UC Today

In this roundtable, Kristian McCann brings together a panel of experts to unpack one of the biggest AI challenges in business today: why usage numbers are rising, but real productivity gains are still lagging. The conversation explores the gap between management perception and employee reality, and what organizations can do to turn AI from a checkbox into meaningful workflow improvement.

Featuring Kelly Pallanti of North Star PMO, Kemmbelly Durst of Klein, Sid Parakh of Medible, Melonie Boone of Boon Management Group, and Tanesia Leflore of Right Fit Enterprise with FlexHR, the discussion digs into adoption barriers, vanity metrics, and the role of change management in making AI work across the enterprise. The panel also looks at why blanket rollouts fail, why psychological safety matters, and how leaders can build trust while measuring actual value.

Talking points include:

Why AI adoption is often more performative than productive.

The danger of vanity metrics such as logins and training attendance.

Why adoption needs to be tailored by team, role, and workflow.

How middle managers can bridge the gap between leadership goals and frontline reality.

Why psychological safety and feedback loops are essential for meaningful AI engagement.

Next steps:

Visit how AI is introduced, measured, and supported across different departments by checking our coverage on UC Today.

In this UC Today interview, host Kristian McCann sits down with Kunal Shukla, GM and Head of Network APIs at Vonage, and Chung H. Lee, AVP of Product Innovation at AT&T Business, to unpack why traditional authentication methods are breaking down—and what comes next.

From the hidden cost of fraud to the growing limitations of SMS-based verification, the discussion reveals why enterprises must rethink how they balance security with seamless user experiences. More importantly, it introduces a new, network-led approach that leverages telco intelligence to authenticate users silently—without adding friction.

This isn’t just theory. Vonage and AT&T break down how network APIs are transforming authentication and reducing friction across the customer journey.

Key points include:

Why a $10 trillion cybercrime economy is forcing businesses to rethink authentication strategies
How SMS OTP creates friction—and opens the door to phishing, interception, and poor UX
What “silent authentication” looks like using real-time network intelligence and telco data
How Vonage, AT&T, and partners are building an ecosystem to deliver secure, seamless digital trust

Next Steps:
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In this UC Today interview, host Kristian McCann speaks with Darren Anstee, Chief Technology Officer for Security at NetScout, about one of the most urgent questions facing IT leaders today: how do you keep business communication running when a cyber incident hits a hybrid workforce? 

With employees split across offices, homes, and unmanaged networks, the stakes are higher than ever. From DDoS to firewall state exhaustion, policy gaps, and the hidden blind spots that can turn a security event into a full business interruption, Anstee explains why attackers increasingly target the network layers that sit in front of collaboration tools, not just the tools themselves.

Key points include
Why hybrid working creates visibility gaps for IT teams.
How DDoS and firewall-state attacks can cut off UC access for entire office populations.
Which policies matter most, including unmanaged devices, shared connectivity, and corporate-approved backups.
Why protecting internet-facing firewalls is now a frontline business continuity priority.

Next steps: 

For more news on how to keep your company secure, visit https://www.uctoday.com/

Kristian McCann is joined by William Rubio, Chief Revenue Officer at CallTower, and Craig Durr, Chief Analyst and Founder of The Collab Collective, to explore why traditional mobile UC models are struggling to keep pace with today’s enterprise demands.
As hybrid work, AI-generated voice threats, and compliance pressures continue to reshape enterprise communications, organizations are being forced to rethink how they manage mobile collaboration. This conversation dives into the growing risks tied to consumer-grade OTT mobile apps and explains why native eSIM is emerging as a more secure, manageable, and seamless approach for enterprise UC.
From frontline workers switching away from unreliable UC apps to the rising threat of AI-driven vishing attacks, the conversation highlights why enterprises need tighter control over mobile communications without sacrificing user experience.
Key discussion points include:
• Why legacy OTT mobile UC approaches create security blind spots and policy fragmentation
• How native eSIM enables stronger compliance, lifecycle management, and corporate-grade control
• The growing role of spam filtering, trusted caller identity, and secure network-level management
• Why remote workers and mobile-first employees are driving demand for a more seamless UC experience
Next Steps:
Find out what a CallTower eSIM solution can do for your business' security and accessibility.

In this UC Today interview, host Kristian McCann speaks with Callum Pennington, CEO & Co-Founder of HBHR, to unpack a growing issue facing modern organizations: employee wellbeing that’s treated as a bolt-on rather than a business-critical priority. 

If you think wellbeing is about perks, think again. This discussion reveals why the fundamentals—like accurate pay, workload visibility, and unified data—are the real drivers of trust, engagement, and retention. 

Pennington joins UC Today to explain why organizations need to rethink how they approach wellbeing from the ground up.

Key points:
🔵 Why “bolted-on” wellbeing strategies fail to address root causes like payroll errors and workload imbalance
🔵 The role of unified HR, payroll, and operations data in identifying burnout before it’s too late
🔵 Eye-opening stats: one in three employees are one paycheck away from financial crisis
🔵 How AI-powered alerts helped uncover a costly payroll error—paying a former employee for 18 months

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