8×8’s fast facts
Starting price: Custom quote Key features:
Unlimited calling to a minimum of 14 and up to 48 countries.Host large audio and video conferences.Unlimited internet faxing.Multi-level auto attendant.Hot desking.
Image: 8×8 8×8 is a powerful unified communications system and contact center solution that’s built to scale. You get unlimited calling to 14 countries and conference calls with up to 500 active participants right out of the box. It’s also secure, reliable and backed by a 99.999% uptime SLA.
Overall, 8×8 is a strong choice for global businesses and contact centers with high-volume international calling and large meeting requirements.
1 RingCentral Office Employees per Company Size
Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+)
Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Medium, Large, Enterprise
Features
Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more
8×8’s pricing 8×8 has five plans to choose from: two unified communications packages and three contact center options:
Unified Communications X2: Unlimited calling to 14 countries. Unified Communications X4: Unlimited calling to 48 countries and a few extra features. Contact Center X6: Skills-based routing, reporting and journey mapping. Contact Center X7: Out-of-the-box CRM integrations and productivity tools. Contact Center X8: Auto, progressive, preview and predictive dialers. Speak with an 8×8 sales representative to learn more about their plans and features. Image: 8×8 There’s no official pricing information online; however, 8×8’s website states that VoIP plans start at $15 per month per user, with more advanced features starting at $40 per month per user.
Features like cold storage, built-in phone payments and intelligent IVR can be purchased as separate add-ons.
8×8’s key features Every 8×8 plan is packed with features. Here’s a closer look at some of the standard features you’ll get with the entry-level plan.
Unlimited calling to 14 countries Normally, business phone systems require you to purchase international calling packages as a separate add-on. With 8×8, your entire team gets unlimited calling to the following 14 countries as a base feature:
United States. Canada. Puerto Rico. United Kingdom. Australia. France. Germany. Ireland. Italy. Netherlands. New Zealand. Spain. Sweden. Switzerland. That makes this package an excellent choice for companies with offices overseas or customers located worldwide, particularly in Europe. If you require more extensive international reach, upgrading to the next plan offers unlimited voice calling to 48 countries.
Audio and video conferencing Large organizations often struggle to find a tool that can support company-wide meetings. With other platforms on the market, it’s common to get conference calling capabilities that support 100 participants at the entry-level tier or maybe 200 at the highest level.
8×8 shines above these options with audio and video conferences for up to 500 active participants.
Aside from the ability to connect with such a massive number of people, you’ll also benefit from built-in content sharing and collaboration tools during your calls.
8×8 even provides post-meeting insights, summaries and action items — all generated by AI.
The meetings are secure, encrypted and come with advanced moderation capabilities, which is really important at scale.
8×8 offers a video conferencing solution for businesses of all sizes. Image: 8×8 Unlimited internet faxing Internet faxing has become a must-have feature for modern business communications, which is why I love that 8×8 offers unlimited internet fax with every plan. It’s also useful for remote and hybrid work environments where it’s unrealistic for your staff to have physical fax machines in their home offices.
Multi-level auto attendant 8×8’s auto attendant helps automate inbound call handling, so you can fully customize your voice menus without needing to hire a dedicated operator or receptionist.
The auto attendant starts with a professional greeting and then routes your caller to the correct department or resource based on their needs. You can set up multiple auto attendants for different needs, locations, hours, holidays and more. This is particularly important for larger organizations, where one generic menu won’t be enough to accommodate your entire company.
With multi-level capabilities, you can configure several call flows based on custom rules that are personalized to each specific number. This feature reduces the need for manual call transfers, and inbound callers will be happy that they’re getting sent to the right place without long hold times.
Customize call handling with 8×8’s auto attendant feature. Image: 8×8 Hot desking If you have shared workspaces or hybrid work environments, you’ll love 8×8’s hot desking capabilities. This is another feature that’s not commonly offered as a standard option with other platforms, but 8×8 offers it on every plan.
Any employee can sit in front of any hot-desk-enabled VoIP phone and use it with their phone number or extension. They simply sign into the phone, and all calls to their number will automatically ring from that device.
While this is available on all 8×8 plans, it’s especially useful for call centers where agents don’t have a dedicated workspace. They can simply walk into the office, sit in front of any phone and they’ll be set up in seconds to their own extension.
When they’re done for the day, they sign out the same way they would from a computer and the phone will be ready to use for the next shift.
8×8 pros Unified communications platform. Video, team chat, texting and fax on every plan. Keeps costs low for global communication. Support for hosting massive meetings. Mix and match user types. Scalable contact center plans. Customizable with add-ons. Top-tier security and compliance. 24/7 phone and live chat support. 8×8 cons Unclear pricing. Complex set-up and deployment process. Likely too advanced for small businesses. