Dave Michels and Evan Kirstel talk (kind of like text messaging but with spoken words) with various guests mostly related to enterprise communications.
In this episode of TalkingPointz Chatz, Dave Michels and David Danto unpack a series of “sea changes” sweeping across tech and communications. They start by examining how AI engines are replacing traditional search tools, reshaping how users find information. The conversation shifts to LinkedIn's emergence as the dominant professional social platform in the wake of Twitter's decline. Most notably, they dive into the evolution of meeting room technology – from proprietary video appliances to streamlined BYOD/BYOM setups – and highlight the manufacturers that are embracing this shift, including Barco, Jabra, Logitech, and others. It's a fast-paced, thoughtful look at how user habits and enterprise tools are adapting in real time.
In this episode, we talk about the AV channel and upcoming ISE conference. Featuring Dave Berlin, President & CEO at Visual Image Display; Eric Snider, Chief Technology Officer at CTI; and Danny Rogers, Vice President Global Accounts at AVI-SPL.
Dave and David chat about the channel with John Cognata of SoftTel amd William Rubio of Calltower.
Ever wonder what's in a monthly Insider report? The September 2024 report included this:Hey Google, Tell Me About It: Google's NotebookLM uses LLMs to convert lengthy text from articles, research papers, and other documents into knowledge. NotebookLM has a new trick that turns knowledge into an audible story: an AI-generated podcast that includes playful conversations between male and female ”hosts.” It's a new summarization trick, this time with voices. Making generative AI trustworthy is the progress we need.This podcast episode is an autogenerated podcast based on the sole input of the September 2024 Insider Report. Subscriber for the full, written reports. https://talkingpointz.com/insider-report-for-september-2024/
In this episode of TalkingPointz Talking Headz, David Danto and Dave Michels, joined by Metrigy Research's Irwin Lazar, dive into the hot topic of Amazon's recent push to bring employees back to the office full-time. They unpack the real motivations behind the memo, revealing its connections to industry-wide layoffs and corporate real estate pressures and other explanations. This candid conversation offers a fresh perspective on what the return-to-office push from Amazon's CEO is truly all about..
I was conflicted when Scott Wharton announced his plans to leave enterprise comms to save the world. I was elated the world would now be saved, but what a loss. It was like one of those be-careful-what-you-wish-for episodes of the Twilight Zone. - Dave Michels. Scott Wharton is a seasoned expert in enterprise comms and video, with a notable career spanning influential roles at Broadsoft, Vidtel (a company he founded and sold), and Logitech. His vision and leadership have always aimed to revolutionize the industry by enabling seamless communications across modalities and platforms. His insights into the complexities and missed opportunities within the enterprise video space continue to shape the industry's ongoing discourse, highlighting the challenges and potential for future advancements.At Logitech, he worked to mitigate the impact of the industry's trend towards platform-specific ecosystems. Wharton's commitment to innovation and user-friendly solutions remains evident in his current role as CEO of Tandem PV, a solar energy company.
Microsoft's ambitious plan to unify device ecosystems under one platform has hit several delays. Originally intended to create a unified version of Android for all Microsoft Teams Room (MTRoA) devices, the rollout has so far been non-existent. In this podcast, Dave and David discuss potential reasons why it's taking so long. Recorded August 2024.
Microsoft has a new operating system, it's based on open source Android, will appear first in Teams meeting rooms, and it's called MDEP. The latest TalkingHeadz podcast has Dave Michels and David Danto chatting with with Microsoft's Ilya Bukshteyn exploring the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP.) This will be a customized Android distribution aimed at enhancing device interoperability and security through centralized updates and rigorous standards. It addresses challenges like inconsistent Android versions across OEMs, emphasizing long-term benefits such as improved stability and reduced maintenance. While MDEP is poised to become integral to Microsoft Teams device certification, ensuring a cohesive ecosystem for users and partners alike, it has questions and challenges. These include some confusing aspects and some industry reluctance. These factors - both exciting and challenging - are thoroughly explored in this extensive conversation.
In this engaging episode of TalkingPointz - Talking Headz, hosts Dave Michels and David Danto chat with Kevin McMenamy, the CTO of Neat, to delve into his fascinating journey through the video conferencing industry. Kevin shares insights from his early days at Cisco, where he contributed to pioneering video technologies like IP telephony video and telepresence, to his current role at Neat, where cutting-edge video solutions are developed. The conversation covers the evolution of video conferencing, the challenges and triumphs of integrating multiple firms into Cisco, and the vibrant, innovative culture at Neat that keeps Kevin passionate about his work. This episode offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the industry's transformation and the key players driving its future. Tune in to hear about the technological advancements that shape how we connect globally and the personal stories of those at the forefront of this revolution.
