December 2023 - Time for My Newsletter and Podcast

Going into the last month of the year, it’s time for the final 2023 editions of my newsletter and podcast, both of which went live yesterday.

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 click to listen to the current episode here. The topics Chris and I discussed are timely, and hopefully thought-provoking, and we hope you check all of this out.

November Writing Roundup

Much less travel last month than October, and that gave me a chance to recap some of my recent events, which drove a lot of my current writing. Here’s a digest of my public posts, and hope you check these out.

Everyone Thinks AI Will Change Communications Tech - and Understanding How is Key, No Jitter, Nov. 30

AI Speech Technology Offers Enterprise Benefits, Risks, TechTarget, Nov. 30

Cisco WebexOne Event - Three Takeaways, JAA blog, Nov. 10

VON Evolution - What You Missed, JAA blog, Nov. 9

NICE Analyst Summit 2023 - What Leadership Looks Like, But Some Cautions as Well, BCStrategies, Nov. 6

Enhancing CX with Integrated Messaging Apps, Aizan blog, Nov. 6

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.

Avaya Rejuvenation - Can They Do It?

This post is a companion to my analysis and takeaways about Avaya, following my recent trip to Dubai for the massive GITEX show. My writeup has been posted here on EM360, which I feel is a good home given given their focus on regions outside the Americas. I hope you give it a read, and likewise enjoy a few of my photos below from the event. As always sharing and comments are welcome!

Below - CEO Alan Masarek in our analyst-only briefing, a nice group shot (photographer unknown, sorry), and Avaya’s ever-present desk phones - in my hotel room.

Some demos at the Avaya stand - Sestek, showing speech-to-text in Arabic, an agent wellness demo where AI tracks sentiment, not just with video but analytics for customer dialog, and keeping customer data secure with Journey.ai.

Not sure if the flashy cars draw the big crowds, but big players spend big dollars here for sure.

Various manifestations of AI on display - too cute robots, Spot - the prancing robot dog from Boston Dynamics, and ever-present drones. Anything is possible in this part of the world, and there’s no way to tell how these “devices” will be deployed, but they’re definitely here now.

Metaverse demo from DEWA - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Abu Dhabi government stand - one of seven emirates that make up the UAE, Extreme Networks stand - yes, there were plenty of familiar Western vendors on hand.

On the other hand, this is the Middle East - crossroads of commerce - and you don’t to have walk far to see players you’ll almost never see in the West - MCI - Iran’s largest mobile provider, China Mobile, and Huawei - with a model display showcasing their data center of the future.

Not surprisingly, Dubai is super-modern and built to impress - high noon shot of Jumeirah Emirates Towers - left tower was our hotel, nearby the Museum of the Future, and a skyline shot at night.

Next Speaking Opp - UCaaS/CCaaS and AI with Rosenblatt Securities

This Friday, I’ll be in conversation with long-time colleague Catharine Trebnick about AI-related trends in the UCaaS and CCaaS spaces. Cat is the cloud comms and cybersec analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, so we’ll bridge the worlds of financial and technology analysts.

I don’t control who can register for our session, but all the details are below, and am sure you’ll find out soon enough if you can join us. Our session will be live, this Friday, Oct. 27 at noon ET.

Global Tech Research - Cloud Comm/Cybersecurity | Expert Access

Friday, October 27th | 12pm ET

Join us for a conversation on UCaaS/CCaaS and Voice AI with Jon Arnold, Principal of J Arnold & Associates 

 Hosted by Rosenblatt Cloud Communications & Cybersecurity Analyst Catharine Trebnick

Request Attendance

Reasons to Join

• Explore the communication, collaboration, and contact center areas that are experiencing sustained demand in the current landscape.

• Get a comprehensive overview of the macroeconomic conditions affecting spending and changes in priorities for communication and collaboration technologies.

• Delve into the world of CAI and discuss chatbot's reliability for basic communication and collaboration tasks, such as dictating emails, calendar updates, and meeting invites. Additionally, learn about emerging enterprise use cases for CAI.

