Bill “PhoneBill” McClain

You can call Gates, Joel, Murray, or Clinton…but only this Bill has the answer 💪 UCaaS Provider - VoIP- ☎️

Pioneering the intersection of AI and business communications as a 3X founder. 

Currently revolutionizing voice technology through UponAI while leading innovative UCaaS and CCaaS solutions at StratusDial, backed by extensive experience at Networking Solutions.

At StratusDial, I've transformed business communications by:
• Implementing cost-saving solutions that reduce operating expenses by up to $9,000
• Developing seamless Office365 integrations and advanced VoIP systems
• Building a 24/7 technical support infrastructure that maintains 99.9% uptime
• Creating custom UCaaS/CCaaS solutions for diverse enterprise needs

Through UponAI, I'm pushing the boundaries of:
• AI-powered voice recognition and natural language processing
• Intelligent call routing and automated customer service solutions
• Machine learning algorithms for enhanced communication efficiency
• Voice-enabled business intelligence and analytics

My entrepreneurial journey spans:
🔹 Advanced Telecommunications
🔹 Enterprise Network Architecture
🔹 Cloud Communications
🔹 AI/ML Implementation
🔹 Business Process Automation

Proud to be recognized by industry leaders, including Eric Hernaez, Founder & President of SkySwitch, for maintaining exceptional service standards and driving continuous innovation in business communications.

Specialties:
#AIVoice #UCaaS #CCaaS #CloudCommunications #NetworkingSolutions #VoIP #BusinessIntelligence #EnterpriseNetworking #ArtificialIntelligence #DigitalTransformation

Looking to connect with:
• Business leaders seeking communication solutions
• Technology innovators in AI and voice tech
• Enterprise clients exploring digital transformation
• Fellow entrepreneurs in the tech space

Let's discuss how AI-powered voice solutions can transform your business communications. Open to partnerships, collaborations, and innovative ventures.


Founder -

Networking Solutions 29 years
StratusDial 13 years
UponAi 2 years

3X Founder - 0X Exits

Founder President & CEO

Does the idea of switching phone providers for your business sound like a permanent migraine? Here’s what’s worse:

Turning your customers away because you’re unable to provide a good phone customer experience because of lousy support from your business phone provider.

When you entrust ☎️PhoneBill (& the team at StratusDial) with your company’s new voice, here’s what you get:

✔️ Pre-installation audit to locate savings (sometimes $9000!) & lower your operating costs
✔️ Take care of allllllllll the prep, installation, routing, testing… everything done-for-you
✔️ Hold your hand through set-up & advise you on phone experience best practices
✔️ Latest phone features for maximum efficiency (hello, Office365 integration!)
✔️ Custom set-up the big providers won’t do (e.g. overhead paging system)
✔️ 60-day and 90-day check-ins to make sure you love your new system
✔️ Eager-to-help technical support, 24/7

As a smaller (but mightier!) provider, we can deliver the type of boutique service that the large competitors wish they could deliver. 😉

Ready to have your business phone system work for you (not against you) in bringing more clients to your business?

Message ☎️PhoneBill on LinkedIn. I’ll sort you out.

Bill (PhoneBill) McClain

Thank you for registering your phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry. 

You successfully registered your phone number ending in 6500 on November 19, 2010. Most telemarketers will be required to stop calling you 31 days from your registration date.  

I remember reading that message and feeling hopeful.  

Peace.  

A quiet phone line.  
Fewer dinnertime interruptions.  

That was the dream.  

Here is the dry truth.  
Registering a phone number with the Do Not Call Registry tells legal telemarketers to remove that number from their call lists.  

It does not stop scammers.  
It does not stop every robocall.  

The Registry gives people a choice.  
People can say no to many sales calls.  
People can gain some control back.  

In my world, voice and AI can help.  

Smarter call routing.  
Better spam detection.  
Clear rules for teams that want to stay trusted.  

Business needs to reach people.  

Respect needs to reach them first.  

Thoughts on how the Registry works for you today?

#PhoneBill ☎️

You can call Gates, Joel, Murray, or Clinton…but only this Bill or AI from UponAi has the answer ☎️🤖

No alternative text description for this image

Last fall, StratusDial brought on two new automotive dealerships running their phone system with another provider.

That sounded like good news we know the NetSapiens system they had inside and out. We’ve been running it for over ten years.

But within minutes on site, we learned how bad things had gotten.

Calls dropping. Delays connecting. Terrible voice quality.