Dave Michels and David Danto dive into the Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) ecosystem, examining its evolution, current dynamics, and future implications. They highlighted Microsoft's milestone of surpassing 1 million MTR installations and discussed the market impact of Cisco joining the ecosystem, potentially disrupting vendor success and market strategies. It's an impressive ecosystem of vendors that has expanded over the years to meet the growing needs of the Teams community. However, one of the last vendors to join the ecosystem, Cisco, is also one of the largest. The inclusion of Cisco, described as a significant and potentially disruptive addition, will likely have an impact on the ecosystem. Something just might have to give? The Dave's discuss the possible shake-out that could occur.
In this episode of Talking Points Chatz, Dave Michels and Dave Danto discuss the high turnover rates among C-suite executives in various industries, particularly in the tech sector. They note that numerous high-profile leaders, including the CEOs of Nice, AWS, Twilio, and Bandwidth.com, have announced their departures recently. Danto highlights that a record number of CEO changes have occurred in the US, attributing it to factors such as the stress of navigating companies through the pandemic and current economic uncertainties. Michels and Danto explore the impact of AI, financial instability, geopolitical tensions, and the breakdown of trust within organizations. They conclude that these challenges are creating a "perfect storm" of uncertainty and stress, likely making this high turnover the new normal.
Microsoft announced it was what we beleive to be the first Meetings provider to reach one million connected meeting rooms. Just for fun, it also dropped that it has 20 million PSTN users! HUGE. The two Daves discuss the accomplishment, what it tells us, and what it doesn't reveal. Episode adapted from this video discussion: https://www.youtube.com/live/MhW_ETMfF8c?si=88DOkXsa0jrLV4ak
TalkingHeadz is a series of interviews with the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode, we check in with Brad Hintze, EVP Marketing at Crestron. Brad beleives that the foundation for marketing success is contingent on the combined strength of one's ability to: a) build (and ship) fantastic products, b) clearly communicate why one's product is excellent, and c) create the right tools to win more customers. While that may sound interesting to some, it's 1 Beyond that got us hooked. Crestron has a built a strong collaborative reputation with its Flex video conferencing systems, and that story got better about a year ago when it acquired 1 Beyond. 1 Beyond has been in business for 20 years, but the past seven have seen exceptional growth. The story got even strong with the when it opted to acquire 1 Beyond. Crestron was demonstrating its new capabilities earlier this year at ISE Barcelona, where seven One Beyond cameras collaborated so effectively that any meeting can become compelling. Crestron's Flex solutions integrate video conferencing, wireless presentation, and smart room control. The company works closely with Microsoft Teams and other platforms as well, and 1 Beyond isn't it's first date to the rodeo either: Crestron has announced partnerships with Huddly, Shure, and Jabra, too.Prior to joining Crestron, Brad served as the Vice President of Consumer and Brand Marketing at SnapAV, where he designed and led marketing efforts and strategies. Before assuming that role, Brad held the position of Senior Director of Product Marketing at Control4 where he was responsible for directing product marketing strategy and development.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode, we check in with David Petts, SVP Cloud to Cloud Business Group at Mitel. Our podcast was recorded just a few days after Mitel announced its acquisition of Atos Unify. We do discuss it, but there's more unknowns than knowns. David Petts is a seasoned sales and customer success executive with a proven track record of driving revenue growth and profit improvements across multiple product segments. With extensive expertise in enterprise servers, PC's, systems management software, business mobility, unified communication, and content licensing, David has a comprehensive understanding of the technology industry.David is well-versed in adapting go-to-market strategies to the specific dynamics of different geographic. David is a team-oriented leader who values collaboration and is dedicated to achieving success for both his team and the company.Mitel is a leading global provider of communications and collaboration solutions. Founded in 1972, the company has a long history of innovation in the telecommunications industry and has grown to serve customers in more than 100 countries around the world.Mitel's product portfolio includes a wide range of solutions for businesses of all sizes, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large enterprises and government agencies. In addition to its core products, Mitel is also known for its commitment to customer service and support.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode, we check in with Michael Beckley, Founder and CTO of Appian. Appian is the unified platform for change. It promises to accelerate businesses by discovering, designing, and automating important processes. The Appian Low-Code Automation Platform unifies key capabilities needed to accelerate workflow. As CTO, Michael drives the technical vision for Appian. He leads Appian's product and solutions marketing teams, and oversees customer initiatives worldwide. Michael serves on the Industrial Advisory Board for the University of Virginia's Computer Science Department and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode, we check in with Raluca Monet of Google's Chrome Enterprise Recommended (CER) Team. Chrome is a very popular internet browser, but there's more to than many realize. Chrome Enterprise offers organizations a number of advanced features. Chrome Enterprise Recommended recognizes solutions that leverage Chromebooks, Chrome Desks, and ChromeOS. Chrome Enterprise offers a number of management and security features that can benefit a variety of use cases. There are several CER programs, and in this episode we dive into CER CCaaS. Although Chrome can work with several premises-based solutions, the CCaaS sectors have embraced the browser over traditional software clients. Once the agent's desktop is on a browser, why bother with a full PC? Chromebooks are less expensive to purchase, secure, deploy, and maintain. Raluca works directly with CXO level executives to improve profitability and create sustainable growth for corporations. Raluca's areas of expertise include strategy formulation, organizational transformation, operational strategy, profit improvement and performance measurement. She joined Google in 2015.
