L10 / 01
Every side of the argument
Enterprise teams explain the problem, partners bring what they see across many customers, and vendors bring product knowledge. You hear all of it in one afternoon.
Annual UC industry exchange LAYER10: ICE Industry Connections Exchange.
Exchange ideas. Influence what's next.
Once a year, every March, before budgets and roadmaps are set. One big industry question, broken into solvable parts by enterprise practitioners, partners, vendors and independent specialists, then written up as a report.
Every part of this industry
holds half the answer.
Nobody holds all of it.
Help influence where the industry goes next, alongside every part of it.
Enterprise teams bring the problem, partners bring implementation experience and vendors bring product knowledge. Nobody is there simply to be sold to.
Sound familiar?
What people
told us they wanted.
We asked the community what makes an event worth a day away from work. These are the answers that shaped Layer10:ICE.
“Less about features, more about outcomes.”
“Facilitated conversations with a theme. Not panels.”
“Leave with something I can take back and actually apply in my organisation.”
ICE takes one question everyone is wrestling with and works it through to a written answer.
What you leave with
L10 / 02
Findings you can use
Every ICE produces an anonymised Industry Pulse report: what the community thinks, where it disagrees, and what should happen next.
L10 / 03
A hand in what changes
The findings land in March, before budgets and roadmaps are decided, and feed future SIP sessions, SDP workshops and PACKETLOSS. What gets worked out here travels.
Is this one for you?
Come to an ICE if…
- There is an industry question you think nobody is answering honestly.
- You want to hear how the other side of the industry sees a problem you live with.
- You would rather help shape what happens next than read about it afterwards.
An example of how one question breaks down
Who owns the customer experience when AI takes the call?
- Who decides what an AI agent is allowed to say to a customer?
- How should an AI agent hand a customer over to a person, and what goes with them?
- What should a contact centre measure once AI handles first contact?
- When it goes wrong, who is accountable: the enterprise, the integrator or the platform?
- What does a customer need to be told about who, or what, they are talking to?
- Nominate a question →
What it is
One big question.
Broken into parts
you can solve.
Once a year, in March, before budgets and roadmaps are set, up to 150 enterprise practitioners, partners, vendors and independent specialists take on one big industry question. Facilitators break it into solvable parts, small groups work through them, and the findings are written up for everyone.
1
Exchange a year, every March
150
Participants, at most
3
Hours of structured exchange
£40
Per person, for refreshments
Format
Facilitated, not presented
The big question is split into solvable parts, and small groups take one each over two rounds. Nobody sits through a keynote.
Mix
Balanced for the question
No fixed ratio of buyers, partners and vendors. A procurement question needs more enterprise experience; an interoperability one needs more engineers.
Outcome
Something to read afterwards
An anonymised Industry Pulse report goes back to the community after every ICE.
The practical bit
- When
- Once a year, in March. 1:00pm to 7:00pm: the exchange until 5:00pm, then networking
- Size
- Up to 150 participants, a maximum of two from any one company
- Ticket
- £40 per person, to cover refreshments
- Format
- Facilitated small-group discussion in two rounds. No traditional presentations
- Subject
- One high-level industry question, broken into solvable parts for the sessions
- Who
- Enterprise practitioners, partners, vendors and independent specialists, chosen for what they can bring to the question
- Sponsors
- Up to five. No speaking slots, no editorial control, no attendee details without consent
- Output
- An anonymised Industry Pulse report, shared with the community
Who is round the table
Every side of the industry.
One question.
L10 / 01
Enterprise
Enterprise practitioners
People running UC, voice, contact centre or AI deployments, with real operational challenges to bring.
L10 / 02
Partners
Technology partners
Integrators, MSPs and consultants who see the same problems across many customers.
L10 / 03
Vendors
Vendors and innovators
Product specialists, architects, AI developers and CPaaS providers with technical insight to add.
L10 / 04
Independent
Independent specialists
Analysts, consultants and community experts with no platform to defend.
How an ICE comes together
A question worth asking.
Then findings
worth sharing.
ICE runs once a year, in March, so its findings land before budgets and roadmaps are decided. This is the route from a nominated question to a published report.
- 01Nominate a questionThrough the year, members put forward the big industry questions they think need working through.
- 02Choose the year's questionThe community votes. Layer10 checks the leading question has enough different perspectives behind it to be worth a whole day.
- 03Break it downThe question is split into solvable parts, each one sized for a small group to make real progress on in an afternoon.
- 04The Industry PulseA short anonymous survey gathers views ahead of the day, so the discussion starts from evidence.
- 05The exchangeIn March, small groups each take one part of the question, with facilitators using the survey results to guide two rounds of discussion.
- 06Share the findingsAn anonymised summary of the key insights, disagreements and recommended actions goes back to the community, in time for budget and roadmap decisions.
What comes out of it
Not just a good
afternoon.
A report you can use.
After every ICE, the findings are written up as an Industry Pulse report and shared with the Layer10 community, in time to inform the year's budget and roadmap decisions. It also shapes future SIP sessions, SDP workshops and PACKETLOSS discussions.
Layer10:ICE / Community intelligence
The Industry Pulse_
A community-generated view of the challenges and opportunities facing communications technology.
- 01What the community thinks
- 02Where the industry disagrees
- 03Practical experiences and lessons
- 04Unanswered questions
- 05What should happen next
Observations and aggregated findings only. Nothing is attributed to anyone unless they agree.
A typical afternoon
Every March.
1:00pm to 7:00pm.
