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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.
My public-facing writing was on the light side for the last month of 2023, but I was also busier than normal with videos and podcasts. Writing will always to be core to what I do, but it’s also just one mode for sharing perspectives, and going into 2024, there will be no shortage of things to both write and speak about. Here’s the digest for December:
Brace for an AI Backlash and Embrace Virtual Spaces for 2024, No Jitter, Dec. 26
2024 Customer Experience Trends, Insight Report for Upstream, Dec. 18
ICYMI - this one ran at the very end of November: Everyone Thinks AI Will Change Communications Tech - and Understanding How is Key, No Jitter, Nov. 30
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.
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.
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
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.
I have one more event from my recent run of travel to post about, and that will clear up a big backlog I’ve been trying to get through. The event was Cisco WebexOne, hosted in Anaheim, CA – right across the street from Disneyland. As with other events, I shared updates regularly on LinkedIn, and I’ve included a tally of those posts below. Aside from that, I’m going to cite three main takeaways and messages from WebexOne here, along with some photos not shared earlier, except for one.
Right off the top, Jeetu Patel talked about how Cisco – and Webex in particular – will be “an AI-first company”, with AI being “the core fabric” for all their platforms. There really are two messages here, with the first being all AI, all the time. All the vendors are on this journey now, so nothing surprising there – in the blink of an eye, AI has become more than just table stakes; it’s starting to sound like their raison d’être.
Fair enough, but the stronger message is how the idea of core fabric means that AI is becoming part of the DNA across their entire portfolio as well as their partner ecosystem. For example, one of their updated offerings – AI Assistant – is part of both their UCaaS and CCaaS platforms.
Bigger picture, though – AI-driven applications will now be infused across all the portfolio elements – Webex Suite for UCaaS, Contact Center for premises-based deployments, Connect for CCaaS, all their devices and endpoints, as well as Control Hub, which ties everything together. As such, their AI story is now holistic and very much platform level, so it’s much bigger than a collection of AI apps and point solutions.
Taking this down a level or two, they made the fundamental assertion that all the AI in the world won’t make a difference unless you have a great user experience. When it comes to communications and collaboration – either in the workplace or the contact center - that means having great audio and video capabilities. These fundamentals are easy to take for granted, and I really liked how they parsed out what they’re doing, not just for UX, but for how Cisco is trying to differentiate.
The main update is AI Codec (ultra-low bit-rated resilient codec), which uses generative AI among other things to ensure high quality audio across all network conditions. So, when bandwidth is variable or spotty, packets will drop, and that degrades audio quality. I’m not an engineer, but they explained how these packets carry multiple copies of the audio, so if one drops, the others will get through – that’s redundancy to cover packet loss. A key part of the AI piece is how the codec removes extraneous elements like background noise so that only the voice signals are heard. Got it.
My photos below aren’t great, but the first one shows how AI Codec maintains top quality performance across the spectrum of low levels of bandwidth – between 1 and 6 kbps. Compare that to the right side of that chart, which shows the industry standard Opus Codec, and how it only maintains that level of performance at much higher bandwidth levels – 16 kbps. So, when it comes to supporting the varying bandwidth scenarios for hybrid work, Cisco maintains their new codec is better aligned.
The photo on the right is clearer, and shows another data set to support their audio quality story. In the speech recognition world, Word Error Rate (WER) is a benchmark for accuracy, where the lower the metric, the more accurate the speech engine. Cisco’s capability here comes largely from its Voicea acquisition, and this chart shows their market standing in two ways.
In absolute terms, the current version of Voicea leads the pack at 11.5% (meaning an 88.5% level of accuracy), well ahead of the leading brands. Then, in relative terms, the chart shows four data points for Voicea, and how their WER has steadily improved from 14.6% to 11.5%. This is where Machine Learning comes into play with continuous improvement, adding another layer to Cisco’s AI story.
Disclaimer – I’m a market researcher by trade, and I don’t know the source of this data. Every speech rec player seems to find a data set that shows them to be the best, and I cannot vouch for how authoritative Cisco’s claims here are. Note to self to follow up on this.
Before this post becomes too long, there are other pieces that help make for better audio and video experiences, such as their newly-touted Real Time Media Model (RMM), which they view as a complement to Large Language Models (LLM), something that all the vendors are behind as part of their AI stories. I’ll move on now, but I hope you get the main idea for how Cisco sees audio and video as core to the Webex value proposition.
Not to be outdone by Jeetu and Javed, Snorre Kjesbu added the importance of devices to the equation, and in my mind, it’s just as important. No other vendor brings all these pieces to the table – and of course the networking gear – making this another way for Cisco to differentiate; and as always, Snorre has a very clear vision of how they do this.
