cx, growth, leadership

International speaker Kevin D. Wright has a unique take on leadership during times of change. With an inspiring, moving and motivating approach, he stimulates both business and personal growth in leaders. In this engaging keynote session you'll learn how to ignite attitudes to retain your top talent and help them deliver a world-class experience to your customers.

cx, growth, leadership

Karin Hurt.  Author and international keynote speaker Karin Hurt inspires transformational change.Recently named on Inc’s list of 100 Great Leadership Speakers and American Management Association’s 50 Leaders to Watch, Karin Hurt helps leaders from around the world achieve breakthrough results without losing their souls.Karin has over two decades of experience in customer service, sales, and human resources. She’s the award-winning author of: Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide to Getting Results-Without Losing Your Soul, Overcoming an Imperfect Boss, Courageous Cultures (Harper Collins 2020), and Glowstone Peak - a book for readers of all ages about courage, influence, and hope.A former Verizon Wireless executive, Karin transformed customer service outsourcing (96M calls/year) to reach parity in quality with internal centers and developed a leading sales team that won the President’s Award for Customer Growth.Her keynotes inspire leaders with proven and practical leadership techniques developed over her rich career as an executive, speaker, and strategic advisor.Karin has a BA in Communication from Wake Forest University, an MA from Towson University in Organizational Communication, and additional graduate work at the University of Maryland, where she teaches in the Executive Education program.She and her husband, David Dye, are dedicated to their philanthropic initiative, Winning Wells, which provides clean water wells to communities struggling with access to safe water throughout Southeast Asia.Karin lives outside of Washington, DC. She knows the stillness of a yogi, the reflective road of a marathoner, and the joy of being a mom raising emerging leaders.

cx, leadership, partnership, women

Angela Conti, Head of Consumer Payments at TD Bank, is on a mission to advance women in leadership. Join her as she shares her inspiring personal and professional story, from teen mom to top leadership, and her journey in unlocking the power of partnership. From her passion for customer experience to her desire to provide the best for her family, Angela’s trajectory in work and life is guided by three principles: Commitment, Confidence and Compassion. Her story will offer actionable insights on how to advance women leaders and unlock the power of partnership, whether it’s in your own career, or as an advocate and ally.

cx, diversity, growth, inclusion

Jiquanda Nelson, Concentrix.  As a global organization empowering many of the world’s best brands across six continents and 40 countries, Concentrix is focused on its most powerful resource: its people. By leveraging diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, employee and community engagement and a wellbeing culture, organizations are able to invest in employees who want to win. In this session, participants will hear how igniting employee experience drives engagement, creating emotional connections with customers that build unbreakable brand loyalty.Speaker:Jiquanda Nelson is passionate about connecting people with opportunities at work and in their community. As senior director of Community and Culture at Concentrix, a $5B customer and technology engagement organization, she leads efforts for equity and inclusion, wellbeing, and ethics, sustainability and responsibility. Her team is laser focused on sustaining an equitable and inclusive workplace that reflects the diversity of Concentrix clients. They are the magic that creates a sense of belonging, where everyone can be their authentic selves, are at their healthiest, and feel valued. In her professional experience, she’s coached executives on people strategies connecting employees to business priorities and why their work—at all levels—matters. As a community leader, she’s developed programs aimed at identifying and developing diverse leadership, connecting graduates to leadership positions in their local community. She also has 12 years of community organizing experience, having led campaigns on issues of social justice, racism, and poverty.

customers, cx, Technology

 Jon Irwin & Carin Falconer, RingRing and its parent company Amazon, share an obsession over customers and work backwards from the customer experience in every aspect of support delivery. Ring refers to customers as neighbors and its mission is Keeping Neighborhoods Safe. This session will feature Jon Irwin, Chief Neighbor Experience Officer and Carin Falconer, Head of Global Customer Support as they share how Ring stays true to this obsession. Hear about Ring’s exciting history and the evolution of this customer obsessed approach as it manifests in product evolution, support strategies and innovative technology all focused on the Neighbor Experience. Learn how Ring has grown with a focus on the voice of the neighbor and enterprise-wide continuous improvement to continue to provide whole home security and earn the trust of neighbors world-wide. Speakers:Jon Irwin currently serves as the Chief Neighbor Experience Officer for Ring, where he is responsible for helping the company scale and pursue its mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods with its suite of home security products and neighborhood partnerships. Prior to Ring, Jon served as the Head of Global Business Development for Amazon Video, spent four years as President of Rhapsody International, now Napster, and has held senior positions with a variety of companies in the telecom market, including Boingo Wireless, Earthlink, InfoNet Services Corporation, and WorldCom. Jon earned an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA. He also holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an M.S. in systems engineering from UC San Diego.Carin Falconer is Head of Global Community Support for Ring.

FCC, robocalls, traceback

Josh Bercu, USTelecomUSTelecom leads the Industry Traceback Group, or ITG, the official FCC-designated group responsible for actively tracing and identifying the source of illegal robocalls. Josh Bercu, Vice President of Policy & Advocacy at USTelecom, will explain how the traceback process works, the impact it is having in stopping illegal robocalls, and its efforts to ensure the protection of enterprises.Speakers:   Josh Bercu is Vice President, Policy & Advocacy at USTelecom – The Broadband Association. Josh leads the association’s initiatives to stop illegal robocalls. Before joining USTelecom, Josh was a partner at Wilkinson Baker Knauer, LLP, a boutique telecommunications law firm based in Washington, D.C. Josh played a leading role in the firm’s privacy practice, where he worked with callers, enterprises, technology companies, and telecommunications providers on the full range of privacy and automated calling legal, regulatory, and policy issues.

Contact Center, ftc

Lois C. Greisman, FTC.  An update on FTC regulatory enforcement efforts affecting CX.Speaker: Lois C. Greisman heads the Division of Marketing Practices in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Under Ms. Greisman’s management, Marketing Practices leads the FTC’s law enforcement initiatives tackling telemarketing fraud (including Do Not Call/Robocall enforcement), fraudulent business and investment opportunity schemes (including multilevel marketing), mail fraud (including sweepstakes and lotteries), illegal spam, and Internet frauds (including technical support scams). Ms. Greisman also directs the FTC’s work to curb fraud in connection with different payment systems. Before joining Marketing Practices, Ms. Greisman headed the Division of Planning and Information, where she managed the FTC’s Identity Theft Program, the Consumer Response Center, and also supervised implementation of the National Do Not Call Registry. Previously, Ms. Greisman served as Chief of Staff to FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris. She also served as Attorney Advisor to Chairman Robert Pitofsky and Chairman Janet D. Steiger. Ms. Greisman received her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Brown University, and her law degree from George Washington University, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and Law Review.

