Trade Show Vibes: Enterprise Connect 2022

Orlando, Florida
March 21-24, 2022

Attendees: 4,000+ in-person, 2,100+ virtual (7,200 in 2019)

Exhibitors/Sponsors: 160+ (200 in 2019)
Media/Analysts: ~80

Calysto Overview

Enterprise Connect returns! The well-known U.S. conference covering the enterprise communications industry for more than 30 years met virtually for the last two years due to pandemic restrictions. Finally, this March, Enterprise Connect convened in-person for its four-day event at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando, Florida.

Technology providers and industry vendors were once again face-to-face with corporate decision-makers, channel partners, media, analysts and consultants. Approximately 6,100 attendees (in-person and virtual) reunited for a series of keynotes, exhibition-floor demos, educational sessions and panel discussions covering the latest in contact center, unified communications and collaborative technologies.

Note that Enterprise Connect 2022 was a hybrid event. Those not attending in person could join virtually. Enterprise Connect TV, sponsored by Microsoft and new in 2022, featured livestreams of keynotes, general sessions, and interviews with session leaders from the show floor. Roughly half the sessions were online.

While conference organizers were very happy with the numbers (attendees, exhibitors, sponsors), this was the first conference designed in a hybrid format, and as such, was a test case for future events. Organizers will be evaluating what worked, what didn’t, and what the next hybrid event should look like.

Biggest Buzz Coming Out of the Show

Some of the biggest news of the week was not actually announced at the show: HP’s $3.3B Acquisition of Poly  (formerly Plantronics). The acquisition has big implications for hybrid work as HP plans for a “more complete” portfolio of hybrid work offerings and improved audio/video capabilities on HP systems, according to CRN.

Meanwhile, hybrid work, meeting equity and contact centers were the major themes that generated the bulk of the programming within and coming out of the conference.

The real conference buzz seemed to be the genuine joy of finally meeting industry peers in-person again.

The conference could have been titled “Happy Together.” Attendees described the gathering as “awesome,” “fabulous,” “positive,” “upbeat,” “fantastic,” and almost “surreal” to be back at their first in-person tradeshow since early 2020.

Clearly, human connection matters. And, while conferences in the future will likely continue to be hybrid, providing both an in-person event and a virtual option, the majority of attendees will prefer gathering face-to-face. Meeting and mingling with analysts and peers across the UC industry is the most important time spent at the conference in terms of professional networking and business opportunities.

Judging by the reactions and comments coming from Enterprise Connect organizers and attendees this year, belonging, community and real connection with peers and industry colleagues is what matters most.

Agenda

The recent event in Orlando did not miss a beat in terms of the number and quality of keynotes, tracks, sessions and meeting opportunities. There were nine main conference tracks, each including dozens of expert-led sessions: Contact Center & Customer Experience, Video Collaboration, Collaboration Platforms, Practical AI, CPaaS & APIs, Unified Communications & UCaaS, Workplace Strategies, Management & Networks, and Security & Compliance (new in 2022).

More than 160 vendors showcased their software, services and equipment for the cloud, team and social collaboration, contact center, analytics, business application integration (APIs) and the latest digital forms of communication. Top sponsors of Enterprise Connect 2022 included 8×8, Amazon Web Services, RingCentral, Vonage, Webex by Cisco, and Zoom. The largest show-floor exhibits were hosted by Cisco, RingCentral, Microsoft, Amazon, Zoom, Vonage, Talkdesk and GoTo (formerly LogMeIn), among others.

Keynotes and the overall program of Enterprise Connect 2022 reflected the ongoing shift in enterprise market competition. Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Zoom are among the new entrants moving into the cloud unified communications market, competing against established players with their new solutions for contact centers, team meetings and virtual room experiences.

Major Themes at Enterprise Connect 2022

• • Hybrid Workplace is THE topic for 2022. We’re in the midst of a great experiment as companies wrestle with a mix of in-person and virtual employees. The five-day office week may be over, but what new workplace model works best? What equipment is required for remote workers? How do we ensure safety and security in this new work-from-anywhere reality?“Meeting equity” is a hot issue and was a central theme at the conference. Ensuring inclusion and equal opportunities for those participating in meetings remotely is poised to be key focus in 2022. Microsoft introduced a new hybrid meeting layout called “front row” that displays the video gallery at the bottom of the screen so in-room participants and remote colleagues are more at eye level. BlueJeans unveiled its Rooms-as-a-Service subscription, in conjunction with hardware and noise-blocking technology from Poly, that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to give all participants “a seat at the virtual table.”
  • Customer Experience (CX) was a dominant theme. The pandemic starkly revealed the importance of outstanding customer service, and vendors are stepping up with new products and applications for the contact center. Amazon Web Services announced new native agent forecasting, capacity planning and scheduling capabilities for its Amazon Connect CCaaS offering. Dialpad relaunched its AI Contact Center service at the show, introducing new solutions for customer engagement and self-service.This year’s Enterprise Connect’s Innovation Showcase selected six innovative companies (out of 21 entrants) for “innovation, enterprise fit, and business value” in the area of customer engagement. The winners (Airkit, Balto, Cognigy, Invoca, Pathlight, UJET) were introduced at the conference and had the opportunity to present their CX-focused solutions that included AI agent coaching, conversational intelligence, and real-time team performance analysis.
  • Composable Communications garnered attention as an important, emerging concept. This approach to rapidly changing communications and collaboration requirements was never more urgent than in the last two years. By combining packaged applications and application building blocks such as exportable data, APIs, and low-code/no-code systems, an enterprise can “compose” a tailored solution to meet their unique business goals.IntelePeer was selected as a finalist for the Best of Enterprise Connect Award for its bundled multi-app service that features no-code/low-code applications.
  • In a look to the future, Augmented Reality (AR) and the Metaverse rounded out the final day. A panel of experts discussed the metaverse: hype versus reality. We’re keeping an eye on this forward-looking concept around shared digital spaces with digital representations of people, places, and objects.Microsoft Teams Mesh meetings will roll out in preview in the first half of 2022, starting with 2D screens whether it’s PCs or phones, then immersive experiences using AR or VR goggles.