The dealerships had been on the system only about six or seven months and it had been a disaster. 
Multiple tickets opened with the previous provider and their IT support team.
 No resolution.

The buy/sell of those dealerships went through on a Monday. 

My team was onsite immediately to handle the migration and full acquisition of all technology.

As they went desk to desk setting up our complete tech stack, nearly every employee had the same question:

“Can you do something about our phones?”

We were patient and empathetic, but knew the priority 👉 the migration and new tech stack came first. 
My team was absolutely slammed but we were up for the challenge.

I arrived on Tuesday to assist wherever I could. 
Our team leader, Eric asked me to look into the phone issue.

So I called the provider for access to the system. 
And what I found was very disturbing.

Here’s the thing:
 Voice traffic must always come first. 

Browsing, streaming, and file downloads come second.
 That’s called Quality of Service (QoS) - and one of the best ways to achieve it is through a VLAN (Virtual LAN).

Picture your network like a six-lane highway. 
Each type of traffic gets its own lane. 
And guess which one gets the fast lane? 
Voice 👍

Now, remember this is a car dealership. 
A big customer waiting area. 
Customers streaming music, video, and social media on the dealership Guest Wi-Fi.

So what happens when that customer traffic ends up in the same lane as voice traffic? 
Big problems. Dropped calls. 
Bad audio. 
Delayed connections.

Within two hours, I’d confirmed the issue. The network desperately needed a traffic cop.

So I installed one - and called it #PhoneBill 🤣

After implementing QoS, separating traffic with VLANs, and making targeted improvements, voice calls immediately sharpened up.

Dropped calls disappeared. Connections were instant. Quality was crystal clear.

In less than a day, we proved our expertise and earned the client’s trust.

That’s the power of understanding what matters most: 
Voice traffic always gets the fast lane.

Do you need a traffic cop?

#PhoneBill ☎️


Networking Solutions, Inc. 
StratusDial 
UponAI

Most CIOs juggle 3+ phone platforms.

I run them all through one brain…UponAI.

In my world, single-platform purity is rare.  

Real companies grow by merger, region, and vendor.  

Result:  
One team on UCaaS A.  
Another on UCaaS B.  
A contact center on a third CCaaS stack.  

As founder of StratusDial, I learned early that forcing everyone onto one phone system creates risk.  

Vendor outage.  
Contract fight.  
Feature gap.
Buy / Sells.
Equity Investors.  

When all calls live on one platform, one bad day can shut a business down.  

So we built StratusDial around a different model:  

Risk mitigation!

No emotion, just strategy.

Multi-platform UCaaS and CCaaS for resilience and choice.  


Then I added one simple rule from UponAI:  

Many phone systems, one AI brain.  

Here is how it works in practice:  

1. StratusDial supports multiple call platforms for one client  
→ UCaaS from multiple suppliers  
→ CCaaS in a remote center  
→ A legacy PBX still in place in one branch  

2. UponAI connects to all of them through flexible SIP  
→ SIP trunk, for whole-system connection
→ SIP endpoint as a dedicated AI extension  
→ SIP URI for routing only certain calls  

3. The AI voice agent handles the heavy lifting  
→ Answers first, in any language the business needs  
→ Understands intent with natural language  
→ Uses sentiment to adapt tone  
→ Passes full context when a human must step in with a WARM transfer

4. The business keeps one AI playbook  
→ One prompt strategy  
→ One routing logic  
→ One integration into CRM, POS, ticketing systems  

The platforms stay diverse for safety.  
The AI stays unified for simplicity.  

That is how we see up to 60% of calls move from human agents to AI  
without ripping out phone systems  
without new chaos for IT  
without customers feeling lost.  

Many platforms for risk management.  
One AI brain for control.  

Thoughts on running many phone systems under one AI brain?

#PhoneBill ☎️

Unfortunately #PhoneBill will not be attending but Jody & Sean will do a great job 🙌

Make sure you stop by to see and support them 👍

See you at ITExpo! 🎤

Jody is joining the CEO Insights Panel: Agentic Voice AI in the Real World to discuss ROI, Trust, and Scaling.

🗓️ Thursday, February 12, 2026
🕐 1:00 – 1:45 PM
🎯 CEO Insights Panel

Sean will also be on-site to answer questions and chat about our AI voice solutions.

UponAi is at the cutting edge of AI, and we're excited to be back again this year to share what we're building.

Stop by and say hi! 👋

Jody Gonzales Sean Henning Bill (PhoneBill) McClain

#ITExpo #ITExpo2026 #UponAi #VoiceAI #AgenticAI #CEO #AIPanel #ArtificialIntelligence #TechConference

Businesses today don’t just need to communicate-they need to connect smarter.