The 2022 Season Finale of TalkingHeadz features Jeff Lawson, CEO and co-Founder of Twilio. Jeff is always clear, articulate, and friendly. I'm proud to say Twilio was born during my shift as a telecom analyst, and it's been exciting to watch it grow and transform. Jeff presented to analysts before the recent Twilio Signal Conference. He claimed that Twilio is always ahead of the industry. That's a bold (fighting words) statement, but he backed it up with a common sense observation. Twilio's customers create solutions that, in general, can't be purchased (yet). Lawson and Twilio more or less created the CPaaS category, an enterprise comms sector that is becoming a little crowded. That's probably one of Twilio's motivations to go broader and become a customer data platform (CDP) provider. CDP may seem totally unrelated to CPaaS, thus many perceive the change as a pivot. While there's some truth to that, Jeffs sees it as more of a logical extension. A lot of the CPaaS use cases support marketing, but they tend to be transactional rather than strategic. Twilio wants to better activate the information on customers that enterprises have, and the first step is to create a consolidated view. Regardless of how you spin it, this public, multi-billion dollar company is once again a startup that's defining (or converging) a new category. Check out this interview to get a better idea of what is on Jeff's mind.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode, we check in with Sid Rao, the GM of Amazon Chime SDK. I fondly remember Biba, a WebRTC video/messaging startup . There was a lot of excitement over WebRTC about ten years ago. Biba was acquired by Amazon and relaunched as the Amazon Chime app in 2017. Chime was a lot like Webex and Zoom, but worked entirely in a browser. Both Vonage and CenturyLink (now Lumen) were early resellers of the meeting application. The app worked well, but wasn't a bit hit. Vonage moved to its own video solution, and CenturyLink turned to apps such as Zoom and Teams. AWS discovered that its customers were more interested in Chime's underlying WebRTC than the meeting app. Amazon created WebRTC APIs, effectively making WebRTC a service rather than a tech stack. This model was a better fit for AWS, so at its reInvent conference in 2018, AWS launched the Chime SDK. Then came the pandemic and a boom in most things video. AWS customers and partners used Chime to create all kinds of solutions. K-12 education, for example, needed video for remote education. Chime obliged, and did so with simple hardware requirements for end users. Blackboard presented its success story at reInvent 2021. As for the original Chime app, it's been getting better thanks to new capabilities of the Chime SDK. The Chime app isn't particular popular,, nor marketed. It does well within Amazon, both as an internal meeting and chat app and with many of AWS's large customers.
