down data conversation silos, vCons turn data that was once scattered, unstructured and difficult to act upon into data that can be centrally tracked, secured and managed, placed into files that are standardized, structured and ready for proper analysis. For providers of commoditized UCaaS and CCaaS services, vCons effectively shift the narrative, argued Thomas McCarthy-Howe, chief technology officer at vCon pioneer Strolid, and one of the authors of the IETF’s vCon Internet-Draft. Their value propositions, he said, now go from, “We manage your calls” to “We unlock your customer insights,” and “We provide SIP trunks” to “We power your business intelligence.” According to the lore, the idea for vCons originated when Brian Galvin, former Genesys CTO and current owner of Galvin Patent Law, LLC, casually commented about the lack of a vCard equivalent for conversations – hence the moniker “virtual conversation” or vCon. Similar to a vCard, which enabled the definition, interchange and storage of a person various points of contact, a vCon is the container for data and information relating to a realtime, human conversation. That data may be derived from traditional phone calls, conferences, SMS or MMS messages, web chats, email threads, etc., and can include transcripts, participants identity information, videos, audio recordings, metadata such as timestamps and location, tamper protections, certifications, post conversational analysis and attachments of files such as documents and spreadsheets exchanged during the conversation. vCons also are often described as a type of PDF document for conversations. Similar to how a PDF allows anyone with a reader to view a document regardless of the software used to create it, vCons are intended to create a widely accessible and easily shareable format for conversational data that can be understood and processed by various systems. vCons are written in JSON (JavaScript object notation), an open standard file and data interchange format, meaning they are machine-readable, tamperproof, encrypt-able and interoperable across systems. In other words, a vCon standardized conversation container establishes a common method of storage and interchange, and supports identity, privacy and security efforts, therefore providing a safe and secure way to carry conversations from the network elements that create them to the applications that analyze them. “[vCons] aren’t just for storing conversations; they’re for understanding, sharing and protecting them,” stated executives at cloud phone provider and early vCon adopters TeleCloud. By turning data that was once siloed and difficult to use into information that is structured, accessible and analyzed, vCons provide numerous features and benefits to industries with high volumes of customer interactions, as well as to providers of communication services. And some of those benefits couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Early Real-World Use Cases for vCons Auto Dealerships Save-a-deal diaries, lost lead detection and “show me who’s shopping other dealers” queries Contact Centers Alerts for angry customers or missed objections; 100% conversation visibility instead of 5% call sampling Sales Teams Identify top-performing reps, coach struggling agents and auto-update CRM fields from conversation content Healthcare Track patient preferences, automate call summaries and improve scheduling accuracy without extra admin work Source: TeleCloud Source: TeleCloud 24 CHANNELVISION | SUMMER 2025
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