stir shaken, TCPA

Jonjie Sena, Neustar;  Rebekah Johnson, Numeracle;  Jim Dalton, TransNexus; Dean Garfinkel, Quality Voice & Data; Karl Koster, Noble SystemsJonjie Sena is Senior Director of Product Marketing at Neustar and is responsible for driving the go-to-market strategy for Neustar’s portfolio of trusted communications solutions.   Jonjie has over two decades of experience in driving the development and launch of innovative solutions for communications service providers and enterprises around the world. Prior to joining Neustar, Jonjie held senior positions at TEOCO, Ventraq and ACE*COMM. Jonjie has a BS CompSci from the University of the Philippines and a MS CompSci from the State University of New York.Rebekah Johnson, Founder and CEO of Numeracle, Rebekah Johnson is the industry’s leading expert in returning trust to omnichannel communications through the establishment of Verified Identity™. With over ten years of regulatory government and compliance experience, businesses have leaned on Rebekah’s expertise to guide them through the evolving complexities of maintaining trust in a changing ecosystem.By joining together with service providers, analytics companies, device manufacturers, and communications platform providers, Rebekah and the Numeracle team have enabled hundreds of legal entities to remain connected to their patients, members, prospects, and clients, spanning the healthcare, commercial, utility, education, and financial industries.Prior to founding Numeracle, Rebekah served on the FCC’s Robocall Strike Force on behalf of the Empowering Consumer Choice Working Group. She is an active member of the FCC Hospital Robocall Protection Group, Chair of the Enterprise Communications Advocacy Coalition, and also represents the voice of the enterprise through her leadership on the ATIS IP-NNI Task Force, co-author of the SHAKEN standards.Dean Garfinkel is the President of Quality Voice & Data, an Authorized Shaken Service Provider. In addition Mr. Garfinkel is the COO of Quality Contact Solutions and President of TextBetter, Inc.  Well-known within the telecommunications and teleservices industries, Garfinkel has more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of technologies, including TDM, SS7, VoIP, WIFI and Wireless, and specializes in value-added solution development. Garfinkel invented TeleBlock® (Patent Number – 6,330,317Opens in new window and redirects to external site.), a patented SS7 based call routing system, which has become a national telecom standard and is sold by telecom giants like AT&T & Verizon. Garfinkel also invented TextBetter® (Patent Number – 10,484,535Redirects to external site.), a service for the text enablement of landline phone numbers. He is a leading expert on telecommunications and compliance, and is a regular speaker within the industry circuit. Mr. Garfinkel is a past National Board of Director and Treasurer of Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE). Jim Dalton is CEO of TransNexus.  He began his career in telecommunications with BellSouth in 1988. In 1997, Dalton founded TransNexus to provide secure routing and accounting software for Internet Telephony Service Providers. TransNexus has grown to provide telephone companies worldwide with operations support software for routing, fraud control, CDR reporting and analysis. TransNexus customers have been using SHAKEN in their production operations since May 2019.Moderator: Karl Koster is the chief intellectual property counsel for Noble Systems Corporation, a worldwide provider of call center software solutions. He is responsible for overseeing Noble Systems' patent development program and aligning it with Noble Systems' strategic technology development. He also oversees trademark and copyright issues for Noble Systems.  Mr. Koster has aided various companies in protecting their innovative developments via patent protection in addition to counseling them in the strategic value of patent development and licensing. Mr. Koster has also supported the defense of companies in patent litigation from "non-practicing patent entities" ("trolls"). Mr. Koster is himself a prolific inventor, and is adept at identifying and developing intellectual property working both with established and startup technology companies. He has worked with a variety of clients, including: telecommunications providers, video processing equipment manufacturers, cell phone manufacturers, financial services companies, and other electronic manufacturers.

Contact Center, privacy

Nick Whisler, MacMurray & Shuster.  John Hayward, Sitel.  Jon Irwin, Ring.  Updates on CCPA, GDPR and case law.Nick Whisler is a Partner at Mac Murray & Shuster LLP. He focuses his practice on helping clients understand and comply with federal and state telemarketing, advertising, privacy, and other consumer protection laws and regulations. Nick works with a wide range of businesses – from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies – to identify and mitigate regulatory risks. This includes the creation and implementation of compliance programs, conducting regulatory audits and resolving complex compliance issues. In particular, he brings a significant depth of experience related to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and has written and presented extensively on its complex set of regulations and interpretations. Nick serves as Associate General Counsel to PACE and is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). He is both CIPP/US and CECP certified.John Hayward, VP Legal EMEA & EU Data Protection Officer for Sitel Group, is responsible for Sitel’s EMEA legal affairs. Since the GDPR’s coming into force in 2018, John has also acted as Sitel’s EU Data Protection Officer. John joined Sitel Group in 2007 as Assistant General Counsel, EMEA. John has practiced business law for more than two decades in a range of industries. A native of Canada, John received his common and civil law degrees from McGill University Law School in Montreal. He is currently based in London, UK. Jon Irwin currently serves as the Chief Neighbor Experience Officer for Ring where he is responsible for helping the company scale and pursue its mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods with its suite of home security products and neighborhood partnerships. Prior to Ring, Jon served as the Head of Global Business Development for Amazon Video, spent four years as President of Rhapsody International, now Napster, and has held senior positions with a variety of companies in the telecom market, including Boingo Wireless, Earthlink, InfoNet Services Corporation, and WorldCom. Jon earned an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA. He also holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an M.S. in systems engineering from UC San Diego.Jon loves companies that are growing rapidly, combine creativity with technology to build innovative products and services – In Ring’s case, leveraging technology and communication to reduce crime in neighborhoods.

COF, compliance

Isaac Shloss, Grupo NGN. Karl Koster, Noble Systems.  Michele Shuster, Mac Murray & Shuster.Speakers:Isaac Shloss is an Information Technology specialist with more than 20 years’ experience – almost exclusively focused on the Contact Center industry. The majority of his carrier has been spent managing the IT departments for large BPOs, including a top 10 US teleservices provider where he built the technological and telecommunications architecture needed to expand the small, regionally based company to a large, multinational enterprise. Isaac was an early pioneer and administrator of the contact center platform now known as NGNCloudComm, and he is now a part of the manufacturer’s executive management team in the role of Chief Technology Officer. At Grupo NGN, he is focused on enhancing the user experience through education development, customer support and implementation, and converting client’s business needs into standard product features.Karl Koster is the Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for Noble Systems Corporation, a worldwide provider of call center software solutions. He is responsible for overseeing Noble Systems' patent development program and aligning it with Noble Systems' strategic technology development. He also oversees trademark and copyright issues for Noble Systems.  Mr. Koster has aided various companies in protecting their innovative developments via patent protection in addition to counseling them in the strategic value of patent development and licensing. Mr. Koster has also supported the defense of companies in patent litigation from "non-practicing patent entities" ("trolls"). Mr. Koster is himself a prolific inventor, and is adept at identifying and developing intellectual property working both with established and startup technology companies. He has worked with a variety of clients, including: telecommunications providers, video processing equipment manufacturers, cell phone manufacturers, financial services companies, and other electronic manufacturers.Michele Shuster is a founding partner of Mac Murray & Shuster, where she brings extensive experience in working with clients of all sizes involved in highly regulated industries. She has established a solid record of representing clients in consumer protection matters before state attorneys general, the FTC, and FCC, in addition to conducting regulatory compliance audits and providing counsel on advertising and privacy issues.  Michele currently serves as General Counsel to the Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE) and oversees its Self-Regulatory Organization program. In this role, and with her significant depth of experience related to TCPA compliance, she was an integral part of PACE’s successful challenge to the FCC’s 2015 TCPA Declaratory Ruling. She has an exceptional foundation in U.S. privacy laws and regulations and is accredited as both a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and Customer Engagement Compliance Professional (CECP) through PACE.Reid Houser is the Head of Global Compliance and Privacy Officer with Sitel Group and is located in the Omaha, Nebraska office. Sitel has 75,000 associates which operate in 70 countries worldwide. Mr. Houser and has worked in the Teleservices industry for 15 years and has more than 25 years of regulatory compliance experience. Mr. Houser leads Sitel’s Global Regulatory Compliance and Privacy program that includes Privacy, Healthcare, Telemarketing, Do-Not-Call, Collection’s, Licensing and Registration efforts. He is responsible for ensuring compliance with all Federal, state and provincial rules that impact Sitel and its clients globally. From Do-Not-Call to state privacy issues, Mr. Houser leads both internal and external clients to through the maze of regulatory issues and works to find solutions to meet their needs.    Mr. Houser is also the Chair of PACE’s Compliance Officers Forum, Chair of the PACE Capitol Hill Council, the 2008 recipient of the prestigious Fulcrum award for his outstand contributions to Teleservices industry, the highest award PACE bestows and the recipient of the PACE 2016 Volunteerism Award. He is also the past Chapter President of the PACE’s Midwest Chapter.

