I'm an independent LinkedIn® trainer, offering training sessions, consultations and workshops for individuals and businesses who need support on the latest best practices on LinkedIn. I've researched LinkedIn deeply since 2017 and am now an international speaker, author, podcaster, conference organiser and community manager.

👦🏻🧒🏽  𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗢+ 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬
Our private community includes two live Q&A calls per month, a discussion group, a video library with 200+ premium pieces of content with captions and transcripts, a podcast, and other member benefits. This is the best place for ongoing learning and support around LinkedIn best practice and online business promotion.
£42/month, no minimum contract

🟦   𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗦
⚙️   Group training: best for corporations and organisations. Usually works best with up to 12 people on each session but I can train much larger groups on request.
Starts at £799

⚙️   Consultations: best for self-employed business owners.
60 mins: £199
20 mins: £79

🟩   𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗠𝗘? 
I used to be a software and hardware tester before becoming a technical copywriter and editor, including being a director of the UK's largest membership organisation for editors and proofreaders. I've since specialised in organic visibility on LinkedIn, bringing all of my technical communication expertise combined with a deep knowledge of how the LinkedIn platform works.

I have trained hundreds of clients on LinkedIn best practice, including training other LinkedIn trainers in advanced strategies. I now have 120+ LinkedIn recommendations and 60+ guest appearances on podcasts.

My personal branding handbook Content DNA has 100+ positive ratings on Amazon. First 6 chapters are free on request.

I created and co-host the UpLift Live conference on LinkedIn best practice, the UK's only conference of its type, with 150+ attendees each year.

I'm the host of the Informed podcast, a short weekly show that shares LinkedIn tips. It's the longest-running podcast on LinkedIn best practice, with almost 500 episodes since 2013.

🟧   𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗠𝗬 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
1.   Include the word "pineapple" in your invitation to connect.
2.   Accept with your full heart that pineapple on pizza is double delish.

🥶   𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧
🐶   Boxers: the best dog breed
⚽️   Liverpool Football Club
⚔️   The Traitors (BBC)

I used to be heavier: jesp.me/fat
I'm an actual lord: jesp.me/truth

John Espirian

⛔️ "LinkedIn security" is NOT a real account. A lot of people have been asking about comments appearing to come from an official LinkedIn account – except that the account usually has no profile pic and no followers.

It's fake and clearly set up so that it can comment on posts with the express aim of worrying members enough to get them to click on dodgy links. Don't fall into that trap.

LinkedIn should update the company page setup screens to make "LinkedIn" a reserved word that people can't use in a page name.

Also useful would be to prevent accounts with 0 followers from being able to post links, to stop the endless cycle of fake accounts being set up for spam purposes each day.

LinkedIn Help (which is a real account): please do something. We independent LinkedIn trainers are acting as your unofficial support department here.

PS. I'm going to mention the topic on this week's episode 474 of the Informed podcast.

Posted: 6 Jan 2026 at 8.54am (GMT)

Relentlessly helpful® LinkedIn® nerd. Independent LinkedIn trainer & LinkedIn speaker. Creator of Espresso+ community & UpLift Live conference. Host of Informed podcast. Not a douche canoe 🛶

🕥  Some people have asked why I put a date and time at the bottom of my posts. 

1. It's a protest against LinkedIn
The date and time is encoded into the long ID that's baked into the web address of each post. So, LinkedIn definitely have the data but choose not to display it. I think this is wrong. I'm not one to praise Twitter but they've been showing dates and times on tweets for almost TWO DECADES. It's mad that we don't see this basic info on LinkedIn. Instead, we see fuzzy relative times (6h, 2d, etc.).

2. It might help readers
If someone wants to quote something I've written, they know exactly when it was published. It's possibly hubris to think anyone would do that, but I'm just trying to be helpful in the event that I say something worthy of amplification.

———

This post's ID is 7416787304414965760. Sufficiently nerdy people know how to extract the exact date and time of posting from that number. But most don't, hence I put it in plain text at the bottom of my posts, like this …

Posted: 13 Jan 2026 at 10.24am (GMT)

PS. Annoyingly, TikTok also doesn't display a date and time on posts, but again that info is recorded and discoverable.

