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PRINT FRIENDLY Tuesday, September 13, 2011 7:30am-7:00pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 REGISTRATION OPEN    8:45am Tuesday - 09/13/11 OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS Michael Tribolet magicJack VocalTec MICHAEL TRIBOLET was appointed as magicJack VocalTec’s Chief Business Officer on June 24, 2011, and is leading an aggressive corporate development strategy for this innovative, high-growth company. In fact with 8 million paying customers, magicJackVocalTec is already the largest and fastest growing telecom company in the country. Within magicJack VocalTec, Mr. Tribolet will serve as leading strategist for the company’s upcoming growth phase as well as a backbone for the implementation of magicJack’s multi-platform voice applications and products. With over 20 years experience in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Tribolet is adept at identifying a company’s growth potential and brings a list of business successes to the magicJack team that is unmatched in the industry. Prior to joining, Mr. Tribolet acted as managing director and CEO of ACN Europe BV, a $500 million a year privately held company with over 1,500 employees and the world's largest direct selling telecommunication business servicing Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. During that time, Mr. Tribolet not only expanded the company into two new EU markets, Czech Republic and Hungary, but provided expert guidance that led to the introduction of 30 new products and the addition of two new consumer market segments. Prior to ACN, Mr. Tribolet was president of Vonage America Inc. and a key member of the executive management team that was instrumental in putting in place the critical building blocks that evolved into a company with $663 million in annual revenues in 2007, up from $2 million in 2004. Mr. Tribolet also served as vice president operations at Dialpad Communications, a pioneering VoIP service provider that was later sold to Yahoo!, where he aided the company in raising $65 million in both private equity and venture capital funding. Mr. Tribolet holds a B.A. degree from Arizona State University in Arizona.   KEYNOTE 9:15am Tuesday - 09/13/11 OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS Ian Pennell CISCO As Senior Vice President of Cisco's Small Business Technology Group, Ian Pennell is responsible for growth in the small business market segment by coordinating a multitiered product roadmap and go-to-market strategy across Cisco. This group is instrumental in establishing Cisco as the trusted IT and communications provider to value-added resellers and service providers who serve small businesses. Pennell manages collaboration and innovation across Cisco to deliver new business models, technologies, and products geared for small businesses.   KEYNOTE 10:00-10:45am Tuesday - 09/13/11 UC in the Cloud: Understanding the Benefits and Challenges Brad Forsythe Interactive Intelligence Srinivas Mantripragada RedShift Networks, Inc. Frank Stinson (Moderator) IntelliCom Analytics Nigel Trueman Siemens Enterprise Communications, Inc. Jeff Wissing ADTRAN, Inc. Driven by VoIP, converged IP services are growing at an unprecedented rate, with businesses rapidly moving from their legacy PBX and key systems to IP-based PBXs. Now, more than ever, the IP PBX is the cornerstone for taking advantage of a complete Unified Communications (UC) strategy, but today that strategy also includes moving towards cloud-based services. As businesses explore the cloud opportunity, they do so with an eye toward more efficiently using their existing resources and improving productivity and profitability at the same time. This session will discuss how enterprises can utilize UC in a virtualized environment and take advantage of several significant cost-saving and revenue-generating benefits, including: • Leveraging cloud-based and virtualized UC deployments to offer enhanced business process integration and tighter integration with the IT Infrastructure. • Reducing physical footprint and capital expenditures along with monthly costs via server consolidation. • Extending UC functionality to branch locations from a cloud-based UC server, while deploying IP PBXs or gateways at remote or branch locations, reducing costs and enhancing communications capabilities. • Improving business continuity through cloud infrastructures. Picking a Winning Mix: Keys to Cloud Service Success Brian Adensamer tw telecom Peter Bernstein (Moderator) TMC Chris Couch Transverse Matthew J. Kraft Crawford Media Services Greg Luptowski GENBAND Wendy M. Petty CA Technologies To fully seize the cloud opportunity, service providers must wisely pick their own winning mix of smart business decisions, partnerships, and technology. There’s little room for mistakes – both for business decisions and technology. Many service providers today are grappling with common questions, such as, what kind of cloud services to provide initially? What technologies are available as they begin building their cloud services model? Which are the best technologies for delivering their services to their chosen customer base? The possibilities can appear endless. The answers to these questions usually require tough, painful choices, and once these business decisions have been made, the biggest challenge then becomes choosing the right infrastructure. Service providers must rely on technology that can help them scale and deliver cost savings – and to do so skillfully enough to carve healthy, recurring margins. How Social Media is Changing Customer Behavior Marie Amoruso Jackson LiveOps Erin Korogodsky Lithium Stefanie Mosca (Moderator) TMCnet Theresa Szczurek Radish Systems, LLC Social media is the electronic, global equivalent of a traditional open marketplace, where customers can praise, offer suggestions, or criticize vendors with others listening and adding their supporting thoughts or coming to the defense of the merchants. Well-known companies and entrepreneurs, such as Johnson & Johnson, United Airlines, and Simon Cowell have found out firsthand the power that customers wield through this channel. Patrons’ comments on sites like TripAdvisor influence others’ decisions that impact on sales and loyalty. Find out how and why the social channel is empowering customers to affect companies’ branding and business. Understand how your customers are using the power of social media to, often emotionally, communicate their thoughts on your brand to the world. And learn how your organization can utilize this changing customer behavior to benefit your bottom line. Media Handling and Transcoding in a Distributed VoIP Network Jeff Dworkin Sangoma Technologies The complexity of media handling in an IP Communication Network has increased dramatically in the past few years. More type of endpoints, switches, services and codecs (both audio and video), combined with an increased need for security, have made it increasingly difficult to ensure a quality user experience for all participating in a session. Often times, media payloads need to be Transcoded (modified in real time) in order for all participating endpoints to properly participate. Understanding Transcoding and implementing an appropriate solution can decrease servers load and increase network utilization dramatically: In this Session attendees will: • Review the basics of the codecs • Understand the complexities of Transcoding • Learn the different methods for determining when Transcoding is required • See the different methods for implementing transcoding in network   Enterprise   Service Provider   Social CRM EXPO   TECHNICAL TRACK 11:00-11:45am Tuesday - 09/13/11 Turning Your Unified Communications Solution into a Mobile Asset Jim Colson IBM Don Gant ICON Voice Networks Kevin Gavin ShoreTel Tom Keating (Moderator) TMC Doug Makishima D2 Technologies, Inc. People are excited about mobile devices, with an emotional attachment unseen before in the technology world. Businesses are leveraging that attachment as a means of reducing capital investment and recurring monthly costs. And on the infrastructure side, businesses are deploying a range of unified communications solutions they wish to extend to these mobile devices to increase business productivity. Likewise, end users expect to have access to business communications resources on their mobile devices from whenever and wherever they need it. What it all amounts to is a business technology landscape being driven by mobility. For IT managers, this means ensuring they have not only a UC solution in place, but a mobility solution as well, which allows them to extend the full power of their UC solutions to mobile devices. This session will discuss efficient ways to turn UC into a truly mobile capability, harnessing its true power and driving process efficiencies while reducing overall communications costs. Panelists will consider not only mobility solutions and PBX integration, but also the impact of multiple mobile operating systems, ensuring compliance with corporate policies, the impact of the latest carrier network technologies, and more. How MNOs Can Leverage a Cloud Platform to Deliver UC Chris Carabello Metaswitch Networks Hugh Goldstein (Moderator) Voxbone Curtis Hartmann BroadSoft Bruce Marler GENBAND For mobile network operators (MNOs), a pair of converging trends is improving the business case for delivering unified communications (UC) services to enterprise customers. First, enterprise demand for UC services continues to grow, particularly with regards to mobile endpoints that now include smartphones, tablets, laptops and 4G enabled devices. Second, emerging cloud delivery platforms allow MNOs to shrink time-to-market for delivering UC services from years to months or even weeks, and enable carriers to offer a comprehensive portfolio of UC services and play a vital role in the enterprise communications ecosystem. This session is designed to educate mobile operators and their partner ecosystems on how to leverage a cloud services platform to deliver unified communications to enterprise and consumer end users. Topics will include: • Cloud delivery approaches available to MNOs. • Benefits and challenges associated with delivering cloud-based UC. • How cloud delivery platforms can help MNOs tap into subscriber revenue opportunities across all major smartphone and tablet operating systems. • How a cloud delivery model