  Awards

  This year’s “Best of Enterprise Connect” winners lined up with the conference’s dominant themes, namely hybrid work (virtual meetings) and contact center (customer experience).

  • Ujet and its recently released CX Intercloud service, which provides application redundancy for Ujet contact center platforms running on multiple public clouds, won the Overall Best of Enterprise Connect Award.
  • Best Innovation in Customer Experience was a four-way tie among 8×8’s Agent Workspace, IntelePeer’s Atmosphere Marketplace, Journey’s Elevate Orchestration Engine, and the LiveVox SpeechIQ with Quality Management.
  • The Best Innovation for Virtual Meetings award was a two-way tie between BlueJeans by Verizon for its BlueJeans Studio and Vonage for its Vonage Experience Composer.
  • Best Innovation for Meeting Rooms went to DTEN ONboard, a whiteboard experience for Zoom coming soon.
  • Virsae was awarded Most Innovative Use of #AIfor its cloud-based analytics platform, VSM Everywhere, for work-from-home (#WFH) environments.

  
  New for Enterprise Connect 2022

  Enterprise Connect organizers added several new event features in 2022, including a new Security & Compliance track that covered team collaboration security, UC privacy and network IT issues in this new era of remote work.

  An expanded Women in Communications program, part of the second annual Spotlight Awards, recognized outstanding women leaders and experts in enterprise technology.

  A new IT Hero Award honored enterprise IT professionals and teams who demonstrated outstanding initiative, dedication and exceptional service inside and outside of their organizations.

  PR: Media & Analysts

  Vendors in the Enterprise space use Enterprise Connect as a springboard for making major announcements about new communications solutions, partnerships, and upcoming plans.

  No Jitter provided daily commentary and analysis during the show, while other media partners for Enterprise Connect included AV Nation, Channel Futures, CIO Applications, PowerSource Online, The Society of Communications Technology Consultants International (SCTC), SIP School™, Softwaremag.com, TechTarget, Telecom Reseller, and UC Today.

  Check out this wrap-up of Enterprise Connect 2022 by AV Nation, including an interview with the show organizer, Eric Krapf.

  Up Next

  Enterprise Connect 2023 will take place March 27-30, 2023, at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando, Florida

  Event organizers will build upon what they learned at Enterprise Connect 2022. In terms of content, event organizers expect to hone in on the evolution of hybrid work. How is this going? What trends are emerging? In 2023, there will be new conference elements developed to address the employee experience and employee wellness in this new way of working.

  Articles of Interest

  Showcasing Six for Better CX at EC22
  No Jitter
  Dave Michels
  March 14, 2022

  Big UC News from Microsoft, Google Cloud, Voiceflex, and Enterprise Connect
  UC Today
  James Stephen
  March 18, 2022

  Enterprise Partners Face New Challenges in a Post-Pandemic Era. Can They Keep Up?
  Channel Futures
  Claudia Adrien
  March 21, 2022

  Best of EC 2022: Ujet Takes Home the Gold
  No Jitter
  Ryan Daily
  March 22, 2022

  Customer Engagement Dominates EC 2022 Innovation Showcase
  No Jitter
  Dana Casielles
  March 22, 2022

  Cisco Primes Webex For The Challenges Of Hybrid Work
  No Jitter
  Zeus Kerravala
  March 22, 2022

  Poly: Most Employers Don’t Believe Hybrid Will Last 
  UC Today
  James Stephen
  March 22, 2022

  8×8, IntelePeer Among Winners of Enterprise Connect Awards
  Channel Futures
  Claudia Adrien
  March 22, 2022

  4 Workforce Management Disciplines Explained at Enterprise Connect 2022
  No Jitter
  Dana Casielles
  March 23, 2022

  Video meeting equity comes into focus amid hybrid work
  TechTarget
  Katherine Finnell
  March 25, 2022

  Businesses have plenty of time to adopt VR technology
  TechTarget
  Mike Gleason
  March 25, 2022

  Microsoft Lays Out Teams Reliability Principles, BlueJeans Boosts Mobile Conferencing, More News
  CMS Wire
  Mike Prokopeak
  March 25, 2022

  First Trade Show Ever — My Experience at Enterprise Connect 2022
  Rave Pubs
  Katie Clark
  March 27, 2022

  Enterprise Connect: Where the Conversational Cloud Reigns
  Opus Research
  Scott Baker
  March 28, 2022

  Top Moments of Enterprise Connect

  March 21, 2022
  
  March 22, 2022
  
  
  March 23, 2022
  
  
  March 24, 2022