Most TalkingHeadz episodes are interviews, but in this episode we Dave and Evan cover current events. TalkingPointz Insider Reports publish the first week of every month and cover the enterprise news that mattered the prior month. In this podcast, Dave and Evan discuss the most recent Insider Report covering the news of October 2022. The October 2022 Insider Report was published on Nov 2.Most Insider Reports are about 10 pages long, but designed for easy skimming. This podcasts only covers a condensed selection of topics. Subscriptions to Insider Reports can be purchased here. A personal subscription is $588/year.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode, we chat with the CMO of NICE Ltd, Einat Weiss.Einat has over 24 years of experience spearheading messaging, digital transformations, marketing strategies, and brand recognition. She joined team NICE in 2018, and has held the CMO position for over four years. The same four years that NICE has blossomed into a comprehensive provider of customer engagement solutions. Einat holds an MBA, Marketing degree and a BA in Computer Science. Prior to joining NICE, she held marketing positions at BMC, SAP, and Alvarion.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode, we check in with the new CEO at Avaya: Alan Masarek. Many people in the industry met Alan while he was the CEO of Vonage. Alan was one of the more accessible of the comms CEOs to customers and analysts. It's not clear if his experience at Vonage or his bicycle ride across the US was better preparation for his new job. Some might say that Avaya doesn't have a cloud, but Masarek certainly arrived under one. His appointment in late July coincided with a disastrous quarter (which still hasn't been filed), and that was just weeks after a major fund raising round. The cloud over Avaya is so dark, it's very survival is questionable. A major change at Avaya was clearly needed, and Alan appears to have the credentials, experience, and vision. The question is if he will have enough time to right the ship.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan realize that NEC is one of the largest companies in enterprise communications, and when it comes to the NEC family of UNIVERGE products, there's a good chance Ram Menghani is involved.Ram has broad experience in all aspects of product and business development. He's been with NEC for over 21 years. We suspect he has worked for other companies, but he doesn't list any on LinkedIn. He has reason to call at least three countries home which makes him an SVP of the world. In this discussion we get into the broader NEC line for UCaaS solutions and how it's partnership with Intermedia is so unique.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan discuss the rebranding and differentiation of GoTo UCaaS with its CMO Jamie Domenici.In 2016, LogMeIn acquired the GoTo Family of Products from Citrix. Both are strong brands and there must of been some struggle about branding. That ended earlier this year with the relaunch of GoTo UCaaS -- spearheaded by Jamie. Jamie Domenici serves as GoTo's Chief Marketing Officer. She is responsible for overseeing the full marketing organization consisting of Customer, Product and Acquisition marketing teams as well as Marketing Operations, Corporate Communications, Brand & Creative and Web & Ecommerce teams. She is responsible for deploying GoTo's brand messaging and architecture, driving demand for its suite of products via paid and organic channels to new and existing customers, and enhancing our web properties to tell the GoTo story and better enable self-service transactions.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan discuss the contact center, video, UCaaS, and life as an entrepreneur with Joe Manuele, CEO and Founder of No Filter. Prior to No Filter, Joe served as SVP Corporate and Business Development at Dialpad, where he landed after Dialpad acquired Highfive. How Joe ended up running Highfive is covered in this podcast, but he started there as a board member representing NTT. Joe has over 25 years of IT and communications experience in the enterprise and global carrier markets, gained at organizations including Avaya, Cisco, Actelis Networks, and Dimension Data. Joe served as Group Executive ̶ Communications at Dimension Data and NTT Global where he was responsible for its global UC and Collaboration business unit.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan discuss how contact center can better see the path, or light the path with Janelle Raney, CMO of Pathlight. Prior to her arrival at Pathlight, Raney served as Head of Product and Industry Marketing at Zoom Video Communications where she built and led the product marketing, market intelligence, analyst relations, and vertical solutions teams. Prior to that, she served as Head of Product Marketing, SaaS Division, Document Cloud at Citrix where she built an experienced team and set the global go-to-market strategy for ShareFile, GoToMyPC, RightSignature and other initiatives related to productivity and collaboration.Pathlight is a Realtime Performance Management (RPM) platform that allows large, customer-facing teams to move faster than ever before. By consolidating performance data, coaching, and communication in one place, the platform empowers data-driven management at every layer of the organizational chart. Based in San Francisco, CA, the company is backed by such investors as Kleiner Perkins, Quiet Capital, Jeremy Stoppelman CEO of Yelp and Dylan Smith co-founder and CFO of Box, among others.
Dave and Evan discuss how Crexendo is providing new options for enterprises and service providers with Jon Brinton, CRO of Crexendo. Jon triumphantly stepped in after a last minute scheduling change. That was probably for the best. Evan and I have known Jon for a long time, and those conversations always go a little smoother. Turns out he knows a few things about Crexendo too. Not to mention he shed some light on Mitel and Intertel history too. Crexendo Inc., is a full-service cloud communications provider that delivers critical voice and data communication services to small, medium, and small enterprise markets. Crexendo made a bold move last year with its acquisition of NetSapiens. A communications platform that is rapidly growing. It powers service providers around the globe, including Crexendo. Jon is a seasoned technology executive with over 25 years of industry experience, and is responsible for overseeing the strategy, performance and alignment of revenue generating operations for Crexendo. Prior to joining Crexendo, Jon most recently served as the Vice President of North America Channel for Avaya. At Avaya, he led the Channel through an exciting time of transition from traditional Premise Based solutions to Software as a Service and Cloud delivered solutions for Unified Communications, Collaboration and Customer Experience. During his tenure, the Avaya North America Channel achieved over $1 Billion in annual sales through growth and adoption of Cloud and Software as a Service delivered solutions.
