Podcasts about telecoms news

This episode of TNC's Down The Wire Podcast features TNC telecoms experts Clare Tyndall and Adrian Joyce.Clare and Adrian are talking about saving money and how to do it in the telecoms space. The topics of discussion include:Why is cost saving such a hot topic in the telecoms industry now?Why are supplier costs increasing?What is the impact of lack of internal resource to manage telecoms spend?What is the impact of new technologies on cost?What can you do to save costs now? Adrian and Clare explain the approach TNC takes with our customers to help them save money:Assess your current estate and how different technologies could offer cost savingsUnderstand what you should be paying by using TNC's unique market insight Identify how your current suppliers compare to the wider market Create a strategy to either renegotiate with existing suppliers or go out to market If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the contact details below.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Joining TNC's podcast host, CEO John Waterhouse, to share her expertise is TNC's Head of Managed Services, Clare Tyndall.In this episode Clare answers a series of questions on the topic of network transformation and optimising your business case: Why should large organisations be thinking about transforming their networks?We all know that transforming networks is complex, and ensuring you develop and deliver your business case can be problematic. Can you talk us through the main risks to be aware of?How can TNC help to take the pain out of these transformations?What advice do you have for our listeners in terms of next steps?If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the contact details below.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Joining TNC's podcast host, CEO John Waterhouse, to share his expertise is TNC's CTO, Craig Northveth.In this episode John and Craig discuss what key steps you need to take to develop your strategy for ZTNA (Zero Network Trust Architecture).We're living in an age where cyber security has never been more in the spotlight. With so much reliance on digital it's becoming increasingly difficult to spot a friend from a foe, which is why many organisations are implementing a ZTNA.Listen to this episode to get answers to the following essential questions:What is ZTNA? And why does it matter to me?Why is ZTNA such a hot topic now?What are the key elements that make up the ZTNA environment?What are the steps my organisation should take to develop our ZTNA strategy?If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the contact details below.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Joining TNC's podcast host, CEO John Waterhouse, to share his expertise is TNC's CTO, Craig Northveth.In this episode John and Craig discuss what key steps organisations need to take to ensure their network is effectively and optimally designed to enable their cloud application strategy.It pays to remember that proactively designing your network ready for cloud enablement is more cost effective than doing it reactively. Tactically fixing a network that is not fit for purpose results in you having less choice and therefore more cost. Whereas, if your network transformation is strategic and planned there are opportunities to take cost out of legacy networks, whilst improving the flexibility, the agility and ensuring you have direct cloud access with the right level of security. The key questions answered in this session include:What are the main challenges facing network architects today?What are the consequences of the network not being optimally designed? And why can't I just iterate the network “as I go”, during my cloud application deployment?What does good look like in terms of a cloud enabled network?What are the key steps organisations should be taking to maximise cost, performance and best practice?If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music by:Riptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Joining TNC's podcast host, CTO Craig Northveth, to share her expertise is TNC's Principal Consultant, Clare Tyndall. In this episode Craig and Clare discuss TNC's 4 key considerations for your CX strategy. This subject is topical now because customer expectations are changing, and legacy technology has serious limitations in our digital world. There are several lenses through which to approach a successful CX strategy and our discussion focuses on the following: Customer LensAcceptance of digital channels Changing demographic Acquisition and retention opportunities Omnichannel Operational LensHybrid working Cost challenge Agent experience  Technology LensLegacy lifecycle Supplier landscape Rise of AI Commercial LensBusiness case complexity If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Joining TNC's CEO, John Waterhouse, to share his expertise is one of TNC's very own Head of Consulting, Adrian Joyce.In this episode John and Adrian talk about Openreach's analogue network being completely switched off by the end of 2025, which inevitably means organisations need to review their telecoms estate to understand the impact and plan their response.Topics covered include:What is happening across the analogue network and why?What are the key dates between now and the switch off in 2025? Why organisations need to act now, even if they have migrated telephony away from PSTN & ISDNRecommended actions to take to mitigate the possible risks surrounding the switch off.If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Joining TNC's CEO, John Waterhouse, to share his expertise is one of TNC's most experienced Principal Consultants and lead deployment expert, Jonathan Copley. In his episode John and Jonathan discuss how badly network transformations can go wrong, why they do so often and how to avoid the pitfalls. Topics covered include:3 shocking statistics that paint the picture of how badly network transformations can go wrongDelayed network deployments – why do we see so many delayed deployments and what are the implications of that?Cost over running during deployment – how and why do costs spiral out of control during a network transformation?Jonathan explains the 3 key fixes to avoid your transformation going wrongIf you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Joining TNC's CEO, John Waterhouse, to share his expertise is TNC's Head of Consulting, and lead mobile expert, Adrian Joyce.This topic is incredibly interesting and very timely - from Brexit and its impact on EU roaming, to 5G use cases, post-COVID changes, and lots in between.Over the years mobile procurement has assumed almost a utility feel as prices were reduced, Tech Funds lessened, mobile devices were retained for longer periods and coverage issues declined (with improved coverage and Wi-Fi calling). Frankly, not much changed from one procurement cycle to the next.However, there is a perfect storm forming that will change all the above and may mean your next mobile procurement will be the hardest and most important in a decade.Adrian explains the following in detail:Why there is a storm coming in mobile procurement – what the contributing factors areThe impact of EU roaming post Brexit The impact on inflation on mobile dealsWhether 5G is a ‘must have'  If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.ukhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