can assist MNOs in monetizing investments in 4G broadband networks. • How a cloud delivery model for UC can generate new, billable MNO services that increase ARPU, lead to higher customer satisfaction and longevity, and improve brand awareness through the extension of services to mobile devices. Socialize Your Contact Center for Greater Customer Engagement Lisa Abbott Alcatel-Lucent Chris DiMarco (Moderator) TMCnet Donald Greco Siemens Enterprise Communications James Norwood KANA Overlooking social networking tools in the contact center means lost opportunities to drive customer collaboration. Being present with social media gives companies the opportunity to serve customers where they are congregating and communicating. By integrating social media outlets with contact center technologies, tools and processes, you can better leverage the skills, resources and processes already in place to communicate with customers. As with other methods of communication, contact center managers can and should establish metrics and KPI’s for activities on social media outlets. This ensures that social media is used effectively and correctly to improve customer service and support. Attendees will learn the keys to developing a successful social media strategy, including: • Customer contact channels never stand still…neither should you! • Identify where your customers are communicating on social media, and target relevant corporate or public outlets for monitoring. • Leverage integration to improve the effectiveness and efficiencies of your Contact Center. • Train agents on the subtleties of effective social media interactions. • Don't forget tracking and reporting, just like other multimedia channels. Find your program’s voice: Simple Ways to put Voice into your Application.   Enterprise   Service Provider   Social CRM EXPO   TECHNICAL TRACK 11:45-12:30pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 2018: The Death of the PSTN Keynote Luncheon Panel Daniel Berninger Cipher Software Marc Matthews Metaswitch Networks Payam Maveddat Taqua Richard Shockey (Moderator) SIP Forum Mitch Simcoe GENBAND Rich Tehrani (Host) TMC For the first time in history, the FCC has begun to entertain a definitive plan for eliminating the public telephone network by 2018 and replacing it with an interconnection of IP networks. The conversation is being driven by consumer and business migration to IP communications, carrier recognition of the cost benefits and service enhancements enabled by IP, and a recognition that much of the TDM infrastructure still in place is nearing end-of-life and is becoming nearly impossible to manage and maintain. In many cases, component parts are becoming nearly impossible to acquire. This is not the first major technology evolution the government has had to contend with. However, unlike number portability and the transition to digital television, the market is better positioned for the move to all-IP, as the natural transition has already begun and most of the standards for supporting the transition are already in place. Despite that, this change will impact billions of people globally and change the entire business model for smaller rural carriers, in particular, as the Universal Service Fund may soon become a thing of the past or, at best, be significantly reformed along with intercarrier compensation. Come join our expert panel, hosted by TMC CEO Rich Tehrani and moderated by SIP Forum Chairman Richard Shockey, to learn how to navigate this uncharted territory and prepare for business in a post-PSTN world. Understand what needs to be done and how it will be managed, discover unforeseen challenges, and learn which companies will benefit and which will face challenges as a result of this transition. Host: Rich Tehrani Moderator: Richard Shockey    12:30-1:15pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 Why Video is a Must for Enterprise Communications Andy Cooper Xconnect Roger Farnsworth Polycom Doug Mohney (Moderator) HD Voice News William Rippon IBM Research Video communication is becoming increasingly pervasive in the enterprise arena. The consumer space is also experiencing accelerated growth in video enabled solutions and services. A variety of video endpoint platforms are available for consideration, including mobile, desktop, room and immersive room systems. In addition, communication and collaboration solutions are augmenting the experience with video. Examples include IM and Web Conferencing solutions. Many enterprises are seeing an increase in the desire for enterprise video communication solutions and organizations are faced with the challenge of taking the proper tactical and strategic steps in this space. This session will highlight and discuss many of the key considerations related to enterprise video communications, why video is becoming an integral part of the unified communications environment, how to choosing and deploying the right video solution for your enterprise needs, and tips for increasing adoption by your end users. A Competitive Edge: Hosted and Cloud Services Solutions for SMBs Chris Carabello Metaswitch Networks Alon Cohen Phone.com Corey McFadden Infradapt Jeff Uphues Cbeyond Cloud Cloud Services Business today is as competitive as ever. Small and medium businesses (SMBs), in particular, need every edge they can get. While it is difficult for SMBs to compete against the advantages large enterprises have in terms of scale, they can compete by being more agile and responsive with customers. Adopting advanced communications solutions such as VoIP helps SMBs do this. Communications service providers have recognized the opportunity to help SMB customers better deploy hosted and cloud services by evolving their networks considerably to support these new solutions. However, as awareness and adoption of VoIP grows, SMBs are learning to expect more from their service providers. SMBs can now more effectively prepare themselves to make the right decisions when deploying VoIP, leaving service providers faced with the challenge of meeting new customer demands. This session will take a critical look at the current state of hosted and cloud services and why service providers must act now on this compelling revenue opportunity with SMBs. Social Media Monitoring Best Practices Luca Filigheddu (Moderator) Twimbow Inc. Ricardo Guerrero Swittergy Greg Gunn HootSuite Chris Pearson 4gamericas Ari Rabban Phone.com The power of social media requires organizations to develop and fine-tune a key skill they have too often neglected at their peril: listening to their customers and drilling down to the core issues beneath the emotions. Yet, there are so many social outlets that trying to hear from customers becomes like picking out words from the yells of crowds. Moreover, many who comment on sites may have their own agendas, like participants in town hall meetings that are backing a particular side or candidate. This session delves into the best practices of monitoring social media, including site tracking, identifying brand attacks, filtering and parsing your social media data to view and measure the “noise” and make sense of what is being said. It also explores discovering and tracing the influencers and opinion makers for future outreach. Talking Heads: Grooving with Video: Adding real time video to your application.   Enterprise   Service Provider   Social CRM EXPO   TECHNICAL TRACK 1:30-2:15pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 Enterprise SBCs: Extending Beyond Interoperability Steve Collins Acme Packet Steven Johnson Ingate Systems Mykola Konrad Sonus Networks David Martin Edgewater Networks Alan Percy AudioCodes Jack Rynes Sipera Systems David H. Yedwab (Moderator) Market Strategy & Analytics Partners As enterprises have recently begun to migrate from service provider managed to internally managed session border controller deployments, they have found these devices to provide a strong solution for the interoperability challenges they face with the growth of VoIP, video conferencing and other Unified Communications services. But session border controllers can also address important policy management issues and serve a much wider function as a gateway to IP based communications. This session will explore the latest trends in enterprise session border controllers and how they can be used to simplify the adoption of SIP, SIP Trunking and hosted PBX in the enterprise. Selling Cloud to the Enterprise John Macario (Moderator) TelcoFuture Huw Rees 8x8, Inc. Dan Sachar Inzenka Russell Wurth Verecloud There is no question “cloud” is the topic du jour – nearly everyone in the communications and IT markets is talking about it. The question is, how can service providers leverage that momentum and drive business adoption of cloud services? The core technology isn’t new, but the latest advancements in transport and processing offer an opportunity to deliver services more rapidly and efficiently than ever before. As such, the number of services available vie cloud delivery models is increasing exponentially, including traditional communications services like email and call control, as well as more advanced capabilities like collaboration and content delivery and management, not to mention storage, security, and other key business needs. But when it comes to their technology, business executives and IT managers, alike, are often hard-pressed to make rash decisions, especially when it comes to multi-thousand-dollar investments in technology. This session will look at how service providers can most effectively approach their prospective customers and sell them on “the cloud,” from the hard business case for C-level execs to implementation, management, quality, and reliability arguments to reel in the IT managers. The Contact Center: The Key to Social Media Success Christian Goffi Avaya Joe Jacoboni Contact Centers of America Erik Linask (Moderator) TMC Tim Wittbrod Interactive Intelligence There is a key role that the contact center plays as a gating factor to all social media activity and a pivotal element towards being able to define and measure success from social media. Monetizing on the social media opportunity has many dimensions and understanding them will be the key to achieving social media success. The current challenge comes from creating a plan for what to do with all that data. This is where the Customer Service organization becomes very relevant. A call center operation possesses very appealing