Roughly three hours of structured discussion and two of networking, without relying on traditional presentations.
- 1:00pm30 min
- Arrival and introductionsCoffee, registration and introductions across the different parts of the industry.
- 1:30pm15 min
- The ICE briefingThe year's question, how it has been broken down, the ground rules and what the afternoon is for.
- 1:45pm25 min
- Industry PulseThe anonymised survey findings: where people agree, where they do not, and what is still unanswered.
- 2:10pm40 min
- The exchange: round oneFacilitated small groups each take one part of the question and explore it from enterprise, partner and vendor perspectives.
- 2:50pm20 min
- Coffee and conversationAn informal break.
- 3:10pm40 min
- The exchange: round twoEach group works through practical solutions, risks and trade-offs for its part.
- 3:50pm30 min
- Reality checkEach table shares what it found. Everyone else challenges the assumptions and offers counterexamples.
- 4:20pm20 min
- Open floor and next stepsCommon findings, unresolved questions and what needs exploring further.
- 4:40pm20 min
- Community voiceNominate new questions, propose future exchanges and volunteer to contribute.
- 5:00pm2 hr
- Open networking and socialDrinks, food and relaxed conversation, with introductions if you want them.
- 7:00pm
- Carriages
Our side of it
What will not
happen to you.
An event that mixes buyers and sellers is one sponsorship conversation away from becoming a sales floor. These rules are what stop that.
House rules
Nobody is there to be sold to. Vendors take part as contributors, under the same rules as everyone else.
Findings, not quotes. The report publishes observations and aggregated findings. Nothing is attributed unless the person agrees.
No compulsory matchmaking. Nobody is booked into meetings. Connections come from shared interests.
Sponsors buy no influence. Up to five sponsors, none of whom gets a speaking slot, editorial control, or your contact details without your consent.
Members choose the question. Every ICE starts from a question the community nominated and voted for.
Agreement is not the goal. Disagreements are recorded, not smoothed over. Understanding them is the point.
Layer10:ICE_
Exchange ideas.
Influence what's next.
Influence what's next.
Industry Connections Exchange.
Nominate the question you think the industry needs to answer, or tell us which subject you could contribute to.
ICE runs once a year, in March. Register your interest and we will tell you when tickets for the next one open.
Ticket
£40per person
Your £40 covers
- Refreshments
Maximum two tickets per company.
Where ICE fits
Six formats.
Six reasons to go.
ICE is the one where every side of the industry sits down together to work on a question. The others each do something narrower, on purpose.
| Reason to attend | |
|---|---|
| SDP | Work through shared problems with other enterprise teams |
| RTP | Talk shop over dinner with peers on your side of the industry |
| SIP | Learn something practical from the community |
| MOS | Hear community-voted talks and meet local professionals |
| SYNC | Work with other partners on shared opportunities and challenges |
| ICE | Help influence the future direction of the industry |
Before you register
Questions people
actually ask.
If something is not answered here, ask us before you register.
Will I have to present?
No. Apart from a short summary of the Industry Pulse survey, ICE is facilitated discussion in small groups. There are no traditional presentations.
What will this year's question be?
The community decides. Questions like whether businesses are deploying voice AI faster than they can govern it, or whether UC consolidation has actually simplified anything, are the kind that get nominated.
Why March?
Because that is before most budgets and roadmaps for the year are decided. Findings that arrive afterwards are interesting. Findings that arrive before are useful.
Vendors are taking part. Is it a sales event?
No. Vendors contribute technical and product knowledge under the same rules as everyone else. Nobody is required to meet or follow up with anyone afterwards.
Is ICE sponsored?
It can have up to five sponsors. Sponsorship never buys a speaking slot or editorial control, sponsors take part under the same rules as everyone else, nobody has to meet or follow up with them, and they never receive your contact details without your individual consent.
Can I bring colleagues?
One. Tickets are capped at two per company, so 150 places hold a wide mix of organisations.
Does it have to reach a conclusion?
No. The value is in understanding the competing views. Where people agree, the report says so. Where they do not, it says that too.
What happens to what I say?
It feeds an anonymised report of observations and aggregated findings. Nothing is attributed to you unless you agree.
Elsewhere in the series
Enterprise edition
Layer10:SDP_
Share. Discuss. Progress.
A half-day roundtable for enterprise technology users. Four facilitated workshops of fifteen people, on topics the community submits beforehand.
Explore SDP →Informal roundtables
Layer10:RTP_
Real Talk. Real People.
Relaxed roundtable conversations for people working in UC, contact centre and AI. A private table at a venue with something to do, a set menu and up to twenty people who do the same job, in London and Liverpool, with separate groups for enterprise teams and partners.
Explore RTP →
Community-led talks
Layer10:SIP_
Share Ideas & Perspectives.
A community-led afternoon of short talks, live demos and honest lessons across UC, voice, contact centre, AI and CPaaS. Up to a hundred people, subjects chosen by members, and drinks to finish.
Explore SIP →
Regional meetups
Layer10:MOS_
Meet. Open. Share.
A free evening meetup for people working across UC, voice, contact centre, AI and CPaaS. Two short talks the community voted for, then drinks and conversation until nine.
Explore MOS →
Channel event
Layer10:SYNC_
Share Your Network & Connect.
The independent day for UC, voice, contact centre, AI and CPaaS partners: community-chosen talks, shared problems worked through together, and a limited number of vendors looking for partners. Once a year, 80 to 100 partners, £100 a ticket.
Explore SYNC →