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Dreamforce 2017: Contact Center StoriesDreamforce 2017: Contact Center Stories

A look at Salesforce's mega conference through a contact center lens

Sheila McGee-Smith

November 20, 2017

13 Slides
Dreamforce 2017: Contact Center Stories

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Having attended Dreamforce 2017 earlier this month in San Francisco, I decided to revisit the slideshow I created three years ago coming out of Salesforce's 2014 event. The Dreamforce 2014 slideshow highlighted contact center vendors that exhibited at the show, as does this one. As I compare the two events from a contact center perspective, several changes are worth noting: Of repeat vendors, some have the same branding while others have a modified version as a result of consolidation. Avaya, Five9, and NewVoiceMedia fall in the first category, while NICE inContact is in the second, for example. Several vendors that attended in 2014 chose not to participate in 2017: 8x8, Genesys, Serenova (then LiveOps), and Vocalcom. Cost may have been an issue for some (as I discuss elsewhere in this slideshow, Dreamforce is not for the faint of wallet). For others the decision may have been strategic. There were new contact center faces, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), RingCentral, and Talkdesk. Finally, another difference from three years ago is the relevance of Salesforce itself in the contact center space. Although important in 2014, Service Cloud now has omni-channel, artificial intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) components that make it a clear rival of pure-play contact center companies.

A look at Salesforce's mega conference through a contact center lens

About the Author

Sheila McGee-Smith

Sheila McGee-Smith

Sheila McGee-Smith, who founded McGee-Smith Analytics in 2001, is a leading communications industry analyst and strategic consultant focused on the contact center and enterprise communications markets. She has a proven track record of accomplishment in new product development, competitive assessment, market research, and sales strategies for communications solutions and services.

McGee-Smith Analytics works with companies ranging in size from the Fortune 100 to start-ups, examining the competitive environment for communications products and services. Sheila's expertise includes product assessment, sales force training, and content creation for white papers, eBooks, and webinars. Her professional accomplishments include authoring multi-client market research studies in the areas of contact centers, enterprise telephony, data networking, and the wireless market. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, user group and sales meetings, as well as an oft-quoted authority on news and trends in the communications market.

Sheila has spent 30 years in the communications industry, including 12 years as an industry analyst with The Pelorus Group. Early in her career, she held sales management, market research and product management positions at AT&T, Timeplex, and Dun & Bradstreet. Sheila serves as the Contact Center Track Chair for Enterprise Connect.

See more from Sheila McGee-Smith

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