Insider Report June 2024

Curated Enterprise Communications News and Insights from June 2024

Feature

The Hunt for Data to Train LLMs: It takes an ungodly amount of data to train advanced large language models (LLMs), and the current logic is that more training data is needed to get to the next level. Acquiring this vast amount of data legally and ethically is expensive and far too much hassle for AI companies, particularly if they want to turn a profit. LLM providers need to get creative — so they become data pirates, stealing personal data for their gain. 

Sadly, our legal system wasn’t exactly anticipating this new-age threat, and the providers are getting aggressive in what they believe they are allowed to use. It’s a new gold rush, and we don’t need no stinking badges. Here are some recent disturbing developments from Adobe, Meta, and OpenAI.  

Adobe: Adobe wants full rights to use customer data for its AI. The new ToS agreement essentially says, “Just trust us.” Previously, Adobe asked for unlimited permission to access and use any content created using its tools. In response to user backlash, Adobe published a blog to clarify that the changes are minor, emphasizing that it doesn't claim ownership of user content or use it for AI training. However, the new ToS were not changed, and there is no opt-out option. 

Meta: Meta wants to use public posts and comments by anyone over the age of 18 on its platforms (such as Instagram and Facebook) to train its AI models. Europe said no, but there’s simply no privacy protection in the US or any way to stop it. Meta tried to appease Europe with an exclusive option to opt out. However, GDPR’s legal framework operates on an opt-in basis. This spurred the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) to stop Meta’s proposed plan within the EU.

Of course, there are concerns with Meta’s plan in the US, too. Meta doesn’t verify the ages of its users, and many minors post as adults. And because one of the main uses of Facebook is to share family news and photos, the age of the poster is not necessarily the age of the subjects. Also, there’s a line between publicly shared data and consenting to use the data for AI training. There are risks to using personal information for AI training, and it’s reasonable to assume that not all Facebook users understand them. 

OpenAI: This was covered in the most recent Insider Lite, but OpenAI has made an unusual choice for a new board member. Edward Snowden lambasted the appointment of a former NSA director to OpenAI’s board of directors. “Do not ever trust OpenAI or its products,” he posted on X after OpenAI named Paul Nakasone to its Board of Directors. Nakasone will be on the Board’s Safety and Security Committee, responsible for evaluating the safety and security of all OpenAI projects and operations.

OpenAI is feeling less open every day. Nakasone was the head of the US Cyber Command — the cybersecurity division of the Defense Department. Also, the “superalignment team” meant to assure the public that its AI research is aligned with human interests was disbanded before it started. 

With Nakasone advising them, Snowden fears that OpenAI will expand data collection by intercepting emails and messaging apps or even tapping phones. Sure, these activities are potentially illegal, but OpenAI and Nakasone’s thirst for data is unrelenting. Their upcoming models will demand hundreds of terabytes to achieve significant advancements, and Nakasone has the expertise to procure this data by any means necessary. You could say Snowden sees conspiracies that don’t exist, but he makes a good point: “There’s only one reason for appointing [an NSA director] to your board.”

General News

The Next Pandemic: Former CDC director Robert Redfield warns that bird flu could morph into the next pandemic. The first human death from bird flu has occurred, and the virus has spread to cattle across the US. He noted that the mortality rate of bird flu could be higher than COVID-19. Many other disease experts predict that the common flu virus will cause the next global pandemic.

While doomsday predictions are not new, the real question is whether the enterprise comms industry is prepared. Certainly, online meetings are there, but we haven’t made much progress with remote work overall — specifically onboarding, culture propagation, team building, and more. Only two UCaaS firms are progressing here: Microsoft with Viva Engage and Zoom with Workvivo. 

Apple Intelligence: Apple didn’t do as much with the iPad as I wanted, but at least it finally got a calculator. Also, Apple (finally) got into the generative AI game, and by AI, we are referring to Apple Intelligence. However, Apple isn’t jumping in like many others. 

Apple is partnering with OpenAI but isn’t paying for the services. Nor does Apple intend to enable new features willy-nilly; it will enable new features cautiously and gradually. Apple is getting in on the hype cycle but isn’t getting exposed. It will adapt and watch, and if OpenAI proves useful, it will be ready. Apple isn’t tied to OpenAI and likely believes LLMs will be a commodity. Perhaps Tim Cook read my post: Three AIs Walked Into a Bar. 

By slow rolling, Apple avoids risks from open-ended prompts, and its dumbed-down image generator also reduces risk. Apple intends to focus mostly on productivity improvements such as autocorrect, summarization, rewriting emails, and other safe activities. The new tech requires reasonably recent hardware. The next thing to watch is if Apple Intelligence drives upgrades — doubtful. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft is looking sillier for buying into OpenAI, charging for Copilot, and its recalling PCs that got canceled. The corpses that implemented generative AI too quickly are lining up: Copilot+ PCs, Humane Pin, rabbit r1, and countless usage failures ranging from fake legal citations to glued pizza cheese. 

