Latest news with #IanJacobs
Business Wire
06-08-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
IntelePeer Launches SmartAgent Agentic AI for DSOs
BUSINESS WIRE)--IntelePeer, the leading end-to-end conversational AI provider, with its long history in serving Dental Service Organizations (DSOs), today announced the launch of SmartAgent™ for DSOs, a next generation agentic AI automation solution that improves operational efficiency, reduces costs, and delivers consistent, high-quality patient experiences across multi-location practices. Built on years of experience serving thousands of dental clinics and supporting tens of millions of patient interactions, the SmartAgent enhancements enable DSOs to deploy AI-powered automation faster—without sacrificing personalization or performance. Enhancements to SmartAgent include a suite of templatized agentic modules that are standard for the dental industry and support high-value workflows like appointment scheduling, reminders, billing inquiries, waitlist management, and more. These modules are designed for rapid deployment with prebuilt integrations, allowing DSOs to quickly deliver consistent, high-quality patient experiences across all practice locations—while alleviating staffing constraints and boosting revenue cycle efficiency. 'Working with dental organizations for years now -- with our dental business growing three-fold over the past year alone -- SmartAgent for DSOs is a culmination of our deep expertise in the space,' said Frank Fawzi, CEO of IntelePeer. 'We've taken everything we've learned about the industry to create a solution that's fast to deploy, easy to customize, and tailored to the workflows that matter most. The solution is a practical and powerful way to scale without losing the personal touch and a game-changer for those practices looking to grow without compromising service quality.' SmartAgent for DSOs seamlessly integrates with leading telephony, CCaaS, and practice management systems. The product also features SmartAnalytics for real-time, end-to-end visibility into every patient interaction, across both AI agents and live representatives, while continuously tracking key performance indicators and ensuring compliance to drive operational excellence and continuous improvement. 'As dental service organizations grow and add more locations, the pressure is on to keep operations running smoothly without losing their personal touch,' commented Ian Jacobs, Vice President and Lead Analyst, Opus Research. 'Solutions like IntelePeer's SmartAgent helps DSOs tackle that challenge head-on, using AI to automate key workflows like scheduling and billing while still keeping patients highly engaged. It's a practical way to scale without adding complexity.' Key Features and Benefits: 24/7 AI Voice & Digital Agents: Automate inbound and outbound patient interactions across voice, SMS, and chat. Revenue Optimization: Reduce no-shows, improve recall rates, accelerate collections, and fill last-minute cancellations with proactive outreach. SmartAnalytics: Real-time insights and custom KPI tracking provide comprehensive visibility into operational performance and patient experience. Rapid Deployment: Pre-built modules, integrations, templatized use cases and managed services ensure faster implementations. Centralized Control, Local Flexibility: Maintain brand standards while adapting workflows and customization to local practice needs. 'Using agentic AI to accelerate time-to-value, we designed SmartAgent specifically for the unique needs of DSOs. It's not just about automation—it's about intelligent, human-like engagement that builds loyalty, boosts patient lifetime value, improves business outcomes, and delivers measurable ROI from day one,' concluded Fawzi. Learn more about SmartAgent for DSOs here. About IntelePeer IntelePeer streamlines customer interactions, enabling businesses and contact centers to lower costs, improve customer experience, and accelerate return on investment. Harnessing the power of agentic AI, IntelePeer's Conversational AI Platform delivers speed, observability, visibility, and flexibility — all built on top of a global, secure communications network. Producing human-like interactions, the platform automates voice and digital customer service capabilities and provides industry-leading time-to-value with solutions that work seamlessly with existing enterprise software and infrastructure, and easy-to-use tools that can be utilized by anyone.
IOL News
16-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Lawyer struck off struck off the roll for misappropriation of R50 000 in property deal
A lawyer has been struck from the roll of legal practitioners in the Western Cape High Court, after being found guilty of bringing the legal profession into disrepute. Image: File Lawyer Deon Jakobus Beukman has been struck from the roll of legal practitioners in the Western Cape High Court, after being found guilty of bringing the legal profession into disrepute for misappropriating R50 000 meant to be refunded to a buyer in a property transaction. The matter relates to a 2009 transaction. Beukman had been the conveyancer in terms of a sale agreement for a property in Somerset West for R550 000. The buyer paid an amount of R561 921.46 to the lawyer and consented to certain funds being paid to expedite the registration of the transfer. The respondent further paid an amount of R41 250 to the estate agent, for his commission. However the seller died on February 20, 2009 before the transfer was registered, and the executor of the seller's estate elected to cancel the sale agreement as the seller's deceased estate was insolvent. The lawyer refunded the buyer an amount of R481 653.81 together with interest of R67 895.53. The buyer subsequently issued a summons in the Magistrate's Court against the respondent under case number 3349/2009 in which he claimed an amount of R81 935.34, as the buyer believed that he was entitled to a full refund of the R561 921.46 that he had paid to the respondent, together with interest in the amount of R69 563.22. During the course of the civil proceedings, it also came to light that the estate agent had refunded his R50 000 commission which included interest, to the lawyer as a result of the dispute. Beukman however did not make the payment to the buyer. One of his arguments to a complaint lodged against him with the LPC by the buyer was that the estate agent had refunded him the funds in terms of an indemnity signed and that there was therefore no duty on him to invest the funds in his trust account. For several years, nothing came of the complaint; until the LPC conducted an audit of all matters that were outstanding and during the course of this assessment, the matter was identified, and its finalisation was prioritised, court papers read. The matter was first heard before a disciplinary committee on April 30, 2024, where Beukman was found guilty and later escalated to the high court. Judge Ncumisa Mayosi found: 'Deon Jakobus Beukman (Beukman) is struck from the roll of legal practitioners of this Honourable Court. Beukman shall pay Mr Ian Jacobs the sum of R50 000 on or before November 30, 2025. In the event that Beukman fails to comply with the terms of sub-paragraph 4 above, either the LPC or Mr Ian Jacobs may institute contempt of court proceedings against Beukman.' 'The respondent's offending conduct is not confined to the admitted act of misappropriating R50 000, which may appear to be an insignificant amount to some. The respondent's offending conduct is compounded by his further actions which displayed persistent dishonesty; a lack of reliability. Not only did the respondent not pay the money over to his client; he did not even inform his client that the commission with interest had been refunded. This lack of transparency and accountability is deeply problematic for a legal practitioner charged with trust funds that do not belong to him. The respondent remained undeterred in his refusal to pay the buyer, even in the face of a striking off application contemplated by the LPC, which if granted would curtail his livelihood.' Beukman did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. Cape Times
Business Journals
08-07-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Real estate heir behind Project Uris buys another San Francisco building
The two-story retail building at 35-41 Powell St. in Union Square, home to Burger King, is one of three buildings acquired in recent months by affiliates of Reichmann real estate family heir Ian Jacobs, whose Project Uris pledges to spend tens of millions on depressed San Francisco real estate.
