Enterprise Connect and the Future of AV

Enterprise Connect has become more than a technology showcase. It is now a strategic checkpoint for executive teams responsible for unified communications, collaboration tools, and global AV infrastructure. In the hybrid workplace, communication systems are not just internal utilities. They are mission-critical systems that directly influence customer service, regulatory compliance, and brand perception.

The hybrid work model has expanded endpoints dramatically. Remote work, distributed contact center agents, global video conferencing rooms, and multi-carrier voice calls now form a complex communications fabric. The challenge is not whether the phone system connects in a controlled test. The challenge is whether every phone call, voice call, and video session performs reliably across regions, carriers, and devices.

As Enterprise Connect approaches, the conversation must evolve beyond feature announcements. C-level leaders need clarity on how unified communications environments withstand real-world complexity, protect audio quality, and safeguard the customers experience across every touchpoint.

Enterprise Connect and the New Executive Standard

Enterprise Connect has always been associated with innovation in communications and collaboration. Today, the executive mandate is shifting from expansion to resilience.

Boards are asking different questions. They are not only interested in AI powered meeting summaries or next-generation collaboration tools. They are focused on operational exposure.

Unified communications platforms now sit at the center of revenue operations. Customer service hotlines, global contact center networks, video conferencing infrastructure, and internal collaboration channels all depend on stable voice calls and dependable AV infrastructure. When these systems fail, even partially, the impact is visible immediately.

The risk profile is subtle. Most issues are not full outages. They are quality issues. A regional carrier routing discrepancy causes intermittent call drops.

Packet loss increases latency and reduces voice quality during peak traffic. An IVR greeting exists in configuration but renders silence in production for specific carriers.

These failures rarely appear in high-level dashboards. They appear in customer complaints, abandoned calls, or degraded user experience.

Enterprise Connect provides an opportunity for executives to benchmark how vendors address these operational realities. The critical question is no longer how advanced the feature set is. The question is how the platform performs under unpredictable, real-world conditions.

Unified Communications in the Hybrid Workplace

The hybrid workplace is no longer an experiment. It is a permanent operating model.

The hybrid work model blends headquarters, regional offices, home broadband networks, mobile endpoints, and global conferencing bridges. This model increases agility and can create cost savings in real estate and operations. However, it also increases operational variability.

Unified communications systems must reconcile diverse network conditions, devices, and routing paths. A single video conferencing session may traverse multiple carriers, codecs, and firewalls. A customer phone call into a contact center may pass through upstream carrier routing layers before reaching an IVR or live agent.

Audio quality becomes a strategic metric in this environment. Packet loss, jitter, and transcoding inconsistencies can reduce clarity even when calls technically connect. From a customer perspective, there is little distinction between a dropped phone call and a call with poor voice quality. Both degrade the user experience.

C-level leaders must recognize that unified communications is both application software and telecom infrastructure. The hybrid workplace exposes weaknesses at both layers. Enterprise Connect discussions increasingly reflect this reality, emphasizing measurable performance over theoretical capability.

AV Infrastructure as Critical Business Infrastructure

AV infrastructure has traditionally been associated with conference rooms and internal collaboration. In the evolving hybrid workplace, AV infrastructure now spans cloud platforms, SIP trunks, SBCs, carrier interconnects, and endpoint devices across multiple regions.

This distributed architecture introduces carrier routing complexity. Differences between Tier 1 carriers and regional providers can affect call completion, post-dial delay, and audio stability. Changes in number portability databases or upstream routing policies can create inconsistencies that are invisible until customers experience them.

Voice calls and video conferencing sessions are highly sensitive to subtle degradation. Packet loss or jitter may not immediately terminate a session, but they can compromise clarity. Over time, repeated minor degradations undermine trust in the phone system and collaboration tools.

Enterprise Connect provides a forum to evaluate how vendors support voice quality monitoring and continuous validation. For executives, the focus should be on how AV infrastructure is tested from the caller’s perspective. Synthetic signaling tests are insufficient. Real-world validation of audio quality and call paths is essential.