• Receive company read-throughs for RingCentral, 8x8, Dialpad, Five9, NICE, Twilio, Cisco, Genesys, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and others.

Next Stops - SCTC in Raleigh, WebexOne in Anaheim

My run of travel for fall events continues, and I’ve got a back-to-back coming for next week.

First stop is SCTC, for our annual conference, which this year is in Raleigh. For the most part, it’s a member-based event, but certainly open to consultants and members who might consider joining. For those who know me, one of my SCTC hats is being in the SIPtones band, and we’re playing a set or two on Sunday night - that should be reason enough to come! On Monday, I’ll be speaking as well as moderating a panel session, so I’ll be earning my keep there.

My time at SCTC will be abbreviated, though, as I’m flying out on Tuesday to LA for Cisco’s WebexOne event. They’ve got an impressive list of celebrity speakers to draw a crowd, and an analyst-only program for our tribe. I’ll also be speaking on a panel session on Wednesday, so this will make for a busy week. I’ll share quick pix on LinkedIn for both events as time allows, and soon after a recap post here.

Jeff Pulver is Back - VON Evolution, New York City

Jeff Pulver’s VON event has gone through many iterations, and if you really want to know where voice is heading, you might want to mark this on your calendar. Having tracked telephony and voice for 20+ years, I’ve seen a lot, and Jeff has a knack for being on the leading edge for what’s next.

This edition takes place at City Winery - Hudson River Park location - running Oct. 31 - Nov. 2, and all the details are here on the event site. If I’m not reason enough to come - check out the eclectic list of speakers - it’s pretty rich. :-) Would be great to see you there, and no doubt Jeff will feel the same way too.

Next Stop - Dubai for GITEX and Avaya

From London to Lima to Dubai - not my normal routine, but this will be my third straight week of international travel - yeow. If I sound confused about what time it is or where the hell I am, now you’ll know why.

This is my first trip to Dubai, and yes, I’m a little anxious about going to the Middle East right now. Nothing is certain these days, but Dubai is pretty far-removed from the realities of everyday life just about everywhere, and am hoping that extends to the next few days.

Many thanks to Avaya for hosting me, and this is the first time the stars have lined up for me to attend GITEX. There’s a lot of buildup for GITEX, and given how large this event is, I know I’ll only see bits and pieces, and am sure all of it will be great, if not over-the-top.

I’ll do my best to share on LinkedIn and here as time allows, and will definitely follow on with a review article soon after. More details here about Avaya’s presence at the show, and if you’re there, please drop me a note and maybe we can meet!

UC Expo London - Quick Take and Photos

Am totally on the go these next few weeks, so blogging kinda has to be on the fly.

Last week was London and the UC Expo, and all told, it was a worthwhile event. Crowds were sizeable, the exhibit hall was pretty full, and the vibe seemed good. It’s always hard to gauge these things, as it all passes pretty quickly, and I didn’t have many quiet moments.

In terms of sessions, there were three for me - moderated one, was a speaker for one, and I facilitated a private roundtable with customers for a sponsor, but I can’t do any sharing for that one. Also did two on-the-floor video interviews - with EM360 - see below (click to view), and UC Today - coming soon.

Otherwise, plenty of good networking, and making more in-person connections with EU companies, both clients and prospects.

Not much else I can say for now, but maybe you’ll find some other takeaways from the interview below. Following that are some photos from the trip.

Rob Kurver leading the CPaaS panel, group selfie from Dave Michels for the analyst panel, and a full room for the session I moderated with RingCentral about AI and the contact center.

Very fun - had VIP front-row seating for this special session with math whiz Hannah Fry and famed Irish comic/tech guy Dara O Briain, Storm Troopers taking over the 8x8 booth, and a race car that really can’t go all that fast here.

With Chris Bain, in front of signage for my panel session, with Jeff Pulver, being interviewed by EM360

Kinda cool hardware of a different kind, start planning now for 2024, and my parting shot leaving the venue after the show.