TNC's CTO, Craig Northveth, discusses how to plan a successful network transformation with TNC's Principal Consultant, Clare Tyndall, in this episode of TNC's Down The Wire Podcast. Some of the points covered include:Establishing a baseline is an essential first step in the network transformation process, which naturally leads to requirements gatheringSome suppliers promise the world, but can they deliver?How TNC's agile procurement process enables outcome-based network sourcing strategiesHow to ensure there is flexibility in the contract to allow for new technology in the future, as there is a revolution happening in this spaceA quick reminder about TNC:We are the UK's largest independent telecoms professional services consultancy We support over 280 major UK and multinational organisationsWe deliver the full lifecycle of Strategy, Sourcing, Deployment and In-life Managed Services, such as billing management, vendor management and in-life service management for all types of network and telecoms servicesIf you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details. https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

We are delighted to welcome special guest, Karl Walton, to the podcast. Karl is one of the highest profile IT procurement professionals in the UK. Karl has led the development and execution of market-leading procurement strategies across a very broad range of IT, network, telecoms and mobility services, delivering technology and operational transformation, as well as lowest lifetime TCO.There is a revolution sweeping through the network and telecoms market, with transformational technologies such as SD-WAN and cloud-based contact centre and telephony services racing to meet fast-changing demand for services to enable and support business change.Of course, this revolution in use cases for network and telecoms is taking place in a time of unprecedented economic challenge for many organisations, meaning there is a very strong focus on cost and at a minimum ensuring transformation is achieved within budget, and very often whilst delivering cost savings.Given these challenges, it should be no surprise that developing the most effective procurement strategies is critical to addressing these complex objectives. Which is why we are addressing this topic with Karl in this episode: what is most effective procurement strategy, and how should organisations make those choices?https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As TNC has reported through many recent podcasts and articles, there is a technological revolution sweeping through the enterprise network market. However, harnessing sexy new technology is only part of the story – for organisations to achieve their objectives of delivering agile, flexible network services to support their business objectives, they are also going to have to build a more agile, flexible operating model to support and deliver that infrastructure. Whilst many organisations will continue to pursue the “managed service”, others are looking to new models to achieve their objectives. So, we explore the options to build these new operating models, and particularly the option of co-management, which many believe will be the future operating model of choice for most.If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

TNC's CTO, Craig Northveth, discusses how and why UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS are beginning to have a huge impact on the telecoms market with TNC's Principal Consultant, Clare Tyndall, in this episode of TNC's Down The Wire Podcast. The ‘as a service' communications topics covered by Craig and Clare include:What the core principles of UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS areWhy it is such a hot topic nowDrill down into the Contact Centre solutionsUnified Communications market overviewBuying behaviours of large, UK based organisations A quick reminder about TNC:We are the UK's largest independent telecoms professional services consultancy We support over 280 major UK and multinational organisationsWe deliver the full lifecycle of Strategy, Sourcing, Deployment and In-life Managed Services, such as billing management, vendor management and in-life service management for all types of network and telecoms servicesIf you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

