Our Interesting Times Will Only Get More So in 2018
To all the readers of BCStrategies here is to a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
As the title suggests, not only was 2017 a proof point that we in the real-time business communications community live in interesting times, but as my expert colleagues (please read their 2018 predictions) and I violently agree, 2018 is only going to be more intriguing.
As a prologue, some background might be useful. For several years, I have expounded on my thesis, long before columnist Thomas Freidman used the term, that we have entered “The Age of Acceleration.” It is an era characterized by the facts that:
- The only constant going forward is change
- The speed at which changes are occurring, in no small measure due to our industry, is increasing rapidly and showing signs of accelerating
- Organizations of all shapes, sizes, locations and vertical markets served that do not embrace and leverage change will suffer swift and potentially catastrophic consequences.
In addition, Marc Andreessen’s famous quote in 2011 that “software is eating the world,” is only part of the story. Realities are that what I call “INFOSTRUCTURE”—a combination of physical and virtual network capabilities and services all now increasingly software-centric—is eating the world. In short, those physical data centers that enable Cloud ubiquity are in fact serving up the next generation of utility. Indeed, there is a double entendre intended by the word “Utility” as it pertains to both the traditional view of a public utility as well as its useful deliverables.
We are heading at an unprecedented clip into the uncharted territory. Where artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), deep learning, neural networking and speech on steroids and a host of other new technologies take the workplace and our personal interactions is problematic to predict. As a result, as the journey into the unknown proceeds, we need to be cognizant of not just the good, but also the bad all of this entails. It truly will be a brave new world.
I mention this because several years ago I put my year-end prognostication posting exercise on PAUSE. The Age of Acceleration had made predictions with “certainty,” even in the short-term, hazardous. Hence, real-time and near real-time commentary seemed to be a safe haven. That said, I am hitting the prediction RESUME button this year. 2018 looks like a tipping point year, and I am willing to dip my toes back in the prognostication waters. After all, the reversal of Net Neutrality in the U.S., significant industry restructuring, cyber security challenges, the use/abuse of bots, the maturation/deployment of technologies mentioned above and those we are aware are gestating are harbingers as to why 2018 is likely to be a blockbuster.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reviewing the 2018 outlooks of my BCStrategies colleagues. They are worth bookmarking for reference during the year. I am just going to add two trends to the mix. (There no doubt will be more as the year progresses). They are in some cases similar to those of others, but from a slightly different perspective. What they appear to have are high probability of being major industry trends to think about and watch.
2018 will be a transformative year for VOICE
This will be true on two fronts.
First, while we were sleeping, for most enterprises’ voice communications became not just another app running on a server, but something to embed in almost “E”verything. In fact, while it will not happen any time soon, the notion of making a “call” will be obsolete. It will be replaced by a term related to “real-time interactions” which will be tiered according to the degree of “immersion” desired, i.e., just voice, voice plus chat, video, etc.
Second, voice command systems (VCSs), will become commonplace in the workplace. Think of this as BYOD 2.0. Believe it or not, people saying “ALEXA…” or “GOOGLE…” at work, particularly when working from home, is catching on quickly. Why? The reasons are simple. Think how much easier it is to instruct collaboration tools via voice instead of using keystrokes or touch to do things like check status, notifications, and initiate meetings. 2018 is going to be the year when the digitally adept bring their VCS to work.
Third, the incredible pace at which speech recognition has become more accurate, less costly and cloud-friendly, particularly speaker-independent recognition, is boosting such things as an explosion of translation services and cutting contact center meantime-to-resolution times impressively.
2018 will be the year when Context is King
From its earliest roots and throughout the various stages of the Internet Age a maxim that all parts of the multiple media worlds have lived by is that “Content is King.” In 2018 in the business communications sphere of influence, it looks like it is time to declare, “The King is Dead, Long Live the King!” Actually, this is not the best analogy. The King/Queen is not dead. Instead, he/she should no longer be viewed as a divine ruler.
The short answer as to the rise of CONTEXT as a co-equal consideration in business process transformations, collaborations and enhancing the customer journey is straightforward. The more real-time communicators, processes along with people, know about each other the more compelling the outcome of the interactions. It should also be observed as critical in this is the reality that authentication is a key part of context.
The biggest threat to the future of ecommerce is the erosion of trust. If sellers cannot verify the identity of those contacting them, and buyers cannot be assured they are dealing with a “reputable” entity or the true entity with which they wish to interact, ecommerce becomes untrustworthy.
