Gaylord Palms
Orlando, FL
March 18 – 21, 2019
Attendees: 7,200+
Exhibitors/Sponsors: 200+
Media/Analysts: 30+
Calysto Overview
Over the past 28 years, Enterprise Connect has solidified its place in history as the top show for the entire enterprise communications and collaboration ecosystem. Enterprise Connect is organized by UBM, which in June 2018 combined with Informa PLC to become a leading B2B information services group and event organizer.
In case you missed it, check out our pre-show Q&A with Eric Krapf, General Manager and Program Co-Chair for Enterprise Connect, where he breaks down the evolution of the show, the hottest topics in the communications technology space, and much more.
In past years, Enterprise Connect (formerly Voicecon) was where unified communications providers rolled out new desk phones and video conferencing equipment. In 2019, the show shifted its focus to making communications smarter.
Vendors and service providers made their way to Orlando to show off video conferencing, call center technology, collaboration and how they are injecting AI into their enterprise products and services.
Enterprise Connect also served as the perfect backdrop for companies to announce new APIs, deeper integrations and partnerships with the top leaders in CRM and Cloud Computing.
The top exhibitors and sponsors of Enterprise Connect 2019 included Bandwidth, Cisco, Slack, Microsoft, the new “Poly”, RingCentral, Twilio, Vonage, and more.
Masergy’s new partnership and tool, Plantronics’ renaming, and Windstream’s financial troubles were just a few of the big stories coming out of the show.
The Top Trends of Enterprise Connect
Artificial Intelligence for the Contact Center
Enterprise Connect 2019 was host to several AI announcements as vendors start to take advantage of natural language processing, advanced analytics, and machine learning.
Contact Center environments are providing the leading platforms for technological innovation. The most exciting innovations discussed at the show were from CCaaS vendors.
Five9, Talkdesk, 8×8, and RingCentral were all pushing next-generation development of natural language processing, speech and sentiment analytics, as well as prediction and forecasting capabilities. In time, these advances will proliferate down into UCaaS and collaboration tools as well.
Interoperability Gains Traction
Interoperability was mentioned in nearly every keynote speech at the show, including by Microsoft, Google, Cisco, and Amazon. There has been a lot of talk about interoperability in the past, but not a lot of action. Perhaps the big industry players are finally starting to realize the threat of not cooperating. For example, Cisco now offers a Microsoft OneDrive integration. Maybe the tide is finally turning.
Media & Analysts
No Jitter provided daily commentary and analysis for the show, while other media partners for Enterprise Connect included CIO Applications, PowerSource Online, The Society of Communications Technology Consultants International (SCTC), SIP Forum, SIP School™, Softwaremag.com, TechnologyAdvice, and Telecom Reseller.
Enterprise Connect is famous for its draw of industry analysts. However, the main media covering the event are UBM’s own.
Biggest Buzz Coming Out of the Show
Plantronics Rebrands – Plantronics bought Polycom last year but is keeping the company alive in both name and spirit. The company announced that it will go as Poly, with the goal of taking the best of both businesses and utilizing their combined expertise in video and audio. The news was announced Monday and it immediately stole the show. There was a grand unveiling process highlighted by one of the largest booths in the expo hall. Large digital signage displayed a countdown clock, then the new Poly branding was dramatically unmasked. The consensus was positive among attendees who thought it was a bold move to leave the old brands behind.
LogMeIn had its own branding news to announce at the show. The company launched GoTo and GoToConnect as part of its new UCC brand after acquiring Jive last year. Alongside LogMeIn’s flagship meeting and webinar solutions, GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar, the new product portfolio will feature the company’s first ever, truly integrated UCC solution, GoToConnect, as well as its new out of the box conference room solution, GoToRoom.
Masergy announced an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered virtual agent that will power different features of its UCaaS platform. The company said the virtual agent would help users be more productive and serve its customers more quickly. Cisco on another front picked Masergy to be its premier partner for something called a “Customer Journey Platform.”
Windstream Files for Bankruptcy – Windstream lost $549 million in the quarter and earned $100 million less than it did in 2017 Q4. The news came not long after Windstream filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and served as one of the most talked about things at Enterprise Connect.