qualifications for being the responsible party representing your company and establishing a dialog with your customers that will help you get closer to your goals. This session will delve into several challenges for the next level of due diligence in your social media strategy planning: • Handling scale – Managing 10 or 20 posts can be a manual effort, but what happens when that becomes 1,000 per day? How can you filter, prioritize and engage with all those opportunities? • Measuring success – Establishing a success criteria might not be half as hard as measuring the success over time of that criteria • Consistent image in your responses – Social media is a new channel and, once again thinking of the sheer magnitude of the interactions, you will need established processes and a high level of automation to provide a consistent experience to your customers • Risk avoidance – Social media interactions are not 1:1, perhaps not even 1:many. How about 1:The world? How can you be comfortable with having your representatives respond to social media channels while ensuring compliance and customer satisfaction? All of these questions are very natural discussions in the contact center space. Panelists will discuss aligning needs to expertise and, as social media continues to gain acceptance in enterprises, how to ensure the contact center is the natural next step in this evolution. One thing is certain: Once a social media strategy is in place, the contact center can help you reach the path to monetization. Add text messaging to anything: Couldn’t be any simpler   Enterprise   Service Provider   Social CRM EXPO   TECHNICAL TRACK 2:30-3:15pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 Next Generation Faxing in Today’s Enterprise IP Environment Matt Clark (Moderator) Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP Mike Coffee Commetrex Corporation John Harrison OpenText Scott Riley OneTouch Global Max Schroeder FaxCore, Inc. Karol Waldron Sagemcom Fax, a once thought-to-be-fading technology, is not only alive, but thriving. Indeed, next-generation enterprise faxing, in the form of virtualized and branch-survivable Fax over IP (FoIP) server software solutions, support growing requirements for the latest enterprise communications solutions, including virtualization, UC, mobility, SaaS, driving lower TCO and reduced hardware footprints while enhancing business continuity. Particularly in multi-site organizations, where geographically-dispersed branch offices prevail, IP-based fax servers that address a wide range of high system availability and business continuity objectives are essential. With branch-survivable FoIP solutions, organizations can integrate automatic self-healing capabilities into their IP infrastructures. In turn, branch users are empowered to continue sending and receiving faxes, even during a WAN outage at corporate headquarters. When mission-critical documents are exchanged on a daily basis, branch-survivable FoIP also enables adherence to regulatory compliance stipulations, such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley. The Networks of the Future Neal Axelrad GCS Payam Maveddat Taqua Eric Moore Axis Teknologies David H. Yedwab (Moderator) Market Strategy & Analytics Partners “The network of the future” centers around a truly scalable, optimized and intelligent packet-switched infrastructure that can accommodate not only the wireline broadband services but also the emerging wireless IP applications requiring equivalent capacity, latency and packet loss performance. This includes both session-based (i.e., IMS) and Web-based services. One of the fundamental challenges the mobile industry is facing today is declining ARPU. To cope with this problem, “The network of the future” should incorporate cost-effective strategies by either adding new services (i.e., enhanced user experiences for which subscribers are willing to pay), or reducing operating expenses (OPEX). Ideally, pursuing both of these avenues at the same time will produce maximal benefit, in terms of reducing cost per bit, improving value per bit and value per customer. The vision behind “The network of the future” is to address these three demands of mobile/converged carrier networks today and the evolution toward a fully optimized network in the future. How is the transition from existing networks to the future networks managed? How are those networks managed once deployed? What tools exist? What is needed to ensure critical services are available? How can the transition to future wireless network technology occur when OPEX is declining and CAPEX is limited? The session will address these questions and many more, as network operators seek to increase revenues by leveraging next generation network infrastructures and meet the growing needs of their subscribers. The Role of Unified Communications in Social Work Patterns Marlon Machado IBM Stefanie Mosca (Moderator) TMCnet Mike Ross 4PSA Tim Wittbrod Interactive Intelligence Social work patterns are the most efficient way to collaborate and are, arguably, what has enabled civilization to flourish since humans first walked on this planet. New technologies such as social software and mass-communication systems that entered the consumer realm a few years ago have created a culture in which people-to-people interactions constitute the main conduit to accessing processes and information. It is until very recently, though, that these social work patterns are becoming standard fare in the enterprise. In the past, collaboration in the enterprise was defined by process and information hubs people had to learn how to use. Today, social software puts people at the center of it all and processes and information become attributes of the people who own them or know about them. Social work patterns, however, are only as efficient as the communication channels available to the people who participate in those patterns. Unified communications provides the connective tissue that enables social work patterns and makes them run. This session will discuss the role unified communications plays in enabling social work patterns in enterprise environments and the tools available for creating a social enterprise. Web as Platform Programming: Understanding Basic Web Applications Thomas Howe Embrase   Enterprise   Service Provider   Social CRM EXPO   TECHNICAL TRACK 3:30-4:15pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 Managing the Deluge of Third-Party Devices and Apps in the Enterprise Nathan Clevenger ITR Mobility Bob Emmerson (Moderator) Electric Words Sam Liu Partnerpedia Leila Modarres DeviceAnywhere Chris Perret Nukona Personal mobile devices are creeping further and further into their network, in some cases as secondary devices to enterprise-owned mobile product but, in many instances, as a result of the growing trend of allowing users to purchase and own their own mobile devices and leverage them for business productivity (and enterprise cost savings). The question becomes, how do enterprise IT departments manage all these mobile devices and their associated applications, when the devices have a broad spectrum of manufacturers, operating systems, platforms and carrier networks? Currently the Apple iOS alone has over 200,000 applications under its AppStore. Google Android recently announced that it crossed the 100,000 application barrier. What it means for IT managers is a in increasingly complex management challenge, where they not only have to ensure network and data security, but also deployment and management of enterprise applications across hundreds or even thousands of mobile devices. This session will discuss best practices in addressing the explosion of devices and applications – both personal and business – in the enterprise environment, including the integration of mobile testing and QA practices to minimize risks and management challenges associated with this mobile phenomenon, ultimately allowing IT managers to take back ownership of the mobility arena in an efficient manner. The Challenges of Onboarding Hosted Matt Bramson Inphonex Katie Butcher (Moderator) B-Lynk Caitlin Clark-Zigmond Comcast, Business Services Kimberley Drobny Fonality When transitioning SMBs or SME customers from a Premise Based PBX to a Service Provider Hosted PBX, the Service Provider’s ability to project manage the implementation and effectively communicate with customers throughout the first 30-60 days is critical to providing a positive customer experience and starting off the customer relationship in a positive manner.. However, with multiple moving parts including local and toll-free number porting, circuit acquisition, equipment installation, infrastructure requirements, a proper system design and information gathering -- on-boarding procedures can present a number of challenges. This session will cover how top industry players manage these challenges to ensure a positive customer experience throughout the on-boarding process. Securing Social Media for Compliant Collaboration Sarah Carter Actiance Greg Gunn HootSuite Ronan Keane XO Communications Juliana Kenny (Moderator) TMCnet It took the humble telephone 89 years to reach the 150 million users that Facebook achieved in just five. From sales and marketing, to research and development, everyone is using social media in the workplace. However, its rapid uptake by end users, often against written policies, has also left many enterprises inadequately prepared from both a data leakage and a compliance perspective. Combine this with the growth in unified communications and collaboration and it’s easy to see the boundaries between corporate communication tools and social media becoming increasingly blurred. The problem for organizations is that today’s collaboration tools nor social media natively provide the security and compliance required by most companies and many enterprises find themselves at risk from data leakage and libelous comments to record retention, costly eDiscovery, malware and market abuse. This session considers the rise in social media and the specific security and compliance issues that organizations must consider. Attendees will learn how to securely enable both corporate and publicly available social collaboration tools in line with other corporate communication, why enterprise communications tools don’t meet compliance needs and the steps that need to be taken in order to meet compliance and security regulations for today’s new Internet. OpenSource Voice Apps: Introduction to Adhearsion Ben Klang Adhearsion   Enterprise   Service Provider   Social CRM EXPO   TECHNICAL TRACK 4:30pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Mark C. Straton Siemens Enterprise Communications Mark Straton is senior vice president of global solutions marketing at Siemens Enterprise Communications, Inc., 51% held by the Gores Group and 49% by Siemens AG. Siemens Communications is a top three market leader of VoIP, unified communication and data networking software, services, devices and services with approximately $3.0 billion in annual revenues and approximately 10,000 employees. In this position, Straton has worldwide responsibility for solutions marketing including strategy and planning, product positioning and messaging, product launch and programs. Straton's responsibility is to position the unique value offered by Siemens Enterprise Communication solutions and introduce these to the market. From June 2006 to December 2008, Mr. Straton was senior vice president, global marketing and led the company’s global alliance, channel, sales enablement, sales promotions, product and solution marketing activities. Prior to this, he served as senior vice president of marketing and strategy at Siemens Communications in the United States from October 2004 until June 2006 with responsibility for fixed and mobile carrier networks, mobile phones and enterprise networks. From 2000 to 2004, Mr. Straton had worldwide responsibility for global marketing as well as U.S. regional field marketing.   