As anyone who knows me knows, I LOVE the holiday season. To me, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. I know a lot of people push back against holiday season creep, but for me, it’s usually my family that is telling me in mid-November “it’s too early to play the music.”

Regardless if you are a holiday fanatic or a Grinch, I hope you can find some joy this December as we creep closer to the Holidays. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and season’s greetings to all.

Wayne Viener - VienerX

VienerX CEO, Wayne Viener and CRO, Shane Gossert got the opportunity to have Nextiva’s Head of Partner Engagement, Jamaal Savwoir, on Above C-Level.

Jamaal has worked in the VoIP space for nearly two decades and has been with Nextiva for several years now. Shane, Wayne and Jamaal discuss a host of topics, including where the VIP space is going, how customers can take advantage, and what Nextiva is bringing to the table with its newest platform, Unified Customer Experience Management (UCXM).

Our first-ever Above C-Level Short! In a concise package just over two minutes, Wayne breaks down why so many of VienerX’s customers stick with us long term, including some that have been with the company since our founding in 1991. The full episode is also available on YouTube Shorts, the VienerX Instagram page, and the VienerX LinkedIn page.

By: Jordan Viener

After a recent visit to two client sites in the Atlanta area, VienerX COO Mason Viener and Service Delivery Manager Al Dumas sat down to reflect on why in-person engagement remains central to the VienerX identity, even as much of the IT world shifts toward automation and remote service.

Since 1991, VienerX has emphasized delivering the best possible customer experience. That focus has remained constant through periods of growth and expansion. “It’s extremely important, regardless of how much this organization expands, for executives and senior leaders to directly support the customers,” Mason said. That belief guided the decision for the two to travel more than 500 miles from the company’s Rockville, Maryland headquarters to meet with a pair of newer clients face-to-face.

Both Mason and Al highlighted that the value of a site visit goes beyond technical oversight. It is about strengthening relationships built at a distance. “One of the key benefits of visiting client sites is the ability to make a connection with the customer,” Al noted. Mason put it somewhat comically; “get belly to belly with the people you actually serve.”

While VienerX has supported a national client base for over two decades, the expectations of customers in a post-pandemic world have shifted. “The expectation now is that you are going to speak with a robot, our support is human based in the United States, every time.” Mason said with most interactions in the world of business occurring virtually, our focus on in-person visits provide an opportunity to see completed work, build relationships, and deepen trust. “For older accounts, going out to see them is like going to see an old friend,” he added.

As the company’s service lead, Al views field visits as essential to effective team leadership. “Going out in the field helps me more effectively coach our guys,” he said. “Actually touching, installing, and working with the tech stack is invaluable for me.”

He added that observing real-world situations provides lessons that translate directly into better guidance. “A great example is when we didn’t have the exact right tool to fix something, so Mason and I improvised with a pair of scissors. That’s the kind of scenario I can reference when a technician runs into something similar.”

Every visit, whether local or across the country, becomes an opportunity for self-evaluation, a chance to step back and ensure VienerX’s broader mission is being met. For Mason, that means looking at how technology is supporting the customer’s business objectives. “You can never undervalue being face-to-face,” he said. “I can talk to a business owner on Teams, but unless the conversation is relevant to that exact moment, they may not have the time for a deeper discussion.” He added that when someone takes the time to visit him, he is prepared to engage more fully and he believes customers respond the same way. “For us, that means we get the opportunity to listen to the customer and decide how we can be the best we can be.”

These visits tie directly into VienerX’s Enterprise Technology Management approach, which emphasizes strategy and long-term planning alongside day-to-day support. “It’s not about the firewall switch for us,” Al said. “When we walk into a client site, we ask, ‘How do we help keep the lights on? How can we make this customer more efficient?’”

The goal, he explained, is to take a strategic view that supports clients for the next 10 to 15 years. “These site visits are an extension of that mindset.”

Jordan: Check bags or carry on?

Al: Carry on all day. I am not waiting at baggage claim unless I have to.

Mason: Depends what style I’m rocking on the trip. If I’m protecting the suits, check bag. Overall though, I’m picking carry on.

Jordan: Best airport food option?

Al: In the DMV, I like The Green Turtle or Mezza, depending if it’s BWI or DCA.

Mason: Grab the snacks and run. As both of you know, I usually don’t allow myself enough time in the airports sometimes to eat anything. If you do get the chance, support local places.

Jordan: Worst travel pet peeves?

Mason: KEEP YOUR SHOES ON DURING THE PLANE RIDE! Also, people that don’t understand the TSA line.

Al: One thing is, if your bag gets flagged in the TSA line. Another peeve is, people who stand right away when your plane gets to the gate. You know you can’t go anywhere??

Jordan: Drive and park or take an Uber?

Al: Both are fine, but I would probably say drive.

Mason: I’ll drive, but there better not be a parking bus involved.

Jordan: Best way to kill time on the plane?

Al: I usually end up sleeping. I’ll try to watch something funny sometimes.

Mason: This is a bit odd. I have a fictional company that I created in Excel that I mess with. It’s a fun exercise to some mental reps.

By: Wayne Viener

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that after 35 years it is officially retiring Publisher. Support for the final version will end in October of 2026. On the surface, that sounds like just another software update announcement. But Publisher wasn’t just any app, it lived inside the Microsoft Office suite for decades. And that matters.

Office has always defined what Microsoft believed “real work” looked like. Word, Excel, Outlook, those were the pillars. Publisher being part of that family meant print communication once sat right alongside documents, spreadsheets, and email as a core business function. Its removal quietly tells us something much bigger: print is no longer considered a primary workflow. Today, the center of gravity has shifted to cloud collaboration, real-time communication, mobile access, and now AI. Print didn’t just change, it moved out of the center into the margins.

I was never a big Publisher user (I was always more of a CorelDRAW person), but Publisher still holds a unique place in tech history. It’s the longest-running Office application Microsoft has ever retired, and by a wide margin. The fact that it survived as long as it did speaks to how important printed materials once were to everyday business life.

What really hit me, though, is the timing. Publisher launched in September of 1991 just four months after VienerX was founded in May of that same year. The technology world that both Publisher and VienerX were born into is almost unrecognizable today. Back then, the very first version of this newsletter was laid out in software like Publisher and physically printed. Today, it’s built for email, screens, and mobile devices. That evolution alone explains why Microsoft no longer sees a standalone print-centric tool as a core Office application.

For organizations still relying on Publisher, this isn’t a crisis, but it is a signal. There are excellent modern tools available depending on what you actually use it for, and if you need help navigating that transition, VienerX is here to help. I can’t say I’ll personally miss Publisher, but I do respect what its long life represents. Desktop publishing software once marked a major turning point in how business communicated. Seeing the highest-profile app in that category officially reach the end of the road feels like the close of a very real chapter in business technology history.