Context taken too far in the form of non-permission based use of personal information presents a dark side to all of this. However, context when used appropriately, as documented by independent research, is a proven enabler for creating a safer interactive “E”vironments, more satisfied customers, and sustainable competitive advantage. What 2018 will highlight to C-levels is that investment in context tools—putting the best information in front of the right people at the right time—is a good short-term as well as long-term tactic and strategy.
So buckle up. It is going to be a bumpy and exciting ride. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Start YourCustomized Search
SOLUTION AREA
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
- 8x8 (40) Apply 8x8 filter
- Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (50) Apply Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise filter
- AT&T (44) Apply AT&T filter
- AudioCodes (49) Apply AudioCodes filter
- Avaya (397) Apply Avaya filter
- Cisco (574) Apply Cisco filter
- Dell (11) Apply Dell filter
- Five9 (54) Apply Five9 filter
- Fuze (39) Apply Fuze filter
- Genesys (100) Apply Genesys filter
- HP (98) Apply HP filter
- IBM (171) Apply IBM filter
- Jabra (9) Apply Jabra filter
- Logitech (56) Apply Logitech filter
- Lumen (4) Apply Lumen filter
- Masergy (50) Apply Masergy filter
- Microsoft (766) Apply Microsoft filter
- Mitel (233) Apply Mitel filter
- NEC (128) Apply NEC filter
- Nectar (58) Apply Nectar filter
- Polycom (95) Apply Polycom filter
- Ramp (37) Apply Ramp filter
- RingCentral (126) Apply RingCentral filter
- Sennheiser (18) Apply Sennheiser filter
- Slack (13) Apply Slack filter
- Tata Communications (59) Apply Tata Communications filter
- Unify (186) Apply Unify filter
- Vonage Business (80) Apply Vonage Business filter
- Yealink (8) Apply Yealink filter
- Zoom (21) Apply Zoom filter
- Acme Packet (24) Apply Acme Packet filter
- Allworx (2) Apply Allworx filter
- Arkadin (22) Apply Arkadin filter
- Aspect (34) Apply Aspect filter
- BT (25) Apply BT filter
- CaféX (8) Apply CaféX filter
- CallTower (14) Apply CallTower filter
- Clarity Connect (10) Apply Clarity Connect filter
- Continuant (1) Apply Continuant filter
- Damaka (4) Apply Damaka filter
- Dialogic (5) Apply Dialogic filter
- Dimension Data (44) Apply Dimension Data filter
- Empirix (11) Apply Empirix filter
- Enghouse Interactive (17) Apply Enghouse Interactive filter
- Inference Solutions (9) Apply Inference Solutions filter
- IntelePeer (27) Apply IntelePeer filter
- IR (11) Apply IR filter
- Jive (21) Apply Jive filter
- Kurmi Software (21) Apply Kurmi Software filter
- Lifesize (33) Apply Lifesize filter
- Lightware (3) Apply Lightware filter
- Mavenir (6) Apply Mavenir filter
- Modality Systems (8) Apply Modality Systems filter
- Momentum (36) Apply Momentum filter
- Netfortris (5) Apply Netfortris filter
- NetSapiens (6) Apply NetSapiens filter
- NewVoiceMedia (31) Apply NewVoiceMedia filter
- Nureva (26) Apply Nureva filter
- NUWAVE (5) Apply NUWAVE filter
- Orange (32) Apply Orange filter
- OVCC (8) Apply OVCC filter
- Panasonic (18) Apply Panasonic filter
- PanTerra Networks (9) Apply PanTerra Networks filter
- ScanSource (21) Apply ScanSource filter
- SIPPIO (3) Apply SIPPIO filter
- Snom (20) Apply Snom filter
- Star2Star (8) Apply Star2Star filter
- StarLeaf (12) Apply StarLeaf filter
- Tadiran Telecom (2) Apply Tadiran Telecom filter
- TekVizion (9) Apply TekVizion filter
- Unimax (7) Apply Unimax filter
- Verint (41) Apply Verint filter
- Voice4Net (2) Apply Voice4Net filter
- VOSS (85) Apply VOSS filter
- Voxbone (14) Apply Voxbone filter
- West (28) Apply West filter
- XO Communications (3) Apply XO Communications filter
- Yorktel (17) Apply Yorktel filter
- Zultys (2) Apply Zultys filter
- 3CX (8) Apply 3CX filter