KEYNOTE 5:00pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION -- "The Cloud Computing Paradigm - Transforming Business, Technology and Industry" Mike McCarthy IBM Cloud computing has evolved into a transformational technology model, making businesses more resilient, enabling communication and cognition through new collaboration tools and analytics, and providing new innovation for industry verticals. Come hear about new cloud technology and insights on adoption trends and the entry points for which clients bring cloud into their business model. Learn about the latest in cloud service provider platforms, converged and unified communications as a service, and more. Cloud computing has not only changed the economics of IT but is helping drive business transformation for successful companies today.   KEYNOTE 5:30-7:30pm Tuesday - 09/13/11 GRAND OPENING NETWORKING RECEPTION in EXHIBIT HALL -- sponsored by Interact    Wednesday, September 14, 2011 7:00am-5:00pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 REGISTRATION OPEN    8:00am Wednesday - 09/14/11 Continental Breakfast    9:00-9:45am Wednesday - 09/14/11 Cloud Computing Platforms -- Which “aaS” is Right for You Ajay Apte IBM Jim Battenberg Rackspace Hosting Tom Keating (Moderator) TMC Enterprise cloud adoption is a hot topic for 2011. With Gartner predicting the cloud market at $150B by 2013, many companies are throwing their hat into the cloud computing ring. Cloud computing ranks No. 1 on the CIO technology priority list for the year, according to a Gartner Research report, "Reimagining IT: The 2011 CIO Agenda." In as little as four years, Gartner expects 43% of companies to have most of their IT efforts running in the cloud. While many enterprises are already leveraging with cloud options, and despite all the hype aroud cloud computing, key decision makers still struggle to find answers to simple questions like: “What is the cloud?” “How do I use it and when?” “What should I consider when evaluating cloud solutions, and how do I evaluate cloud vendors?” What’s the difference between SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, DaaS and BaaS, and all the new aaSes being introduced? This session will put all these aaSes into perspective, including considering the differences between public, private, and hybrid clouds, leaving attendees with a foundation for making informed decisions about their cloud strategies. Back-office Keys to Winning with Service Bundles for SMBs John Frame Sigma Systems John Macario (Moderator) TelcoFuture Dan Sachar Inzenka Commercial services for SMBs are proving to be a growth market for service providers in the coming years. While many service providers have introduced basic VoIP services for SMBs, innovative services and special SMB-tailored service bundles will be the key to beating out the competition for this lucrative market. Tomorrow’s business customer will expect a full menu of next-generation VoIP and data service offerings, including: • Unified communications offerings, such as fixed-mobile convergence, instant messaging, presence and web and audio/video conferencing; • Cloud-based services such as data back-up, web hosting and calling apps integrated with other popular business SAAS tools like Salesforce.com; • SIP trunking for lower-cost adoption of hosted VoIP; • Ultra-broadband for larger files and web conferencing. In order to deliver these must-have business services, service providers must prepare their back office to rapidly scale, automate order management and provision fiber-based services and a wide variety of endpoint, including SIP devices. This session will highlight the business services that service providers must deliver now, as well as the next-gen VoIP and data-based offerings that should be added to operators’ roadmaps, and the requirements for building an effective plan for the back-office rollout of next-gen SMB services and bundles. Unified Communications Unleashed Jon Arnold (Moderator) J Arnold & Associates William Bumbernick Alteva Wes Durow Sonus Networks Michael Marchioni ICON Voice Networks Angie Reed Digium Did you know that, on average, employees spend roughly 50 percent of their work day on necessary, yet unproductive tasks, including routine communications and filtering incoming information and correspondence? A recent study undertaken by Webtorials, commissioned by Fonality, found that reducing an employee’s unproductive time by 25 percent can yield an extra six weeks in productivity each year, per employee, which should be an immediate call to action for business owners to fix these inefficient communications issues. Unified Communications has already been proven to eliminate much of this productivity shortfall. For example, efficiencies created by Unified Communications on a typical firm with 50 employees with salaries ranging from $40,000 to $110,000 can recover two-hours a day in productivity, or a savings valued at approximately $950,000 annually. These figures should be reason enough for SMBs to adopt UC solutions. This session will discuss the true benefits of Unified Communications for the SMB market, including best practices, deployment options, strategic opportunities, integration into existing processes and technologies, and end user education. At the end of the session, attendees will leave with a clear goal to drive UC implementation in their businesses. Best Practices for Leveraging Customer Conversations for Brand Equity Andria Elliott National Instruments (NI) Ricardo Guerrero Swittergy Gary Kim (Moderator) VoIP Business News Theresa Szczurek Radish Systems, LLC At a time when customers hold the ultimate power on brand equity, it’s important for businesses to listen to what customers are saying, have the ability to analyze those conversations, and be equipped to take swift action. These capabilities can often mean the difference between the success or failure of a new product or marketing promotion. Customers often give clues about why they continue using a certain product or decide to turn to an alternative product or service. They email with questions (possible reasons to churn), they complete surveys and explain what they like and don’t like, and, of course, they tell the world via social media what they think, what they are looking for and what they expect in terms of service. These customer conversations represent a treasure trove of insights about churn and hundreds of other topics (e.g., opinions about new products, quality issues, ideas, etc.). This session will highlight the steps companies can take to address the concerns of their social and most influential customers. Attendees will learn powerful ways to decipher and leverage unstructured customer conversational data, and how the most successful businesses have leveraged social media to connect and serve customers using an integrated approach of semantic analysis technology and old-fashioned customer service. Attendees will leave this session armed with the tools necessary to monitor, analyze and repurpose customer conversations to intelligently respond, react and reach out to these influential customers shaping their brand.   Enterprise   Service Provider   SMB   Social CRM EXPO 10:00am Wednesday - 09/14/11 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Featuring Polycom John Antanaitis Polycom With 20 years in high-tech communications, John Antanaitis is the Vice President of Product Marketing at Polycom. He leads a global marketing team responsible for worldwide product positioning, messaging, new product launches and events for Polycom products, solutions and services. John joined Polycom in 2002 after spending five years in Marketing and General Management functions for Stanley Tool Works and Fortune Brands. Prior to that, John spent ten years with Motorola, working in various functional disciplines including Engineering, Operations and Marketing in the mobile phone industry. John has an MBA with majors in Marketing and Operations Management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois.   KEYNOTE 10:25am Wednesday - 09/14/11 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Featuring DHL Same Day Matt Groppe DHL Same Day Matt Groppe is the Director of Global Business Development for DHL Same Day – the special services group of DHL Express. With over 25 years of transportation experience, Matt continues to seek innovative technologies to improve the expedited shipping experience to DHL’s customers. He has developed technical courier solutions that improve the efficiency of delivering critical spare parts to field technicians and has been the voice of the customer in offering customized web applications. In addition, Matt is a member of the Board of Directors of the Express Delivery and Logistics Association and is currently Chairman of the Airline Committee. DHL is deploying M2M technology to revolutionize how we manage highly sensitive cargo and are looking to transform how the integrity of these high profile shipments is managed.   