London town - endlessly spectacular views from the Shard, very familiar touristy spot that’s just about everywhere, and a typical alley entrance to a courtyard where it’s nice and quiet.

Early October - Time for Newsletter and Podcast

It’s a new month, so it’s time for new editions of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review newsletter, and the Watch This Space podcast. If you’re enamored with every/anything to do with New York City, you’ll want to check out our podcast. Same if you’re following the worlds of cloud communications and the office of the future.

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.

USA Today - Am Profiled in an Article There

It’s not everyday I’m in the newspapers - yes I still get it delivered to my door - especially mainstream media like USA Today, but that’s the story here - no pun intended. I had an opportunity to be interviewed for an article about how hybrid work and digital transformation are driving the future of work, and it ran on Friday.

We don’t get USA Today in Canada, so I didn’t run out to buy a copy - does that ever happen any more? To read it, you’ll have to make do online - here’s the link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/special/contributor-content/2023/09/29/distributed-workforce-is-the-future-of-work-and-the-future-is-now-says-jon-arnold/71002261007/.

Another bonus for getting into mainstream media - when friends and family ask what I do for a living, this is exactly the thing I need to show them! Hope you like, and feel free to share.

September Writing Roundup

Finally got closer to my normal public writing output last month, and here’s the digest. Hope you get to check some of these out, and as always, comments and sharing are welcome

Assess Unified Communications Pros and Cons for Hybrid Work, TechTarget, Sept. 26

CCTC Event in Toronto - Quick Post and Pix, my blog, Sept. 11

Climbing Over the CCaaS Obstacles, Contact Center Pipeline, Sept. issue

How AI is Transforming Voice Communications for Business, Aizan blog, Sept. 1

Cloud Communications Alliance Event - Quick Take and Pix

This is week 2 of my travel run that will have me going to at least one event somewhere each week pretty much til mid-November. Busy is good, but much tougher to get the work done - that’s just how it goes as an indie analyst.

Was in New York the past two days, attending the Cloud Communications Alliance Financial Summit. Being a half-day event, it was more of an update than a summit, but top-caliber attendees nonetheless. Was very happy to be there, and in the end, I wound up being on the closing panel session with just analysts, led by Clark Peterson. Needless to say, with 5 of us, we easily went over time, but nobody seemed to mind.

There were two other panel sessions focused on the financial side of the cloud business, and it was good to hear what they’re talking about, especially for companies looking for exits. With the shift from growth to profitability, valuations are down, so the space is less lucrative now, and the players have to work harder to create sustainable businesses. There was a lot of talk about how to compete with - or align with - Teams, along with the dominance of other majors like Cisco and Zoom.

Most of the focus was on UCaaS - understandable - and less so on CCaaS, CPaaS and AI - but if a longer program, no doubt we’d hear more about these as well. Bigger picture - it was noted that 50% of the market is still legacy-based, so lots of upside ahead - fair - but UCaaS space is so crowded, and it’s getting harder to compete against the majors, esp if only selling UC and/or telephony.

Overall, I think CCA can play a central role in helping cloud providers navigate all this, particularly under the broader tent of cloud services. UCaaS is too saturated now, and providers need a wider portfolio to compete longer-term. Lots of important themes here, and it’s all central to what I do, so this was a good spot for me to be in. I’ll leave you with some photos for a sense of the vibe there, and thanks again to Joe Manion and Clark Peterson for inviting me!

Clark Peterson with opening remarks; one of the finance panels; closing panel with the analysts.

Joe Manion kicking things off; familiar faces - Jeff Pulver with Ari Rabban, and me!

Event was held at the Yale Club - very Ivy League, but worked quite well. Reception the night before at City Winery inside Grand Central Terminal. Band was great - acoustics, not so much, but very good setting for being social and networking.

UC Expo, London - Another Panel Session

Next week, it’s UC Expo at the ExCeL London. I recently posted about a session I’m moderating, and here’s another one I’ll be on. This is the ask-the-analyst panel, on Thursday at 2:10 pm, where I’ll be joined by colleagues Dave Michels, Oru Mohiuddin and Prachi Nema, and moderated by Gill Rowbotham. Should be fun, and hope you can make it!

