We are more dispersed than ever, yet are working to stay connected. These voice tech influencers are individuals whose opinions on a specific subject are authoritative, influential, and impact the whole market. By contributing to relevant conversations, blogs, and platforms like Twitter, they are behind the thought leadership that is guiding the digital communication industry, inspiring others, and showcasing what can be done.
Professionals in the voice tech industry are evolving a networked world that is now used to communicating via smart speakers, cell phones, wearables, and other smart devices. In this “voice first” world, which voice tech professionals are most notable?
Photo Credit: RapidSOS
Michael Martin: As the CEO and co-founder of RapidSOS, Martin has worked to change emergency communications for the better. Martin decided to start RapidSOS in 2013 after personal experiences with the challenges of emergency communication. He has shared his thoughts on public safety, security, and technology through various publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, TechCrunch, Popular Mechanics, and many more.
His company works to “predict and preempt emergencies before they occur, dynamically warn people in harm’s way, and provide a direct, rich-data link from any device to first responders globally.” The team at RapidSOS is working hard to change and improve public-safety answering points. They integrate data from smartphones, Google, Uber, MedicAlert, and Waze before sending it to E911 centers to help save lives. Public safety agencies all over the country rely on this technology for faster response times and improved situational awareness. One of the best things about this technology is that it’s available to public safety agencies at no cost.
Photo Credit: Twilio
Erin Reilly: Reilly, the Chief Social Impact Officer of Twilio and GM of Twilio.org, has held previous roles at Google and Yahoo. A serial advocate for social impact, Reilly has plenty of experience in the business world, making her a valuable thought leader in any marketplace. According to Forbes, she is “on the front lines of a growing trend in the tech industry: using tech for good.”
Twilio.org is the social impact arm of Twillo.com, which is a global communications API platform. It helps non-profits build communication platforms via phone and text messages using web APIs. Reilly and her team are making the marketplace rethink how individuals and nonprofits can work together to impact society through better communications. Reilly and twillio.org currently connect over 100M people, but her vision is to connect over 1B people with the right non-profit organizations, leveraging technology so people in need can contact philanthropic groups for help.
Photo Credit: Anthony Minessale on Twitter
Anthony Minessale: Minessale has been in the technology industry for almost 20 years. During this time he has served in a variety of roles as a “pioneer in the advanced communications industry.” As the founder and creator of FreeSWITCH, Anthony developed an open-source communications platform making it possible to communicate via any computer. Currently, he serves as the CEO of SignalWire, “an enterprise CPaaS that delivers advanced FreeSWITCH-as-a-Service through an elastic-cloud framework and developer-friendly APIs.”
Photo Credit: Tsahi Levent-Levi on Twitter
Tsahi Levent-Levi: In 2013, Levent-Levi created the BlogGeek.me website to share his thoughts on all things related to WebRTC, CPaaS, messaging, and disruption. As a consultant with over 15 years of experience, Levent-Levi helps businesses “form a bridge between technologies and business strategy in the domain of telecommunications.” He holds a degree in Computer Science (MSc) and Entrepreneurship & Strategy (MBA).
Through the Kranky Geek Conference, Levant-Levi, Chris Koehncke, and Chad Hart work to bring knowledge of WebRTC to those interested in the technology. The founders became frustrated with the challenge of finding professional information that was non-commercial and in-depth in nature. The goal of the conference is to keep the focus on the tech talks, not sales pitches. They work hard to put “the needs of the audience before sponsors.” All of the content discussed at the conference is freely available to all.
