Hot on the heels of our participation in Microsoft’s Ignite Tour and Enterprise Connect 2019 in Orlando, we at AudioCodes recently hosted our own unmissable event in Israel. Just over a year into my personal journey with AudioCodes, I was honoured to be asked to MC the event.
AudioCodes Accelerate 2019 brought together more than 220 attendees from over 35 different countries and representing around 155 companies. Our guests gathered at the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv and AudioCodes HQ in Airport City to take part in three days of cutting-edge sessions, in-depth discussions and exciting product demos, all led by some of the top experts, thought leaders and influencers from across the unified communications industry and beyond.
As if on cue, some unseasonably inclement weather (of course, I was blamed for bringing the Scottish rain!) was replaced by glorious Mediterranean sunshine. This set the scene for what would prove to be a packed, informative and wide-ranging agenda.
Accelerate 2019 kicked off with a keynote address from AudioCodes’ President and CEO, Shabtai Adlersberg, who founded the company more than 26 years ago. Shabtai noted that 2018 had been a very strong year for AudioCodes, with revenues up 12.4% to $176m. He also emphasised that a very big part of AudioCodes’ success is our ongoing commitment to voice as the most fundamental form of human communication, allied to an agile philosophy which drives the company to continually reinvent itself, as exemplified by the recent move into the field of Voice.AI.
Up next was Lior Aldema, AudioCodes’ EVP and Chief Business Officer, who educated and entertained in equal measure with his presentation on the impact of consumer behavior on how voice technologies are used today and the impact of that on business communications. Lior was followed by Nimrode Borovsky, AudioCodes’ Vice President of Global Marketing, who explored how the history of working practices has influenced how we work today and how that helps shape AudioCodes’ overall strategic vision and innovation for future years. Next, Yehuda Herscovici, AudioCodes’ Vice President of Product, treated us to a fascinating look at the world of machine learning, how it relates to business communications, and why AudioCodes is at the epicentre of this emerging trend.
After these opening sessions, it was time to look deeper at AudioCodes’ offerings with presentations covering software-defined voice networking, Voice.AI calling assistants for enterprises, and also how the IT and partner community can be empowered and assisted by AudioCodes’ professional services expertise.
On day two, we split up into two tracks, one for enterprises and the other for service providers, with topics concentrating on areas of interest to those different segments. These included sessions on Microsoft intelligent communications, contact center solutions of the future, the revenue-generating possibilities of SD-WAN, the role of session border controllers and managed CPE best practices.
On day three, we began with a presentation on AudioCodes’ One Voice Operations Center (OVOC), caught up with the many Microsoft-related updates that AudioCodes is working on and had a detailed look at AudioCodes virtualized session border controllers. We then opened our demo pavilion, where our guests could see our solutions in action for themselves.
And we didn’t just talk about ourselves. We were delighted to share the floor with our event sponsors – Genesys, 128 Technology, Jabra, Anywhere365, AGAT Software and Spectralink. Several of our partners and customers also contributed, joining us on stage to share their real-world experiences of deploying AudioCodes solutions. Thanks to everyone who helped make the conference such a great success.
But as intensive and thorough as the conference sessions were, Accelerate 2019 wasn’t just all work and no play. We were in Tel Aviv after all, the city that never sleeps, and we wanted our guests to have fun, too. We took them out for a cocktail dinner reception to enjoy some fine dining at one of Tel Aviv’s best eateries, right on the banks of the Yarkon River. We also hit the road, with excursions to Jerusalem and Akko (Acre), to take in some of the most stunning sights, heritage and history that Israel has to offer. A good number of us also made sure to take advantage of the beautiful beach right next to the conference venue and, of course, much fun was had in Tel Aviv’s many bars, pubs and clubs. I can’t possibly comment on that, of course, other than to say that getting a bus at 07:30 on the morning of day three was quite a challenge for many!
All in all, Accelerate 2019 was a huge success. For me, based on my conversations with our guests and listening to their feedback, what really shone through was that they very much appreciated the opportunity to hear about AudioCodes’ vision and how our “One Voice” strategy can voice-enable their digital transformation. More than all of that, though, they really valued the opportunity to engage with AudioCodes senior management and product experts, learn from and network with each other, and share opinions, ideas and expertise in an informal yet professional environment. Tel Aviv provided a fantastic backdrop for those discussions. I thoroughly enjoyed the event from a personal perspective and I’m confident our guests did, too. If you couldn’t make it this year, I highly recommend you join us at the next Accelerate event. I’m looking forward to it already!