InfoComm 2024: Meanwhile, much of this month’s industry news took place at InfoComm 2024 (which Danto attended and covers below and more extensively in an upcoming research note for subscribers). Most of the meeting room vendors were showing off their latest and greatest. Cisco Webex had a booth, but Microsoft and Zoom attended incognito. 

Like UC and CC, the AV world is also transitioning to AI and cloud. It’s not yet clear how much AI should be on-prem (in cameras and codecs) versus in the cloud. Nor is it clear if traditional cables should be replaced with Cat-6 or simply go wireless. We continue to see resolutions increase, devices shrink, and totally different approaches to immersive meetings emerge. 

In the event’s keynote, Joe Pham proclaimed that “Everything Has Changed,” extolling the rapid pace of tech and AI’s potential to transform the AV landscape. However, the AV industry, notorious for echoing Churchill’s quip about stumbling over the truth, seemed unmoved. Despite a decade of urging to modernize like their IT counterparts, many have been content to stick to their old ways. Whether Pham’s speech was a much-needed jolt or just a Don Quixote-esque dream remains to be seen. It is definitely something Danto is skeptical about, having lived through more than one ignored pivot warning to the AV community. (This also will be covered in more detail in the upcoming research note for subscribers.) More InfoComm news in the InfoComm24 & AV section below.

AI Losing Its Luster: There is a divergence of opinions regarding generative AI. Those investing contend that generative AI is transformative. A more nuanced emerging view (aligned with TalkingPointz) acknowledges its importance but sees debilitating limitations. It’s worth noting that about half of ChatGPT users lose interest quickly. It’s important to avoid dismissing generative AI as useless or a scam, but it’s also essential to recognize that it will likely take some time for what’s being sold to actually materialize.

MQ CPaaS: Gartner published its second Magic Quadrant on CPaaS this month. The magical graphic has no big surprises. It has the same four Leaders as last year (Twilio, Infobip, Vonage, and Synch). However, Twilio is even further up and to the right, which is perplexing considering it just finished a very turbulent year. Since the last MQ, Twilio has experienced significant product retrenchment, layoffs, and declining revenues. Its activist board successfully drove its founder and CEO to leave. The graphic raises several questions: How long can Twilio hold the top right? Is CPaaS even profitable? How can CPaaS evolve? 

The report includes a strategic planning assumption that by 2028, 90% of global enterprises will leverage CPaaS to operationalize CX and engagement. The odd parts of that assumption are “CPaaS” and “CX.” Clearly, we live in an API world, so leveraging comms APIs will remain popular. Will enterprises leverage (Gartner-defined) CPaaS or APIs? Why is CX relevant? Global enterprises will leverage CPaaS (or comms APIs) for lots of use cases. 

A second assumption is that 80% of those enterprises using CPaaS for CX will also use generative AI (up from 20% today). This one is really confusing. It is doubtful that 20% of the enterprises using CPaaS for CX today are doing so with generative AI use cases. Perhaps they mean they are generally using generative AI unrelated to CPaaS? A big CPaaS use case today is notifications, so perhaps they are saying 80% of notifications will be generated by AI. It seems like a safe assumption that the use of generative AI will increase in the next 4-5 years, but tying that specifically to CX use cases seems premature. 

The inclusion criteria require APIs for voice, SMS, and email (email?). Providers must also support at least one rich messaging API, such as Apple Messages, WhatsApp, or RCS. The report also lists several optional capabilities, none of which are required (why list them?). Optional capabilities include conversational bots, video, and APIs for smaller services such as Teams and Telegram. 

The biggest surprise is that Gartner continues to publish this report. Most providers avoid the term CPaaS, and communications APIs are table stakes with most wired and wireless carriers (such as AT&T), UCaaS (such as RingCentral), CCaaS (such as Five9), and PaaS (such as Microsoft). (Note that none of those providers qualified for inclusion.)

Meetings and Messaging

Trust in Antitrust: As foreshadowed in last month’s Insider Report, the European Commission notified Microsoft of its preliminary view that the company broke antitrust rules by tying Teams to popular products like Microsoft Word and Excel. The commission believes Microsoft may have given Teams an unfair advantage by not allowing customers to choose whether they wanted Teams when subscribing to other products. A complaint from Slack initially prompted the EU investigation, followed by a complaint from German videoconferencing company Alfaview. 

This is a big deal. If found guilty, Microsoft faces a fine of up to 10% of its global annual revenue. This is the second antitrust case against Microsoft, though it doesn’t appear Slack will do much better than Netscape. The EU is also evaluating a formal antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s cloud services.