TNC's Down The Wire Podcast brings you Episode number 8 entitled “Is It Time To Spring Clean Your Network and Telecoms Estates?”John Waterhouse, CEO at TNC, interviews Head of Consulting and TNC commercial guru, Adrian Joyce. This is a brilliant topic because cleaning up your network and telecoms estates is one of the most effective, but least well-known approaches to delivering cost savings. In TNC's expert opinion, this is one of those rare approaches every organisation can take, irrespective of where they are in their technology, contract, or procurement cycle, and almost all organisations will achieve cost savings and wider operational benefits. However, this approach is often over-lookedNetwork and telecoms estate management can be challenging for several reasons and this complexity is fertile ground for errors to arise – whether that is mis-billing by service providers, or estates becoming unclean because services that should be ceased aren't, the long-term effect is that organisations lose track of their inventories, and therefore their billing.Most industry research suggests that the cumulative effect is substantial – the average organisation is reckoned to be spending 12% more on network and telecoms services than they should be, because of their inaccurate inventories and billing.What can be done to address these issues, and drive cost savings? The short answer is ‘audit and cleanse'. The following questions are answered in depth:What exactly is audit and cleanse?What is the size of the prize?Are there other benefits organisations gain from cleaning their estates?What are the key steps to successfully deliver audit and cleanse? If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details. https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In Down The Wire's 7th Episode TNC's CEO, John Waterhouse, interviews TNC's CTO, Craig Northveth, on the topic of MPLS vs. SD-WAN vs. SASE. Over the last couple of years, we've been witnessing a technology revolution in the enterprise network market. The driving force behind this revolution can be tied into factors such as workload shifts to the cloud, demand for enhanced network and application security, virtualised infrastructure, network flexibility, and technology vendor disruption.However, the pace of these changes mean many organisations are struggling to know how to move forwards to realise the benefits. Is it time to move away from MPLS? Does MPLS retain a role in the future? Is SD-WAN ready for prime time? Is SASE even a realistic, deployable solution yet?John and Craig discuss the following key points:What are the four transitional phases that define this technology revolution?How might organisations move through these phases, and what will be the key factors driving their progression?What is the strategic outlook looking forwards over the next 2-3 years?If you have any questions or you'd would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 

We are delighted to bring you Down The Wire's 6th Episode. TNC's CTO, Craig Northveth, interviews TNC's Head of Consultancy, Adrian Joyce, on the topic of 5G, what is hype and what is reality? Adrian is TNC's resident mobile guru and 5G is certainly a hot topic at the moment. 5G appears to bring lots of exciting opportunities for both the consumer and enterprise worlds. The question is, is the conversation around 5G all hype or will it be a reality?Craig and Adrian discuss the following crucial questions: What does 5G bring? How does it compare to existing technologies available in the market?5G in the UK Market: Who are the key players, how useable is it today?What is the outlook for 5G for the next 3 years?What should be listeners be considering when it comes to 5G?If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you, and your organisation, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.https://www.networkcollective.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

TNC's CEO, John Waterhouse discusses how organisations can achieve sustainable remote working with TNC's CTO, Craig Northveth in Down The Wire Podcast's 5th Episode. A huge topic for the “next normal” is going to be how, where, and when employees work. In pre-pandemic times, the majority of employees worked from the office and organisations built their network and telecoms infrastructure accordingly. For many organisations, this quickly had to change in the early days of the pandemic as they rushed to enable most of their employees to work from home.  The question now is what model will prevail post-pandemic, and what network and telecoms infrastructure will be required to enable this model?TNC has been developing a tool kit to help organisations to develop models that enable sustainable remote working – not just for the duration of an emergency but for the long term. The tool kit consists of three key approaches TNC has identified that organisations can take to build their future-facing infrastructure: Allow, Support and Provide. Tune in to John and Craig discussing the pros and cons of all 3 Remote Working Models and discover which model fits your organisation best. If you would like to find out more about how TNC can help you on your remote working journey, we would be delighted to talk to you and share our experience and knowledge. Please get in touch using the below contact details.www.networkcollective.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-network-collective Email: info@networkcollective.co.uk Music byRiptide by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4288-riptideLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As part of the submissions for the inaugural UC Awards we spoke to award nominee GCI about their year so far, the main industry trends impacting them, and their plans for 2019. GCI are a leading converged IT and communications supplier who have been well established within the UK for over 20 years. They are also one of the fastest growing managed service providers within the UK with a suite of possible support and maintenance options for all manner of businesses. In this episode their CEO, Adrian Thirkill, was available to give us all the information on their position within the industry and plans for the future.