First off, he maintains that the devices playing field really isn’t that strong – maybe – so there’s room for them to do things their way. A great example is the new Cisco 950 ear buds, produced – and equally important, branded – with Bang & Olufsen. Top quality audio quality and Scandinavian design cred aside, this is a high-end, premium product that helps position Webex as a leading brand. That should resonate nicely with their enterprise customers – which is where they want to be – but not so much down market, where picking up buds at Best Buy will do the job.
Bigger picture, Snorre talked about “distance zero” being their “North Star” (am starting to hear that term a lot lately, so be careful not to over-use it) – meaning that their devices deliver experiences that take distance out of the equation. The idea is being able to “lead from anywhere”, whether you’re at home or in-office. Since the focus here is mostly on meetings, the idea also applies to any type of space or configuration – big board room, huddle space, lecture hall setup, auditorium seating, in the round (campfire), etc.
Their portfolio of meeting room devices is built to support all of these scenarios, showing a strong recognition for how the post-pandemic workplace is evolving. There’s lots more to talk about in terms of these devices and the experiences (such as Cinematic Meetings), but the takeaway here is that they have a really impressive lineup of devices – all being AI-powered to support their holistic approach to AI – that not only makes for smarter, more equitable collaboration, but is easy enough to use that AV specialists aren’t needed (hey, design thinking).
Finally, as noted above, here are links to my LinkedIn posts during the event to give you more of an in-the-moment feel for the WebexOne experience.
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.
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.
Still catching up on new thought leadership to share - been doing a lot of that lately, but with so much travel, it’s been hard sharing about them in a timely manner. Here’s one, though, that is timely. My latest white paper for NICE was just published yesterday, and it’s getting a lot of traction already.
So, ICYMI, it’s out now, and here’s the registration page to access a copy. Sorry, but long-form content like this is usually gated, but it just takes a minute to fill out the form, and you’ll have it to read in no time.
My series of guest posts for Aizan continues, with the latest topic being the role for messaging apps to improve customer experience. Customer service has historically been voice-based, but the use of messaging has increased greatly, especially with mobility, and there are many scenarios where this is the best way to engage with customers. For more on this, I hope you check out my post, and more topics are coming soon.
ASIDE from the insane global travel across all of October, it was a good month on the writing front, with five public writeups - with my byline (others don’t have that, but I can’t share those here obviously) - and all with very different storylines. I hope you read ‘em all!
Avaya Rejuvenation - Can They Do It?, EM360, Oct. 30
Tianjin Port - the Leading Edge of 5G, AI and IoT, Silverlinings, Oct. 25
Setting Realistic Expectations with Contact Center AI, Genesys blog, Oct. 25
Spotlight on Operator Connect, TeamMate blog, Oct. 18
Latest Ipsos Research Validates the Value of UCaaS and AI for Improving Productivity, No Jitter, Oct. 9
Got another CX Pulse podcast to share. This is my latest one with NICE, where the discussion covered an all-too-familiar - but very timely - topic - the role of AI in shaping CX and the contact center.
We were just able to touch on a few themes, but if you give it a listen, I think you’re find it of interest - along with the many other episodes on their site. For my current episode, here’s a direct link via the Apple Podcasts site.
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.
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.
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.
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!
This crazy - but really fun - Fall 2023 World Tour continues, and there are several more stops ahead yet.
Am just back from London and the UC Expo - blog post/pix about that is coming next. Home barely long enough to pack and prep for alpaca country - Peru! This could be the most complicated trip I’ve ever done, but it’s all an adventure, and I know it’s going to be memorable.
This is for the NICE Analyst Summit, and if you thought Marrakesh, Morocco last year was exotic - and it was - it’s not a stretch to say Machu Picchu is even more exotic. I think we’re really splitting hairs here, but more importantly, NICE has set the bar impossibly high for analyst events, and am more than happy to be in the mix.
Most people don’t believe me when I tell them about this run of travel I’m on, so if not just to bear witness, I’d damn well better share pix. I always do that, but this time around, there will be video coming too, and I’ll explain more about that next week.
For now, I need to figure out what to wear, and double check all the travel logistics. I fly from Toronto early Monday to Newark, connect there to Lima, stay the night, then fly out Tuesday morning to Cuzco, and from there I will get taken to the hotel, and then the adventure really begins!
I have a lot to learn about Inca culture, but I do know that Cuzco is central to the origin myth for sun god worship - Inti - and it’s probably best to stay on his good side. NICE sent this guy along, and he’s coming with me as my good luck talisman.
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.
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
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.
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
Who’s Who in Telecoms?, March 2021
Top 100 Unified Comms Influencers Revealed, September 2020
Unified Comms Influencers - Top 50 for 2019 Revealed, August 2019
TOP VoIP Bloggers to Follow VoIP Review, 2018
Top 10 Telecom Experts to Follow on Social Media - June 2017