I see the same pattern in companies of every size.

Teams feel busy.
Phones ring all day.
Costs keep going up.

Yet customers still wait on hold.
Messages still fall through the cracks.
Leaders still lack clear insight.

AI in business communications changes that.

Here is how we set it up at UponAI:

→ Improve communication  
AI voice agents listen, understand, and respond in real time.  
They speak in natural language, stay calm with every caller, and never forget key details from past interactions.

→ Boost efficiency  
AI handles the routine work:  
- Simple questions  
- Balance checks  
- Password resets  
- Status updates  

Your people focus on complex cases and human moments where empathy matters most.

→ Scale without new headcount  
Call volume grows?  
AI does not need more desks or parking spaces.  
You add capacity in the cloud, not on the org chart, while service stays fast and steady.

Under the hood we use:

- AI voice agents  
- Intelligent call routing  
- Analytics that show trends, sentiment, and gaps in your customer experience  

The result is a system that works 24/7, keeps quality consistent, and gives leaders clear data instead of guesswork.

I have spent my career at the crossroads of phones, networks, and now AI. I believe the next big gains for business come from how we connect, not how loud we shout. 

Actually delivering today what others promise in the future.

What is your take on using AI to handle the front line of customer communication?

#PhineBill ☎️

Yes 🙌 another AI post from #PhoneBill ☎️

Is it just me, or did every phone platform suddenly launch their own “AI voice agent”?

Here’s the thing… 
We’ve been building our ecosystem for 3 years - not weeks.

Yes, we can spin up an AI receptionist in 5 minutes. 
But then what?

💡 What if your business needs something more complex? 💡 What if you need a real solution that goes beyond just a “hello”?

Most platforms stop at simple use cases. 
We built one platform that lets you: ✅ Launch simple AI voice agents instantly ✅ Scale seamlessly to advanced, fully customized agents ✅ Integrate with any voice platform

And here’s what we’ve learned from experience -
 The second you deploy a simple solution, your customers will want more.
 We’ve seen it firsthand. We’ve built for it.

That’s why UponAI isn’t just another AI tool -
 It’s the ecosystem that grows with your business into the future.

#PhoneBill ☎️

Lucia Kanter St. Amour

Under the Sisterhood

UTS is a social impact company that addresses the critical gaps in women’s health education, diagnosis, and treatment. As CLO, I'm responsible for: legal guidance on general business operations, partnerships, and organizational practices; contract review and negotiation with vendors and partners; policy development ensuring legal, ethical, and privacy compliance; risk awareness and mitigation; recommending practical strategies that project the organization’s integrity and vision; addressing potential legal issues related to employment and board members; liaising and supervising outside counsel; partnering with cross-functional teams to effectively communicate the organization’s mission, support its programs, and amplify its social justice initiatives.

Chief Legal Officer

Pactum Factum

Chief Legal/Negotiation Officer for various corporations, NCAA athletes, and organizations; U.S. mediation liaison to Supreme Court of India 2022-2023; have mediated/negotiated 1000+ cases; host of "Forces of Good" podcast. Seasoned employment law and negotiation expert. Pactum Factum Press publishing.

Attorney | CLO | Publisher

UN Women

VP, San Francisco  - the birthplace of the United Nations in 1945. UN Women USA is the official, membership-based non-profit organization that raises funds and awareness for UN Women, the United Nations agency that advances gender equality and female empowerment globally.  Events and projects include: Cities for CEDAW a nationwide, grassroots effort to encourage local governments to become more gender equitable; EVAW - an effort to End Violence Against Women; The Gender Equal Pay coalition; HeForShe, a social movement campaign providing a systematic approach and targeted platform through which men and boys become agents of change for the achievement of gender equality; Women In Climate Change Gender Action Plan; Bi-annual Global Voices Film Festival

Vice President - UN Women USA

Spectrum Strategies for Autism

501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing sibling programming; and rescue dog matching, placement and training to families with children with Autism and other special needs.

University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings)

Teaching:  Negotiation / Mediation Clinic / Mediation Certification for Professionals / Special Education  Law. 2003-2012 taught regular course(s) on-site each semester. I tried to retire, but noooooo. They wouldn't let me 😂 2013-present continue on faculty as hybrid (remote and on-site) coach and instructor

Law Professor (Adj.)

