Evan and Dave chat with OJ Winge and Simen Teigre, the founders of Neat. 

Neat came out of stealth at Zoomtopia 2019. The company is new, but on day one had extensive expertise in both video and video hardware. OJ and Simen were part of Tandberg which is arguably the most innovative source of video technologies (both before and after its 2010 acquisition by Cisco). 

Both OJ and Simen went to Cisco, both left and became involved in two separate video startups: OJ with Acano and Simen with Pexip. These companies were direct competitors. Acano was acquired by Cisco in 2015.

Fast forward to 2019, the two reunited and founded Neat. A new company focused on exclusively producing hardware for the rapidly growing Zoom ecosystem. Neat is the first video hardware company dedicated to Zoom, and what incredible timing. The video sector (especially Zoom) had explosive growth in 2020. An amazing year for most video-related businesses, but an incredible first year for Neat. 

TalkingHeadz with OJ and Simen of Neat

This podcast features the movers and shakers of enterprise communications. We also have great guests. In each episode Dave Michels and Evan Kirstel speak (similar to messaging, but verbal) with various guests about enterprise communications.

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TalkingHeadz is a series of interviews with the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests.  In this episode, we check in with Brad Hintze, EVP Marketing at Crestron. 

Brad beleives that the foundation for marketing success is contingent on the combined strength of one's ability to: a) build (and ship) fantastic products, b) clearly communicate why one's product is excellent, and c) create the right tools to win more customers. 

While that may sound interesting to some, it's 1 Beyond that got us hooked. Crestron has a built a strong collaborative reputation with its Flex video conferencing systems, and that story got better about a year ago when it acquired 1 Beyond. 

1 Beyond has been in business for 20 years, but the past seven have seen exceptional growth. The story got even strong with the  when it opted to acquire 1 Beyond.  Crestron was demonstrating its new capabilities earlier this year at ISE Barcelona, where seven One Beyond cameras collaborated so effectively that any meeting can become compelling.  Crestron's Flex solutions integrate video conferencing, wireless presentation, and smart room control. The company works closely with Microsoft Teams and other platforms as well, and 1 Beyond isn't it's first date to the rodeo either: Crestron has announced partnerships with Huddly, Shure, and Jabra, too. Prior to joining Crestron, Brad served as the Vice President of Consumer and Brand Marketing at SnapAV, where he designed and led marketing efforts and strategies. Before assuming that role, Brad held the position of Senior Director of Product Marketing at Control4 where he was responsible for directing product marketing strategy and development.   
 


Five Video Cameras Walked into a Bar...

TalkingHeadz is an interview format series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests.  In this episode, we check in with David Petts, SVP Cloud to Cloud Business Group at Mitel. 

Our podcast was recorded just a few days after Mitel announced its acquisition of Atos Unify. We do discuss it, but there's more unknowns than knowns. 

David Petts is a seasoned sales and customer success executive with a proven track record of driving revenue growth and profit improvements across multiple product segments. With extensive expertise in enterprise servers, PC's, systems management software, business mobility, unified communication, and content licensing, David has a comprehensive understanding of the technology industry. David is well-versed in adapting go-to-market strategies to the specific dynamics of different geographic. David is a team-oriented leader who values collaboration and is dedicated to achieving success for both his team and the company.

Mitel is a leading global provider of communications and collaboration solutions. Founded in 1972, the company has a long history of innovation in the telecommunications industry and has grown to serve customers in more than 100 countries around the world.

Mitel's product portfolio includes a wide range of solutions for businesses of all sizes, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large enterprises and government agencies. In addition to its core products, Mitel is also known for its commitment to customer service and support. 



David Petts On Mitel, ShoreTel, and Unify

TalkingHeadz is an interview format series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests.  In this episode, we check in with Michael Beckley, Founder and CTO of Appian. 

Appian is the unified platform for change. It promises to accelerate businesses by discovering, designing, and automating important processes. The Appian Low-Code Automation Platform unifies key capabilities needed to accelerate workflow. 

As CTO, Michael drives the technical vision for Appian. He leads Appian’s product and solutions marketing teams, and oversees customer initiatives worldwide. Michael serves on the Industrial Advisory Board for the University of Virginia’s Computer Science Department and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Low Code Conversation with Michael Beckley of Appian

TalkingHeadz is an interview format series featuring the movers and shakers of enterprise communications - we also have great guests.  In this episode, we check in with Raluca Monet of Google's Chrome Enterprise Recommended (CER) Team. 

Chrome is a very popular internet browser, but there's more to than many realize. Chrome Enterprise offers organizations a number of advanced features. Chrome Enterprise Recommended recognizes solutions that leverage Chromebooks, Chrome Desks, and ChromeOS. 

Chrome Enterprise offers a number of management and security features that can benefit a variety of use cases. There are several CER programs, and in this episode we dive into CER CCaaS. 

Although Chrome can work with several premises-based solutions, the CCaaS sectors have embraced the browser over traditional software clients. Once the agent's desktop is on a browser, why bother with a full PC?  Chromebooks are less expensive to purchase, secure, deploy, and maintain. 

Raluca  works directly with CXO level executives to improve profitability and create sustainable growth for corporations. Raluca’s areas of expertise include strategy formulation, organizational transformation, operational strategy, profit improvement and performance measurement. She joined Google in 2015. 



How to Use Chrome to Give Contact Centers a Shine

The 2022 Season Finale of TalkingHeadz features Jeff Lawson, CEO and co-Founder of Twilio.  

Jeff is always clear, articulate, and friendly. I'm proud to say Twilio was born during my shift as a telecom analyst, and it's been exciting to watch it grow and transform. 

Jeff presented to analysts before the recent Twilio Signal Conference. He claimed that Twilio is always ahead of the industry. That's a bold (fighting words) statement, but he backed it up with a common sense observation. Twilio's customers create solutions that, in general, can't be purchased (yet). 

Lawson and Twilio more or less created the CPaaS category, an enterprise comms sector that is becoming a little crowded. That's probably one of Twilio's motivations to go broader and become a customer data platform (CDP) provider. 

CDP may seem totally unrelated to CPaaS, thus many perceive the change as a pivot. While there's some truth to that, Jeffs sees it as more of a logical extension. A lot of the CPaaS use cases support marketing, but they tend to be transactional rather than strategic. Twilio wants to better activate the information on customers that enterprises have, and the first step is to create a consolidated view.  

Regardless of how you spin it, this public, multi-billion dollar company is once again a startup that's defining (or converging) a new category. Check out this interview to get a better idea of what is on Jeff's mind. 

TalkingHeadz with OJ and Simen of Neat

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