KEYNOTE 11:00am-4:00pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 Visit the Exhibit Hall    12:00pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 Conference Luncheon (Paid attendees only)    1:00-1:45pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 Remote Agents: The Big Game Changer for Contact Centers Steve Brubaker InfoCision Management Corporation Brad Forsythe Interactive Intelligence Anthony Rodio Support.com Michele Rowan (Moderator) Customer Contact Strategies An estimated 25% of organizations utilize remote agents today and growth is forecasted at 30% per annum. Remote agent programs propel customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction, reduce operational costs and align with organization and community sustainability goals. Michele Rowan, former VP of Performance Management for Hilton Hotels moved over 1000+ agents home in just 18 months. At President of At Home Customer Contacts, Michele helps companies design and implement their remote agent strategies. What you will learn in this two-part session: Part One: • The business case for remote agents from customer, employee, community and operational perspectives. • Critical success factors for the remote agent model and expected KPIs • Risks and contingencies – developed from Michele’s client base • Profile and attributes of remote agents: the expansive labor pool • Optimizing performance of agents in a distributed environment • Developing and maintaining cultural connection, reward and recognition • Crucial technologies for maintaining security of data, voice and ID authentication • How to manage quality and leverage virtual learning Part Two: Two key case studies: pitfalls and lessons learned. Overcoming Latency: The Achilles Heel of Cloud Computing Peter Bernstein (Moderator) TMC Rick Bushell Fonality John Considine Terremark John Freimuth Internap Across IT organizations, there is strong interest in deploying applications in a cloud environment to achieve increased business flexibility and cost savings. However, common cloud computing solutions can introduce unexpected costs when IT departments focus their performance related concerns on intra-cloud performance and reliability when constructing their cloud models, rather than the issues of performance and reliability of the overall application and content delivery chain from the cloud environment to the end-user. This is an ill-advised approach. Cloud computing providers’ choice of network carrier shouldn't penalize cloud users when network performance is degraded, and end users have proven that they will abandon applications and websites based on the smallest performance delays or downtime, jeopardizing the perceived value of the cloud initiative. This session will explore alternatives that will allow enterprises to put end-user experiences first, how they can effectively calculate overall cloud service latency, tips for careful evaluation and testing of cloud provider SLAs, and technology and service features IT managers should look for when selecting a cloud service provider to ensure comprehensive performance and reliability that meets both internal and end-user needs. How Channel Partners Can Benefit from the Paradigm Shift to Cloud-Based Services Kim Niederman 8x8 Inc. The hot products for partners to sell in 2011 and 2012 are the cloud communications and computing services businesses of all sizes are gravitating toward, especially hosted IP-PBX and managed server/private cloud solutions. While adoption of these services is still in its infancy, partners that get in the game early will be well poised to profit from the rapid growth that is projected over the coming years. This session will focus on how channel partners can capitalize on the paradigm shift to the cloud by enhancing their product portfolios with residual-based SaaS communications and managed hosting solutions. How to Save Money on Communications without Sacrificing Your Operational Efficiency Eric Borrmann Fonality Steven De Korne Vertical Communications Mark Ricca (Moderator) IntelliCom Analytics Bud Walder Dialogic Corporation Budgets – there may not be a greater factor today when businesses make their technology decisions. It’s a residual effect of the recent economic meltdown and, despite an apparent recovery being in process, businesses have learned one important fact: they don’t need to spend more just because business is improving. Rather, they will continue to invest in technologies that allow them to continue to reduce overall costs while enhancing operational efficiency. This session focuses on ways businesses can leverage the latest communications technologies to increase their bottom line without breaking their budgets. Questions panelists will address include: • What are the key cost-saving technologies? • How much can businesses anticipate saving? • How important is Total Cost of Ownership and how should they calculate TCO? • What strategies should they implement for migrating to new technologies? Creating Community, Creating Customers for Life Chris Bucholtz Sugar CRM Kimberley Drobny Fonality Jon Eisenstein Brand Magnet Gary Kim (Moderator) VoIP Business News Mike Merriman Mzinga Utilizing the power of social media to monitor and engage customers can establish long-term meaningful relationships and create a whole new echelon of brand loyalty. Tools such as Facebook and Twitter reveal incredible insight into the desires and frustrations of a customer base that can be applied to proactive outreach and problem-solving by forward-thinking companies. Fortunately, a host of tools are available today that can be utilized to take information sharing a step further by integrating customer intelligence into business process solutions, such as Salesforce.com and Sugar CRM, to enhance the customer experience. In essence, these applications can be leveraged by savvy businesses to get into the heads of their customers by understanding what they’re thinking and, more importantly, how to react. It will allow information to be shared across an enterprise in an instant to create a highly personalized customer experience that can win them over permanently. This session will explain how UC applied to CRM, along with popular social media outlets can help create meaningful profiles of customers than can make a brand an integral part of daily life.   Call Center   Enterprise   Service Provider   SMB   Social CRM EXPO 2:00-2:45pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 Remote Agents: The Big Game Changer for Contact Centers Steve Brubaker InfoCision Management Corporation Brad Forsythe Interactive Intelligence Anthony Rodio Support.com Michele Rowan (Moderator) Customer Contact Strategies An estimated 25% of organizations utilize remote agents today and growth is forecasted at 30% per annum. Remote agent programs propel customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction, reduce operational costs and align with organization and community sustainability goals. Michele Rowan, former VP of Performance Management for Hilton Hotels moved over 1000+ agents home in just 18 months. At President of At Home Customer Contacts, Michele helps companies design and implement their remote agent strategies. What you will learn in this two-part session: Part One: • The business case for remote agents from customer, employee, community and operational perspectives. • Critical success factors for the remote agent model and expected KPIs • Risks and contingencies – developed from Michele’s client base • Profile and attributes of remote agents: the expansive labor pool • Optimizing performance of agents in a distributed environment • Developing and maintaining cultural connection, reward and recognition • Crucial technologies for maintaining security of data, voice and ID authentication • How to manage quality and leverage virtual learning Part Two: Two key case studies: pitfalls and lessons learned. Forecasting Success in Enterprise Cloud Computing Steve Crawford Jamcracker Bob Emmerson (Moderator) Electric Words Gurmeet Lamba Clarus Systems Dave Rokita Hexagrid Over the past two decades, rapid changes in computing capabilities have reshaped the business landscape as companies continue to capitalize on new efficiencies to compete and profit in an evolving environment. Cloud computing currently exists at the forefront of technology modernization, widely accepted as the obvious path toward IT efficiency. Businesses are embracing cloud computing to speed up innovation, collaborate on a global scale, reduce operational costs and grow their bottom lines. Indeed, the cloud is redefining how enterprise IT departments meets the communications and computing needs of their organizations. Some businesses have well defined cloud strategies backed by strong cloud partners, while others are still a little confused about this new era of IT delivery and are struggling to implement a successful strategy, particularly hybrid environments, as most businesses are likely to continue to deploy certain services in-house. Based on your current environment and your needs and goals, this session will answer your questions regarding the impact of the cloud on IT and end users, key metrics to be considered to ensure service levels are maintained, how to manage enterprise cloud infrastructures, how to maintain centralized control over IT services, the impact of a cloud migration – both partial and complete – on security requirements, and more. Upon leaving this session, you will understand which options are best suited to meet your needs and how to most effectively evaluate them. Design to Win: How CSPs Can Achieve a Better Customer Experience and Higher Profitability from Enterprise IP Communications Rollouts Aron Aicard Fonality Katie Butcher (Moderator) B-Lynk Dennis Gatens OneAccess Networks John Trembley Netformx Solution architects at AT&T, Bell Canada and other communications service providers (CSPs) are realizing productivity gains of up to 40 percent, while reducing error rates by the same amount when designing complex enterprise IP and communications solutions. Seamless, automated handoffs across the entire requirements-to-order process has improved collaboration among all account management participants. By looking at this end-to-end process, CSPs can ensure continuity across their other back-office functions—from order entry and implementation