compliance, TCPA

Michele Shuster, Mac Murray & Shuster;  Eric Troutman, Squire Patton Boggs LLP;  Lauri Mazzuchetti, Kelley DryeMichele Shuster is a founding partner of Mac Murray & Shuster, where she brings extensive experience in working with clients of all sizes involved in highly regulated industries. She has established a solid record of representing clients in consumer protection matters before state attorneys general, the FTC, and FCC, in addition to conducting regulatory compliance audits and providing counsel on advertising and privacy issues.Eric Troutman, Squire Patton Boggs LLP, is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems.  Lauri Mazzuchetti’s practice focuses on commercial litigation and consumer-oriented class action defense, representing clients in FTC and state attorneys general investigations and other litigation. She is a member of Kelley Drye’s Executive Committee and the former managing partner of the firm’s New Jersey office.  

call tracing, compliance

Linda Vandeloop, AT&T;  Stacy Graham, Inteliquent;  Kevin G. Rupy, Wiley Rein; Josh Stevens, Mac Murray & ShusterAlthough it has been in existence for several years, the USTelecom Industry Traceback Group has come to the foreground since its appointment as the FCC’s official traceback consortium. Increasing numbers of voice service providers are receiving traceback requests and struggling to figure out best practices for response. Attendees will walk away from this panel with a better understanding of ITG’s role in the telecommunications ecosystem, how the traceback process works, and strategies to be prepared for responding to traceback requests.Speakers:Linda Vandeloop has over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. Linda has held a variety of positions at AT&T, primarily in the Regulatory and Financial Management organizations. She currently works in AT&T’s Federal Regulatory organization in the Washington D.C. office. In her current position she is responsible for consumer and accessibility federal regulatory issues. Linda began her career in California at Pacific Bell in the Financial Management organization responsible for revenue forecasting and financial analysis of regulatory issues. She has a Masters of Administration Degree and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of California, Davis. Kevin G. Rupy is a partner in the Telecom, Media & Technology (TMT) Practice at Wiley Rein, LLP, and has over twenty years of experience in the communications legal field. He was previously Vice President of Policy at USTelecom, where he served for approximately 14 years. Mr. Rupy is a recognized expert in the area of robocalls, having established USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group, testified before the Senate on several occasions, and is frequently interviewed by media outlets on the issue. Prior to joining USTelecom, Mr. Rupy practiced with the telecommunications group at an Am Law 200 firm in Washington. He also served for six years in the United States Marine Corps. Mr. Rupy received his J.D. from American University, and his B.A. from Fordham University.Stacy Graham, Inteliquent, has 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry. She began her career at Baca Valley Telephone, an RLEC, and has been with Inteliquent since 2006. Stacy is Director of Product for International Long Distance and Fraud Management; Stacy also serves as President of the CFCA, an International Association for fraud management and prevention.Josh Stevens of Mac Murray & Shuster, focuses his practice on helping clients achieve their business goals while understanding and complying with federal and state consumer protection laws. As a former in-house counsel, Josh brings a critical client perspective to his legal practice and understands that businesses want an action plan – not just legal theory.

authentication, call-blocking, stir/shaken

Henry Hayter, Neustar92% of enterprises say that the voice channel is critical to meeting customer service goals. But the rise of robocalls and fraud by phone has destroyed trust in this vital communication channel. As anti-robocalling regulations progress and carriers deploy STIR/SHAKEN call authentication measures to protect consumers from call spoofing, enterprises must evolve call-blocking prevention strategies and execution, and seek to transform the call experience. Join Henry Hayter, Principal, Product Management as he presents best practices enterprises can deploy to optimize contact operations, increase call performance and protect their brand by restoring trust in outbound calls, including: Mitigating and remediating blocked and tagged calls Ensuring their calls receive the highest STIR/SHAKEN attestation Leveraging the call display so customers will answer Preventing fraudsters from abusing your brand to defraud consumers Speaker:Henry Hayter, Principal, Product Management, Neustar

Contact Center, COVID19, Technology, Virtual Event

Steve Walsh, Procurrence.  Javier Limones, Grupo NGN.  Dave Bukovinsky, CSG.  Did the pandemic cause a flurry of technological innovation? Do we now have better ways to deploy WFH? Implement self-service? Implement AI? Hear an expert view on the new landscape of technological innovation. This session will focus on view of the view of what’s possible as inspired by what was necessary. Speakers:Steve Walsh is the CEO of Procurrence, a technology marketplace focused on small & medium businesses. Steve is an entrepreneur and angel investor with a 20+ year background working as an executive for some of the largest technology and media companies like Comcast & Cox Communications. Javier Limones is the Founder and CEO of Grupo NGN, Inc., a leading Cloud Contact Center and Customer Engagement software provider. While Grupo NGN, the brainchild of Limones, was established in 2014, his expertise and contributions to the Contact Center and telecom industries spans three decades. Prior to launching Grupo NGN, Limones was co-founder and co-owner of SCS Inc., the company that developed the ASD Softswitch product (precursor of NGNCloudComm). Under Limones’ guidance SCS remained debt free and had lost no customers when it was acquired by Siemens (what is now known as Atos & Unify Inc). SCS’ excellence in financial security and 100% customer retention are attributed to Limones’ leadership.In 2018, Limones and Grupo NGN acquired the OSCC-CD (ASD Softswitch) software, bringing it back to its original creator. Ever since, Limones and his team at Grupo NGN (which now includes the original developers of the product) are busy supporting clients across the globe. His belief that great customer service combined with quality products provide an excellent customer experience is evident in the continued growth of Grupo NGN.Dave Bukovinsky is responsible for CSG’s Customer Communication Management portfolio, setting the vision and delivering solutions that enable brands to orchestrate their customer engagement across digital, print, and voice channels.He has more than 25 years of experience in driving innovation at companies such as Motorola, Intuit, Thomson Reuters, Microsoft, CableLabs, and Level 3. He is a frequent author and speaker on best practices for delivering a differentiated customer experience, and consults with customers as they embark on digital transformation initiatives.David has a BS of Computer Science from the Ohio State University / College of Engineering, and an MS of Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology.Moderator:  John Stanovcak, CSG