As stated many times on TalkingPointz, Microsoft Teams won the pandemic. It was initially going after team chat, but the pandemic made online meetings critical. Teams was launched just before the pandemic, and now, post-pandemic, Microsoft finds itself the undisputed market leader in chat and meetings. Many enterprises turned to Teams as (they discovered) they already owned it. That left competitors to 1) sell their solutions and 2) convince prospects (and customers) not to use the Microsoft product they already “bought.” Microsoft deserves full credit for making such a reliable, scalable solution as quickly as it did, but tying it to O365 and M365 contributed to its success. 

The EU certainly took its time. Slack filed its complaint in July 2020; we discussed it with Stewart in this August 2020 TalkingHeadz podcast. At this point, Slack has been acquired and neutralized. Cisco Spark is long gone. Most UCaaS team chat alternatives are barely discussed and often only available with a phone number. Fixing the market is likely impossible. A (huge) penalty fine is an outcome that raises lots of questions. 

The First RCS Casualty: Google Business Messages will wind down on July 31. This battle was lost, but Google is poised to win the messaging war this fall with iOS 18. RCS support on iPhone (and Android) will be very disruptive: a rich messaging stack that’s nearly universal on mobile (but not tied to mobile like SMS). The big loser here is WhatsApp — likely unrelated, but it’s Apple’s second big blow to Meta after blocking tracking. 

Cisco Webex Updates: Cisco announced new AI Assistant for Webex features. The update actually includes some pretty clever capabilities. The BRB feature, for example, notices if the user steps away from an online meeting and then mutes the user’s microphone and disables their camera. Upon return, the AI Assistant summarizes key highlights the user missed. In July, users will be able to “ask AI” questions during a meeting and use custom dictionaries for training vocabulary (note: TalkingPointz has a z). 

It is really important to note what Cisco is doing with desk reservations. Michels considers desktop reservations the single most significant change to post-pandemic offices. While there is a lot of attention on remaking offices with more versatile, multifunction spaces, there isn’t nearly enough attention on managing and reserving shared office space. Only Cisco and Zoom have integrated approaches for desktop reservation systems. Once Microsoft releases Places, the concept will get more attention. AI Assistant also works in the Webex Control Hub, answers queries, and prioritizes issues for IT workers to address. 

Cisco and Zoom both extended their room reservation concepts to desktops. Room reservations already required calendar integrations. Many desktop reservation solutions resort to silly red/green lights to manage cube-tops, but the phone is a better option as it fits naturally on a desk, is connected, has lights and a display, and can make calls. Cisco has an advantage here as it makes phones and other desktop devices. The new 9800 series phones are the only phones designed for reservation systems. Cisco Webex + Cisco Spaces can manage rooms, desks, appliances, and IoT sensors. The solution works with phones, pads, and boards. The whole solution involves e-signage, wayfinding, hotdesking, meetings, and desks and supports ad-hoc and future reservations. 

Slack Free: The genius of Slack’s freemium model was the stored conversations. As users add conversations, the data repository becomes more valuable — meaning that the users essentially increased the value of the product. Small companies could use the big enterprise tool free for longer because they generated less data (and cost less to maintain). Slack and Zoom stand out for nailing freemium in business software. It’s a shame Zoom didn’t buy Slack. 

The old Slack continues to wither away within Salesforce. All the original leaders and its mojo have disappeared. Now, Slack has changed its repository model to a system based on time instead of database size. Slack Workspaces’ data (including files, messages, and other content older than a year) will no longer be stored. Free workspaces will continue to have full access to the past 90 days of message history and file storage, effective Aug. 26, 2024. To retain access to content older than a year, the workspace needs to be on a paid Slack plan.

Microsoft’s Bookable Desks: Microsoft has two approaches to managing shared workspaces. Most likely, the big strategy is Microsoft Places, currently in preview. Places is a new app that integrates with Outlook and Teams to promote space optimization. The company has also announced Bookable Desks, a new hotdesking feature in Teams. It appears to use QR codes, MS phones, and USB connectors to manage space and update locations. Setup requires Powershell scripting. 

Teams and Loop: Microsoft’s new collaboration tool, Loop, got more visibility in Teams. Now, Loop-created meeting notes are available in Channel meetings. Participants can collaborate on the agenda, take notes together, and track follow-up tasks. Because meeting notes are Loop components, they stay synced across all the places they have been shared. Meeting notes capture the agenda, too, and are visible to everyone. This improves accuracy and inclusion and eliminates the designated note-taker bottleneck. Meanwhile, Zoom Docs, a Loop alternative, had its public beta pushed to July. 

Appspace and Microsoft Teams: Appspace has announced an integration with Microsoft Teams Rooms, available now. The integration transforms idle Teams Rooms devices into communication hubs displaying digital signage content. This feature allows organizations to manage and broadcast various types of content alongside essential room information, streamlining content management. The integration aims to improve employee experience and productivity by utilizing an existing Teams Rooms infrastructure for broader communication purposes.