I’ll be on two other sessions, including an invite-only roundtable, so I won’t be hard to find - maybe I’ll see you there. Details are here about the event, the agenda and registration.

Next Stop - NYC and Cloud Communications Alliance

Am on the move over the next several weeks - enroute now to NYC for short trip, attending the Cloud Communications Alliance Financial Summit. It’s just a half-day, but a solid agenda, and looking forward to attending. I’ve known CCA for many years, but this is my first time going to an event with them, where I know I’ll be seeing many familiar faces - looking forward to it!

Time to Travel - 7 Weeks, 8 Stops

And so it begins…

I’m not a super-frequent flyer, but Fall is the busy season for industry events, and I’ve never had a run like this before. Planning for these events has been in the works for quite some time, and it’s just about time to go.

Starting on Sunday, I’ll be travelling to 8 events over the next 7 weeks. Not continuously - phew - so I’ll be home in between each trip, but it’s going to be quite the ride. First stop is Shanghai, followed by New York, London, Machu Picchu, Dubai, Raleigh, Anaheim, and finally NYC again.

There will be lots to talk about at each stop, and I’ll blog as time allows - same for posting on social. I’m just about done now with X, so that basically means Linkedin. Next task - put in delivery stops for the newspaper. I’m so analog, huh….

Next Event - UC Expo UK, London

Am returning to UC Expo - pretty much same place and time as last year - October 4-5. Best I can tell, it’s the top event in the UC space in the EU, and they sure draw a big crowd.

Aside from attending, I’ll moderating two panels, along with being on the ask-the-analyst session during Day 2. Banner below showcases one of the sessions I’m moderating, and I’ll add the other one when it’s ready. If you haven’t registered, here’s the link, and maybe I’ll see you there!

CCTC Event in Toronto - Quick Post and Pix

Haven’t been able to post til now, and wanted to share a bit from last Thursday’s CCTC networking event here in Toronto. Telecom events are very rare in Canada, and given the community involved, it was great to attend and support this one. In case you’re wondering, CCTC is the Canadian Communications and Technology Consultants group, and colleague Cheryl Helm is the driving force. Happy to tell you more!

We had a solid turnout, and the content was consistently good all day long. I’m not going to recap the sessions here, but the feedback I’ve seen has been overwhelmingly positive - both the experience and the education from the sessions was worthwhile.

Kudos to Cheryl and the organizing team for putting this together, and the event bodes well for doing it again next year. Will leave you with a few photos that tell the story pretty well - all are mine, except the photo of me - thanks Nancy Gates.

Below - Cheryl Helm kicking things off - and yes, red was the color theme. Photo of the attendees, showing a pretty full room.

Scott Murphy leading the vendor panel on the future of comms tech - with Genesys, Mitel, Twilio, RingCentral and Avaya. Next - Roberta Fox on the state of 911 - nobody does it better. Roberta is retiring now, so this was her final conference session, and we gave her a nice sendoff - definitely the emotional highlight of the event.

As always, Martha Buyer giving us a rich legal perspective on AI, especially ethics - lots to think about. Next was David Dame - very inspiring locknote talk about his work at Microsoft, and his broader perspective on how input from those with disabilities can drive innovation, both in general, and for making technology more accessible. Finally, I was both a presenter and a moderator during the event.

New Month - Time for Newsletter and New Podcast

Still feels like summer, but it’s a new month, so it’s time for new editions of JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review newsletter, and the Watch This Space podcast.

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.

How AI is Transforming Voice Comms - My Latest for Aizan

I’ve been writing a series of guest posts for Aizan, and this time, the focus is on the impact of AI on voice communications, which of course is substantial. ChatGPT is just one flavor of this, and my post outlines key use cases and applications for both workplace and the contact center. I hope you give it a read, and while you’re there, you might want to check out their Voice Marketplace.