Carrier Routing and Global Risk Exposure

Carrier routing is one of the least visible but most impactful elements of unified communications. Many organizations assume that once a number is provisioned and tested, it will behave consistently across geographies. In reality, carrier routing can change without notice.

Upstream adjustments, regional failover gaps, or configuration mismatches can cause inconsistent behavior. A number may connect reliably from one country but fail from another. A phone call may complete successfully on one mobile network yet drop on a regional fixed-line provider.

These issues often surface only after customers report them. By that point, the damage to customer service metrics and brand perception has already occurred. In global enterprises, this risk multiplies with scale.

At Enterprise Connect, executive conversations should address how carrier routing transparency and continuous testing reduce exposure. Voice quality monitoring that captures metrics such as post-dial delay, answer duration, and objective voice quality provides early indicators of drift.

Audio Quality and Voice Quality Monitoring as Board-Level Metrics

Audio quality is no longer a secondary metric. It is a direct driver of customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Poor voice quality increases call handling time in contact center environments, creates misunderstandings, and forces repeat calls. This affects cost effective operations and undermines cost savings achieved through remote work models.

Objective voice quality monitoring provides measurable insight into clarity, background noise, clipping, and latency. Rather than relying solely on subjective reports, executives can track performance trends across carriers and regions. This transforms audio quality from anecdotal feedback into a managed KPI.

Enterprise Connect will likely highlight AI powered analytics within unified communications platforms. While AI driven insights can improve meeting productivity and save time, foundational voice quality must be protected first. AI cannot compensate for degraded audio caused by packet loss or misrouted traffic.

C-level leaders should ensure that their strategy integrates continuous voice quality monitoring across inbound and outbound voice calls. This includes validating IVR prompts, contact center transfers, and video conferencing audio streams. The objective is not only to connect calls, but to improve customer clarity and protect the customers experience end to end.

From Reactive Troubleshooting to Continuous Assurance

Many organizations still operate reactively. A spike in abandoned calls triggers investigation. A senior executive experiences poor audio in a video conferencing session and escalates the issue.

A regional office reports inconsistent phone system behavior. These signals indicate that quality issues have already reached production.

The hybrid workplace demands proactive assurance. Continuous validation of carrier routing, IVR flows, and audio quality ensures that drift is identified early. This approach is particularly important in distributed contact center environments, where remote work adds network variability.

Continuous monitoring can also support cost effective operations. By identifying performance degradation early, organizations reduce escalations, emergency troubleshooting, and reputational damage. This allows teams to save time and focus on strategic improvements rather than crisis response.

Enterprise Connect presents an opportunity to shift executive mindset. Instead of viewing unified communications as a static deployment, leaders should view it as a dynamic environment requiring ongoing validation.

Enterprise Connect and Strategic Opportunity

Although this year’s Enterprise Connect event has not yet taken place, expectations are clear. The agenda will emphasize AI powered enhancements, collaboration tools integration, and innovations in communications and collaboration. These developments are meaningful and can drive measurable productivity gains.

However, innovation must rest on resilient AV infrastructure. In the hybrid workplace, reliability defines credibility.

Customers expect that every phone call reaches the intended destination. Employees expect consistent video conferencing quality regardless of location. Contact center agents require stable voice calls to deliver effective customer service.

At Enterprise Connect, executives should evaluate vendors based on their ability to detect carrier routing inconsistencies, measure audio quality objectively, and provide actionable insights. This includes assessing how platforms monitor packet loss, latency, and transcription accuracy across regions.

Klearcom will be at booth 831 at Enterprise Connect, engaging in conversations around real-world validation of unified communications environments. Our focus is on how continuous testing of IVR systems, phone system routes, and global call paths helps organizations improve customer experience and protect brand trust.

In complex hybrid work models, proactive validation is essential to ensure that voice quality and connectivity remain consistent across carriers and countries.

The future of unified communications will be defined not only by advanced features, but by dependable performance. Enterprise Connect offers a strategic platform for C-level leaders to align innovation with operational resilience. By prioritizing voice quality monitoring, transparent carrier routing validation, and continuous assurance of AV infrastructure, organizations can improve customer satisfaction, support cost savings, and sustain confidence in their communications and collaboration ecosystems.