QSC Announces MS Teams Certification: The Q-SYS VisionSuite is now Microsoft Teams certified, offering AI-based audio and presenter tracking and including the Q-SYS Seervision AI Accelerator for Teams. Designed for large, high-impact spaces, VisionSuite enhances hybrid meetings with intelligent camera switching and room automation. Additionally, Q-SYS has expanded its QIO Series with new network I/O peripherals and a Touchscreen Paging Station and launched a major update to its cloud-based monitoring system, Q-SYS Reflect.

SIP to Facetime: Bridging and interoperability service Synergy SKY announced at Cisco Live US that its service can now connect SIP-based calls from Cisco and other branded endpoints to Apple Facetime calls. While this is the world’s first, I’m hard-pressed to think of a user request for this application. Rather, it showcases how Synergy SKY’s architecture can connect basically anything to anything because the signals are broken down and re-encoded between disparate signal types.

Pexip Partnerships Persist: Pexip has introduced a new solution enabling Zoom Rooms to seamlessly join Microsoft Teams meetings, enhancing the user experience with features like dual-screen support and in-room content sharing. This solution, leveraging Pexip’s Cloud Video Interop technology, provides a consistent and high-quality alternative to Direct Guest Join with richer features. The setup is straightforward and can be managed through the Zoom admin portal, making it easy for organizations to implement. It presents an interesting Microsoft-approved Teams interoperability alternative to Direct Guest Join — and one that is more feature-rich. 

Customer Engagement

NICE Interactions: NICE hosted its Interactions user conferences (Vegas and London) this month. As usual, NICE keynotes used immersive video choreographed with the speaker for effective storytelling. The key message was that AI, cloud, and digitalization are changing the game in more ways than providers can handle. 

There were two major announcements in the US, one of which made it to the international stage. The global announcement was CXone Mpower. Last year, NICE announced the Enlighten suite (Actions, Autopilot, and Copilot). The M stands for memory, accomplished by pulling interaction, metadata, and analytics data for each interaction. Mpower acknowledges that generative AI isn’t as magical as we hoped, so it allows more customization and (daresay) training to better address non-topical conversations and inquiries. While NICE is all-in on AI, it’s presenting it as an enabler to improve CX and CSAT instead of the more mainstream tack of cost reduction (from automation). 

NICE announced a new “UCaaS” offer in the US called 1CX. This is a light UCaaS offering delivered by NICE and powered by 3CX, a partner it inherited from its LiveVox acquisition. 1CX is currently available in the US (international expansion is planned) for a “disruptive” price of $5/mo. NICE claims several existing customers but named none (which makes one wonder). 

Several threads to pull here: RC? 3CX? $5/mo? 3CX is not well known among UCaaS professionals. The Malta-based provider positions itself as a low-cost PBX replacement. There’s no indication that it’s a multitenant solution (NICE claims it is). The “UC” suite appears light; for example, there’s no info on the site about team chat or meeting rooms. It’s mostly positioned as software that enterprises can download and install. 

1CX could further strain the RingCentral/NICE partnership. The two companies partnered to address the UCaaS/CCaaS combo play, and now both companies have launched entry-level solutions to close that gap. RingCentral positions RingCX as much less expensive (and less capable) than NICE, and NICE positions 1CX as a less expensive (and less capable) UCaaS. So, the mutual partnership still has value, though with less potential. 

Many CCaaS customers don’t need the power of NICE, and many UCaaS customers don’t need the power of RingCentral. Most UCaaS providers have expanded into CCaaS (8x8, Cisco, Dialpad, Microsoft, RingCentral, Vonage, and Zoom). Talkdesk added telephony services a few years ago. Amazon, Five9, Genesys, and Google still see CCaaS as totally separate from UCaaS (as does Gartner). 

It’s surprising that NICE opted to partner for UCaaS. UCaaS partnerships are notoriously complicated and problematic. Presumably, NICE could have easily acquired 3CX (or another UCaaS provider) or developed its own UCaaS. The selection to partner raises suspicion about NICE’s commitment to UCaaS or 3CX. 

The $5/mo price tag screams low frills (features, support, partners, etc.). Also, note that NICE is only selling 1CX as an add-on to CXone, so the $5 is likely subsidized — reasonably justified for account control. 

Webex CC: Webex announced several AI-powered agent tools because “experiences matter.” New native voice virtual agents allow customers to design and manage automated self-service experiences for voice and digital channels. AI-powered agent well-being will reduce burnout by automating actions before, during, and after calls.

Additional features, including topic analytics, will identify top call drivers and create automated workflows for popular patterns. AI-powered CSAT automatically predicts customer satisfaction scores that consider interaction analytics. 