communications, Contact Center

Chris Drake, iconectiv.  Voice calls, text messages and chatbots have made the business-to-consumer engagement more accessible, robust and efficient. Now, however, with consumer confidence in communications declining and billions lost each year to fraud through spam, scams and spoofs, legitimate businesses must protect their revenue, reputation and bottom-line.As the critical foundation of trust in communications is eroding, RCS, as a new technology has the opportunity to get it right — right from the start. By building in verification and authentication capabilities, RCS can drive consumer trust in rich business messaging content. Once consumers have trust in an accessible RCS, it will be become an increasingly valuable customer-engagement platform for businesses.Join us for an in-depth session talking about building the next wave of B2C communications on a trusted foundation that will ultimately help brands and contact centers promote customer-brand relationships and better engage consumers.Speakers:Chris Drake, Chief Technology Officer at iconectiv, is responsible for internal and external technology initiatives at iconectiv including emerging opportunities in mobile content, CyberSecurity, mobile identity, virtualization and M2M/IoT. Drake began his career at Bell Northern Research and has over 25years in the Telecommunications industry. Prior to iconectiv, Chris held executive positions at Aricent Group, Neustar, Sonus Networks, Telcordia Technologies and Advanced Switching Communications. Drake also serves as an advisor to a number of technology startups and the Canadian Consulate Tech Accelerator @ NYC. Drake is also on the board and executive committee of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and chair of the ATIS TOPS Council. Drake has served on the Industrial Advisory Board for the Security and Software Engineering Research Center (S2ERC IAB) through Georgetown University and the National Science Foundation.

AI, Contact Center

Ashish Nagar, Level AISelf-service tools and bots are helpful in reducing traffic load, but your customers value the knowledge, timeliness and warmth of a human agent. How can CS teams strike a balance? We'll explore the cutting edge of AI technologies and discuss the ROI of augmenting agents versus replacing them. Great session for those looking for a quick primer on AI in contact centers or looking to get deep in giving superpowers to agents with AI.Session focus:- Knowledge management for Omnichannel fast paced contact centers: Latest approaches for information search and knowledge rendering in real time for agents- Quality Assurance and training: Increase QA coverage from 1-2% to 100% while supercharging the feedback loop for agentsSpeaker:Ashish Nagar is the Founder & CEO of Level AI. Before starting Level AI, he was a product leader in Amazon's Alexa team working on making Alexa answer everyone's questions. He has advised numerous companies on their AI strategy specifically with a focus on Voice AI, natural language understanding technologies. He has earned an MBA and MS in Engineering from Stanford University.

Contact Center, covid 19, pandenic

Kerry Edwards, Weight Watchers.  We faced so many challenges trying to provide enough staff to interact with customers during Covid-19. Challenges with lock-downs and WFH created staffing gaps resulting in inconvenience and frustration at the consumer level. Hear how companies adopted or improved their self-service strategies during this time to address these gaps and create new efficiencies. Learn how automation reduced the reliance on live agents and how it has reshaped the way that CX professionals will plan for the future. Speaker:Kerry Edwards is the Senior Director of Business Technology for WW International, Inc. (formerly Weight Watchers), where she leads the company's strategy and implementation of technology to support business operations goals for the contact center and the retail studios. Kerry has improved operations by implementing technology that is easy to use for both the employees and the customer for more than 20 years. Kerry is a life long learner, loves photography and reading, is an avid NY Islanders Hockey Fan along with spending as much time with her family and friends creating new memories.

AI, bots, Contact Center, Technology

Chris Crosby, Xaqt

employees, gamification

Brett Brosseau, Noble Gaming SolutionsSpeakers: Brett Brosseau helps guide product vision and strategic sales for the employee engagement platform. Brett’s experience includes a unique high-stakes journey, which began with building a high-end island resort and ended with the creation of a revolutionary solution for agent engagement and his transformation into one of the world’s leading experts on Gamification.Jared Gorton, Manager - Business Applications, Wyndham Destinations

AI, customer experience, human intelligence

Jim Iyoob, Etech. Shawndra Tobias, Etech.  Erica Kelly, Verizon.Etech's workshop is focused on how the analysis of agent performance and their coaching and development are crucial to designing the customer experience (CX) architecture.Key Insights:- Why organizations should focus on agent performance for a better CX- How agent performance impacts overall contact center performance and CX- The significance of agent training and development to increase CX- Leverage agent performance data to enhance personalized customer interactions- Using agent insights to build out chatbots to be more effectiveSpeakers:Jim Iyoob, Etech Global ServicesJim Iyoob is the Chief Customer Officer for Etech Global Services. He has responsibility for Etech’s strategy, marketing, business development, IT, program implementation, operational excellence and product development across all Etech’s existing lines of business – Etech, Etech Insights, ETS & Etech Social Media Solutions. He is passionate, driven, and an energetic business leader with a strong desire to remain ahead of the curve in outsourcing solutions and service delivery. Due to his level of expertise, Jim has been featured in numerous publications including CIO Review, Contact Center Pipeline, Connections Magazine, and was also listed as one of the ‘Top 20 Influential People to Follow’ on Twitter by “Iwantitnow”. The gained experience over the past 30+ years has enabled him to be a subject matter expert for call center solutions.Shawndra Tobias, Etech Global ServicesShawndra Tobias is Etech’s AVP of Customer Experience. She has been with Etech since 2000 and has served in various roles including OSS Reporting Specialist, Account Leader, Project Manager and Sr. Director of Operations. In her current role, she determines operational strategies by collection, cleaning and analysis of interaction data that assists clients in delivering an optimized customer experience and enhanced performance. Shawndra is directly responsible for creating frameworks for call center analytics, QA product development and iterative machine learning that establishes a strong data foundation for robust analytics to be performed.Erica Kelly, VerizonErica Kelly is an accomplished professional with over 20 years experience and known for delivering new high water mark performance by leveraging team strengths, executing on strategic key performance metrics, empowering employees to feel a part of overall business strategies, and reimagining how work is done. Her experience ranges from managing employees both domestically and abroad, as well as internal and external partners. Erica is currently the Global Strategy and Field Operations Director for the Verizon Consumer Home Call Center organization supporting over 7K employees across the Sales and Service as well as the Technical Support teams.