Collaboration innovation – Microsoft announced eight new features for Teams including custom backgrounds, private channels and, the warmly received, whiteboard meeting optimization feature. Cisco upgraded its meeting solutions with AI, offering facial recognition, framing and other features offering meeting simplicity with Webex Assistant. Lastly, Slack launched Enterprise Key Management, an additional security feature where customers manage and apply message encryption keys.
5G Technology – Fuze and Samsung Electronics America announced that they’d be building compatibility between their respective software and hardware. They presented their recent work hooking up 15,000-plus Waste Management trucks with mobile technology.
Best of Enterprise Connect Awards
For the second year in a row, Microsoft took home the Best of Enterprise Connect Overall Award, this time for Teams for first-line workers and new workspaces, a version of the team collaboration solution aimed at providing tools for catering to what the company estimates to be 2.3 billion primarily mobile-first, frontline workers who are not considered information workers and are more mobile in nature.
Newcomer Mio had a memorable event as they claimed the Best Innovation for Collaboration Award. Its software appears to remedy an age-old industry problem by linking together team chat apps Slack, Webex Teams and Microsoft Teams.
Industry theme favorite, AI, has its own category and AWS and Optanix shared the best innovation in that sector as they took the Best Application of AI Winners.
You couldn’t escape Poly at the event as they took home the Best Communications/ Collaboration Device Award for its Polycom Studio, which made sense because there seemed to be one in nearly every booth on the show floor.
The final winners were two giants of the show as Microsoft and AWS shared the award for Best Upgrade to an Existing Product, for Amazon Connect and Teams respectively.
Summary
This year’s Enterprise Connect provided no shortage of talking points. One single topic didn’t dominate the agenda. There was a nice balance between the different technology spheres. Enterprise Connect is hands down the best event for networking, announcements and education on the enterprise side.
There was a lot of news coming out of the show, and while it seemed to focus on a few key players, there were still plenty of opportunities to meet and mingle with analysts and peers across the UC industry.
And stay tuned to see what Enterprise Connect does with regards to IoT in 2020!
Up Next
WorkSpace Connect: Enterprise Connect announced it has a new event on the horizon – WorkSpace Connect. As enterprises look to provide employees with spaces, tools, and roles that fit the revolutions occurring in the worlds of technology, real estate/facilities, and people management, WorkSpace Connect will bring together enterprise leaders of these three worlds for mutual learning and hands-on experience, and to share insights on how to develop a coherent strategy. TBA – Coming Fall 2019
Enterprise Connect 2020 will take place March 30 – April 2 at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando, FL.
The Best of Enterprise Connect 2019
Articles of Interest
WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2019?
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 22, 2019
CLOUD, AS-A-SERVICE DEMOCRATIZE CUTTING-EDGE COMMUNICATION TECH
SiliconANGLE
R. Danes
March 22, 2019
ZOOM ANNOUNCES NEW FEATURES & INTEGRATIONS
UC Today
Rebekah Carter
March 22, 2019
MICROSOFT TEAMS GETS MAJOR UPGRADE, GARTNER’S AI PREDICTIONS, MORE NEWS
CMSWire
David Roe
March 22, 2019
ACHIEVE UC SUCCESS WITH STRONG USER ADOPTION STRATEGIES
TechTarget
Katherine Finel
March 22, 2019
PODCAST: VISUAL ENGAGEMENT MAKES THE CONTACT CENTER
Telecom Reseller
Gary Audin
March 22, 2019
6 HOT UC PRODUCTS, PARTNERSHIPS, SERVICES UNVEILED AT ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2019
CRN
Gina Narcisi
March 21, 2019
CRN rounds up six of the hottest new UC, collaboration and video offerings and updates unveiled this week at Enterprise Connect 2019, where smart communications was the name of the game.