Microsoft’s New CCaaS: In July 2022, Microsoft unveiled its “digital contact center.” It was a typical experiment from Microsoft, and we’ve been waiting for the more compelling version. Ta-da! Microsoft announced the Dynamics 365 Contact Center (again). Until now, Microsoft pitched its Digital Contact Center as an extension of Dynamics. Despite “Dynamics” in the name, the new Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center is a standalone CCaaS application. It’s really a bad name: Not only is it independent of Dynamics, but being CRM-centric is a bad thing, and contact centers often integrate with multiple apps beyond CRM (and O365).

Many of us expected Microsoft’s CCaaS to arrive as a part of Teams, but this product is more about Copilot than communications, and AI needs data. Disruptive? Not yet. Maybe in a few years. Many may be thinking Microsoft will consume CCaaS like it did UCaaS, but it’s not a good comparison. First, the pandemic accelerated Teams adoption at an unnatural pace. Moreover, the CCaaS industry is slow and cautious as it demands proven solutions. It also seems unlikely that Microsoft will bundle it for free with O/M365. 

However, it certainly has disruptive potential. Similar to Amazon Connect, Microsoft can leverage the fact that customer data may be in its computing cloud, potentially even connected to other Microsoft applications. Microsoft probably isn’t in any kind of rush. Most likely Microsoft will initially focus on building out the application and its partner network and creating marquee reference accounts. Microsoft will also likely bridge its CCaaS and UCaaS offers. 

It’s a logical extension of Copilot, but it’s unclear whether Microsoft has any competitive advantages in CCaaS AI. Five9, Genesys, NICE, and numerous other providers have also showcased generative AI capabilities. The new MS CCaaS is scheduled to be available on July 1 in 240 countries and supported by 17 system integrators. Microsoft will likely change the product’s name before the end of the year. 

Five9 Salesforce: Five9 enhances its long relationship with Salesforce. Already the only BYOT partner with a Summit designation, Five9 found a way to embed conversational data in Einstein while also preserving it for its own services. Five9 is now tightly integrated with Einstein Conversation Insights to streamline contact center workflows, improve agent effectiveness, and, most importantly, energize the Salesforce sales force. There’s no cost to Five9’s own AI efforts. We are starting to see AI battles in meetings because only the host benefits from the advanced AI services. Five9 has architected a solution that allows customers to leverage Salesforce tools when/where they want, without compromising their own AI initiatives. 

Amazon Connect Updates: Amazon Q in Connect now recommends step-by-step guides. Q in Connect uses real-time customer conversations to detect the customer’s intent and then provides a guided workflow. The goal is to solve the issue with reduced handle time and increased resolution and CSAT rates. 

Connect now supports Apple Messages for Business in select regions. The analytics data lake in Amazon Connect is now GA. Amazon is resorting to its first free trial of Contact Lens so customers can evaluate features such as call transcripts, sentiment analysis, and contact summaries. Connect’s agent workspace got a minor update with improved navigation and support for time zones. 

Zoom CCaaS Release: Zoom continues to roll out CCaaS features, including automatic message translation, real-time next-action suggestions, SMS activity tracking, redacted PII in transcripts, and automatic Expert Assist results for agents. 

Td Navigator: Talkdesk offers Navigator and mood insights using GenAI. Navigator creates personalized customer journeys in real time. Mood Insights, a new tool in Talkdesk’s Interaction Analytics offering, monitors a customer’s emotional temperature throughout an interaction. According to Talkdesk, it can identify feelings such as gratitude, annoyance, and relief. Michels has severe doubts that most contact centers care about customer temperatures. 

C1 Elly Expanded: C1 has roots as an Avaya and Cisco SI, but implementing those solutions required the firm to develop a number of processes, systems, and tools that have blossomed into a significant CCaaS capability — and omnichannel CX service — on its own. It also offers automation and AI capabilities. Elly was launched last March to help organizations better leverage their data. The service can connect to any system and integrate data from various sources. Elly offers CX automation and assistance capabilities. 

CCaaS BFDs: Earlier this year, Verint announced a $49B deal. Genesys just announced its “largest ever” AI win (whatever that means). NICE just announced a major eight-figure win. Recently, Five9 signed its “largest deal ever” with an F50. Zoom stated “major and sizable wins” across its Phone, Contact Center, and Workvivo products. Chuck has mentioned “Contact Center” in the past five CSCO quarterly briefings. The trend is clear. Things are improving, but it doesn’t feel great — probably because the market is obsessed with AI. 

Zingly launches CCX: Zingly announced it secured a $10M seed funding round and unveiled its Collaborative Customer Experience (CCX) Platform. This platform has three components: Buddy (personalized, AI-driven responses), Relationship-AI (gets agents to high-priority customers), and Rooms. Zingly touts Rooms as a differentiator because it is an all-encompassing and persistent collaborative area that both customers and agents can access. 