to customer care and billing. This session will demonstrate how CSPs are responding to enterprise customers’ evolving IP communications requirements and designing to win by automating and integrating the requirements-to-order process, and why the cloud phenomenon makes this increasingly important. In this session, attendees will learn how to: • More efficiently and accurately create deployable, future-proof and complex enterprise IP communications solutions; • Streamline and simplify sales teams’ and network engineers’ workflows, and improve their collaboration; • Maximize sales with deployed solutions precisely aligned with customers’ requirements; • Apply industry standards and best practices to ensure continuity across other back-office functions. SMB Communications: It’s all About Options Greg Brashier Virtual PBX Rick Bushell Fonality Kevin Gavin ShoreTel Frank Stinson (Moderator) IntelliCom Analytics With three distinct and effective options in the market for IP-based communications systems – premise, cloud and hybrid-hosted – SMBs often have a difficult time deciding which model best fits their business needs as they seek to upgrade their communications capabilities. The size and structure of your business, available resources and projected future growth are only some of the factors that should be considered when choosing the best alternative for your business. For example, if you operate a smaller company, you might think a traditional solution is the only option to obtain access to enterprise-grade features when, in reality, a hosted or hybrid-hosted system would more than likely be the optimal alternative from a cost, deployment, management, and feature standpoint. To help you navigate the these tricky, yet highly important business decisions, this session will investigate how each system works, necessary requirements in order to get the most out of your investment, and the advantages and disadvantages for you and your customers, so you can decide on the model that fits your needs best. Top 10 Tips for Online Marketing Peter Radizeski (Moderator) RAD-INFO, Inc Rusty Shelton Shelton Interactive Shawna Vercher My America As more marketing moves online, this session will discuss 10 key tips businesses should bear in mind for ensuring success in online marketing. These ideals will provide a roadmap for ensuring your portal, community, social media, and websites become effective tools for maximizing on the Internet revolution.   Call Center   Enterprise   Service Provider   SMB   Social CRM EXPO 3:00-3:45pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 The Hottest Trends for Successful Engagement Steve Brubaker InfoCision Management Corporation Erik Linask (Moderator) TMC Mark Miller J.D. Power and Associates Michele Shuster Mac Murray, Petersen & Shuster The contact center industry is constantly evolving, and technology is a critical component to maintaining a competitive edge. However, even more critical is the human element that utilizes that technology; because even the most advanced technology cannot make up for humans that do not provide outstanding customer service. You need to know how the two can work hand-in-hand to maximize contact center effectiveness. In this session, you’ll learn from and dialogue with three industry experts on the latest trends in effectively engaging employees, navigating the industry’s regulatory minefield and finding meaningful ways to measure customer service understanding both the weighted importance drivers of the customer’s experience and why customer sentiment is changing. The issues at the top of industry professionals’ minds will be covered, and ample time will be provided for attendee interaction. So come prepared to ask questions and even share your own experience as part of a lively discussion. What You Need to Know About Your Cloud Service Provider Lisa Larson Rackspace Hosting Mark Ricca (Moderator) IntelliCom Analytics Tom Schroer NetScout Systems, Inc. Having found its way into a cloudy situation, the enterprise market is now finding itself unsure of exactly how to most effectively leverage this phenomenon called “Cloud.” In addition to different types of clouds, there are countless vendors touting their cloud services, seeking to entice enterprises of all sizes to migrate to their offerings based on any number of capabilities and promises of cost savings and efficiency enhancements. But what does it all mean and how can enterprises see clearly in this cloudy haze of business IT and communications? This session will not only define the cloud as a general technology, but will discuss the key questions enterprises must ask prospective cloud providers before signing any service agreements and initiating a migration to the cloud, either partially or in whole. Evolving Interconnection – From TDM to IP to IMS Peering Andy Cooper Xconnect Fardad Farahmand Sonus Networks Doug Mohney (Moderator) HD Voice News Steve Musick GENBAND Standard bodies such as the GSMA and the International Interconnection forum for services over IP (i3 Forum) are defining a new business model and technical specification for interconnection, namely, IP Packet Exchange (IPX). Furthermore, the GSMA VoLTE Working Group recently adopted the “One Voice” initiative, which defines a single IMS-based “target” solution for voice. As part of the initiative, the taskforce is developing a common interconnection model for interconnecting IMS networks and providing seamless end-to-end call connectivity. These standards are mainly based on SIP protocols and IMS specs, which enable advanced multimedia interconnect capabilities and applications. However, the service providers’ problems are, in reality more complex, in part because of the continuing need to support their existing TDM and, in some cases non-IMS VoIP (e.g. UMTS R4 VoIP, NGN, etc.) infrastructure and interwork services provided via both TDM, non-IMS VoIP network and IMS VoIP networks (e.g., interconnect IMS and non-IMS VoIP, as well as traditional TDM voice). The goal of this session is to discuss some of the key market & technical requirements to make the transition from TDM to IP and eventually to IPX and IMS seamless, discussing some of the unique solutions available in the market to facilitate this transition and reduce the burden on service providers making this transition. The Business Case for VoIP and UC Matt Clark (Moderator) Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP Steve Davis Cypress Communications Luis Grados Grandstream Alan Percy AudioCodes Garrett Smith VoIP Supply Many businesses have already began – or completed – the migration to IP Communications but many more are still in the planning and evaluation stages and are looking for the businesses case and model to justify the switch to VoIP or UC. Despite their key benefits, an effective migration to VoIP and UC requires careful consideration of hardware, software, service provider, and more. This session will look at how to make the business case for migrating from your existing technology to a future-proof next generation platform. • What are the key metrics to consider? • What does it cost and how is that cost amortized over the solution’s lifespan? • Which components are absolutely necessary, which are nice to have, and which are overkill for your business? • What will it take to support your new IP Communications infrastructure? • How do you ensure buy-in from end users so your businesses enjoys maximum business gains from your investment? • What are the most common mistakes businesses make when migrating to IP? Does Your Business Have a Social Media Strategy? Ronan Keane XO Communications Mike Langford Socialware Sanjay Popli LiveOps Peter Radizeski (Moderator) RAD-INFO, Inc Simon Salt IncSlingers As businesses decide to use social media and digital communications in their daily operations, they need to understand that what they are doing makes business sense? There is no question social media is a market changer, and a permanent fixture in the business communications landscape. The question is not whether to implement social media strategies, but when and how, so that you are able to engage your customers at their convenience, not yours. This session will explain why you need a social media strategy and, depending on where you currently stand with regards to strategy and implementation, what your next steps should be in order to ensure a successful implementation and maximum benefits to your customers and, ultimately, your bottom line.v • Where does your company stand with regards to social media strategy? • Who should be responsible? • How can you justify the investment to corporate management? • What products should you consider? • What are best practices for rolling out your strategy to your workforce? • How should you determine the effectiveness of your program, including calculating ROI?   Call Center   Enterprise   Service Provider   SMB   Social CRM EXPO 4:00pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 NETWORKING RECEPTION    4:45pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 StartupCamp    5:00pm Wednesday - 09/14/11 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Bob Metcalfe Inventor of ethernet, founder of 3Com, author of Metcalfe's Law, VC and Professor Bob Metcalfe is Professor of Innovation in the Cockrell School of Engineering at UTexas Austin and a Polaris Venture Partner. He was an Internet pioneer in 1970 at MIT and Harvard, receiving a PhD in Computer Science. Bob invented Ethernet in 1973 at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. In 1979, he founded 3Com Corporation. Bob was for 10 years a General Partner of Polaris and serves on boards of five startups: 1366, Ember, IPS, SiOnyx, and Sun Catalytix. For the 10 years before Polaris, he was a publisher-pundit at IDG. In 2005, Bob received the National Medal of Technology.    