Blair Pleasant

Santa Rosa

Co-Founder and Writer at UCStrategies

unified communications & collaboration and contact center industry analyst & consultant, Beatles freak, mom, wine lover. Mastodon: @[email protected]

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Articles

Q&A with Pete Lavache, Avaya CMO and Blair Pleasant, COMMfusion president and principal analyst

2 weeks ago | bcstrategies.com | Blair Pleasant

Avaya has been sharpening its focus for the future of customer and employee experiences. In this conversation, Blair Pleasant catches up with Pete Lavache, CMO of Avaya, to discuss where the company is focused, what’s different in the contact center space today, and how Avaya is approaching AI. Blair: “You joined Avaya as CMO last November.
8x8 - On the Offense

2 weeks ago | bcstrategies.com | Blair Pleasant

The messages at the 8x8 Analyst Summit in Southampton, U.K. were almost as loud as the Southampton Football Club fans when the Saints scored a goal. During the summit, analysts heard from 8x8 execs and product leaders about the company’s vision, strategy, and product updates, and were also treated to a Premier League football (soccer) game at the event venue, St. Mary’s Stadium, the home of 8x8 customer, the Southampton Football Club.
For Successful AI Adoption, Identify Skills and Launch Training

1 month ago | nojitter.com | Blair Pleasant

AI technologies can deliver powerful transformational opportunities for organizations – but only if done right. Getting the most out of your AI deployment requires more than simply purchasing and implementing the technology – it requires having the right skills and expertise in place, along with a well-thought- out adoption and training program.
RingCentral Analyst Summit 2025

1 month ago | bcstrategies.com | Blair Pleasant

Held in the beautiful world-famous Napa Valley, RingCentral’s 2025 Analyst Summit provided insights on the company’s vision and priorities, product innovations, go to market, and more. No longer primarily a UCaaS vendor, RingCentral offers a multi-product portfolio, with AI embedded throughout. In her new role as President & COO, Kira Makagon kicked off the event with a look back at RingCentral’s 25-year journey.
How NICE’s AI Calculator Helps Contact Center Pros Gauge Value

1 month ago | nojitter.com | Blair Pleasant

The tool helps would-be buyers run scenarios to see the impact automation could have on operational costs and time spent. Showing the Value of AIWe know AI is hot – especially in the CX world – with organizations around the globe investigating how AI can help improve their operations. The key questions and concerns I hear from customers are: how to get started with AI for CX, and how to show AI’s value.
Customer Experience - What Consumers Have to Say

1 month ago | bcstrategies.com | Blair Pleasant

The key to a good customer experience is actually pretty simple – provide customers with the information they need and answer their questions. But what are consumers really looking for, and how can businesses best meet their needs when it comes to customer service and customer experience? I got early access to the Five9 2025 Customer Experience Report, which takes a deep dive into these questions.
Zoho Analyst Day 2025 - From Apps to Platform

2 months ago | bcstrategies.com | Blair Pleasant

Zoho’s analyst event in Austin, TX showcased Zoho’s efforts to become more of an enterprise platform player, going beyond its small- and mid-sized business (SMB) roots.
AI Doesn’t Need to Feel Your Pain. It Needs to Solve Your Problem

2 months ago | nojitter.com | Blair Pleasant

AI can provide accurate, personalized and speedy resolutions – and customers would rather have that over agentic AI talks about their feelings. Can AI be empathetic? More importantly, should it be? Empathy is generally seen as a crucial capability for customer service interactions, as it lets brands show that they understand customers’ needs and feelings, leading to greater trust and brand loyalty.
How SMBs Build Customer Loyalty and Achieve Tangible Results

2 months ago | goto.com | Blair Pleasant

In today’s increasingly interconnected world, businesses must approach customer and employee communications with a clear and strategic mindset. This is particularly crucial for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), where the right tools to improve internal collaboration and enhance customer interactions can make all the difference. In many industries, Customer Experience (CX) has emerged as the deciding factor in business success. For SMBs, every customer and every interaction counts.
CX Trends 2025

Jan 7, 2025 | bcstrategies.com | Blair Pleasant

As we welcome 2025, it’s time for the annual tradition of making predictions for the coming year. AI Adoption and Training: I hope and expect to see a vendors pay more attention to adoption, usage, training, and change management for AI in both the enterprise and contact centers. While some AI capabilities are intuitive, some require training (for more information, see my NoJitter article on this topic).

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Blair Pleasant @blairplez

22 Apr 25

Listen in to the replay at any time

Michael Wineberg @michaelwineberg

95% of consumers say they tell someone to stop buying from a brand after one bad service experience. Join @BlairPlez & @Five9's Matt McGinnis as they unpack key findings & real-world #CX strategies. #TheNewCX #PowerOfMore https://t.co/YhJNdyhUZT

Blair Pleasant @blairplez

18 Apr 25

RT @rtehrani: CEO Spotlight with Ari Rabban and Amber Bigler Newman of @phonecom about their exciting ProSIM launch Learn about how it al…

Blair Pleasant @blairplez

18 Apr 25

Excited to attend @NICE’s Interactions 2025, June 16-18! Join me in Las Vegas to dive into the future of AI-powered experiences and the latest customer service innovations taking it to a whole new level. #NICEi25 #CustomerExperience #CX https://t.co/doKPblxeqd