“Data” and its big sister, “Information”, are fast becoming core components of cloud-based services. David Reinsel, Senior VP with IDC, was sharing the state of all things data and pointed out a few interesting predictions at the recent IDC Tech Outlook 2017 in Austin.

To close out 2017, I want to recap and share with you the top 10 blogs published this last year in case you missed them. It's no suprise that WebRTC, AI and IoT dominate the headlines. Enjoy!

At the recent CCA in Fort Worth, I attended a session moderated by Margaret McKoin of the Time Group that consisted of a series of presentations and a panel discussion on marketing to Millennials. The discussion was geared towards the preferences and buying patterns of Millennial consumers for telecommunications services, and several interesting points were brought up.

Does blockchain have real value in Unified Communications or is it like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole? Blockchain technology is disruptive in its ability to provide the creation of a distributed ledger eliminating the need for a centralized or third-party participant acting as a middle man to broker transactions.

“Before beginning, plan carefully,” quoted Cicero, a Roman lawyer and toga aficionado from a couple thousand years ago. While he may not have been thinking about Visual IVR development when he coined that phrase, he was still spot on.

71% of consumers want the ability to solve most customer service issues on their own, according to a 2016 Aspect Consumer Experience survey. And they want the customer care experience to support that.

At last week’s TechXLR8 in London, I was listening to Paul Wilkinson with Tesco talk about the various initiatives his company is exploring to improve the customer's buying experience through technology and innovation.

The intersection of real-time communications applications, analytics, and intelligence opens the door to innovative solutions that provide value added capabilities for both businesses and consumers. Artificial and augmented intelligence and machine learning techniques consist of applications that replicate human capabilities as well as enhance them.

I reached out across the globe to some of my coworkers who are up on all things IoT and AI, and asked them to share some cool innovations they’ve recently come across. Here’s six that they wanted to share.

Operators are at a literal crossroad. One direction will take them down the path of being relegated to a bit pipe provider – however, most of the ones we talk to don’t want that to be their future, and are exploring ways that focus more on innovation and services.