Dave and Evan discuss how Balto can improve CX with automated coaching with Founder and CEO Marc Bernstein. Marc Bernstein is the Founder and CEO of Balto, which offers real-time automated guidance for contact center agents.Like most founders, Marc has made his share of mistakes. In particular, he noticed as a technology sales rep, that many of his mistakes were preventable - not to mention costly. Marc thought there should be a better way, that tech maybe tech can help. That's when Marc realized he needed to start Balto. Balto listens to the call and offers real-time and post-call services.Marc graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in Marketing, Psychology, and Entrepreneurship, and is on a mission to transform how organizations communicate with their customers.
Dave and Evan discuss life in the UCaaS driver's seat with Dave Sipes, the CEO of 8x8. We cover XCaaS, the economy, Teams, stadiums, and much more. Many of us met Dave during his 12 year stint at RingCentral, ending with the role of Chief Operating Officer. It was an extraordinary period for RingCentral. Dave led innovation, engineering, global sales, marketing, customer care, international operations, corporate development, and business development. Dave left RingCentral in June of 2020 ... and emerged as the CEO of 8x8 in December of 2020.Before joining RingCentral, Dave was co-founder and COO of Branders.com, the nation's largest online B2B seller of promotional items. Prior to that, he worked in brand management at PepsiCo and was a principal at Booz Allen Hamilton in their marketing intensive group, providing strategic guidance to marketing and media companies such as Heinz Company, Callaway Golf, and Universal Pictures. Dave also serves on the board of directors of PandaDoc, an all-in-one document automation company that streamlines the process of creating, approving, and eSigning proposals, quotes, and contracts.He holds a master's degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, as well as a bachelor's degree in business from the University of California, Berkeley.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan discuss how carrier services can improve services such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom with Dawn-Marie Elder, GM and COO of SIPPIO. SIPPIO offers a single platform and automation for DRaaS (Direct Routing as a Service), Operator Connect, and Zoom Cloud Peering, These are all cloud-native services on Azure. In this podcast we learn more about SIPPIO and Dawn-Marie, and even uncover a few unmentionables. Dawn-Marie was a pioneer in cloud sales with Microsoft's launch of BPOS (now Microsoft 365). At Avaya she got exposure to Telephony and digital transformation. Dawn-Marie lives in North Carolina. In addition to COO, her other titles include Mother, Wife, and Chief Gardner.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan discuss employee engagement with Gideon Pridor, CMO and Chief Storyteller of Workvivo. Gideon drives marketing strategy and execution for technology start-ups with a penchant for international business development. Before Workvivo (and a well-deserved sabbatical) Gideon was VP Marketing at TravelPerk, One of the world's fastest-growing SaaS companies, Perfecto (acquired by Perforce), and others. Gideon is a frequent speaker at industry events, an HRtech enthusiast, and a startup mentor helping companies build their story and tell it to the world.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan discuss the lack of creativity of sports in El Salvador with Brian Beutler, CEO and Co-Founder of Alianza. Brian claims to enjoy creating innovative solutions to big problems, so opted to start Alianza in 2009. In 2020, Alianza acquired Counterpath and Message Hopper, giving it a fairly broad portfolio to offer its service provider customers. Alianza offers a full stack cloud communications service that empowers service providers to create and deploy their own communications offerings. Cloud communication products include voice, video conferencing, text messaging for businesses, residential phone service, and standalone UC softphones.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan toss questions back and forth with Josh Little of VolleyApp. Josh is a serial entrepreneur. "I am a maker who is prolific at creating original works that I am proud of and are worthy of remark." He has started and exited several companies, and he loves to make things happen. Asynchronous communications are all the rage. SMS, WhatsApp, Slack and more are often easier and preferred over a phone call. But text messages have their own set of issues. Confusion is all too common. Voicemails can be more clear than text, but are also limited in their own way. An emerging option to consider is asynchronous video. Each user records a short talking head video and shares it with other(s ). Recipients can respond in turn with their own video clip (TalkingHeadz!). Volley offers an enterprise-grade async video service. It can be used on its own, or in conjunction with messaging apps such as Teams and Slack. And, it's free!
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan grill Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca, about AI. As a seasoned digital marketing and SaaS leader with over fifteen years of extensive experience bringing products to market in emerging categories, Gregg's led large teams and worked with the world's best enterprise brands. Most recently, Gregg led Salesforce Marketing Cloud's social marketing product line, where he integrated $1 billion of M&A investments into the Salesforce product portfolio. Before Salesforce, Gregg drove product strategy and development for Salesforce Chatter, helping define the nascent category of enterprise social networking and rolling out one of Salesforce's most successful products. Earlier in his career, Gregg was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group and worked in sales, marketing and product roles at several startups. He graduated from Stanford University and holds a Master's degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we have great guests. In this episode Dave and Evan hangout with Ujjwal Singh, Head of Workplace from Meta. Ujjwal Singh is a product and engineering leader with a focus in enterprise and SaaS technologies. He is the Head of Workplace, Meta's business communication platform. Ujjwal is responsible for Workplace's tech, engineering, design and research teams, as well as partnering with sales and partnerships to ensure the growth of the business. Before Workplace, Ujjwal helped found Facebook's New Product Experimentation group, helping foster new ideas and business development. Previously Ujjwal was a partner at Area 120 and a senior engineering director at Google where he helped start the Hangouts project and worked at YouTube. He was also the CTO of GoFundMe. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and a Master's of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Ujjwal enjoys working with early stage companies, running, and traveling, and currently lives in London with his family.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we have great guests too!In this episode Dave and Evan discuss trends and possibilities of conversational AI platforms with Dan Miller of Opus research. Dan Miller founded Opus Research in 1986 and helped define Conversational Commerce.Dan held management positions at Atari, Warner Communications and Pacific Telesis Group (now part of AT&T). He also served as Editor-in-Chief of The Kelsey Report, where he also oversaw the launch of advisory services on local online commerce, voice & wireless commerce and global directories.Dan received his BA from Hampshire College and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
TalkingHeadz is an interview format podcast that features the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we have great guests too. In this episode Dave and Evan discuss the importance of brand with Michael Gold, the CEO of Intermedia. Michael Gold joined Intermedia in 2011 which may have something to do with its revenues increasing five fold since. The provider also transitioned from an email and web hosting services to a channel-first UCC provider (voice, video, chat, contact center, email PLUS services such as file sharing, backups, security, archiving, and more. Intermedia is the only cloud company to have earned J.D. Power-certified technical support 6 years in a row. In 2020, Intermedia became the exclusive worldwide cloud communications provider for NEC. Gold has 20+ years of senior management experience in software, cloud services and channel development. Before joining Intermedia, Gold was CEO of Zlago. he was also an SVP at Parallels. Gold holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Stanford University.
TalkingHeadz is an ongoing interview podcast that features the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we have great guests too. In this audio-only episode Dave and Evan discuss the importance of video with Michael Litt. Michael Litt is CEO and co-founder of Vidyard, a global video creation, hosting and analytics platform for businesses.
In this TalkingHeadz podcast Dave and Evan Go deep, well beyond the app layer, with Cullen Jennings of Cisco. This is the final episode of 2021. Cullen Jennings is the CTO for Security and Collaboration Business at Cisco. How do you become the technology leader at a technology leader? Practice! Cullen is Cisco Fellow (1 out of 19) with over 30 years of experience across startups, large organizations, and Internet standards. He has a thing for disruptive, real-time technologies. Cullen holds over 100 patents. Cullen is a member of the IEEE and ACM and has published numerous technical articles. He was heavily involved in making WebRTC the standard that has enabled browser-based communications. Cullen tends to have his hand in a lot of standards and solutions impacting real-time communications. Just weeks ago, the new Cisco Webex Hologram solution escaped from Cullen's lab. This podcast has a few more acronyms than usual, but will also leave you ROTFL. Follow Cullen here: TwitterGithubIEEE
In this TalkingHeadz podcast Dave and Evan have One Talk with Alex Doyle of Verizon.Alex is the Executive Director, Advanced Communications Products at Verizon. If you thought 5G was advanced, you are missing out on all the great solutions Big V has for collaboration, call centers, and UCaaS -- including its own mobile-first One Talk. The products and solutions delivered by Alex and his team support Verizon's small to global business customers and governments. Prior to Verizon, Alex was a member of the founding team at BroadSoft (acquired by Cisco), Director of Service Provider Solutions at Polycom, and VP Marketing at cloud video conferencing provider Vidtel. Alex began his career at Nortel, where he was responsible for product development for Nortel's mobile switching system solutions. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a MBA from Johns Hopkins University.
Dave and Evan meet with Philipp Heltewig, Co-Founder and CEO of Cognigy. Philipp is a German-Australian entrepreneur with profound technology experience working for companies in Europe, APAC and North America. He had the foresight to start up a conversational AI technology company in 2016. Long before anyone was talking about conversational AI. Since its founding in 2016, Heltewig has been the CEO of Cognigy. The company focuses on the automation of customer and employee services through Conversational AI. Cloud or premises-based, text or verbal, as well as employees or customer interactions. In this podcast you will learn more about how and why Cognigy stands out in a sea of conversational AI companies.
Dave and Evan meet with Justin Mitchell, Founder and CEO of Yac. Sometimes voicemail can convey a message better than text, but voicemail isn't really a conversational tool. The answer is conversational voicemail. Yac provides conversational voicemail, and if you don't know what this, listen to this podcast. The reason enterprise chat has become so popular (and why email remains so popular) is because people really like async communications. Orlando based Yac brings back to async comms what chat apps leave out - voice. Yac works by itself or can complement apps like Slack. We all know that text has its limitations. For example, all caps just isn't the same thing as really shouting -- and sometimes shouting is necessary. Sure you can leave a loud voicemail. That's the message, but it probably won't result with an interactive or conversational experience, Put more emphasis on the conversational aspect than the shouting part and you have Yac. It is just in time because distributed teams are all the rage and nothing goes better with rage than all caps - I mean Yac. Justin started working in startups at 16. At 19 he co-founded and launched his first company and 2 years later helped it IPO on the NASDAQ. He bounces between design, engineering, and marketing on his breaks from working on 27 patents.
Dave and Evan meet with Martin Taylor, a Co-Founder of Content Guru. Content Guru is a leader in cloud-delivered customer engagement. Its Storm CCaaS solution is well known in Europe and expanding in North America. That's one of the topics we cover in this podcast. We also get Martin to explain the brands in his life: Redwood Technologies, Content Guru, and Storm. Martin Taylor has been tinkering with technology since he was a child. “I was writing computer games when I was 10,” he says. He started Content Guru with his brother Sean in 2005, offering contact center technology as a service. Martin has somehow managed to have one job since 1993. Even though his role, the key products, industry, and brand has changed. Perhaps this is why he's responsible for strategic market development. Actually, he has lots of tiles including Deputy CEO, Global CMO, and Co-Founder. In his spare time Martin is a keen runner, having once been the Berkshire cross country champion and competing, along with Sean, in the English Schools Cross Country Championships.
Dave and Evan meet with Michael Tessler, Managing Partner of True North Advisory, but better known as Co-Founder and CEO of BroadSoft. Mike has a mystical fun yet wise vibe going for him. BroadSoft is a pretty impressive name to have on your resume, and a lot of people have it. MIke actually created and built it. I consider BroadSoft to be the most influential company regarding VoIP and cloud communications. When Mike and Scott started, VoIP really didn't even work. There was no UCaaS or Cloud yet. That's exactly what they built. Michael scaled BroadSoft to 2K employees and served customers in over 80 countries. Cisco acquired BroadSoft in 2018, and almost exactly two years later Mike and Co-Founder Scott Hoffpauir left to start yet another venture. Mike, Scott and a small cast of legendries are now running an advisory firm called True North. I forgot to ask about the name, because at the same time Michael moved south. Hmm. They are using their industry experience and network of global contacts to help emerging companies become the next BroadSoft. ,
Dave and Evan meet with Hugo Feiler the CEO and co-founder of Minima. A base layer protocol that brings blockchains to smartphones. Minima is the world's first truly decentralized blockchain protocol that runs in full on mobile phones. Minima has created an ultra-lean blockchain protocol that fits on a mobile or IoT device, allowing every user to run a full constructing and validating node. It creates the possibility of operating a network that is decentralized, scalable, and inclusive, while remaining secure and resilient. A network that guarantees anti-censorship and no overarching authority. Prior to launching Minima, Hugo created global advertising campaigns for companies including Vodafone, Toshiba and Sony Electronics. He was previously General Manager of marcomms at Sony Europe for its computer and audio divisions.