Thursday, September 15, 2011 8:00pm Thursday - 09/15/11 Continental Breakfast    9:00-9:45am Thursday - 09/15/11 Innovation for Real-Time Business Collaboration RADVISION Ronald Burns Proton Media Mark Castleman PBX Central Theresa Szczurek Radish Systems, LLC David H. Yedwab (Moderator) Market Strategy & Analytics Partners Call it anarchy or call it progress. Regardless, customers – both internal and external – are demanding the same ubiquity, ease of use, and anywhere, anytime, any-device functionality from their day-to-day collaborative tools that they've come to expect from their social media providers. For those responsible for enterprise-wide collaboration, the headaches are apparent: security concerns, the need for architecture provisioning and management, the requirement that myriad devices and platforms be accommodated. Equally apparent are the benefits: collaborative architectures that are both borderless and validated; that are scalable from end to end; that are business-focused, and – most importantly – result in a more agile, more responsive, more innovative enterprise. The incredible pace of technology evolution has delivered an entirely new generation of contextual collaboration tools, but the key to business success is understanding their benefits, how to integrate them into the business environment, and how to induce buy-in from end users – in other words, knowing how to leverage all these advancements to achieve true collaboration. This session will discuss the latest generation of collaboration tools available to businesses today, their benefits, use cases, and integration into existing infrastructures and business models, including desktop solutions as well as mobile alternatives. At the end of the session, attendees will understand how to build a comprehensive collaboration strategy for their businesses to create a real, unified, communications experience. What’s Really Driving the Hosted Customer Care Trend? Jon Arnold (Moderator) J Arnold & Associates James Dunn TelStar Hosted Services, Inc. Dena Skrbina Nuance Communications David Van Everen Five9 Hosted solution deployments continue to be a fast-growing trend and, while there will always be companies that rely on their on-premises infrastructures and expertise, more and more companies continue to move toward a hosted solution, especially within the customer care market. What’s driving the trend? It’s well known that hosted models provide several benefits in comparison to legacy on-premises systems. Today’s hosted solution is scalable, secure, robust, and simply provides better financial benefits. The hosted model reduces the cost of ownership where enterprises pay only for what they use, and provide the flexibility to ramp up their services in peak seasons. With hosting, you can shift your expenses from CAPEX to a friendlier OPEX model, and can integrate existing investments and leverage in-house expertise. New service channels like mobile applications, text messaging, and social media are gaining popularity. Companies want to adopt a variety of new technologies, yet still deliver an integrated, cohesive experience. During this session, panelists will share new interaction tactics and technologies that companies are using effectively now, as well as showcase some emerging innovations that will continue to drive the migration from on-premises to hosted contact centers. What Mobile Means for Your Security Strategy Bob Emmerson (Moderator) Electric Words John Engels Symantec Corporation John Herrema Good Technology John Storozuk RIM The rise in mobile device usage – including both smartphones and tablets – has left it up to IT departments to support their unique advantages, while handling their inherent varied security vulnerabilities and management complexities. In fact, within the next few years, mobile Internet connections will outnumber desktop connections, which means IT professionals must have mobile device security in their sights today. In addition, thanks to Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market, users will soon have access to more than one-half million applications, without any real understanding of what those apps are actually doing in their devices and on their networks. With IT administrators struggling to address increasingly heterogeneous IT environments, the security and management of mobile devices must be provided through an integrated solution and management platform that will allow IT management to easily inventory, administer, support and protect their diverse mobile endpoints in accordance with corporate IT policy. Ideally, the platform should also be part of a broader solution that also secures and manages all corporate assets. The result? A more secure and well-managed enterprise infrastructure. In this session, attendees will learn to classify mobile device trends, understand the risk to business data, apply security policies and requirements used by PCs to mobile devices, determine appropriate protection and management for mobile devices, and educate users on best practices for choosing and using mobile apps with an eye toward security risks. Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Cloud: Top 10 Reasons SMB’s Need Not Fear the Cloud George Grabowich Broadview Networks Juliana Kenny (Moderator) TMCnet Sanjay Srinivasan Telesphere Nicole Tanzillo Spiceworks Fears. We all have them – the boogeyman under the bed, alien space invasion, the big bad wolf, the unknown, or our PC hard drives crashing and burning – it’s all out there, waiting for you, and it’s reasonable and unreasonable. These days, however, SMBs harbor a special set of fears with regard to their business operations and the emergence of cloud-based solutions for communications applications and IT resources. “Can I really entrust my line of business applications and data storage needs to the cloud?” they ask. “Is it secure? Will the costs eat me alive?” Indeed, these fears are largely based on myths and misperceptions. This session will discuss – and dispel – the fears SMBs have about their businesses and how those fears are unfounded in the context of cloud-based remote data centers, data access and continuity and reliability of operations, and explain what it actually means for businesses to have their applications housed in offsite data centers, along with the inherent advantages the cloud provides in terms of cost, operational efficiency, disaster avoidance and recovery and time.   Business Collaboration   Call Center   Security   SMB 10:00-10:45am Thursday - 09/15/11 Making Telepresence and Video Conferencing Work Paul Baron VideoMost.com, subsidiary of SPIRIT DSP Paula Bernier (Moderator) TMC Stefan Karapetkov Polycom Alain Sturzenegger utribo With the increased number of video conferencing systems in operation, the issue of standards and interoperability among vendors is on top of the list for decision makers, both in enterprises and in B2B exchange service providers. In order to gain the greatest benefits from their investments, they want to be able to connect multi-screen, multi-codec systems from different vendors into a seamless video network. And why not? After all you can have multiple parties on an audio conference call all using different PBXs, handsets, and carriers. This session will highlight the key technological challenges around video interoperability, look at the work of industry organizations like IETF, IMTC, and UCIF, and discuss solutions that will immediately help enterprises and service providers to connect telepresence and other video systems – from immersive room systems to desktop and mobile clients – from different vendors into seamless, inclusive video networks. Hearing the Voice of the Customer Leads to Songs of Success Michael Curry Conexion One Chris DiMarco (Moderator) TMCnet Justin O'Brien CXM Nancy Porte Vovici What is the voice of the customer, and where can you hear it? And equally importantly, what should you do about it? The simple fact is the customers have always spoken up, often when happy, but even more often when dissatisfied. An inability or unwillingness to capitalize on the tools available for listening to what your customers are telling you about your products and service can prove a fatal mistake: customer satisfaction has a direct impact on your bottom line. This session is focused on the customer point of view and the tools they have at their disposal for communicating to and with you. It will also discuss how to make the most of those tools to capitalize on customer trends and make it easy for them to tell you how they feel. In fact, the easier it is for customers to communicate with you, the more feedback you will receive – and the greater your opportunity for acting on that feedback to grow your business. After all, your ability to deliver what your customers are looking for is dependent upon your ability to hear their voice. Comprehensive Security & Compliance for Fast-Moving Businesses Rob Ayoub (Moderator) Frost & Sullivan Matt Harkrider Alert Logic John Ramsey MegaPath Drew Savage Fortinet As applications continue to move offsite and to the cloud, organizations are being forced to take a comprehensive approach to securing sensitive corporate and customer data. Whether information resides on-premises, in the cloud or at another company or partner location, businesses need to examine their security infrastructure to ensure compliance with regulations, such as those in the retail, healthcare and financial services industries. During this panel discussion, participants will discuss the security challenges they have faced and their steps to protecting data and best practices for securing their data, networks, and devices. Quantifying the Cloud ROI Joe Corvaia Broadview Networks John Macario (Moderator) TelcoFuture Rob Mainor PanTerra Networks, Inc. Dan Sachar Inzenka With all the talk about the cloud computing these days, how can businesses really know if the decision to move their business applications software, servers or storage to remote data centers somewhere “out there” will be a wise one? Will it help them preserve precious and scarce capital in the short run, only to end up costing them more in the long run? This session is all about proving cloud ROI: What is the real cost of technology for SMBs and how can they evaluate the cost vs. the productivity. At the end of the session, attendees will understand the business case for outsourcing their software and IT infrastructure to the cloud.   