- ADDASOUND (1) Apply ADDASOUND filter
- Aerohive (1) Apply Aerohive filter
- Aryaka (1) Apply Aryaka filter
- Asurion (22) Apply Asurion filter
- Avnet (7) Apply Avnet filter
- Bandwidth (5) Apply Bandwidth filter
- Calabrio (5) Apply Calabrio filter
- Consilium Software (13) Apply Consilium Software filter
- Drum (5) Apply Drum filter
- ESI (6) Apply ESI filter
- Esna (16) Apply Esna filter
- Exinda (2) Apply Exinda filter
- EZuce (3) Apply EZuce filter
- GUnify (6) Apply GUnify filter
- Highfive (4) Apply Highfive filter
- Huawei (47) Apply Huawei filter
- Imagicle (3) Apply Imagicle filter
- IPCortex (1) Apply IPCortex filter
- KnoahSoft (1) Apply KnoahSoft filter
- KOVA (1) Apply KOVA filter
- Logmein (9) Apply Logmein filter
- Metropolis Technologies (4) Apply Metropolis Technologies filter
- Mutare (2) Apply Mutare filter
- NextPlane (27) Apply NextPlane filter
- Ooma (16) Apply Ooma filter
- Patton (11) Apply Patton filter
- Radish Systems (1) Apply Radish Systems filter
- Radisys (3) Apply Radisys filter
- Shango (1) Apply Shango filter
- SMART (163) Apply SMART filter
- Stack8 (1) Apply Stack8 filter
- Swyx (1) Apply Swyx filter
- TrueConf (4) Apply TrueConf filter
- UJET (13) Apply UJET filter
- Voximplant (3) Apply Voximplant filter
CONTENT TYPE
- BC Expert Insights Market (43) Apply BC Expert Insights Market filter
- BC Expert Insights Objective - Vendor Neutral (42) Apply BC Expert Insights Objective - Vendor Neutral filter
- BC Expert Insights Planning (15) Apply BC Expert Insights Planning filter
- BC Expert Insights Solution (12) Apply BC Expert Insights Solution filter
- BC Expert Insights Vendor (80) Apply BC Expert Insights Vendor filter
- BC Expert Insights Vendor Solution (145) Apply BC Expert Insights Vendor Solution filter
- BC Expert Roundtable (133) Apply BC Expert Roundtable filter
- Bcs Webinar (0)
- Bcs Webinar Registration (0)
- Best Practice (38) Apply Best Practice filter
- Buyer Guide (14) Apply Buyer Guide filter
- Case Study (29) Apply Case Study filter
- Executive Interview (145) Apply Executive Interview filter
- Expert Roundtable (450) Apply Expert Roundtable filter
- Guest Contributions (35) Apply Guest Contributions filter
- Multimedia (38) Apply Multimedia filter
- News Analysis (2081) Apply News Analysis filter
- Newsfeed Article (1303) Apply Newsfeed Article filter
- Newsfeed Article (1) Apply Newsfeed Article filter
- Thought Leadership (21) Apply Thought Leadership filter
- Vendor Collateral (211) Apply Vendor Collateral filter
- Vendor Resource Best Practices (24) Apply Vendor Resource Best Practices filter
- Vendor Resource Buyers Guides (2) Apply Vendor Resource Buyers Guides filter
- Vendor Resource Multimedia Content (4) Apply Vendor Resource Multimedia Content filter
- Vendor Resource White Paper (4) Apply Vendor Resource White Paper filter
- Webinar (13) Apply Webinar filter
- Webinars (7) Apply Webinars filter
- White Paper (64) Apply White Paper filter
MORE FILTERS
INDUSTRY
- Banking And Investment (800) Apply Banking And Investment filter
- Education (446) Apply Education filter
- Energy And Utilities (487) Apply Energy And Utilities filter
- Finance (12) Apply Finance filter
- Government (675) Apply Government filter
- Healthcare (482) Apply Healthcare filter
- Hospitality (180) Apply Hospitality filter
- Insurance (100) Apply Insurance filter
- Manufacturing (704) Apply Manufacturing filter
- Media/Publishing (422) Apply Media/Publishing filter
- None (43) Apply None filter
- Professional Services (745) Apply Professional Services filter
- Retail & Distribution (798) Apply Retail & Distribution filter
- Technology (1611) Apply Technology filter
- Transportation (110) Apply Transportation filter
Comments
There are currently no comments on this article.
You must be a registered user to make comments