AI, chatbots, customer experience, human intelligence

Chris Radanovic & Brian Donnelly, LivePerson.  If there were ever a time for brands to create a thorough and cohesive bot strategy, it’s now. According to Accenture, there has been a 41% increase in consumer interaction with virtual assistants, and 74% of those people expect to continue this changed behavior. With this shift, customers are going to have a sense across industries of which bot experiences are helpful and satisfying and which leave them confused and frustrated. During this session, we’ll share a blueprint for creating a thoughtful bot and AI strategy specific to your brand — from identifying areas ripe for automation, to striking the right balance between bot and human agent support, to continually tuning and refining your automation strategy for optimal results. Speakers:Chris Radanovic, Conversational AI Expert, LivePersonBrian Donnelly, Senior Director, Product Marketing , LivePerson

AI, cx, intelligence

Aakrit Vaish, HaptikIn this session, the speaker will share his insights on the “full-stack” Conversational AI solution - a package of industry vertical-specific AI models, pre-built chatbot templates & smart skills, and out-of-the-box system integrations. He will discuss the benefits of such a strategy, in terms of better end customer experience given the tighter integration of the intelligent AI engine with systems, as well as quicker time-to-market instead of having to build everything ground-up.Speaker:Aakrit Vaish is the Co-Founder & CEO of Haptik, one of the world’s largest conversational AI companies. Aakrit started the company in 2013 and lead it to a successful strategic investment with Reliance Industries in 2019 in a $100 million transaction. Haptik today processes close to 100 million users annually, has presence across 7 global locations, and counts Oyo Rooms, KFC, Samsung, Coca- Cola amongst its marquee clients. Aakrit invests in startups in the areas of Consumer Internet, SaaS and Direct to Consumer brands. He has been a part of the Entrepreneur 35 Under 35 and Business World 40 Under 40 Lists. Aakrit started his career in San Francisco as the 12th employee at a mobile analytics startup Flurry (exited to Yahoo! in a $280 million deal), after having finished his B.S. in Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign.

Contact Center, virtual training, webinar

Ronna Caras, Caras Training.  Recently, many companies have experienced a dramatic shift to a fully virtual workforce. This change from a primarily premise-based worker to a home-based worker has left companies scrambling to deploy technology and operational solutions. The training required to keep this workforce and its leaders educated, motivated and skilled will need to be custom-tailored to meet the demands this new work environment.If you are responsible for training anyone, you need a plan now.Learn how businesses are using Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT), Self-Paced eLearning, and Recorded Webinars to replace on-site events so you can make rapid decisions that get excellent results. Join contact center training expert Ronna Caras for a play-by-play guide to virtual training that you can use right away.Speaker:Ronna Caras, a sought-after speaker and consultant who has helped thousands of contact center leaders and team members to embrace dramatic changes that improved customer experience and sales. For the last 5 years, she has been working with clients to conquer the challenges of virtual training and the challenges of working from home. She is delighted to share best practices with industry colleagues.Caras began her career in a sales role with Pitney Bowes where she advanced from rookie to national accounts manager. Along the way, she developed her first original training program which taught a unique model for sales prospecting she called “non-intrusive”. It earned her, her sales team and her sales division a 300% increase in revenue within 90 days.“Non-intrusive selling methodologies” have been part of Caras Training’s powerful training content for 30 years. Mapping the behavior of natural intuitive salespeople to the phone has brought corporate clients across the globe. And, molding it for the service queue has seen exponential increases in customer satisfaction and profits, concurrently for clients in more than 30 industries.Today, Ronna Caras leads a mighty team of learning + development professionals with contact center and retail expertise. Together they develop fresh content to solve long-standing problems for companies of all sizes.

customer journey map, cx, journey, map

Jeff Kahne, Firefly Consulting.  Contact centers are constantly looking at ways to improve their performance. We’ve sliced and diced the data. We’ve tweaked queues, routes, staffing/scheduling to find that seated agent sweet spot. But yet – we still get feedback that something is amiss.Sometimes the right idea can seem to work for the business while actually working to the detriment of the customer, client, or member. Taking a step back and putting yourself in the position of the customer often reveals unintentional blind spots and excess process steps. This is where a Customer Journey Map comes in.In this presentation, I will use a real, relatable case study to demonstrate the immediate impact that customer journey mapping can deliver. Using examples from work done at healthcare and insurance organizations, we’ll explore:1. What is a Customer Journey Map?2. The component parts and how they illustrate:a. Your unique customer perspectiveb. Supporting interactions and “moments of truth” c. Opportunity Identification (internal, external, and cross-functional)3. How to use the map to drive change with:a. Business analyticsb. Critical decision pointsc. Alignment with goals and strategyAttendees will leave with the basic tools to build out their own map and start making data-informed decisions that meet customer and client expectations. Speaker:Dr. Jeff Kahne is a Principal with Firefly Consulting, a published author, and a Master Black Belt with over 25 years of experience consulting in all areas of organizational transformation and process innovation. He speaks regularly on topics related to leadership, customer experience, and operational excellence, and was recently voted an audience favorite at the 2019 ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement.Prior to joining Firefly Consulting, Jeff served as a Business Architect leading process improvement within USAA, a Fortune 500 insurance company. He led process management and improvement initiatives for the company’s claims and sales processes, identifying over $50M in savings. A 20-year veteran of the United States Air Force, Jeff redesigned Air Force strategic planning models for Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine use and led Joint, Department of Defense, Nuclear Weapons Inspections agency, Combat Operations units, Intelligence Agencies, through data centric and team-based strategic planning efforts.

WFH, work from home

Pete Jones, Grypp Corp.  The impact of Coronavirus has turned contact centers upside down, and sent companies and agents scrabbling to be able to provide acceptable levels of service from home. But is this enough? Can we do more? How can companies make sure home working agents are effective and provide service levels and sales performance they can be proud of? From across the Pond, learn how Pete Jones is helping contact centers fight back, by using technology to turn the crisis into an opportunity, bringing visual interaction to calls, creating a brand new & unique multi-sensory experience, making it fun for agents, WOWing customers, and strengthening connections between them both. Also, check in with Pete on how he, Boris and the UK are weathering the second wave and getting ready to re-emerge stronger than before. Speaker:Pete Jones is the CEO & founder of Grypp Corp, a company dedicated to bringing real time visual interactivity to contact center voice and messaging communications, driving better outcomes through enriched conversations utilizing their unique patented cloud based interactive communications platform. ​