As part of the submissions for the inaugural UC Awards we spoke to award nominee Natterbox about their year so far, the main industry trends impacting them, and their plans for 2019. Natterbox provide cloud communications solutions that embed in the Salesforce platform. During 2018 they have experienced some remarkable growth and their Sales Director Ian Moyse is on hand to take us through all of the news.

As part of the submissions for the inaugural UC Awards we spoke to award nominee Crestron about their year so far, the main industry trends impacting them, and their plans for 2019. It has been an incredibly busy time for Crestron and not without its challenges. Robin explains that the European market has transformed dramatically so the away Crestron work has also changed. Industry demands from customers are shifting hugely with the greater onset of cloud technologies and the rise in popularity of collaboration platforms.

As part of the submissions for the inaugural UC Awards we spoke to award nominee ZaiLab about their year so far, the main industry trends impacting them, and their plans for 2019. Asonele Kotu, Head of PR and Events for ZaiLab, is Patrick's guest on the podcast to discuss an incredibly busy year in one of the world's most innovative and disruptive companies. ZaiLab launched their 100% cloud-cased, pay-as-you-go contact centre platform earlier this year so expanding their footprint and raising brand awareness has been their main focus. ZaiLab have ambitious plans for the future so we hear what they have instore for 2019 and beyond.

As part of the submissions for the inaugural UC Awards we spoke to award nominee Red Box about their year so far, the main industry trends impacting them, and their plans for 2019. Their CEO Richard Stevenson joins Patrick on the podcast. Richard gives us a brief history of Red Box and explains how they have transformed into one of the world's leading voice capture and analytics specialists. The use of voice data is changing and Red Box are at the forefront of the new frontier in terms of analytics and insights.

As part of the submissions for the inaugural UC Awards we spoke to award nominee Tollring about their year so far, the main industry trends impacting them, and their plans for 2019. Tony Martino who is the CEO of Tollring joins Patrick on the podcast to take us through all of the latest Tollring news as well as discussing the increasing importance of security and compliance across industry. Shifting work patterns are also impacting the requirements for organisations to be able to monitor and analyse data.

As part of the submissions for the inaugural UC Awards we spoke to award nominee Zoom Video Communications about their year so far, the main industry trends impacting them, and their plans for 2019. Daniel Creigh, Head of the UK and Ireland for Zoom, joins Patrick on the podcast to take use through some of the huge growth that Zoom have been experiencing around the globe as well as discussing the additional functions and features that they are constantly adding to the platform.

We have launched our inaugural UC Awards 2018. The awards will be recognising the most disruptive and innovative companies and solutions across the Unified Communications and Collaboration industries. An industry esteemed judging panel will evaluate the applications and crown the winners in each of the seven categories. The winners, and those deserving of a special mention will be announced in November. As part of the submissions we spoke to award nominee Five9 about their year so far, the main industry trends impacting them, and their plans for 2019.

Call analytics and reporting can provide huge benefits to customers around the world who want to better understand and enhance their service provision. But often this information is in a format that is difficult for customers to understand and interpret. Node4 the UK based managed service provider are aiming to change that with the launch of their call reporting and analytics feature.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are two technology areas that raise questions about the legitimacy of various human jobs roles moving into the future. Many people have postulated that developments in AI and ML will lead to the redundancy of humans across many industries in job roles that can be easily assimilated by machines. But is this the case and will machines be taking our jobs? In this episode of Out Loud we hear from an expert in the field who explains more about this very topic.

With modern networks transforming at such a rapid speed it is critical for enterprise organisations and service providers to be able to ensure security throughout every network layer. What are the most useful tools that enable companies to do this? In this episode we are joined by Ribbon Communications and Nectar who have partnered to offer a centrally located unified communications diagnostics (UCD) system to monitor multiple, geographically dispersed SBCs and identify network issues affecting communication systems.

As the financial year draws to an end at Cisco we review all of the latest news and updates from the summer in their world of collaboration. Next month Cisco have their annual sales conference GSX and we examine all the features that will be discussed during the event. Normally the FY year end brings some restructuring so it will be interesting to see what will unfold. We look at updates to the Webex meeting platform including expanded device support and democratised meetings.

