New Podcast - AI in Contact Centers, with EM360

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.

September - Time for New Podcast and Newsletter

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.

August Writing Roundup

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

North Carolina Cooperatives Utility Technology Conference - Quick Pix

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.

Next Stop - North Carolina Cooperative Technologies Conference

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.

July Writing Roundup

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)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

New Month - Time for New Newsletter and Watch This Space Episode

Last month, I had ongoing travel to industry events every week, so I have lots to write and talk about. During February, I got to wear quite a few hats, and if you want to know what that looks like, you should check out the latest editions of 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 had on tap for March, and here’s the link if you want jump in right now.

Writing Roundup for February

Following a quiet month on the writing front, February made up for it, with four public posts, plus two that ran late last month, but not in time to be included in the January roundup.

Zoho Analyst Day - More Than Meets the Eye, BCStrategies, Feb. 26

How AI is Transforming Unified Communications, TechTarget, Feb. 7

Voice Communications Tools in the Modern Customer Experience, Aizan Blog, Feb. 2

The Future of Work is Here Now - Are You Ready for It?, No Jitter, Feb. 1

Willing and Able? Modernizing the Contact Center to Drive CX, Aizan Blog, Jan. 26

Three Big Ideas for 2024, Aizan Blog, Jan. 25

Next Stop Update 1 of 2 - Zoho Analyst Day, McAllen, TX

Tomorrow starts a travel run of 5 industry events in 4 weeks, so there’s a lot of packing and planning to do, not to mention delivery stops for the newspaper. I’m SO analog, I know.

First stop is McAllen, Texas - definitely a new locale for me, and it’s home to Zoho’s analyst event, which will also be a first for me. The borders for the contact center space are becoming ever-more fluid, and that applies both ways. Not just for vendors outside this space adding CCaaS, but for contact center vendors reaching into the enterprise. I’ll have more to say about that after taking in the sessions, so stay tuned.

New Interview - Cognigy CX Disruptors

Been heads-down working on new projects, but have also had a good run lately for doing video interviews. The latest is with Cognigy, where they have a series called CX Disruptors, doing 1:1 interviews with thought leaders, hosted by Jarrod Davis.

The series is well-done, and the latest episode is my turn, just published today. I hope you check it out, along with other episodes featuring many of my peers.

Latest Insight Report - 2024 CX Trends for Upstream Works

Been doing my share of writing and speaking for what lies ahead for 2024, and here’s my latest example. This is an Insight Report I prepared for Upstream Works to help educate contact center leaders about key CX trends to be watching for in the new year. Lots to talk about in this space, and here’s the registration link to access the writeup. If you get it, I hope you like it, and welcome comments any time.

Next Stop - Verint, Scottsdale, AZ

I’ve got one more industry event during this travel run, and it will be the ninth in nine weeks, so it’s been a long stretch of airports and hotels.

This one is for Verint and their Analyst Days event in Scottsdale. It will be my first time attending Verint’s event, and am very much looking forward to being with them in-person, and hearing about their roadmap from their leaders. As always, I’ll share on LinkedIn along the way as time allows, and will do a wrapup post soon after.

NICE Analyst Summit Review - on BCStrategies

Am slowly getting through the backlog from last month’s travel run, including posting reviews of the various events I attended and spoke at.

For the NICE Analyst Summit - epic in many ways - I shared posts and photos on LinkedIn during the event, along with some short video clips. Definitely needed time to reflect on that event, and my writeup is now running on BCStrategies - you can read it here.

I’m not done with NICE, though, so here are a few more tie-ins to my post:

• I have MANY photos to share still, both from the event and from our Machu Picchu expedition. Am planning to share some here soon, and if you follow me on Facebook, more of the fun stuff will be there.

• For more on their analyst event, check out colleague Blair Pleasant’s review here, and yesterday, a foursome of BCStrategies Experts did a LinkedIn Live segment to review recent industry events, including NICE - you can view that here.

• Am having a double-shot week so far with NICE, as my latest white paper for them was just published - details here.

New Month - Time for Newsletter and Podcast

Am a bit off schedule for November publishing, but new editions of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review newsletter, and the Watch This Space podcast are out now. If you don’t know, October was a very travel-heavy month for industry events, and covering that was the main focus of the podcast. We also talked about the state of hybrid work, and why this is a great time to be an entrepreneur - I hope you check out the latest episode.

If you’re not a subscriber, signing up to my newsletter is easy - the signup page is here. For my podcast, you can subscribe on all the major platforms, or click to listen to the current episode here. Hoping you’ll check both out, and would love your feedback any time.