Call Center, efficiency, profitability

How can outbound call centers be more competitive and boost ROI in a rapidly changing and increasingly regulated industry? Learn about the three key areas that improve performance and profitability at lead generation call centers. Get in-the-field perspectives on understanding and improving: Lead Efficiency, Agent Efficiency, and Manager Efficiency.Speakers:Heather Griffin is SVP of Inside Sales for Momentum Solar, the largest privately held residential solar company in the nation. She is a tech savvy efficiency expert in call center telephony, who has successfully launched 30+ sales and call center start ups. Heather has extensive experience both consulting and managing medium and large-sized call center operations ranging from 50 to 600 agents, including multi-state call centers and offshore call centers. Heather believes in leading by example, managing directly on the call center floor, monitoring or taking sales calls herself. She motivates employees through clear, defined, and attainable goals.Michael Velardi is Senior Vice President at Resource Marketing Corp, a 100-seat call center focused on the solar and mortgage industries. He has pushed the envelope in managing lead gen call centers for efficiency and profitability. Michael is a predictive dialing expert who knows how to drive the capabilities of a predictive dialer to the very edges of functionality. His strategy combines creativity and in-depth reporting to inform his tactical decisions in real time, as well as to track trends across the call center’s performance. Michael’s approach to running a cutting edge lead generation call center incorporates superior artificial intelligence, list and agent analytics, and automated workflows, all supported by a compliance backbone to successfully increase production and grow the company.Nima Hakimi is the Co-founder and CEO of Convoso, the leading innovator of omnichannel call center software solutions. Prior to launching Convoso in 2006, one of Nima’s entrepreneurial startups in digital advertising boasted a network with millions of users at its peak. Today, he is leading the continued growth of Convoso by persistently focusing on customer success, one of the core values he established to guide the company. As a member of LeadsCouncil’s Board of Directors, Nima is committed to helping call centers in the lead generation ecosystem be compliant as well as profitable. Moderator:Rob Seaver, LeadsCouncil

work from home

Dan Plashkes, S&P Data.  Doug Gilbert, Sutherland.  Ricardo Parodi, Marriott.  Maureen Martin, Weight Watchers.Many companies had to initiate, accelerate or amplify their Work From Home (WFH) strategy during Covid-19. This session will highlight some of the learnings from this deployment and focus on best practices for a successful WFH model. Discussion points to include: • Challenges and Surprises• Variation by Geography• Ensuring Privacy and Data Security• Agent Engagement, Coaching and Performance Management• Attendance and Gamification• Emerging TechnologyPanelists: Dan Plashkes, CEO S&P DataDan Plashkes is a serial tech entrepreneur who has founded or co-founded 7 startups. 5 of the startups have had some form of an institutional funding, including venture capital and private equity. In each of these companies, Dan served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dan is currently active in 2 private companies. He is one of the founders and chairperson of OwnerBox, a Weekly Sports Fantasy platform - though early stage the company has raised about $2m US DOLLAR and recently had NFL Quarterback Drew Brees invest - a very hot space, the company is go live with the start of the NFL with very exciting prospects. Dan’s current business is called S&P Data. S&P Data is the largest independent BPO/Call Center with significant revenue/ebita and keen to stay in the loop of the post COVID-19 world, thru the deployment of Work From Anywhere , new technology and new segments such as telemedicine. Dan and his team bring innovative solutions to discover new opportunities as they learn and deliver for their clients an ecosystem for the mutual benefit. S&P Data is held tightly by Dan and two partners.Doug Gilbert, SutherlandDoug joined Sutherland in 2016 and is responsible for global technology operations and product development, as well as our innovation roadmap and expanding intellectual property footprint. Doug has extensive experience leading product development, mergers and acquisitions integrations, ERP implementations, and technology transformations. Prior to Sutherland, Doug served for eight years as the Chief Information Officer for ABM and has held senior level positions at Sony Research Labs, Verifone, and Panasonic.Ricardo Parodi, MarriottRicardo heads up Marriott’s Customer Engagement Center strategy and training teams responsible for defining and executing global strategic priorities to continue to evolve and transform Marriott's global network of engagement centers. Prior to this role, Ricardo led the Brand Strategy Consulting team at Marriott International, responsible for defining and developing strategies and offerings for Marriott International's 30 global brands, with focus on brand strategy, global growth and brand transformation efforts. Also, Ricardo was the Vice President of The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Loyalty Strategy & Structure for Marriott Rewards with responsibility for developing and executing strategic initiatives and marketing programs to support the growth and evolution of the loyalty programs. Ricardo has more than twenty years of work experience in sales, brand, marketing and operations across multiple industries including Hospitality and Consumer Products. Prior to joining Marriott, Ricardo worked for Procter & Gamble and Deloitte Consulting.Maureen Martin, WW Maureen is currently VP of Customer Care for North America at WW ( formerly known as Weight Watchers). Prior to that, she spent her entire career in various positions of Customer Care in hospitals and health care systems - always being passionately focused on how to anticipate and respond to consumer inquiries effectively, efficiently, and with great humanity in a way that is simple for the consumer to understand and for the employee to deliver. With an undergraduate degree in Health Administration and Business, and a graduate degree in Health Policy and Finance, she’s been well equipped to continually take on new business challenges in the contact center space.Moderator:Christa Heibel has dominated the contact center industry for the past several years, known widely as an influencer and C-suite business growth and strategy expert. She has worked in the call center industry since 1992 serving in nearly every position from telemarketer to CEO. Christa’s breadth of knowledge and experience includes contact center services, customer experience, integrated sales, business development, technology, infrastructure and automation.

panel discussion, Virtual Event, webinar

Lisa DeFalco, TPG.  With all of the market’s focus on automation, documentation, compliance and rigidness, did we forget about humanity? We seek to foster consumer protection but in our greatest efforts, we find ourselves building obstacles preventing us from communicating naturally as we are built to do. So, how do we move forward to ensure the quality of communication is more than a checklist of actions? Consider this session a little Dr. Brene Brown wisdom, supported with TPG’s multi-million industry researched data points, coming together to share how we can scale empathy and interpersonal skills that our Voice of Customer data points are begging for, and drive business outcomes to levels greater than the past. Speaker:Lisa DeFalco, a recognized thought-leader in the Customer Experience and Quality Assurance market, Lisa has more than 29 years of experience assessing contact center interactions, diagnosing quality gaps and improving communications to drive business returns. As the founder of the Independent Quality Assurance market, she coined the term “IQA” and worked to establish a diagnostic product methodology that would result in the creation of a linguistic model that is statistically linked to corporate performance indicators (to allow for predictive business intelligence modeling).As the founder of TPG TeleManagement, Lisa’s expertise is the result of years of call listening experience coupled with hands-on contact center improvement experience. Her research includes 180 million data points involving consumer experience preferences and business outcome drivers, across 7 languages and 13 countries.Today, Lisa serves as TPG’s Chief Executive Officer and its Chief Product Designer, sharing the learnings that TPG’s Research has garnered of truly understanding how to connect with customers to ensure loyalty and longevity.