"Link engagement": this is even more of a reason NOT to put links in comments, as your individual post analytics now reveal how many clicks your links in posts have received.

I'd still avoid links in posts whenever possible, but if you have to include them, at least you can now see how effective they are.

Posted: 30 Jan 2026 at 3.10pm (GMT)

There are only 3 things about you that are shown on every LinkedIn screen:

Your NAME
Your PHOTO
Your HEADLINE

(We'll talk about names and photos another time …)

The HEADLINE is increasingly important because comments are being seen more than ever, and that's where a short, eye-catching line of text can encourage clicks through to your profile, which is where connections are made.

Focus on the first handful of words (~40 characters) of your headline and make a bold statement that will spark intrigue and capture brain space.

Instead of being a comedian – "oxygen consumer", "former baby" – be clear and deliver some relevant truth in the smallest space possible. Set an expectation that you're confident you can fulfil. I often refer to the headline as "the biggest promise you can keep."

My "relentlessly helpful" phrase has done a lot of heavy lifting for me since I came up with it in 2017, and it's why I wrote the book Content DNA. 

If you haven't touched your headline for ages, it's time to refresh it for 2026. If you need help, let's talk about it.

Posted: 8 Jan 2026 at 9.58am (GMT)

Reset The LinkedIn Room, in 4K.

Posted: 14 Jan 2026 at 1.32pm (GMT)

Thanks to everyone who's supported the Espresso+ community since I launched it on 31 January 2022 (while in the middle of a nasty bout of chickenpox!). We made it to four years and counting 😎

I'm currently on the way home to South Wales after delivering a LinkedIn masterclass at Inspire Day in Milan yesterday. Back in the saddle soon with our latest Espresso+ LinkedIn Roundup of all new features and news over the past month, exclusively for members. It's been a busy one!

Posted: 31 Jan 2026 at 11.17am (GMT)

I have no idea whether these numbers are good (what does that even mean?) but on the off-chance that anyone is interested, here's how the Informed podcast is doing. These stats are from Captivate FM, my host for the show.

Latest episode 474 is out today, on the topic of fake accounts. You can listen on Apple and Spotify. 

Posted: 10 Jan 2026 at 3.46pm (GMT)

Thanks to everyone who came to yesterday's open LaunchPad call ahead of the UpLift Live 26 conference, including some past and future speakers. It was a fun session and 16 lucky people out of the 130 who entered won something in our prize draw. 

Top prize was a free ticket to the conference, plus there were consultation sessions and business books being given out. If you won, look out for an email from me this morning.

We have one more LaunchPad call on the way on 20 March, exclusively for conference ticket-holders. We're also soon offering a couple of valuable bonus webinars to ticket-holders.

The main conference is on Thursday 26 March in Birmingham, but there's also a livestream+recordings ticket if you can't make it in person. Prices will be going up soon, so now is the time to hop aboard. 

If you want to level up your LinkedIn knowledge in a day, UpLift Live is the place to be. Please shout if you have any questions, and thanks again to everyone for your support.

Posted: 9 Jan 2026 at 8.56am (GMT)

TEST: posting something off-topic should not get lots of views. Let's see:

Last night's Golden Globes winners

Best film – drama
Hamnet

Best film – musical or comedy
One Battle After Another

Best male actor in a film
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best female actor in a film – drama
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Best television series – musical or comedy
The Studio

Best television limited series, anthology series or television film
Adolescence 

Best television series – drama
The Pitt

Best female actor in a television series – drama
Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus

Best standup comedy on television
Ricky Gervais, Ricky Gervais: Mortality 

Best supporting female actor on television
Erin Doherty, Adolescence 

Best film – non-English language
The Secret Agent

Best film – animated
KPop Demon Hunters

Best director – film
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Cinematic and box office achievement
Sinners

Best female actor in a television limited series, anthology series or television film
Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex

Best male actor in television limited series, anthology series or television film
Stephen Graham, Adolescence

Best male actor in a film – musical or comedy
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme 

Best female actor in a film – musical or comedy
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You 

Best screenplay – film
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Best original score – film
Ludwig Göransson, Sinners

Best original song – film
Golden, KPop Demon Hunters

Best podcast
Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Best male actor in a television series – musical or comedy
Seth Rogen, The Studio

Best supporting male actor on television
Owen Cooper, Adolescence

Best female actor in a television series – musical or comedy
Jean Smart, Hacks

Best male actor in a television series – drama
Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Best male actor in a supporting role in a film
Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best female actor in a supporting role in a film
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

PS. Saw Hamnet yesterday. Didn't think it was that great. Sorry!