Business Wire
07-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Cognigy Takes Top Spot as Leader in Opus Research's 2025 Conversational AI Intelliview for Self-Service & Enterprise AI Agents
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cognigy, a global leader in AI-powered customer service solutions, has been recognized as the leader in the newly released 2025 Conversational AI Intelliview from Opus Research. The report, titled 'Decision-Maker's Guide to Self-Service & Enterprise Intelligent Assistants,' shows Cognigy as the leading platform across critical evaluation areas including product capability, enterprise fit, GenAI maturity, and deployment performance. This recognition underscores Cognigy's commitment to empowering enterprises with production-ready, scalable AI solutions that go far beyond chatbot basics. The report cites Cognigy's strengths in visual AI agent orchestration, tool and function calling, AI Ops and observability, and a deep commitment to enterprise-grade control—all delivered through a platform built to scale real-time customer interactions across voice and digital channels. 'Cognigy exemplifies the next stage of conversational AI maturity,' said Ian Jacobs, VP & Lead Analyst at Opus Research. 'Their agentic approach—combining real-time reasoning, orchestration, and observability—demonstrates how GenAI can move beyond experimentation into meaningful, measurable transformation in the contact center.' Cognigy was one of the few vendors identified in the report as a 'True Believer' in the evolution of GenAI-driven self-service, with tools designed to simplify deployment while giving enterprises full control. The platform's AI Agent Manager enables businesses to create, configure, and continuously improve intelligent agents—defining persona, memory scope, and access to tools and knowledge—all through a flexible, low-code interface. Cognigy uniquely blends deterministic logic with generative capabilities, ensuring both speed and reliability in automation. 'This recognition from Opus Research is more than a milestone—it's validation that our strategy is working,' said Alan Ranger, Vice President at Cognigy. 'We're delivering real-world, enterprise-grade automation that's transforming contact centers. From financial services to healthcare to global retail, our customers are scaling faster, resolving issues in real time, and delivering truly modern service experiences.' With global Fortune 500 customers and partnerships across the CCaaS and AI ecosystem, Cognigy continues to lead the way in delivering enterprise-ready AI that combines usability, speed, and impact. This latest industry acknowledgment further solidifies its position as the go-to platform for intelligent self-service. To download a copy of the report, visit To learn more or download the executive summary of the 2025 Opus Research Conversational AI Intelliview, visit About Cognigy Cognigy is transforming the customer service industry with the most advanced AI Agent platform for enterprise contact centers. Its award-winning solution, empowers enterprises to deliver instant, hyper-personalized, multilingual service on any channel. By integrating Generative and Conversational AI to create Agentic AI, Cognigy delivers AI Agents that redefine customer experiences, drive satisfaction, and support contact center employees in real-time. Over 1,000 brands worldwide trust Cognigy and its vast partner network to create AI customer service agents for their contact center. Cognigy's impressive worldwide customer portfolio includes Bosch, Nestlé, DHL, Frontier Airlines, Lufthansa Group, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota. For more information and to book a demo visit: Follow the company on X (formerly Twitter) @Cognigy and on LinkedIn at
Edinburgh Reporter
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Kaiser Chiefs play Edinburgh Castle
Kaiser Chiefs took to the stage at Edinburgh Castle on Friday night kicking off the Castle Concerts series ahead of the Tattoo in August. Celebrating two decades in the business, the Leeds indie rock band began the run of concerts which continues on Saturday evening with Wets legendary frontman, Marti Pellow. Later on in the week Il Divo, Ludovico Einaudi and a special Harry Potter concert with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Kaiser Chiefs may have predicted a riot but the concerts at the Castle will no doubt take place with less disruption than that… The band was supported by Brighton's Youth Sector. Anyone attending Marti Pellow needs to know that the weather is for a high of 18°. Overcast all day with light rain in the afternoon according to the Met Office. As always for an outdoor event at the Castle – wear layers. Details of all the concerts here. English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs English indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds play to a packed house at the 2025 Castle Concerts. Credit: Ian Jacobs Like this: Like Related