As the financial year draws to an end at Cisco we review all of the latest news and updates from the summer in their world of collaboration. Next month Cisco have their annual sales conference GSX and we examine all the features that will be discussed during the event. Normally the FY year end brings some restructuring so it will be interesting to see what will unfold. We look at updates to the Webex meeting platform including expanded device support and democratised meetings.

We are living in the age of technological revolution. There are a number of new innovations that are affecting organisations tech strategies around the globe. What are these different megatrends and how can the world, and industry utilise their innovations to transform? Century Link join the podcast today to examine the trends, such as the rise of IoT, Cloud and Big Data, and try to understand how enterprise organisations are reacting.

Collaboration is one of the biggest rising trends through the technology world, enabling organisations to work together more efficiently across geographical locations and internal departments. Have the established players taken the best approach to enable the most effective collaboration? Unify have a fresh approach with their collaboration tool, Circuit. Circuit has a number of unique features that differentiate it within the market. In this episode we hear all about it and how effective collaboration is needed to create a self-service culture.

Everyone who has worked in an office knows that the way in which different people use technology varies dramatically according to their personality. Leading hardware solutions provider, Plantronics, have looked at this in depth with their research into the effect of personas. Would you work best with a desk phone or maybe just with a headset that is compatible with a mobile device? Plantronics have mapped seven different personality types and examined how technology can best be used to enhance each users working efficiency.

Collaboration platforms are one of the hottest areas of technology that we examine at UC Today. Enabling effective communication and teamwork the platforms are becoming a vital business system within industry and professional environments. With the enormous rise in their uptake, the security of the platforms appears to have taken a back seat. Shadow IT is another aspect of business communication that organisations need to address to combat the use of consumer collaboration and communication tools. In this episode we discuss security with Wire who are arguably the world's most secure collaboration platform.

Omnichannel communication now forms the basis of customer to business interactions across the globe with the days of single communication paths behind us. But why is omnichannel communication so important and is it getting harder for organisations to offer viable omnichannel customer experiences? Zendesk are one of the world's leading providers of customer service and support software and they examined why companies are looking to omnichannel to improve their CX provision. Their benchmark report analysed data from more than 45,000 of their customers in 140 countries and today we talk to them about the findings in detail.

One of the most important aspects of any business are its communication systems. Connecting the organisations, often, global workforce, enabling communication with customers and partners is critical to operational success. How can you be sure that your systems are working as well as they can be? In this episode we examine the sort operational efficiency goals that organisations should be setting themselves and how best they can achieve those.

Contact Centre is one of the fastest developing areas that we cover at UC Today. We hear from leading provider Five9 to examine their full portfolio. The world of the contact centre is changing so we wanted to understand how different products and services suit different customer requirements. As one of the leading providers of customer contact centre solutions we asked to break down their full product portfolio for us in this episode.

It has been a record breaking summer around the globe weather wise and the scorching temperatures have been mirrored in the hot bed of news and gossip within the unified communications and collaboration industries. The UC Today team look back over the last few months to summarise all the latest news for you. The team look back at the recent events, provide a news round up and look ahead to the next couple of months.

Our expert guest Tom Arbuthnot takes us through July's monthly update for Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business. As always there is loads of news for Microsoft Teams with a host of new features that Tom runs through for us. The biggest news however is that Skype for Business Server 2019 has been made available in public preview. It will be the next stage for customers looking to continue their Skype for Business use on premise and Tom updates us on any new features and changes from the last version.

More and more businesses are looking to the cloud to host their next communication platform. The enhanced feature availability, flexibility and resiliency offered by cloud platforms is becoming more and more appealing to organisations. The landscape in terms of provisioning is transforming rapidly and with the greater spectrum of options now available the decision on which path to choose is undoubtedly a difficult one. Avaya have made a huge effort to transform their offerings to specialise in cloud platforms and today we hear from some of their experts to break down the options available so that navigating the cloud course can be a little bit more simple.

The explosion in the amount of data available is transforming our ability to analyse business interactions throughout industries. This explosion is only expected to continue with the rise and onset of IoT. But how can organisations utilise this data for their benefit? Not all data is good data and being able to clarify the relevant sources from the background white noise is critical in enabling the most enhanced analytics. With the developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, optimisation of analytics is not so much a future concept as it is with us right now. Workforce optimisation and analytics specialists Calabrio join Patrick on the podcast to discuss the topic.