CISCO’S AMY CHANG SHINES IN EC19 DEBUT
No Jitter
Zues Kerravala
THE BEST CX IS GOOD AX: INTELLIGENCE FOR CONTACT-CENTER ‘SUPER AGENTS’
SiliconANLGE
R. Danes
March 21, 2019
OUT LOUD: MIO SCOOP COLLABORATION INNOVATION AWARD
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 21, 2019
Q&A: HOW FIVE9 IS USING CLOUD, AI TO REVOLUTIONIZE CALL CENTERS
SiliconANGLE
Teryn O’Brien
March 21, 2019
JABRA UNVEILS NEW ANALYTICS PARTNERSHIPS FOR ENHANCED DATA-DRIVEN PRODUCTIVITY
AiThority
AIT Staff
March 21, 2019
ENTERPRISE CONNECT ROUNDUP: 8×8 PRODUCTS, AVAYA CLOUD PROGRAM
Channel Partners
Edward Gately
March 21, 2019
CONTACT CENTER AI TRENDS TAKE CENTER STAGE AT ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2019
TechTarget
Micah Levine
March 21, 2019
8X8 TALKS SPEECH ANALYTICS FOR UC
No Jitter
Beth Schultz
March 20, 2019
SERVICENOW’S CR APPROACH KICKS CUSTOMER SERVICE OFF ITS CORPORATE ISLAND
SiliconANGLE
Mark Albertson
March 20, 2019
JARVIS ON THE JOB? AN ANALYST’S ENTERPRISE-AI REALITY CHECK
SiliconANGLE
R. Danes
March 20, 2019
ZOOM ZEROS IN ON VISION FOR A VIDEO-FIRST COMMUNICATIONS CULTURE
SiliconANGLE
Mark Albertson
March 20, 2019
VONAGE DEBUTS FIRST INTEGRATION SINCE NEWVOICEMEDIA ACQUISITION
Channel Partners
Edward Gately
March 20, 2019
MICROSOFT TEAMS GETTING MULTIPLE NEW CAPABILITIES IN ITS SECOND YEAR
Redmond Magazine
Kurt Mackie
March 20, 2019
POLYCOM TRIO INTEGRATES WITH ALEXA FOR BUSINESS
TechTarget
Jonathan Dame
March 20, 2019
EDUCAST: COLLABORATION DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Telecom Reseller
Gary Audin
March 19, 2019
AVAYA & GOOGLE USE AI TO ENHANCE CX
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 19, 2019
TALKDESK UNVEILS AI ENHANCED WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 19, 2019
AS TEAMS TURNS TWO, MICROSOFT ADDS COMPLIANCE AND MEETING FEATURES
Computerworld
Matthew Finnegan
March 19, 2019
CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS INCREASINGLY BECOMING AN OMNICHANNEL EXPERIENCE
Mark Albertson
SiliconANGLE
March 19, 2019
CLOUD MIGRATION PLANNING KEY TO SUCCESSFUL UCAAS DEPLOYMENT
TechTarget
Katherine Finnel
March 19, 2019
ZOOM PHONE CLOUD PBX EXPANDS FEATURES, PARTNERSHIPS
TechTarget
Jonathan Dame
March 19, 2019
CISCO ENHANCES WEBEX ASSISTANT WITH AI MEETING, CALL CONTROLS
TechTarget
Jonathan Dame
March 19, 2019
MASERGY, AVAYA, VONAGE, OTHERS TOUT INNOVATIONS AT ENTERPRISE CONNECT
Channel Partners
Edward Gately
March 19, 2019
‘ONE TOOL TO RULE’ FOR ENTERPRISE COMMUNICATIONS REMINISCENT OF PUBLIC CLOUD DEBATE TWO YEARS AGO
SiliconANGLE
Mark Albertson
March 19, 2019
NOW USED BY 500K ORGANIZATIONS, MICROSOFT TEAMS RELEASES NEW COLLABORATION TOOLS
SiliconANGLE
Mark Albertson
March 19, 2019
MICROSOFT WINS BEST OF ENTERPRISE CONNECT OVERALL AWARD
No Jitter
Michelle Burbick
March 19, 2019
ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2019 UNDERWAY