Unified Communications

RingSense for Sales 2.0: First launched in March 2023, RingSense for Sales has gotten some updates, namely an integration into Microsoft Teams and expanded CRM integrations such as Salesforce and Zoho. The solution has also been enhanced with an AI-powered coaching review board where managers can set specific goals and get automated AI scorecards. Spanish translation capabilities also got a boost. 

911 RCS Texting: Google is enabling RCS texting to 911 services. It allows those in need to send pictures, videos, and other contexts to emergency call centers. Google is partnering with RapidSOS to offer the service with Google Messages. The providers intend a gradual rollout this winter.

Mitel’s VCCS: Mitel announced the global availability of its Virtual Care Collaboration Service (VCCS). Mitel discovered a very strong healthcare vertical within its Unify business and intends to elevate its visibility (and revenues). The new VCCS launches in seven European markets (UK, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Switzerland) with the intent of taking it global later this year. Health care, and especially hospitals, is a sector that prefers premises-based solutions. The Unify base includes many large healthcare providers. 

Unlocking Mobility: The FCC wants to liberate Americans from their mobile phone providers. It proposed that all mobile phones must be unlockable 60 days after purchase to make it easier for consumers to switch carriers. This rule aims to clarify unlocking options and give consumers more freedom to choose their carrier. However, the proposal kind of conflicts with two-year installment plans. 

Locked phones are mostly a US phenomenon, and Americans also enjoy some of the highest prices for cellular services. Several countries have outlawed the sale of locked phones. Americans accept locked phones as normal, which is silly, but hasn’t been a big problem. However, with dual SIMs, it is becoming an obstacle as more and more people want to simultaneously use their devices on multiple networks. Locked phones are limiting the adoption of UCaaS Mobility 3.0. 

Dialpad’s New Logo: In a wave of rebranding fueled by the burgeoning hype around AI, unified communications companies are increasingly altering their taglines and logos to incorporate AI elements. Dialpad, for instance, recently changed its logo for the third time. It went from a stylized “dp” logo to a new design prominently featuring “Ai,” signaling its pivot toward integrating AI-driven features into its communication solutions. This shift reflects a broader industry trend where firms are eager to associate with the cutting-edge capabilities and market appeal of AI. These changes underscore AI’s pervasive influence in tech marketing, with companies leveraging the AI buzz to enhance their brand appeal and market positioning.

InfoComm 24 & AV 

The Conference Itself: The annual US show based on all aspects of the AV space took place in a very hot Las Vegas the week of June 10. Avixa reported 36,967 registrants, with nearly 7k no-shows, resulting in 30,271 attendees from 125 countries. This is well below the pre-pandemic 2019 attendance Avixa reported of 44,121, though slightly up from last year’s 29,325. The 18% discrepancy between registered and attended is a relatively new measure and difficult to compare. Avixa also reported that only 29% of attendees were end users. Though not the largest show, it sure seemed crowded because of the unwieldy combination of using the LVCC’s Central and West halls. Show planners should not have allowed a process that required 30-40 minutes to get between halls during an expo with over 800 exhibitors.

Three Key InfoComm Takeaways: #1 Large Display Inflection Point: Profits in selling TV displays have been minimal for years. Consequently, many manufacturers have exited the TV display business. The more modern Direct View LED (dvLED) technology, which has been used extensively in outdoor signage, has experienced recent significant improvements. LEDs are now smaller, use newer manufacturing technology (Chip on Board), and can be placed closer together. The result is that these dvLED displays have increased in resolution and come down in price enough to be competitive with large indoor LCD displays both initially and over time. The dvLED elements can take many forms — as simple as a standard display size for direct replacement of aging room units, or as complex as being curved and wrapped into custom shapes and sizes.

#2 Room Simplification: Simplifying the conference room is a market driver. Whether it’s simplifying connections by needing only Cat6 cabling with RJ45s, using some of the new in-room wireless audio and video transmission methods, or embracing the ability to put room control surfaces directly into meeting controls (eliminating the need for a second touch panel), multiple manufacturers are raising the bar on simplification. 

#3 Videobars Galore: There are too many new entrants in the all-in-one videobar space. We are in a very saturated market period, and only through differentiation and innovation will market leaders stand out. Barco can connect wirelessly; Cisco can switch between Teams and Webex without a reboot; Crestron has four camera elements behind an electronic shutter; DTEN can turn 90 degrees and mount between two displays, etc. If you’re not different in some way, you may as well be selling a dollar-store knockoff, as, in fact, some exhibitors essentially are.