It's not all fun and games when the net is down. Dave and Evan meet with Mo Nezarati, President of Voice at Subspace. A funny thing happened to the folks at Subspace when they set out to improve gaming, they discovered how to upgrade the entire internet. Subspace harnesses the power of games to improve real-time apps. Latency and other network issues deprive us all from the online experience we deserve and expect. The obvious solution is to build a high performance, global platform that can personalize network performance for our specific situation - that's what Subspace did. It uses gaming data to fix the performance of real-time applications around the globe. Mo is a voice pro. He has technical chops and understands the business side too. His career experience includes 26 years at Esna, a company he co-founded. Esna was acquired by Avaya in 2015, and that's where Mo launched Zang. That service is now known as Avaya OneCloud Spaces and CPaaS, and are among Avaya's most significant recent launches. He did a short tour at Sangoma after Avaya and landed at Subspace about a year ago.
Dave and Evan meet with Ray Pasquale, CEO and Founder of Unified Office. Unified Office is a next-generation IT managed services provider focused on the Small and Medium-sized Business (SMB) market. Unified Office was built from the ground up focused on delivering business class communications services on the latest mobile devices. We take the latest in communications technologies and make them readily accessible by integrating them into an easy-to-use, scalable, virtualized service that extends from the desktop to mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones called Total Connect NowSM. This offering allows people to stay connected to their business, anytime and anywhere, in a hyper connected world of business that operates in real time.
Dave and Evan meet with Brett Shockley, CEO and Co-Founder of Journey.ai. Brett's journey, prior to Journey, included being the CTO role at Avaya. He was responsible for Avaya's mergers, acquisitions, major partnerships, corporate strategy, and emerging products including Avaya Labs. Before Avaya, Brett was the VP & GM Customer Contact Business Unit at Cisco. He has extensive experience with the contact center industry, and is a tireless customer advocate. Brett also founded Spanlink Communications and Calabrio. He is also on the board of eGain Corp. and Spok Holdings, Inc.In addition to holding a patent for a telecommunications device, Shockley has an MBA in Marketing from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology.
Dave and Evan meet with Darren Schreiber, the co-Founder and CEO of 2600Hz. With nearly two decades of telecom experience under his belt, Darren's core focus is on distributed computing and communications technologies. His contributions to the open source telecom community are immense, including co-authoring the FreeSWITCH books and mentoring at universities and workshops. He previously ran a large managed services operation, and he worked at one Bandwidth.com.You may or may not be familiar with 2600-Hz, but you have very likely heard of its customers. Its technology is used by many well known service providers, carriers, and enterprises. In this podcast we learn more about the company, its KAZOO product, and the shifts and trends occurring in communications.
Dave and Evan host their first TalkingHeadz foursome. In this episode we meet with Davide Petramala and Laura Faughtenberry of Avaya OneCloud CPaaS.Avaya is best known for its powerful enterprise contact centers which can now do even more with OneCloud CPaaS. In this podcast we find out more about how/when Avaya got into the CPaaS business, and how customers are using it to customize even faster and better services. Avaya OneCloud CPaaS is an Avaya public cloud service that offers APIs and applications as a service that can be used to customize and personalize communications and collaboration. This global platform allows developers, partners and customers to build agile and burstable mobile and web applications via CPaaS building blocks. Case studies include Harris County and Nebraska Medicine as well as: CTIntegrations https://www.avaya.com/en/success-stories/ctintegrations/6 Points https://www.avaya.com/en/success-stories/6-points/IMPower https://www.avaya.com/en/success-stories/impower-solutions/
Dave and Evan meet with Aurangzeb Khan, SVP GN Jabra.Aurangzeb was co-founder & CEO of Altia Systems which Jabra (GN Netcom) acquired in 2019. Currently, Aurangzeb is the SVP of Intelligent Vision Systems at Jabra, best known for its Panacast products. The PanaCast products use multiple cameras, or a cam-array to create real-time, immersive video. Earlier, Aurangzeb was President & CEO at Everspin Technologies. He was co-founder, President & CEO at Altius Solutions and, immediately following the merger Simplex Solutions, contributed to the IPO in May 2001. Aurangzeb held senior engineering and general management positions at Cadence, Cirrus Logic, Tandem Computers (now part of HP), and Fairchild. In this podcast we ask Aurangzeb multiple questions about cameras (or is it a single question about multiple cameras?), parallax distortion, how to sell a startup for $125 million, and why the world needed a new video cam company. Aurangzeb received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering Management from Stanford University, executive education at the Stanford GSB, a double-major B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and Nuclear Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a B.Sc. in Physics and 1 Ingrid Lunden,
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