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 18, 2019
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 18, 2019
PLANTRONICS, POLYCOM REBRAND AS POLY; UNIFIED CHANNEL PROGRAM, PARTNER TOOLS SOON TO COME
CRN
Gina Narcisi
March 18, 2019
PLANTRONICS IS TRANSFORMING INTO A ‘NEW’ BRAND CALLED POLY
CNET
David Carnoy
March 18, 2019
MEET POLY – PLANTRONICS AND POLYCOM REBRAND
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 18, 2019
PLANTRONICS REBRANDS AS POLY, ROLLS OUT LATEST PRODUCTS, SERVICES
Channel Partners
Edward Gately
March 18, 2019
PLANTRONICS + POLYCOM RELAUNCHES TO BECOME POLY
eWeek
Chris Preimesberger
March 18, 2019
FUZE, SAMSUNG AIM TO CAPITALIZE ON 5G, IOT TOGETHER
Channel Partners
James Anderson
March 18, 2019
PODCAST: NUREVA TO SHOWCASE EXPANDED AUDIO PLATFORM AT ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2019
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 18, 2019
OPI
Andy Braithwaite
March 18, 2019
PODCAST: SENNHEISER WILL FEATURE NEW PRODUCTS IN LARGEST PRESENCE EVER AT ENTERPRISE CONNECT
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 16, 2019
THE IMPORTANCE OF RATIONAL COLLABORATION IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
Hackernoon
Andrey Sergeenkov
March 16, 2019
VENDORS SHOWCASE LATEST UC OFFERINGS AT ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2019
TechTarget
Micah Levine
March 15, 2019
TOP VIDEO COLLAB & AV TRENDS TO WATCH FOR AT EC19
No Jitter
Michelle Burbick
March 15, 2019
MATURE UC MARKET DRIVES INNOVATION AT ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2019
TechTarget
Katherine Finnell
March 13, 2019
VOXIMPLANT GETS SMART ABOUT CALLING
No Jitter
Michelle Burbick
March 13, 2019
NEW WIDGET FOR RINGCENTRAL INTEGRATIONS TARGETS ENTERPRISES
OTTER.AI HAS A MEETING ASSISTANT FOR YOUR TEAM
No Jitter
Beth Schultz
March 12, 2019
AI IN THE CONTACT CENTER: IMPROVING THE HUMAN TOUCH
No Jitter
Zues Kerravala
March 11, 2019
WOMEN IN TECH: SEEING IS BELIEVING
No Jitter
Michelle Burbick
March 1, 2019
LOGMEIN PRODUCTS JIVE AND GOTOMEETING TO BE UNIFIED
TechTarget
Jonathan Dame
FEBRUARY 28, 2019
YOUR GUIDE TO TOP TECH CONFERENCES 2019
Cio.au
CIO Staff
FEBRUARY 28, 2019
No Jitter
Beth Schultz
FEBRUARY 27, 2019
8X8 BEEFS UP INTEGRATIONS, SPEECH ANALYTICS, REPORTING
No Jitter
Beth Schultz
FEBRUARY 6, 2019
ALL THE UC EVENTS IN March: FILL YOUR COMMS CALENDAR
UC Today
Rebekah Carter
FEBRUARY 1, 2019
EX-CISCO EXEC JONATHAN ROSENBERG NAMED CTO OF FIVE9
TechTarget
Jonathan Dame
JANUARY 3, 2019
BEST OF ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2019: EXPANDING THE SCOPE
No Jitter
Beth Schultz
DECEMBER 26, 2018
ZAILAB: THE STORY BEHIND THE SPACE TRUCK
No Jitter
Sheila McGee-Smith
APRIL 27, 2018
CISCO SPARK ROOM 70, POLYCOM PANO ADVANCE CONFERENCE ROOM TECH
TechTarget
Luke O’Neill
March 30, 2018
FROM ISE TO ENTERPRISE CONNECT, WHAT ARE THE LATEST TRENDS IN UC AND AV?