bpo, panel discussion, Virtual Event, webinar

Lori Fentem, Ring.  Corey Conklin, Shutterfly.  Jeff Myers, Sirius XM.  Nick Jiwa, CustomerServThis panel of leaders who oversee large scale domestic and international outsourcing will share their insights on how they have navigated BPO Partner relationships during a volatile 2020 and the lessons learned that will influence the Next Normal. Our panelists will host an interactive session sharing how their BPO Partnerships evolved across an array of situations including Work from Home and Brick and Mortar during a global pandemic. Hear how these companies had to pivot to ensure customers were serviced, teams were kept safe, culture was reinforced and volume was managed across a myriad of government regulations and local challenges. Learn about the financial and organizational impact of new process and policy that will change the future of BPO service delivery. Speakers:Lori Fentem leads global third party customer support operations and strategy within the fast growth world of industry disruptor Ring, which is owned by Amazon. She is charged with ensuring that contact center partners deliver on Ring’s mission of keeping neighborhoods safe while consistency raising the bar for customer obsession. Lori has more than 30 years of experience in various aspects of CX leadership and contact center operations with a long career in the BPO space including founding and running boutique BPO provider, Synergy Solutions. Lori has been recognized with numerous awards for her contribution to the industry, including the PACE Fulcrum Award, and has been featured in numerous media sources and speaking engagements. Lori currently serves as the Chairwoman of the National Board of Directors for PACE – the only non-profit trade association dedicated to the contact center industry.Corey Conklin is the Vice President of Customer Care for Shutterfly. In this role he is responsible for bringing to life Shutterfly’s mission to deepen personal connections with unique and personalized photo products. Corey is responsible for the overall service delivery to customers across all of Shutterfly’s brands and his teams deliver this service via the phone, chat, email, and web. Corey drives customer service delivery through a network of internal contact centers as well as outsourced partners and handles over 5MM customer contacts annually in six countries. He is responsible for bringing best practices to life in a highly seasonal contact environment and has successfully implemented emerging technology to streamline operations and improve the customer experience. Corey has vast experience in the contact center prior to joining Shutterfly in 2012 and has over two decades of Operations leadership roles for BPOs. He was the co-founder of BPO Synergy Solutions where he was recognized as a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.Jeff Myers began his career in the call center industry in 1991, as a call center agent, while attending the University of Wisconsin, Madison and studying Communication Theory and Research. The first eight years of his career included time in roles spanning from Floor Management to Call Center Director and Global Quality Assurance oversight. Following his first eight years in Operations, Jeff spent 10 years in the Omnicom family in both the US and The UK/Europe with responsibility for Client Services and Program Strategy in a variety of verticals including Telecom, Energy, Media and Non-Profit. He currently serves as the Vice President and General Manager, Customer Care for SiriusXM Satellite Radio with Inbound and Outbound Call Center Sales activity that includes partnerships with 14 BPO organizations representing 40 individual call center locations.Nick Jiwa's career started humbly in 1986 as a call center agent in the very early days of the industry. What started as a “job” ignited his true passion for people and customer experience, which led to a life-long career in the call center and BPO industry. Two decades of executive industry leadership taught Nick the pain points of outsourcing which inspired him to create CustomerServ in 2006—a matchmaking ecosystem and outsourcing thought leader, reinventing the way companies find, select and retain the right call center and BPO vendor partners. Nick resides in Houston, TX and is a proud father and husband. His first language was Swahili, he’s a WWII buff, vintage collector, soccer fanatic, 80s music nut and he’s never had trouble with his TPS reports. He fields his passion for life into his family, community and advocacy work. The City University of New York (CUNY) is proud to call Nick a graduate with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a minor in Art History.Moderator:John Stanovcak, Sales Director for Customer Communication Management, CSG

virtual learning, webinar

Paula Kennedy-Garcia, Concentrix.  In this session, we'll explore the concept of leveraging the knowledge of the crowd while allowing the brand to pay only for the support that satisfies your customers. How can you tap into the expertise of the customers who know you best and are passionate about your brand and your products and turn these people into trusted brand ambassadors and offer customer support at scale and in any language?We'll explore how the Gig economy allows you to access skilled brand advocates on demand and real-time while you:• Pay only for satisfied customers• Reduce operating costs• Remove the barriers of languageSpeaker:Paula Kennedy-Garcia is Vice President at Concentrix and has led some of the most successfully performing distributed Sales and CX teams in Europe over the course of her career in the global BPO industry. A champion for CX change in our digital economy, she is responsible for Solv, Concentrix’ latest disruptive play in customer management. Solv is innovative technology that creates an enhanced customer support ecosystem, one which lends itself perfectly to the growing empowerment of our modern workforce that is saying good bye to the traditional 9-5.

Virtual Event

Bruce Belifore, BenchmarkPortal.  With many employees being WFH and no ability to travel to outsourcers, companies had to implement new virtual strategies in every level of business operations ranging from new hire onboarding, virtual training, vendor selection, and performance management. This session will highlight best virtual practices to ensure business growth during challenging times.Speaker:Bruce Belfiore is CEO and Senior Research Executive of BenchmarkPortal, custodian of the world’s largest database of contact center metrics, which provides benchmarking, certification, training and consulting services to the contact center sector. Bruce hosts the monthly online radio show CallTalk™, which discusses hot-button issues with industry experts and interacts with a large audience of call center managers. He also hosts Webinars in conjunction with industry association PACE. He is a frequent speaker at industry events in the United States and abroad.

cx, WFH, work from home

Brad Nichols, Dun & Bradstreet.  In some cases, companies were not able to deploy a WFH strategy in light of Covid. Hear from experts who had to navigate supporting customers while facing challenges with staffing their contact center. How do you ensure the calls are answered when the staff cannot get to work? What survival strategies were deployed to rescue service levels?Brad Nichols, Dun & Bradstreet, is a Customer Service/Experience and Operational management executive with significant international leadership experience across all aspects of B2B Customer Service, financial information delivery and insurance services. A world-class problem solver and inspirational change agent, Brad has diverse capabilities, an empowerment-based style, and results-driven approach. His passion lies in helping companies achieve audacious goals in growing or transforming their businesses and delighting their customers.

Virtual Event, webinar

Julie Casteel, Ibex.  Frank Pettinato, Avantive Solutions.  Jeremy Jepperson, Everise.  BPOs faced a unique set of Covid-19 challenges as they had to protect their employees and support their clients. Their revenue went down and their cost of doing business went up but they still were charged with delivering an outstanding customer experience. Hear BPO leaders describe their strategies for protecting employee safety, navigating ever-changing government regulations, and providing staff for their client’s programs all in the face of severe financial pressure. Hear how BPOs navigated quarantines and curfews, social distancing and capacity planning, implemented safety measures, and audit requirements and still made sure performance metrics were achieved.Speakers:Julie Casteel is the chief strategic officer & CMO, Julie is responsible for directing strategy for ibex’s largest, global accounts, as well as the global marketing efforts. Julie brings more than 25 years of successful sales and leadership experience within the BPO space. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at Sitel, a $1.6B company where she was responsible for global revenue, client relationship management and marketing strategy. Julie has served on a number of industry boards, has been published in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and various industry publications. She earned a BS degree in Biology from Texas A&M University.Frank Pettinato is an accomplished leader, having held C-level positions in the consumer goods, business services and technology industries. His particular areas of expertise include strategic leadership, sales and marketing, innovation and technology.Currently, Mr. Pettinato is the CEO of Avantive Solutions (private: Deerpath Capital Management), a global business providing digital marketing, contact center, and business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions to the world's largest corporations in the publishing, telecommunications, and healthcare sectors. With worldwide delivery capabilities, multi-shore, multi-language and omni-channel solutions, Avantive Solutions offers clients a unique and diverse set of services to meet their evolving needs and drive their business’ success. Mr. Pettinato has full P&L responsibility and oversees all aspects of Avantive Solutions business, including the development and execution of the Company’s strategic plan, all aspects of business operations, sales, account management and marketing.Jeremy Jepperson is the Executive Vice President of Operations for Americas, overseeing Everise Experience Centers in the United States and Guatemala. As the head of operational delivery and shared services, he brings forward diverse talents which help innovate and solve business problems. His years of global experience in account management, sales leadership, operations, and finance has prepared him to train and execute strategies which support the company’s goals. He has gained valuable experience over the years as he worked his way up in the BPO industry.Moderator:As Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Tom Leidigh guides the vision, mission, and strategic thinking of Infinity. He has over 25+ years of executive experience in sales, direct marketing, and program development. Tom is recognized as a leader in inside sales execution and methodologies and is primarily focused on industry leadership, expansion strategies, channel relationships, and new company capabilities. Tom was named one of the TOP 25 Influencers in the inside sales industry by the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals in 2017 and 2018 and Innovator of the year for 2017. Tom earned an MBA with top honors from Arizona State University, and a BBA from the University of Iowa.