Augmented, mixed and virtual reality are some of the most exciting technologies emerging at the moment. But what are the different realms of reality? This episode of Out Loud explores the differences, benefits and practical applications of each realm. Our expert guests explains the nuances of each and provides some examples of how these can we used within industry and business.

Cavell Group is the thought-leader in the European future voice and VoIP marketplace providing analytics and insights across the industry. In June this year they hosted their Cloud Comms Summit in Washington DC and we were there to bring you all the news and themes from the event. Along with the Cloud Communications Alliance (CCA), Cavell hosted the summit which is the leading event for Service Providers in the cloud communications industry to share best practices, discuss key trends and meet the industry vendors. One of the attendees were 2600Hz, whose business is founded on the premise of open source communications.

8x8 specialise in cloud communication and customer engagement solutions and they have just announced the general availability of their next generation platform, X Series. Up until now there has been no offering within the industry boasting to combine one cloud solution for voice, video conferencing, contact centre, team messaging and collaboration but now there is. X Series is available across mobile and desktop devices and 8x8 are aiming to change the game with this all-encompassing new platform. We hear all about it in this episode of Out Loud.

The cloud telephony market is a crowded and competitive one. The market itself has grown more slowly than other markets where other applications and business functions have been migrated more readily to the cloud. It does appear now through that the cloud communication market is catching up and demand within organisations is growing. Within the UK the traditional channel market has already started to change. From the original setup of ICT resellers and voice specialists the lines are now blurring and the most resourceful and successful providers can provide all aspects of a business's technology needs.

Emerging technologies and the changing consumer landscape have transformed what customers expect from their business interactions. The traditional model of the contact centre has to transform too. In many cases it already has. With the massive increase in cloud based contact centre platforms many would argue we have already reached a new era. Brain Solis, author of Contact Center 2.0: The Rise of Collaborative Contact Centers, is the expert guest on the podcast today to provide an overview of his report which was commissioned by RingCentral. The report focusses on the premise that digital transformation is making contact centres more unified, collaborative and intelligent.

UCaaS and CPaaS platforms are some of the most innovative within the communications market and can enable some real benefits for organisations that leverage them fully. One of the most desirable attributes for a business is that of agility, allowing them to react quickly and decisively in their often competitive industries. UCaaS and CPaaS platforms can really assist to create agile structural models for business and in this episode we look at how they can do this. Ribbon Communications have an intense focus on helping their customers and partners to achieve agile processes so are the perfect guest to join Patrick on the podcast for a deep dive into how they do this.

Customer Contact Week is arguably the biggest and most important contact centre, CX and customer care event on the planet. UC Today attended the event this year which took place in Las Vegas in June. Mitel are one of the huge players in the communications landscape. They have made an enormous effort when it comes to transitioning their customers into the cloud. At the event they were showcasing their latest cloud contact centre solutions and we were there to discuss them and take a look.

Cavell Group is the thought-leader in the European future voice and VoIP marketplace providing analytics and insights across the industry. In June this year they hosted their Cloud Comms Summit in Washington DC and we were there to bring you all the news and themes from the event. Along with the Cloud Communications Alliance (CCA), Cavell hosted the summit which is the leading event for Service Providers and the cloud communications industry to share best practices, discuss key trends and meet the industry vendors. As the industry is in flux it provided great insight into the main changes and trends that will be shaping the landscape in the future.

Customer Contact Week is arguably the biggest and most important contact centre, CX and customer care event on the planet. UC Today attended the event this year which took place in Las Vegas in June. One of the most disruptive players in the communications market has been Twilio. Their innovative development based platform has captured the imagination of a huge amount of customers. As a CX focused event CCW's main premise suits the Twilio proposition so well as their platforms are hugely flexible, allowing organisations to tailor solutions to enhance their customer service as much as possible.

Customer Contact Week is arguably the biggest and most important contact centre, CX and customer care event on the planet. UC Today attended the event this year which took place in Las Vegas in June. In this episode we hear from Talkdesk who is a leading cloud contact centre software provider. As a provider of customer contact systems events like CCW are vitally important for Talkdesk for a number of different reasons. We examine the main themes from the show and also look at some of this year's biggest industry trends.