We all know that Plantronics is one of the leading companies in the world when it comes to the development of cutting-edge headsets. When I was attending UC EXPO 2017 in London, I had the fantastic opportunity to sit down with Paul Dunne of Plantronics, and discuss where the company is heading in this disruptive digital landscape.
The Three Eras of Telecoms
[caption id="attachment_9374" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Paul Dunne, Country Manager - UK & Ireland at Plantronics[/caption]
Sitting down with Paul Dunne, he instantly began to talk to me about his vision for the world of communications, and what it means for people today. "When I was a kid, we had family living in Japan, and we maybe got to speak to them around once a year - and that was really expensive. In other words, Comms used to be very expensive, and very rare." He described that as the first era of Comms.
Obviously, we soon moved into an era where Comms became a lot more available, and the prices started falling too, creating a world that was much more inter-connected. Now, Dunne believes that we're living in the "third era" of Telecoms, where communication is everywhere, and instantly accessible.
Though this world of countless Comms devices has wonderful things to offer, it's also a little overwhelming. For instance, Dunne noted that consumers could be sitting at their desk, hear a phone ring, and have no idea whether the call was coming from their softphone, mobile, Skype, or Facebook. It's that complexity that has prompted Plantronics to begin designing headset devices that are all about simplicity.
As soon as you wear a Plantronics device, you answer a call, no matter where that call is coming from, and the rest of your UC applications are informed that you're now busy, on a call. In other words, Plantronics are connecting all the disconnected devices together in UC with innovative headsets.
Taking Headsets to the Next Level
It's no surprise that Plantronics are seeing a boost in their sales, as Skype for Business and other developments in the UC marketplace are becoming more popular. As Dunne explained as we sat together at the UC EXPO, Plantronics are simply making the various disruptive technologies of the day simpler for customers to access.
Dunne said: "We've seen that a number of key vendors are driving UC adoption, and Microsoft is certainly one of those vendors. When we examine the general adoption of UC, we almost always see it as attached to a program. From our perspective, one of the strongest solutions of UC is moving to flexible working, and we're looking at ways to drive people to smarter working solutions."
Dunne noted that Plantronics works with a focus on "Bricks, Bytes and Behaviour." In other words, the company is connecting the workplaces, the people who work within them, and the technology they use into a single, seamless experience.
"As communication becomes more ubiquitous among multiple devices, we're turning from complexity to simplicity, both at home, and in businesses"
Dunne also commented that Plantronics are looking at managing media too. In other words, if a client was using their device to listen to music, and they received a call, that music would stop and present an opportunity to answer that call.
How are Plantronics Responding to Disruptive Technology?
One thing that I noticed frequently when exploring UC EXPO for 2017, is that there's been a lot of disruptive change in the world of Unified Communications. I wanted to know what Plantronics has been doing to develop their products around changes like UC, AI, and other new adaptations.