International Chamber of Commerce

Serving as judge and mediator for ICC mediation competition in Paris, France

Mediator and Judge

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law

Teaching Negotiation practical skills course and supervising independent studies

Lecturer

EEOC

One of the small team of original designers of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s pilot mediation program in 1996 for the San Francisco Regional Office, and later mediated EEOC cases from San Jose to Sacramento

Mediator

Judicial Council of California

In-house employment law attorney for the Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the policymaking body for the entire California court system for 58 counties and the Supreme Court of California. I advised the Judicial Council, the Chief Justice of California, and trial and appellate court judges and court officers, contributing to major policy and legal decisions on employment and labor issues that affect the entire judicial branch of California. During that time, I was also selected by the California Division for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) as a representative attorney for the judicial branch to conduct ongoing discrimination and harassment training through live, televised, satellite broadcast programming to court employees statewide. The target 20,000-member audience consisted of judges, human resources professionals, court directors and court staff. Broadcasting live with a studio audience, I also co-hosted CJER’s production of “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:  A Celebration of Justice,” as part of the Division’s Continuing The Dialogue television series. The content of many of the broadcasts drew upon expertise in the field of Civil Rights and various discrimination and fair employment laws.

Attorney - Office of the General Counsel

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Upon dissolution of boutique labor & employment firm in San Francisco, joined Orrick's Employment Law group and handled all aspects of litigation and client counseling. Closest clients I worked with included Gap, Apple, Oracle, Electronic Arts

Employment Litigation Attorney

VP Emerita UN Women | Attorney Action Figure 🦸🏻‍♀️ | Arresting Author | Chief Negotiation Officer | Plucky Podcast Host | Irreverent Int'l Keynote | "What Box?" Bellwether

📚 World domination through literary seduction. Elegant. Defiant. Irresistibly true. Are you ready for what's next (October 13, 2025)? MY WRITING IS ORGANIC USING REAL INTELLIGENCE (AI wishes it could write like me)

I'm not bossy. I'm BOSS. A UN Women VP, provocatrice, attorney/law professor turned negotiation GOAT . . .

(Buckle up. This is ..."a lot")

🦸🏻‍♀️ I help women harness the power of everyday negotiation—from conning a toddler into eating peas to running the boardroom. I authored the Little Black Dress of negotiation books. Why?

Because negotiation isn’t just for business. It’s everybody’s business 🧐

(But you don’t need me to “empower” you. Nor do I sell a “masterclass” or certification from my own “institute”)

🌍 World Mediation Peace Activist. Benevolent & incurable explorer (dubbed “creative savant”—you know who you are). A bit wild at ❤️‍🔥, I struggle with purpose and disrupt with goodwill—through advocacy, teaching, writing, broadcasting, philanthropy, art & sports.

🗣️ Polyglot. Passionate about people & social progress. JEDI agent (not a Star Wars ref). I’ve practiced law in private, public & non-profit sectors; have taught internationally, including over two decades as faculty at two University of California law schools.

I get that people are messy multitudes—and how they actually behave in conflict & decision-making.
What makes me next-level? Decades of deep experience in negotiation, behavioral economics, game theory, plus dope training in:

✔️ Emotional micro-expressions
✔️ Lie detection
✔️ Neuroscience & decision analysis

Oh, and I know the #1 most stealth negotiation skill. 😎

(Kinda like x-ray vision. Hint: it’s NOT “speaking your truth.”)

WHAT I’M NOT:

❌ A sales/marketing bro who built my expertise off a “masterclass”
❌ A brand
❌ Your income stream
❌ After your 💰 or approval
❌ One to trademark words. Ahem™ 🙄 (you know the type)

Special needs parent & dog whisperer—chaos doesn’t faze me, and persistence is my default setting. CEO of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing dogs & sibling support for families with special needs kids.

🫶 Turn-ons: Cake, shoes, pour-over coffee, decent literature
🤢 Turn-offs: NIMBYism, vapid buzzwords, elitism, posers

💡 Meyers-Briggs type? ENFJ-A (same 2% club as Obama & Oprah).

🕸️See more on pactumfactum.com, but TLDR: 
I’m 95% human Labrador (begs the question: what’s the other 5%?). Find it endearing or annoying. That's on you. Either way, I’ll be me because, as Oscar Wilde said, “Everyone else is taken.”

P.S.
❌ I don’t do casual Zoom coffee chats
✅ I’ve already overpaid it forward

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The Battle

Bill (PhoneBill) McClain

S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour

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The Battle

Bill (PhoneBill) McClain

S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour

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