FirstComm CEO Paul Van Hyfte’s Exclusive Interview with MarTech Pulse on UCaaS Evolution
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In this exclusive MarTech Pulse interview, FirstComm CEO Paul shares AscendOne’s unified UC, CC, and AI vision, revealing pivots, AI pitfalls, and a practical playbook to scale hybrid engagement teams.
Paul, you’ve led FirstComm to launch AscendOne amid UCaaS evolution. What 2-3 pivots shaped your CEO path most, and how do you tackle AI comms disruption?
Two major pivots defined our strategy. First, we moved away from complicated and fragmented UCaaS experiences and built a unified platform where calling, collaboration, contact center, and AI all live under one roof. Second, we made AI a native capability — not an extra product layer. Navigating AI disruption means focusing on clarity, user education, and delivering AI that improves real workflows, not just marketing slides.
AscendOne unifies UC, CC, and AI tools. Where does 2026 B2B customer engagement truly ignite beyond fragmented systems?
Engagement accelerates when organizations eliminate the friction created by multiple apps and disconnected systems. In 2026, the real inflection point is a single ecosystem where employees communicate, support customers, and access intelligence without tool switching. When UC, CC, and AI operate as one system, the customer experience becomes faster, more consistent, and dramatically more scalable.
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Channels like voice, chat, and Teams still siloed? How does AscendOne’s single portal flip strategies for hybrid teams?
Communication and collaboration are critical for hybrid teams to work together successfully. Hybrid teams struggle when voice, chat, email queues, and collaboration tools exist in separate silos and create friction to their workflow. Ascend One collapses these channels into a single interface, giving teams consistent visibility and access to omnichannel capabilities without changing platforms. This simplifies workflows, reduces response times, and gives leaders one clear operational lens across every customer interaction.
Simple playbook: How do teams deploy AscendOne for AI workflows like recaps and coaching in 90 days?
The power of Ascend One is that AI is already built into the platform — no extra systems to integrate. In the first 90 days, teams can immediately activate real‑time transcription, automated recaps, and call recording. From there, we layer in AI coaching and sentiment insights for the contact center. The onboarding focus shifts from technical setup to training teams on how to use AI effectively in their daily routines.
Top 2 blunders in UC/CC AI integration, and quick fixes for scalable ops?
The two biggest pitfalls are unclear expectations and insufficient training. Organizations often implement AI without defining the exact outcomes they want, or they underestimate the importance of user education. The fix is simple but critical: establish clear use‑case goals upfront, and invest early in training and ongoing refinement. AI succeeds when teams know how to use it – and why.
For lean B2B teams, what 2 underrated AscendOne AI tactics boost contact center efficiency?
Lean B2B teams see outsized value from two AI capabilities: instant retrieval of customer history and real‑time sentiment analysis. Together, these give agents immediate context, reduce the time spent searching for information, and help guide the tone and direction of customer conversations. The result is faster resolutions and a more personalized customer experience – even with smaller staff.
Important 3 metrics B2B leaders should track daily in 2026 AI comms era; 2 vanity stats to ignore?
In 2026, leaders focus on metrics that reflect customer experience, not activity volume. Daily priorities include AI‑assisted resolution efficiency, friction across the customer journey, and responsiveness across channels. Vanity metrics like raw call counts or basic login statistics tell you nothing about service quality or outcomes — they’re noise. Impact is what matters.
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How will teams restructure around unified AI platforms like AscendOne what’s one step today?
AI will reshape team structures by reducing handoffs, increasing productivity, and centralizing customer intelligence. Employees will handle more complex tasks with greater confidence because AI automates the repetitive steps and ensures employees have all the relevant customer information at hand to deliver the proper outcome for the customer. The best first step today is to introduce AI into everyday workflows — call recaps, customer lookups, sentiment cues. Small wins create momentum, and momentum drives transformation.
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Paul Van Hyfte is the Chief Executive Officer of FirstComm and brings more than 20 years of experience leading high-growth cloud and managed services-based companies. He has a proven track record of scaling businesses through revenue growth, operational focus, and product innovation.
Prior to joining FirstComm, Paul served as President of US Signal, a cloud, fiber, and colocation services provider, where he helped guide the organization through a period of growth and transformation leading up to its acquisition by a private equity firm.
As CEO, Paul is leading FirstComm through its next phase of evolution, building on the company’s strong network foundation, exceptional employee team, and loyal customer base. He is focused on accelerating the growth of FirstComm’s next-generation digital products and expanding the company’s ability to serve business customers with leading-edge technology solutions and first-in-class service.
FirstComm is a trusted provider delivering transparent, custom-built communication solutions with a personal touch. With over 25 years of experience serving more than 7,000 customers nationwide, we help businesses grow by simplifying telecom and enhancing connections. Our future-ready solutions span cloud communications (UCaaS), secure connectivity (SD-WAN), voice, data, and managed services backed by expert guidance and dependable, 24/7/365 US-based support.