Business Collaboration   Call Center   Security   SMB 11:00-11:45am Thursday - 09/15/11 Achieving Buy-In: Getting Your Staff to Use Video Paula Bernier (Moderator) TMC Stefan Karapetkov Polycom Bob Romano RADVISION Alain Sturzenegger utribo Video has been one of the most discussed collaboration tool over the past several years – but also one of the most underutilized. In fact, many businesses have invested in various levels of video solutions that sit idly each day, unused, while potential users continue to struggle through their daily routines without effective means of collaborating with clients, colleagues, and customers. It’s a combination or poor deployment strategy and lack of end user education. Combined, that leads to a case study in lost ROI. This session will detail ways your business can truly win from its investment in video: • Why are so many video investments underutilized? • Must have features vs. nice-to-haves • Key deployment strategies for ensuring your video technology becomes an asset • Best practices for introducing video in your business • Educating your users, from the board room to the admin desk Harnessing the Customer Service Experience with a Multi-Channel Approach Jon Arnold (Moderator) J Arnold & Associates Shai Berger Fonolo Kimberley Drobny Fonality Christy Murfitt Nuance Communications Today’s consumers are sophisticated. They want flexibility, and simply don’t want to be tethered to just one way of doing business with a company. As a result, a one touch-point approach – by way of the landline telephone – doesn’t cut it. In a given day, consumers go to and fro between their mobile phone, computer and landline – all based on what is convenient to them to make it through their hectic days. As consumers’ habits change, so too must the approach that businesses take with their customer service solutions. While a multi-channel approach (mobile, Web, landline) seems like a “no brainer,” there needs to be careful orchestration between the channels to ensure that customers are not frustrated and ultimately churn, and enterprises are able to maximize existing investments while integrating newer technologies and solutions. The bottom line is enterprises need to increase the value of every customer contact by integrating inbound IVR interactions with multi-channel proactive communications, so that they can engage customers with smarter automated conversations that solve more problems with fewer calls. While a multi-channel approach is applicable to an array of vertical markets, a prime example of how this careful orchestration would play out is in the utilities space. From their utility company, a single customer may receive: a Smart Meter installation appointment reminder (via phone call) with the option to interact within the application (via an IVR) to reschedule to a more convenient time; an update on optional pricing programs now available to them (via email); a billing-related FAQ (via email with a web link); a bill pay reminder (via phone call) with an option to pay (via phone or online); and a usage tip (via phone). All the while, each interaction whether inbound or outbound, can be documented and synced so that the enterprise can easily track interactions and customers are not subject to repetitive questions about their recent history. This session will address how to deliver an integrated inbound/outbound multi-channel customer experience so that both the enterprise and the customer benefits, including best practices for smarter automated conversations, strategies for deflecting costly inbound calls to customer care, maximizing investments in IVR systems, integrating mobility, and more. The Next Generation of Voice Security Robert Bradley Sonus Networks Matt Collier Lifesize, a division of Logitech Tom Keating (Moderator) TMC Jack Rynes Sipera Systems Dan York VOIPSA IP Communications has changed the way businesses communicate. But, while data network security is a multibillion-dollar industry, voice security is still a relatively young and unknown industry and one that is largely misunderstood by IT professionals. That could quickly change with high-profile voice attacks on the horizon, such as Telephony Denial of Service, voice spam and caller ID spoofing, which, until now, were a relative rarity. The session will discuss current threats and why they are getting more severe, and why traditional network security measures — encryption, firewalls/B2BUAs, VPNs, etc. — aren’t sufficient for voice traffic, which requires a holistic voice security approach that anticipates the next generation of voice-based network attacks. Attendees will also learn how to ensure their voice applications are properly secured and how to integrate voice security into an overall security strategy. Ensuring End-User Experience on a Virtual Desktop Peter Bernstein (Moderator) TMC Forrest Blair Virtuon Inc. Mike Fodor Pano Logic Today’s businesses are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve productivity while reducing costs. While many are leveraging external cloud services, others are looking at virtualization technologies – internal clouds – to generate process efficiencies and extend access to remote and mobile users, as well as simplifying management and maintenance tasks for IT staff. In fact, according to Gartner, 70% of the TCO of a typical PC is help desk and management related. Virtual desktops are typically delivered via low-cost thin- or zero-clients that can be centrally configured and managed without any performance degradation compared to traditional distributed application models. In fact, in many cases, because server capacities are higher than on-board processors, virtualized desktops can run more efficiently than physical PC desktops. And of course, in today’s mobile computing environment, one of the greatest benefits of a cloud desktop is its inherent remote access to computing and communications resources. Wherever your users are, they will have access to the same resources they would have at the office – all they need is an Internet connection. All you need is this session to fully understand the benefits and ease of implementation of the latest virtual desktop solutions.   Business Collaboration   Call Center   Security   SMB 12:00-12:45pm Thursday - 09/15/11 Bringing the Social Experience into the Business Context Aron Aicard Fonality Shai Berger Fonolo Paula Bernier (Moderator) TMC Lawrence Coburn DoubleDutch Milind Pansare Saba Driven by advances in multimodal communication in an IP generation, the business collaboration landscape is changing like never before. As business continue to migrate to new work patterns, including more mobile and remote workers, increased partnerships, greater collaboration with customers, and an ever increasing number of connectivity options for leveraging business tools, they often become lost in a sea of applications and services, ultimately reducing the benefits of each one. However, the one phenomenon nearly every end user understands better than any other is social media, presenting an enormous opportunity for businesses to leverage the social media experience in their business collaboration environments. This session will explore how social media sites have given birth to new enterprise social collaboration platforms, which combine social networking tools, document and resource sharing, groups, polling, and more – just like users would find on their personal social media sites – but delivered in the business context. Attendees will understand not only the features and collaboration capabilities delivered by enterprise social networking solutions, but also how to justify the investment and prepare a rollout and adoption strategy. The Cloud Evolution in Contact Centers Wendell Black Contacual Brad Forsythe Interactive Intelligence Erik Linask (Moderator) TMC Louis Summe LiveVox As Cloud computing becomes ever more ubiquitous, it was only a matter of time before it also found its way into the contact center. Indeed, contact centers are increasingly complex operations, but recent trends in IP Communications, led by telcos, as well as advancements in cloud computing, can help contact centers realize the full potential of their operations to an extent never before possible – including, but certainly not limited to multi-site, multi-source and multi-country facilities. The benefits are much the same as with other cloud-based communications solutions: reliability, security, scale and cost efficiency. The question contact centers are asking include: How can these factors be achieved? What are the challenges and how can they be overcome? What happens to my existing contact center technology? Do I have to buy a new PBX? This session will address these questions and many more, leaving attendees with the knowledge they need to make an informed decision on the future of their contact center technology – should you move to the cloud or stay grounded? Security in a Cloudy World Rob Ayoub (Moderator) Frost & Sullivan Bowman Hall IBM Joe Sirrianni CoreTrace Greg Spicer OpSource Inc. Cost savings and rapid deployment and expansion opportunities are driving many businesses to the cloud model. The bottom line benefits are clear, but what remains cloudy to many organizations is, while innovation and growth must not be stunted, how are they to tackle security in light of the latest trend towards cloud computing? This session will address the security concerns of businesses considering moving to the cloud – as well as those that have already made the jump and how cloud is changing requirements and delivery of business security solutions. Attendees will understand the benefits and challenges of cloud security, now to integrate cloud security with traditional models, and what security considerations are vital to a successful cloud migration. Hosted Communications for the SMB Stonly Baptiste Veddio Peter Bernstein (Moderator) TMC Chad Krantz Broadvox Mahesh Paolini-Subramanya Vocalocity Huw Rees 8x8, Inc. Reading up on the latest communications products is like an extremely boring weather forecast – it’s full of clouds. But there are blue skies and sunshine behind those clouds. In fact, “the cloud” is nothing more than a fancy term for a delivery model the SMB market has become intimately familiar with – hosted. The question is, what can SMBs do with the latest cloud or hosted communications services? What are the benefits compared to traditional on-premises systems? What are the drawbacks? Can SMBs mix hosted with existing on-premises infrastructures in order to maximize ROI on existing investments? Can they expand their services and features as their needs grow and even evolve to a full-blown Unified Communications solution? This session will define hosted/cloud for the SMB, equipping them with the knowledge to make an intelligent, informed decision about their communications future.   Business Collaboration   Call Center   Security   SMB 11:00am-3:00pm Thursday - 09/15/11 VISIT THE EXHIBIT HALL

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