AV Nation
David Danto
March 27, 2018
MICROSOFT TEAMS DOMINATES – WITH TOM ARBUTHNOT
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 27, 2018
5 TEAM COLLABORATION INSIGHTS STRAIGHT FROM USERS
No Jitter
Blair Pleasant
March 27, 2018
HOW TO NAVIGATE A MICROSOFT TEAMS MIGRATION FROM SKYPE FOR BUSINESS
TechTarget
Katherine Finnell
March 27, 2018
ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2018 – BCSTRATEGIES REVIEW
Business Communications Strategies
Jim Burton
March 27, 2018
No Jitter
Beth Schultz
March 26, 2018
ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER CONNECT 2018
CRMXchange
Sheri Greenhaus
March 26, 2018
PODCAST: ENGHOUSE CLOUD OFFERINGS IMPROVE CHANNEL OPPORTUNITIES, ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER OUTCOMES
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 24, 2018
PODCAST: METASWITCH SOLVING ENTERPRISE MOBILITY CHALLENGES
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 24, 2018
PODCAST: PANASONIC SHOWCASES FULL RANGE OF UC AND UCAAS PRODUCTS
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 24, 2018
TWILIO WANTS TO CHANGE CONTACT CENTERS WITH NEW FLEX PLATFORM
Fox Business
March 23, 2018
ZOOM EMBEDS VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS INTO IBM WATSON WORKSPACE PLUS
UC Today
Rebekah Carter
March 23, 2018
PODCAST: TETRAVX OFFERS CUSTOMIZED UCAAS APPROACH
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 23, 2018
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MARKETPLACE DEVELOPED BY GENESYS
UC Today
Rebekah Carter
March 23, 2018
TWILIO WANTS TO CHANGE CONTACT CENTERS WITH NEW FLEX PLATFORM
PCMag
Rob Watts
March 23, 2018
BE YOUR OWN BEST ADVOCATE… AND OTHER CAREER TIPS
No Jitter
Beth Schultz
March 22, 2018
OUT LOUD: DOLBY ON THE ‘ART OF SOUND’
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 22, 2018
Presenter and Tech Journalist Patrick Watson is joined by Andrew Border at Enterprise Connect 2018.
PODCAST: ENGHOUSE CLOUD OFFERINGS IMPROVE CHANNEL OPPORTUNITIES, ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER OUTCOMES
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 24, 2018
PODCAST: METASWITCH SOLVING ENTERPRISE MOBILITY CHALLENGES
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 24, 2018
PODCAST: PANASONIC SHOWCASES FULL RANGE OF UC AND UCAAS PRODUCTS
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 24, 2018
TWILIO WANTS TO CHANGE CONTACT CENTERS WITH NEW FLEX PLATFORM
Fox Business
March 23, 2018
ZOOM EMBEDS VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS INTO IBM WATSON WORKSPACE PLUS
UC Today
Rebekah Carter
March 23, 2018
PODCAST: TETRAVX OFFERS CUSTOMIZED UCAAS APPROACH
Telecom Reseller
Douglas Green
March 23, 2018
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MARKETPLACE DEVELOPED BY GENESYS
UC Today
Rebekah Carter
March 23, 2018
TWILIO WANTS TO CHANGE CONTACT CENTERS WITH NEW FLEX PLATFORM
PCMag
Rob Watts
BE YOUR OWN BEST ADVOCATE… AND OTHER CAREER TIPS
No Jitter
Beth Schultz
March 22, 2018
OUT LOUD: DOLBY ON THE ‘ART OF SOUND’
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 22, 2018
Presenter and Tech Journalist Patrick Watson is joined by Andrew Border at Enterprise Connect 2018.
A.I. AND SPEECH ADVANCES BRING VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS TO WORK
IDG Connect
March 20, 2018
CLOUD CONTACT CENTER BENEFITS INCLUDE SIMPLICITY, INTEGRATIONS
TechTarget
Katherine Finnell
March 20, 2018
PODCAST: BEEFING UP THREAT MITIGATION
Telecom Reseller
Gary Audin
March 20, 2018
OUT LOUD ON ALEXA FOR BUSINESS WITH GENERAL MANAGER COLLIN DAVIS
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 20, 2018
22 SOLUTIONS, SOFTWARE, PLATFORMS, AND PRODUCTS AT ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2018
TechDecisions
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March 20, 2018
Business Communications Strategies
Blair Pleasant
March 20, 2018
OUT LOUD ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2018 REVIEW WITH DAVID DANTO AND TIM BANTING
UC Today
Patrick Watson
March 19, 2018
PART II – MORE ROUND-UP OF ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2018 (#EC18)
Telecom Reseller
Theresa Szczurek
March 19, 2018
Telecom Reseller
Gary Audin
March 19, 2018
PODCAST: SIP TRUNKS SIMPLIFIED
Telecom Reseller
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March 19, 2018
PODCAST: FAST TIME-TO-MARKET UC&C
Telecom Reseller
Gary Audin
March 19, 2018
ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2018 – TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS
Business Communications Strategies
Phil Edholm
March 18, 2018