The Wilmac Wire

In 1987, a fire at a London Underground station exposed a serious gap: police and fire crews had no reliable radio communication once they went underground. Duncan Swan, a young engineer at Philips at the time, spent the next two years helping fix it, building radio communications into all 123 stations. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell welcome their first UK-based guest of Season 3, Duncan, now Chief Operations Officer of British APCO, for a conversation on his four-decade career, what a global network of public safety associations can accomplish together, and where AI is (and isn't yet) earning trust in emergency response. Here's what you'll hear about: How a fire at a London Underground station led to his first major public safety comms project Leading technical assurance on the UK's billion-pound Emergency Services Network How a global network of public safety associations helped catch a worldwide false-call surge Where AI is already helping in UK public safety, and where the industry still draws the line His take on how close AI is to earning the same trust people put in a human dispatcher Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome to our first UK-based guest of the season 2:16 Full introduction and background 3:00 Icebreaker: This or That 18:17 How a fire at a London Underground station led to his first major public safety project 25:57 Leading technical assurance on the UK's billion-pound Emergency Services Network 31:46 Taking the helm at British APCO 40:15 How a global network of public safety associations caught a worldwide false-call surge 43:14 Where AI is helping in public safety today, and where the industry draws the line 51:05 What AI means for training and supervision in the UK's emergency centers Connect with Duncan Swan on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

Ten days after 9/11, Joe Grube spent a week sifting through the wreckage in New York City, sorting debris for anything that could help identify what was lost. It's one chapter in a 24-year public safety career that took him from dispatcher to captain to 911 coordinator, and eventually into the private sector at Wilmac and now Motorola Solutions. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Joe in studio to talk about what sitting on every side of the table has taught him about the difference between a vendor and an industry partner, and where he sees 911 technology headed next. Here's what you'll hear about: Starting as a dispatcher almost by accident, and working his way up to captain His time helping with recovery efforts in New York City after 9/11 What moving from public sector leadership to private sector sales taught him The real difference between a vendor and an industry partner, from someone who's sat on both sides Using AI to redact body camera footage in minutes instead of days His honest take on where 911 technology is headed next Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome and introducing Joe Grube 2:46 Icebreaker: This or That 8:09 Starting as a dispatcher almost by accident, in 1987 25:34 Helping with recovery efforts in New York City after 9/11 29:04 Leaving 24 years in law enforcement for Wilmac 41:26 What moving from sales to customer success taught him 48:41 The real difference between a vendor and an industry partner 53:33 Using AI to redact body camera footage in minutes instead of days 56:41 Where 911 technology is headed next Connect with Joe Grube on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

After graduating from Kenyon College with a political science degree, Alex LaPorte spent his time coaching tennis and chasing down startups, determined to learn a business from the ground up. That search eventually led him to Wilmac, where he's now VP of Implementation and Customer Success. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Alex less than a month into his tenure, covering his path from customer support rep to VP, what actually separates an industry partner from a vendor, and what he's already rebuilding in his first few weeks on the job. Here's what you'll hear about: Chasing down startups after college, and how tennis shaped his approach to leading a team The acquisition at Vonage that taught him trust is won or lost during implementation Why he calls himself a "servant leader," and how that shows up in how he runs a team What actually separates an industry partner from a vendor, in his own words What he's already rebuilding in his first month at Wilmac Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome and introducing Alex Laporte 2:36 Icebreaker: This or That 8:04 How political science at Kenyon led him into telecom 11:18 What tennis taught him about leadership 14:26 What Vonage taught him about implementation and trust 19:33 What drew him to Wilmac 23:24 What surprised him about Wilmac's speed and culture 30:22 What actually separates a partner from a vendor 34:49 What he's building in his first weeks at Wilmac Connect with Alex LaPorte on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

We're taking a short Labor Day break, so we're re-airing one of our favorite conversations from earlier this season: Thomas Laird from back in February. Tom Laird was fired over the phone while driving to scout a high school basketball game — let go by the private equity firm that had just bought his family's call center and promised nothing would change. He had a pregnant wife, no plan B, and a handful of former employees willing to try again. That's how Expivia was born. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell sit down with Tom, now CEO of Expivia Interaction Marketing Group and OttoQA, for one of Season 3's most unfiltered conversations about the real cost of AI in a contact center, and what it actually takes to build something back up from nothing. Here's what you'll hear about: Getting fired over the phone by private equity, and rebuilding with four employees Why AI integrations often take decades to pay for themselves The mistake he made pushing AI projects before customers' data was ready His candid take on what's happened to industry conferences Where the CX platform wars (NICE, Five9, private equity) are headed next Why he still believes in bringing people into the office Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome and introducing Tom Laird 1:58 Full introduction and background 3:09 Icebreaker: This or That 8:19 An unfiltered take on industry conferences 13:39 Growing up inside his family's call center business 17:34 Getting sidelined and fired by private equity 19:21 Rebuilding from four employees: the start of Expivia and OttoQA 44:51 Where the CX platform wars are headed next 45:56 The LiveVox integration everyone's watching 47:28 The AI mistake he made pushing too fast 48:59 The real cost of AI, and why the ROI takes decades 50:28 Where to find Tom, Expivia, and OttoQA Connect with Thomas Laird on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside

This week, we're turning the spotlight inward and catching up as we wrap up our summer. In this episode of The Wilmac Wire, hosts Emily McNulty and Steve McDonnell trade the usual guest interview for a solo season catch-up, covering the new hires joining Wilmac this fall, early traction for Archie (Wilmac's first native AI product) with banks and trading floors, and why they brought in a former investment banker to help shape the product roadmap. Here's what you'll hear about: The new hires shaping Wilmac's fall: Alex Laporte, Hailey Gunther, and Chris Capuzzo Wilmac's third straight year on Rochester's list of fastest growing companies Early traction for Archie, Wilmac's first native AI product, out on the road with banks and trading floors Why Wilmac brought in Nigel Riley to help scale product strategy How Steve's own AI tool usage has shifted since the spring Episode Breakdown: 0:00 Welcome back, happy September 1:04 Catching up after a busy summer 2:28 Icebreakers 8:58 The new hires shaping Wilmac's fall 15:26 Maintaining momentum through the busiest stretch of the year 17:35 Wilmac's third straight year on the Fastest Growing Companies list 21:11 What's coming out of on-site customer visits for WFM and Replay 24:28 Bringing in Nigel Riley to help scale product strategy 28:00 How Steve's AI tool usage has shifted since the spring 31:07 What's ahead for the final 15 episodes of Season 3 Connect with Steve McDonnell and Emily McNulty on LinkedIn Listen to more episodes of The Wilmac Wire: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | iHeart | Riverside