"What the heck do we use the phone for"

Most of what we focus on in emerging communication technology is, naturally enough, the technology. But telephones by their nature have had a high human element to them (think Princess Phone versus Video Phone) that those bringing new products and services to market ignore at their own risk.

This talk focus on a functional taxonomy the speaker developed while in charge of voice services at Wells Fargo Bank. The taxonomy focuses on the nature of the work the telephone enabled, which in turn drives the features and functionality of the telephone set and underlying infrastructure, which in turn drives the technology and technology choices.

Having this taxonomy in hand allowed for faster and better decision making with regards to the technologies and solutions deployed.