Posted: 12 Jan 2026 at 7.52am (GMT)

The Espresso+ community turns 4 years old next week 🎉 That prompted me to revise the Experience item about it on my profile. 

Did you know that each Experience item can be up to 2000 characters long and have media attached to it?

Here's the new text:

———

Launched on 31 January 2022, Espresso+ is an online community of 100+ small business owners and solopreneurs. 

Membership offers learning, support and accountability for those who want to grow their business visibility on LinkedIn and online in an ethical, organic way.

Community members – "Espressians" – get:

• Private discussion group
• 2 Live Q&A calls per month
• Expert Q&A calls
• Monthly roundup of new LinkedIn features
• Video library & audio podcast
• Premium blog articles
• Audio podcast
• Email updates and offers
• Other member benefits

All video content is captioned along with full written transcripts, and an audio version of all content is available via our private Espresso+ podcast.

Members are based around the world, with community call times organised to cater for as many time zones as possible. 

Approximately one-third of members are LinkedIn trainers/specialists, meaning that Espresso+ is the home for some of the most experienced and knowledgeable power users on this platform; however, people of all technical abilities are welcome in the community. The golden rule is: don't be a douche canoe.

The discussion group is an ideal place to get quick, authoritative answers on common questions about building an effective online presence on LinkedIn and beyond.

The community contains no ads or sponsorships, and members are not asked or expected to support other members' content. To be clear, Espresso+ is NOT an engagement pod!

Membership costs only £42/month, with no minimum contract.

———

As you can see, I don't use the traditional CV-style writing that's typical for the Experience section. As a self-employed business owner, I'm not looking for a job, and so I can use this space to give an indication of the value of the community. 

What will the new AI-powered algorithms make of this? No idea yet. But it's all true and if it moves anyone to find out more about the community, it's done its job.

I hope this post might spur some of you to consider reviewing your own Experience items for 2026(?)

Posted: 21 Jan 2026 at 12.49pm (GMT)

On recommendations and video testimonials as powerful but underused marketing tools.

Posted: 15 Jan 2026 at 10.54am (GMT)

One of the best ways to build trust in your product or service is to get others to do your marketing for you. It's why we look at restaurant reviews r

Open article: LinkedIn recommendations and video testimonials by John Espirian • 5 min read

LinkedIn recommendations and video testimonials

Oh, Bending Spoons, why did you have to come for my beloved Vimeo? 


I've been a Vimeo power user for more than a decade. Now, the platform is likely to go the way of Evernote, StreamYard and WeTransfer, all of which have previously been acquired by BS (a fitting initialism 💩). 

Eventbrite is also moving to BS in 2026, and now the shambles is beginning at Vimeo with layoffs. I'm expecting feature cuts and a tripling of the price soon, which means that I'll have to look seriously at moving my Espresso+ video estate elsewhere.

Not happy at all 😡

Posted: 23 Jan 2026 at 2.00pm (GMT)

🆓 Until 28 February, eligible college and university students can get 12 free months of Microsoft 365 Premium and LinkedIn Premium Career.

Here are the details just posted on LinkedIn Help: 

• You must verify eligibility using a valid college or university email address.
• The offer isn’t available if you currently have or recently had a LinkedIn Career, LinkedIn Business, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter Lite subscription.
• After 12 free months, both subscriptions renew at standard pricing unless cancelled in your Microsoft and LinkedIn accounts.
• Offer available through February 28, 2026, or while quantities last.
• Sign up with your college or university email to redeem this promotional offer.

