I caught up with Steve Osler, CEO, Wildix UK Limited, to chat about Wildix’s recent digital event. Impacted by the pandemic, UCC Summit 2021 was entirely online and had over 1,500 MSPs, system integrators, and UC&C solution providers, according to Alla Daleko, Marketing Manager, Wildix.
Wildix credits itself with creating the first browser-based unified communications solution and VoIP products. Founded by brothers and computer engineers Steve and Dimitri Osler in 2005, Wildix has a research and development center in Ukraine, with sales offices throughout Europe and the United States. At this year’s UCC Summit, CEO Steve Osler said the firm wants to enter the APAC market in 2021. Osler also said the organization announced several new products.
So, let’s dive into what happened at this year’s UCC Summit.
The pandemic has shaped the way we do business moving forward. Trends like audio and video conferencing offer a new and smart way of working and collaborating from a distance, thanks to COVID-19. Video conferencing was undoubtedly the winner of 2020, and Steve Osler noted that in his opening remarks at 2021’s digital UCC Summit.
“Videoconferencing and smart working have defined the past year, and we want the UC&C Summit to keep up with modern standards. Having grown accustomed to using technology to overcome distance for collaboration, we now expect to join meetings from the comfort of home”
Osler said that the changes have not only been on the consumer front, but they have impacted the partner service provider model for system integrators, too. He said for them to survive, they must adapt to the paradigm shift which he said introduced new threats to partner survival.”Large vendors providing solutions in the cloud and As a Service disintermediate their offer and target the end-user, skipping a key link in the chain — namely, partners.”
He told attendees, this year’s event included a mix of technology, cutting-edge as-a-Service offerings, and support from a worldwide network of professionals who are committed to forming strong partnerships to help combat the negative impacts of the pandemic.
Announcing X-Bees by Wildix
Wildix first announced its x-bees platform, a tool designed for routing business communications like VoIP calls, chats, video calls, etc., into a single in-browser interface. The solution’s goal, Osler noted, is to improve organization-wide communication processes and to increase sales by improving their lead management procedures. Dimitri Osler, Wildix CTO, said:
“We created x-bees because the lead management phase involves more than one person. The sales team often needs to collaborate on how to provide the best service and turn a lead into a customer. On both the frontend and backend, the winning strategy is to work as a team”
The technology is based on the React Javascript framework and is designed for mobile solutions. Osler said that x-bees is set to roll out in February for beta testing.
The Launch of X-Caracal
This year’s UC&C Summit also featured the announcement of x-caracal, Wildix’s solution for tracking leads and customers throughout the sales process. “Much like an ACD stats tool, x-caracal monitors company communications with external leads, allowing for internal awareness of what elements in the sales funnel function smoothly and what can be improved,” Dimitri Osler said in a statement.
Wildix Launches Wizywebinar
Wildix also announced Wizywebinar, an all-in-one solution for creating, hosting, and inviting customers to webinars. Osler said the tech firm found standard webinar tools are not designed to provide the level of entertainment people are used to getting from services like Netflix. This, he added, is why Wildix created the first automated movie studio for your customer webinars.
Zoom introduced a webinar feature called OnZoom at last year’s Zoomtopia event. Set for international arrival in 2021, a spokesperson for Zoom told UC Today at the time that the company has several partners signed on for the platform which debuted in North America in 2020. OnZoom acts as an extension of Zoom’s unified communications platform.
Leveraging the tool, event hosts can create events for up to 1,000 attendees depending on their Zoom meeting license. Zoom users can also list and sell tickets along with share and promote public events and can host events larger than 1,000 attendees by turning the session into a live stream.
Closing out the event, Wildix named its top 11 performers for the 2020 year, while also telling eventgoers that the company will expand its rewards program to further incentivize high rates of monthly recurring revenue in the coming year. “In 2020, we handed out over half a million dollars in bonuses to you in discounts and rebates, a spokesperson noted in a statement. Also speaking at this year’s event: Julie Thomas, CEO, ValueSelling, and Dominic Black, Director of Research at the Cavell Group.
The Rise of Virtual Events
2020 brought us many firsts, including the first-ever iterations of many previously in-person conferences. I remember where I was this time last year, coming back from Avaya Engage, an in-person tech conference in the US hosted by former legacy communications tech provider Avaya. Since then, we’ve halted all in-person events, in the name of safety for attendees, hence the rise of the virtual event.
We’ve since come to realize the full spectrum of benefits involved in hosting a digital event. Microsoft, Slack, and Zoom all hosted digital versions of their regularly in-person developer conferences and 2021 is shaping up to be another record-setting year when it comes to the number of online events to be held.
All forecasts of the future of the events market predict that the global digital event management market will grow exponentially over the next few years, showing no signs of slowing down. UC Today plans to bring you the latest coverage of all of these events along with expert commentary to help you gain a broader understanding of the evolving UC&C landscape.
Which virtual events are you most looking forward to this year? Let us know on our social channels, and let us know if you think there are any events worth covering. You can find a full list of UC-related events on our events page or by following this link.
