Interactions virtually during Covid - it was pretty cool then, and as you know, NICE doesn’t do anything half-measure. Being in Vegas, it’s even more amped up, and they always bring star power - this time, it’s Nicole Kidman.

Really looking forward to being there, and I won’t be hard to find, so drop me a line if you want to connect. Details here if you’re still making up your mind about going.

Next Stop - Zoom Perspectives and Verint Analyst Day

Am finally back to travel for industry events. Since the end of February, Enterprise Connect has been the only business travel for me, but that’s about to change. I was recuperating from foot surgery all of April, and had to pass on five events to manage that. The last two weeks, I was in Israel on a personal trip, but now it’s time to get back to events.

Starting today, I’m flying to NYC for Zoom Perspectives, then to Dallas on Wednesday for Verint Analyst Day. It’s way less flying than Israel, and a lot easier with time zone changes. I’ll be posting on LinkedIn as time allows, and soon after will write up my takeaways.

New Month - New Newsletter and Podcast

It’s time for the May editions of both my newsletter and podcast - 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. The title in the thumb below tells you what we have on tap for this episode , and here’s the link if you want jump in right now. Hope you do, and would love to hear your thoughts!

April Writing Roundup

Due to unusual circumstances and calendar timing, I need to post this roundup today. Normally I post it at the beginning of each month, but this time around, it’s on the early side - happy Friday! Definitely an active month on the writing front, and here’s what I was up to for public-facing, bylined writing.

AI Drives New Speech Technology Trends and Use Cases, TechTarget, April 17

US Contact Center Market Review and the Qtivity Opportunity, Aizan, April 4

The EU AI Act - the Shape of Things to Come, Aizan Blog, April 1

AI Communications Features Key When Assessing UC Vendors, TechTarget, April 1

New Guest Post for Aizan - My Take on the EU AI Act

AI may be the most transformational technology we’ll see in our lifetimes, and I’m keenly interested in how we can strike a balance between the classic push-pull of innovation and regulation. We’ve been down this path before - notably VoIP - and the story with AI isn’t much different.

I recently wrote a guest post for Aizan Technologies on this topic, specifically for the EU AI Act, which was just put into law last month. The EU has taken the lead on developing a regulatory framework for today’s digital technologies, and the AI Act is the latest chapter.

There’s a lot to unpack here, and it should serve as a template for the US to follow, but that’s another - messy - topic for another time. That aside, I hope you give the article a read, and would love to hear your thoughts - here’s the link - and while you’re at it, feel free to check out the other articles on their site.

Next Webinar - with Enghouse Interactive - Cloud for Contact Center

I may be recovering from foot surgery, but I’ve got plenty of things on the go, including a new webinar. This one is with Enghouse Interactive, and it will be live on April 30 at 10am ET. I’ll be presenting about the current state of things with contact centers, especially those who have not yet made any moves to the cloud.

A lot of education is still needed, and once the benefits are understood, it’s a much easier decision to make. I hope you can join us, and here’s the registration page.

UC Awards 2024 - Back Again, Bigger and Better

UK-based UC Today has been running an annual awards program for seven years now, and the 2024 edition has just been launched. I’m returning as a judge, and the judging panel has now expanded to 16 members. We need a bigger panel, because there are 15 NEW categories, so this awards program is really growing.

If you’re looking to enter, there are lots of categories to choose from, that should be your starting point. The first date to note is April 29, when the application process opens - and closes on June 7. There’s lots to explore here, and more updates are coming, but UC Awards is back, and you check out the whole program here.

Enterprise Connect Redux - Roundup of Latest Takeaways

I’ve been doing a steady stream of post mortems this week since returning from Enterprise Connect, and being Friday, I’ll do the expedient thing and tally them here in one convenient spot. Others are still to come, and I’ve already shared these segments below individually on LinkedIn.

You may not have seen these, or haven’t checked them out yet - either way, the main reviews are here in this post. Whatever you care to check out - thank you - and would love to hear your take as well. Here goes…

First up - Telecom Reseller podcast, hosted by Doug Green. We covered a lot of ground, both about the event and bigger picture issues around AI. You can watch either here on LinkedIn, or on Doug’s YouTube channel.

Next one - LinkedIn Live segment with Jeff Pulver. We were both at Enterprise Connect, but our paths didn’t cross, so we compared notes. Also, we looked at the bigger picture as to where AI is going, and parallels to what we both see now between this revolution and with VoIP 20 years ago, where Jeff played a central role in making Internet communications real.

Last, but not least - our BCStrategies roundup. As always, a great mix of analysts and consultants from our circle, so it’s a different dynamic from the 1:1 format of my interviews with Doug and Jeff. This was also done on LinkedIn Live, and as with all of these, I hope you check it out.

Latest White Paper - The Supervisor Opportunity for CX

Aside from traveling to industry and vendor events, I work with many vendors to provide various forms of thought leadership and go to market support - that’s mainly how I make my living.

NICE is one of those vendors, and my latest work with them is a white paper, which was recently published. I don’t have the exact date, but was likely around late March. AI is transforming the contact center space in many ways, and there is no shortage of angles to explore.

For this white paper, the focus is on supervisors, a role that tends to be in the shadows when considering use cases for AI. Well, it turns out this is a really important use case, and to better learn why, I hope you give this a read. As with most white papers, registration is required on the vendor’s website - it just takes a moment, and follow-on comments are welcome, as always.

New Mini-Report - US Contact Center Market Review

I’m a market researcher by trade, but as an indie analyst, I don’t publish industry reports as a matter of course. However, I’m happy to produce those on a custom basis, but that’s a different conversation. On occasion, though, I will produce mini-reports, which are on a smaller scale, and often based on publicly-available secondary sources.

That’s the format used with Aizan for this review of the US contact center market. More specifically, the research was used to support the notion that the on-hold experience is a critical link in the customer experience value chain, and is poorly understood.

This is a focus area for Aizan, and regardless of what’s on offer, the main takeaway is about the opportunity for contact centers to better address this weak link. Registration is required from their website, but if this is something you’ve been thinking about, I think you’ll find it a good read.