Get your kids to hop on this in the next month.

Posted: 25 Jan 2026 at 8.10am (GMT)

💾  I've finally got a LinkedIn feature that many people in my Espresso+ community had a couple of months ago: the ability to see how many saves and sends an individual post has had on LinkedIn.

These are useful metrics for understanding how valuable your audience finds your content. They'd be even more powerful if the numbers were shown publicly alongside the stats for reactions and comments. The only possible downside I could think of there (apart from slightly more noise on the screen) is that these stats could give engagement pod users a bad new incentive to maximise the numbers ("make sure you like/comment AND save/send all of my craptacular content").

I'd like to see a combined set of saved and sent posts in the main analytics dashboard, instead of having to click into each post's analytics. That would be an easier way of tracking the perceived usefulness of your content over time.

Thanks to Espressian and UpLift Live 26 speaker Tony Restell for the reminder to check this. I had forgotten all about it!

Posted: 28 Jan 2026 at 9.00am (GMT)

Bonus webinar for UpLift Live 26 ticket-holders on 5 February at 4pm UK time: Illiya Vjestica is going to give us the low-down on how to transform our boring presentations into something memorable and impactful. 

He did an amazing job with Michelle J Raymond's presentation at UpLift Live 25 last year, and now he's going to be sharing his wisdom with everyone coming to this year's event.

Get your in-person or virtual ticket in time for this webinar so that we can invite you to attend (we'll send the Zoom via email). 

Thanks for supporting us, Illiya, and for making the UpLift Live conference even more valuable!

Posted: 22 Jan 2026 at 10.50am (GMT)

On tomorrow's LaunchPad call, we're drawing winners for our prize draw to give away a free ticket to the UpLift Live 26 conference, along with other prizes such as consultations and business books. 

There's still time to enter if you're quick. It's completely free, as is the 30-min Zoom call where the draw is happening. Get your name in and good luck!

𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄
https://lnkd.in/edAeNsuJ

𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗣𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹
𝟴 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝟭𝗽𝗺–𝟭.𝟯𝟬𝗽𝗺 𝗨𝗞
https://lnkd.in/ejevFB-f

(If you haven't come across the LaunchPad before, it's a set of calls for ticket-holders to the conference, but our next call tomorrow is open to everyone. So, if you're on the fence about coming to Birmingham on 26 March, this is a great way to see who else is going to be in the room.)

Posted: 7 Jan 2026 at 11.14am (GMT)

Microsoft's latest earnings results (FY26 Q2) relating to LinkedIn:

• Double-digit member growth in LinkedIn, with 30% growth in paid video ads. 
• Strong adoption of LinkedIn Hiring Assistant, with weekly users growing 17% w/w on average.
• LinkedIn Marketing Solutions revenue grew 15% year over year.
• LinkedIn revenue increased 11% and 10% in constant currency driven by Marketing Solutions.
• Microsoft expect LinkedIn revenue growth in the low-double digits.

No news yet on LinkedIn member numbers, though the Q1 results put membership at 1.3 billion. I'll update when I have more. 

Going to be on my travels for a few days now, as I'm speaking at Inspire Day in Milan tomorrow 🇮🇹

Posted: 29 Jan 2026 at 6.35am (GMT)

Episode 476 of the Informed podcast came out on Saturday, where I revealed the name of our final speaker for UpLift Live 26 on 26 March 2026 in Birmingham. 

Listen now to see who's joining us for the UK's original conference on LinkedIn best practice. You'll also find out about a free bonus we're sharing with all ticket-holders.

The weekly Informed show is available on Apple, Spotify and all major podcast platforms. It's only 15 minutes and this week's main tip is about audio pronunciations on your LinkedIn profile.

If you're coming to Birmingham, please grab your ticket now as prices go up soon!

Posted: 26 Jan 2026 at 8.50am (GMT)

This year I want to do more to help people directly with their LinkedIn and online business strategy, so I'm offering 20-minute and 60-minute consultations. For experimentally backed answers without any fluff, grab a spot: tidycal.com/espirian

Posted: 5 Jan 2026 at 9.26am (GMT)

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 ☎️

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