Microsoft’s MDEP Spotted and Adapted: Also sure to shake up the videobar market, the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) announced at EC23 was spotted but not released at InfoComm 24. This is a Microsoft-controlled version of Android, initially announced for Teams meeting rooms. MDEP caused shockwaves across the ecosystem, and it appeared to be expanding before it arrived. Initially thought to be limited to videobars, MDEP is being used for other types of systems — as it was announced to be the future platform for Barco ClickShare devices. Microsoft’s announcement mentioned products from Yealink and Barco. 

Jabra, an original MDEP partner, was not included in the announcement, but Microsoft prioritizes new partners (hello, Barco). We don’t know if Jabra’s omission is due to product delays, a disagreement, or an oversight (unlikely). A perceived slight toward Jabra underscores the complexities and potential tensions in corporate partnerships. (TalkingPointz will be discussing the pros and cons of MDEP in an upcoming podcast.)

Diet AI: While many of the sessions and presentations fell in line with the world’s infatuation with AI, it was not the overbearing focus of the exhibitors. The vibe on the exhibit floor had a stronger focus on core features than the bolted-on pseudo-AI boasts that we’ve seen at other conferences this year — which was as refreshing as a cold beverage on the 100-degree Las Vegas days. 

Controlling Rooms: Crestron announced and demonstrated the integration of its room controls (lights, shades, and more) into the native interfaces of Microsoft, Zoom, and Cisco room systems. It’s a smart move — rather than battling for dominance, they are interoperating and joining forces. 

Seeing Ghosts: After a couple of years of showing off their “Project Ghost,” Logitech and Steelcase announced before InfoComm that they now have an actual product called Ocular View. It’s a meeting solution that combines a Logitech camera with modular walls to create what they describe as “immersive, lifelike virtual interactions.” This is a throwback to the immersive Telepresence era, creating a very, very limited-use meeting booth that works exceptionally well for one-on-one meetings but completely falls apart when documents need to be shared or groups need to meet. Similar solutions did not have longevity in the market, so Danto has doubts that reintroducing new versions will do better. Organizations today seek versatility, not a modern-day “Cone of Silence.”

Huddly introduces “disruptive” pricing for its AI cameras: Huddly is lowering its prices to make high-quality online meetings more accessible. Huddly is doing some interesting things with its Crew multicamera solution, so we’ll have to see if the lower prices help it grow in the market. Look for subsequent announcements about partnerships between Huddly and others.

TalkingPointz InfoComm24 Research Note: TalkingPointz will soon publish a detailed Note on IC24, similar to the EC24 note published in April (both require full subscription). The report will include announcements and analysis of the annual event, including emerging trends, observations, and news and insights covering Ashton Bentley, Analog Way; AVI-SPL, AVI Systems, Avocor; Barco; Biamp; Bluescape, Boom Collaboration; Canon; Cisco; Crestron; CTI, Daktronics; DTEN; HP|Poly; i5LED; Jabra; Kramer, Logitech; Neat; Neoti; Nureva; Owl Labs; Planar; QSC/Q-SYS; and WolfVision. Until then, you can enjoy Danto’s booth tour video playlist. 

The Business Section

OpenAI Buys Into Collaboration: Surprise! OpenAI made an acquisition this month. Even more surprising is that it’s a videoconferencing company. OpenAI acquired a collaboration app called Multi, formerly Remotion, an NYC-based startup that focuses on screen share and collab technologies. According to Crunchbase data, Multi has raised $13M in cash. All five of Multi’s employees will be joining OpenAI. WTF? Does OpenAI have plans in collaboration? Or maybe it’s a stunt to get off Teams and Windows (Multi makes a MacOS-centered solution). A plausible theory is that OpenAI intends to use Multi’s technology to take control of a user’s computer. For example, “ChatGPT, create a business plan for my screen sharing tech.” Multi is the third company OpenAI has acquired.

Thoughtly raises $$: Thoughtly raised $3M in a seed funding round. The startup focuses on AI voice agents for contact centers for both inbound and outbound phone calls.

Deepgram Acquires Poised: AI company Deepgram has acquired Poised, which serves up real-time feedback during online meetings. 

Cognigy Series C: Cognigy completed a $100M Series C round led by Eurazeo. 

Zendesk Ventures: Zendesk launched a global venture firm focused on AI CX and EX startups. Its first investments are in PolyAI and unitQ (AI-powered customer feedback platform).

Leadership Changes

Sprinklr named a new Co-CEO, Trac Pham. Intelisys has a new VP of Marketing, Jolynn Antonacci — previously at Nextiva. Keith Dennis is the new Senior VP of Sales at UJET — he previously held VP roles at 8x8 and RingCentral. Tim Root, who previously held a GM role at Poly, is the new Chief Product Officer at Owl Labs. Owl has transformed its leadership team and is targeting expansion in enterprise collaboration. Lukas Carruthers has been promoted to Head of CX Sales and GTM at Zoom APJ. 