Virtual Event, webinar

Michael Lamm, Corporate Advisory Solutions.  This session will focus on how companies in the industry are being valued in the market today, what types of buyers are out in the market and how has “work at home” impacted buyer’s interest in this market. We will touch on these topics along with some of the key technological changes that are impacting the contact center industry too.Speaker:Michael Lamm co-founded the U.S.-Israel Business Exchange (US-IBEX) in Washington, DC, when he was a college student. This public/private initiative, whose network grew to over 3,000 businesses, was established out of the Embassy of Israel to accelerate the market entry and facilitate financing of Israeli technology companies in the U.S. Through this early experience, Michael’s desire to acquire the tools and knowledge necessary in dedicating his career to helping business owners and management teams achieve their goals was confirmed. Today, he is a founding partner of Corporate Advisory Solutions (CAS), a merchant bank with offices in Philadelphia and Washington, DC that supports a select group of clients.Just as Michael co-founded the US-IBEX due to deeply held conviction regarding his client companies, he brings the same level of commitment to his clients at CAS. From the firm’s earliest days, all efforts have been directed toward companies from the Tech-Enabled Outsourced Business Services sector, with focus on Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management (RCM), Accounts Receivable Management (ARM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Specialty Finance companies. While driven by a strong belief regarding the importance of this business sector to the U.S. economy, this level of specialization has also served to help Michael build up a superior skillset as an advisor to companies in this sector. Michael and his deal team have successfully completed nearly 50 M&A transactions since its founding in 2013. As a Managing Partner at CAS, Michael oversees and executes on M&A engagements, investment opportunities, compliance/regulatory assessments, valuation, expert witness litigation matters while also charting the firm’s corporate direction and strategic growth plan.Prior to co-founding CAS, Michael served as a Director at Kaulkin Ginsberg, an M&A firm specializing in the ARM industry for over 10 years, where he executed on over 70 M&A transactions.Michael was awarded a degree in international studies by American University.

contact cetner, pandemic, predictions

Kristyn Emenecker.  The world has changed rapidly already, so what will the next twelve months bring? A return to the way things used to be, or an entirely new normal? Join this session to discuss predictions for the contact center of 2021, and learn about five emerging communication and workforce technologies you’ve likely never heard of, but are going to be exactly what you need to navigate the this new age. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride, but with the right preparation and tools, this can be just the time to soar over the competition. It won’t be easy, but if there’s one thing we know how to do in the contact center, it’s answer the call.Speaker:Kristyn Emenecker is passionate about all things customer, Kristyn has been a leading voice in the CX and contact center industry for the past 20+ years.  She has honed that love for customer in a variety of senior leadership roles across operational, consulting, technology, sales/marketing and corporate strategy disciplines at companies such as inContact, Mercom and TPG Telemanagement.

customer insights, cx, CX lab, Teleperformance

Stephanie Millner & Maria Netto Campos, Teleperformance.  Focusing on issues such as channel mix, mobile app adoption, contact rates, and consumption patterns, the Teleperformance CX Lab analysis reveals insights that helps us prepare for what comes next for CX. It is the first time in human history that we have 5 generations living, working, and now, having to quarantine simultaneously. What will be the impact of the pandemic on these 5 generations when it comes to customer behavior and customer service? In this session Teleperformance CX Lab experts will share survey data but more importantly will discuss implications, insights and what this means for you.Speakers:Marina Netto Campos is Global Head of CX Lab & Strategic Sales Support for Teleperformance Group. She has 20+ years of experience in Strategy and Research across 3 continents and variety of roles, where she specializes in analysis of key verticals to understand major trends and conducts primary research to understand consumers´ preferences in order to disseminate this information internally and to clients.Stephanie Millner, Global Customer Experience & Strategy Executive, Teleperformance, is committed to the importance of knowing your customer! As the demands of the customer evolves, she recognizes the value of speaking to them in the channel of their choice.

cx, gamification, robocalls, sponsors

Meet some of PACE's valued sponsors and learn more about the ACX-Virtual Gamification contest taking place throughout the event.   Don't forget to sign up for your attendee profile here so you can enter to win prizes!Sponsors:CallerID ReputationWithout question, the proliferation of robocalls, scam calls, and phone fraud has steadily eroded trust in the voice network, a key channel for critical business-to-consumer communications. Carriers, analytics, and data companies have introduced a slew of new solutions to restore trust in communications by combatting unwanted calls, authenticating legitimate calls, and providing advanced caller identification solutions. Lawmakers, regulators, and industry representatives have stepped up to protect consumers with hard-hitting new regulations, which include providing safe harbors for carriers and service providers. As a result, anti-robocall measures have hit contact centers, and the brands they represent, especially hard. Expanded call blocking, aggressive spam tagging, and increasing false-positives are adversely impacting a growing portion of the billions of legitimate US business calls every month. While previously business’ reputations were primarily at risk from scammers who impersonated brands, now - more than ever - it’s imperative that contact centers and enterprises continuously monitor the “health” of their outbound calls.NGNInsights, by Grupo NGNNGNInsights enables managers to create continuous and uninterrupted feedback with their call center agents, ensuring that each member of the contact center team continues to improve their performance while also developing new skills. Agents can view their performance in real-time and make immediate adjustments accordingly. Not surprisingly, this immediate feedback is one of the top drivers of employee satisfaction and retention. Managers have never experienced technology like this before! With the help of NGNInsights, managers can train agents to take pride and ownership of their performance and ongoing improvement.

cx

Join PACE Chair, Lori Fentem as she kicks off ACX-Virtual 2020!

cx

Join the PACE Board of Directors & Management Team as we recognize our 2020 award winners! Thank you to our sponsors:

cx

Putting it all together.