Enterprise Connect Announces New Program Elements Covering Critical Industry Trends

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Connect, the leading conference and exhibition for enterprise communications, today announces its largest and broadest program ever, with exciting new conference elements providing a fresh experience for its audience. Continuing its mission to deliver the latest and most valuable content, Enterprise Connect's 2017 program additions go in-depth on today's hottest trends.

This year's highlights include a new conference-within-a-conference, a larger focus on contact centers, expanded content on Communications APIs, and a continued strong focus on both on-premises and cloud-based Unified Communications. Another unique feature this year will be a new outdoor session--the Summit on the Lawn, which will focus on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on communications.

Enterprise Connect 2017 will take place March 27-30 at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando, FL. For more information and to register, please visit: enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/.

New to Enterprise Connect 2017:

• Largest Ever Contact Center track: Programming within this track will provide specific information on the business and technology cases around the growing trend toward cloud-based contact center infrastructure. The audience will also get critical insights on the state of today's market, and on adoption of multichannel and powerful "customer journey" systems that use analytics to give agents tools for providing a great customer experience. Finally, attendees will learn how to align contact center features and functions with the critical customer service best practices they need to enable.
• Conference-within-a-Conference - Enterprise Communications & Collaboration 2020: Building Your Enterprise's Strategic Plan: This one-day conference-within-a-conference will deliver the information that strategic decision-makers need in order to plan for the next three years. The day's sessions mirror Enterprise Connect's conference tracks, focusing on UC, cloud communications, video, contact centers, and mobility. This day is not about painting futuristic, pie-in-the-sky scenarios that may happen "someday." Instead, sessions will comprise carefully considered discussions that provide a realistic look at the technologies likely to drive the enterprise communications decisions of tomorrow.
• Expanded Communications APIs track: For the second year, Enterprise Connect will devote a conference track to Communications Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Communications APIs enable communications to be integrated with core business applications, promising greater efficiency and potentially whole new use cases. For this year, Enterprise Connect has increased the number of sessions in the Communications APIs track, adding sessions on management, API case studies, and a session featuring results from a hackathon scheduled the weekend before Enterprise Connect Orlando. The hackathon is being produced by TADHack, which runs telecom hackathons worldwide.
• Cisco vs. Microsoft: Titans Clash on New Terrain?  This in-depth session will provide an update to the Conference's long-running, popular, and highly-regarded comparison of the two largest strategic vendors in enterprise communications. Attendees will receive a wealth of detailed information on Cisco's and Microsoft's latest product approaches and roadmaps. Audiences will also get a deep analysis of the two companies' positioning, and what this could mean for the enterprise. Attendees will take away a vast amount of learning as well as detailed collateral that they can share with colleagues.
• Summit on the Lawn - Cognitive & Contextual: Can AI Disrupt Enterprise Collaboration? Enterprise Connect's first-ever Summit on the Lawn will bring together industry luminaries who are working on ways to harness the power of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), bots, Internet of Things (IoT), and deep data analytics to improve the way enterprises communicate and collaborate. Attendees will gain an understanding of these potentially disruptive forces and the opportunities they'll deliver for contextual communications and collaboration—and they'll learn how close these are to becoming a reality. The session will also offer a literal breath of fresh air, as it will be held on the beautiful Event Lawn at the Gaylord Palms hotel (weather permitting).

To learn more about the Enterprise Connect program and to view the full schedule, please visit: enterpriseconnect.com/orlando 

"Our team is very excited to be shaking things up with these new program elements in 2017 - each of which has been chosen based on their importance to today's industry trends," said Eric Krapf, Enterprise Connect General Manager and Program Co-Chair. "Not only will attendees see more educational opportunities across the enterprise communications spectrum, but they will also have the chance to do extensive networking with peers in their field. It's this face-to-face engagement and sharing that can't be duplicated anywhere but a live event like Enterprise Connect."

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Twitter: @enterprisecon
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About Enterprise Connect
For more than 25 years, Enterprise Connect has been the leading conference and exhibition for enterprise Unified Communications and Collaboration in North America. Enterprise Connect brings corporate IT decision makers together with the industry's vendors, analysts and consultants to focus on the issues central to enterprise networks and communications. Enterprise Connect owns and produces No Jitter, (nojitter.com), providing daily blogging and analysis of enterprise communications, and it also serves the community with a weekly email newsletter, a Webinar Series and Virtual Events. For more information, visit enterpriseconnect.com. Enterprise Connect is organized by UBM Americas, a part of UBM plc (UBM.L), an Events First marketing and communications services business. For more information, visit ubmamericas.com.

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SOURCE Enterprise Connect