Goodreads

1. The AI Revolution Is Already Losing Steam The pace of innovation in AI is slowing, its usefulness is limited, and the cost of running it remains exorbitant.
2. AI: Our Thesis on AI Voice Agents Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) makes its case for voice agents. 
3. When AI Is Ready, Will You Be? Considering the long game until AI is truly ready for contact center
4. A PR disaster: Microsoft has lost trust with its users, and Windows Recall is the straw that broke the camel’s back With trust eroded for Windows users and a history of less-than-embraced practices, Windows Recall may be a tough sell (even though it has some good features).
5. Microsoft’s Nadella Is Building an AI Empire. OpenAI Was Just the First Step After landing the deal that launched his company to the front of the artificial intelligence race, the tech chief is spreading his bets. Will it be enough?
6. How Big Tech Is Killing Innovation The pattern of startups innovating, growing, and leapfrogging incumbents seems to have stopped. Instead, they get acquired. 
7. McDonald’s is ending its drive-thru AI test Another spectacular AI failure. McDonald’s has been testing drive-thru voice AI since 2021. McDonald’s plans to find a new partner for its automated order-taking efforts.
8. Apple announced RCS with a whimper when it should have been a bang No big splash for the launch of RCS iOS 18, which was years in the making.
9. Optimizing AI Inference at Character.AI  Character.ai reports several breakthroughs in inference technology designed to make LLMs easier and more cost-effective to scale. Inference is the process by which LLMs generate replies.
10. Microsoft’s Copilot will let you join 3 meetings at once, but experts say it misses the point: ‘No one has ever wanted to be in a meeting’ An ad doubles down on the productivity gains Copilot enables, but misses the mark on systemic problems, including too many meetings.
11. Coca-Cola global CMO: AI will completely reshape marketing  It appears generative AI will have a far bigger impact on marketing than enterprise communications. 
12. What will be the impact on office demand from WFH?  Comprehensive analysis of the effect of persistent WFH on commercial real estate.  
13. Hybrid Work Has Changed Meetings Forever Research on virtual meetings shows a correlation among meeting participation, camera usage, and retention. Attrition is higher in employee groups that don’t enable their cameras in small group meetings.  

Other Recent Stuff

• RealTime Recorded - CCaaS June - Dave and Zeus Kerravala talk NICE Interactions and Five9 (video)
• Dave Gets the Lowdown on AI from Richard Bassett, NICE’s VP of Digital, AI & Analytics (video)
• Three AIs Walked into a Bar… (No Jitter)
• Generative AI: Not the Droids You Are Looking For (No Jitter) 
• Danto discusses his joining TalkingPointz and impressions of InfoComm (video)
• The UCaaS Market Share Leader is … (Telecom Reseller) 
• Dave’s Take on NICE Interactions (video)
• Dave Michels hosts CEO Chat with Dan Bodner, Verint (video, CX Today)
• Dave M Chats with Lee Essex from Tango Networks about UCaaS Mobility 3 (video)
• RingCentral’s Filipe Leitão discusses the company’s European strategy (video)
• Enreach’s Bertrand Pourcelot & Dave Michels talk about being a converged UCaaS Platform Vendor (video)
• Anand Buch (NetSapiens) and Dave chat about the service provider market (video) 
• AI’s Triple Evolution: Legacy, Generative, and the Future (video, UC Today)
• Navigating the Complex Landscape of Facial and Voice Recognition in the Workplace
• Discussing Insider Reports (video)
• EPOS’ Torben Christiansen chats with Danto about the science of listening (video)
• Playlist of all TalkingPointz exhibitor interviews from InfoComm 2024 (videos)
• Danto and David Dungay discuss conference impressions from the InfoComm expo floor (video, UC Today)
• The Power of Voice 
• TalkingPointz Research: AV1 Codec
• The Two Daves chat Live from Infocomm24 (video)
• A Closer Look at the Crestron Videobar 70 (+ unboxing & demo video)
• Recalling the Dead Past (NoJitter)

A Year of Insider Reports (only new Insider Reports are behind the paywall) 

1. Insider August 2023
2. Insider September 2023
3. Insider October 2023
4. Insider November 2023
5. Insider December 2023
6. Insider Lite Jan 2024 (Twilio)
7. Insider Lite Jan 2024 (Key Trends)
8. Insider Jan 2024
9. Insider Lite Feb 2024
10. Insider Feb 2024
11. Insider Lite Mar 2024
12. Insider March 2024
13. Insider April 20, 2024
14. Insider Lite May 2024
15. Insider May 2024

TalkingPointz Insider Reports are available through a subscription service at TalkingPointz.com.

Any Questions?

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Meet Us

Dave Michels is a founder and Chief Protagonist at TalkingPointz, and the Editor and Chief of the Insider Report. [email protected]. David Danto is AV Aficionado at TalkingPointz. [email protected].