Written by Rori Mwansa, Content Producer, DTX + UCX
As the world of colleague and customer communications continues to evolve, 2024’s Unified Communications EXPO (UCX), which took place on October 2nd and 3rd at the London Excel, served as a forum for industry professionals, pioneers and thought leaders to explore the next wave of UC collaboration tools and trends shaping the industry. Packed with inspirational keynotes, dynamic panel discussions and insightful case studies, UCX 2024 proved to be a hub of knowledge sharing, networking and creativity.
Day 1 kicked off with a highly anticipated keynote by Derren Brown, Britain’s famed psychological illusionist, who captivated the audience with his discussion on the power of wellbeing and reinvention. Brown’s keynote highlighted how embracing uncertainty, and change can lead to transformative growth, both on a personal and professional level, offering insights on how to evolve in the face of change.
Unsurprisingly, AI dominated conversations this year with significant attention on Microsoft’s latest Copilot implementations and roadmap. The show’s dedicated Microsoft Technologies stage centred around practical AI applications in the workplace, featuring an insightful panel that explored considerations for distributing Copilot licenses and assessing ROI. Tom Arbuthnot, Microsoft MVP and Co-Founder of Empowering.Cloud expressed:
“Lots of conversations were around AI, but fortunately on the practical, proven use cases and real-world experiences and feedback. A highlight for me was hearing about EY's and Heathrow's experiences rolling out Copilot”.
The topic of AI continued to weave its way throughout various talks, a panel focused on ‘Implementing trustworthy AI for today’s digital workplace’, delved into how businesses can foster safe and ethical uses of AI. Panellists from PZ Cussons, 4C Strategies and RingCentral, stressed the importance of building a solid business case for implementation, ensuring that AI is not only effective but also aligned with an organisation’s values and goals.
As the shift of UCX moves from colleague to customer communications, a major theme this year was around the future of contact centres and the role of technology in shaping customer interactions. On the bustling Customer Contact & Experience stage, discussions centred around the applications of AI tools in enhancing customer experience, from boosting agent experience to supporting vulnerable customers. Dr Nicola Millard, Principal Innovation Partner at BT Group offered key insights into how AI can empower customer service teams whilst ensuring businesses maintain a human touch in an increasingly automated world.
Additionally, the ever popular ‘Ask the Analyst’ session (which featured industry-renowned experts, Irwin Lazar, Jon Arnold, Prachi Nema and Dave Michels) addressed key trends in UC investment, specifically looking at how the UC and CC convergence will impact spending trends. Panellist Dave Michels, Founder, TalkingPointz reflected on the event stating:
“UCX excels at identifying key trends and influencers in the European communications and” collaboration landscape. Its evolution over the years has established it as a premier tech event, offering invaluable insights into the industry's key players and emerging trends.”
On the Video & AV stage, Health Insurer, Vitality spoke alongside New Era sharing their vision for the future workplace, advocating for the creation of dynamic workplaces, noting that “having collaboration spaces rather than offices and desks is the way to go. Rather than investing in more buildings, it’s about investing in the space and making it useful for people”.
With day 1 wrapping up with a packed Microsoft User Group Meetup plus the first Avixa Stage Takeover, day 2 opened up with legendary game developer, John Romero – creator of DOOM, Quake and Wolfenstein. Delivering an inspiring keynote on his creative evolution, Romero drew parallels between game design and business strategy, emphasising how organisations can leverage AI and emerging technologies to continuously innovate. His talk served as a reminder that staying ahead in the digital age requires relentless commitment to creativity and forward thinking.
Further highlights on the second day included UCX’s first ‘AV in Education’ Mixer in partnership with LTSMG (Learning and Teaching Spaces Managers Group) and leader in interactive displays, Promethean! Plus, a dedicated panel hosted by Independent Contact Centre Consultant, Nerys Corfield, on the changing role on BPO’s featuring esteemed expert, Ray Biggs, Chief Operating Officer at Ventrica and former Head of Contact Centre at John Lewis.
As we wrap up on this year’s show, UCX 2024 showcased that the future of colleague and customer communications is already here, largely driven by innovations in AI advancements, but also the UC and CC convergence and growing importance of the human in the loop.
Irwin Lazar, President and Principal Analyst, Metrigy, shared key takeaways noting that:
“There is a continued interest in ensuring engagement of the hybrid workface to include outfitting meeting spaces with hardware and software that all participants to see and hear each other.” Touching on the integration of AI Lazar emphasised, ‘The focus on bringing AI to unified communications and collaboration and the move beyond the hype into solving real-world challenges related to user training, privacy and security, defining ROI’.
Jon Arnold, Principal of J Arnold & Associates, also shared his reflections on the event:
“I always enjoy the energy of UC Expo, along with learning about vendors I don’t normally see. The show covers a wide range of technologies that help any buyer better understand how rich the options are for addressing collaboration needs. In my sphere of work, UC Expo is the leading EU show in the collaboration space, and I look forward to coming back in 2025.”
If you missed out on UCX London 2024, the next show will be the Manchester edition on 2nd – 3rd April 2025, set to be another groundbreaking gathering of industry leaders, innovators and technology pioneers. To secure your place at UCX Manchester taking place at Manchester Central 2-3 April, register your interest here: https://www.ucxevents.io/manchester-register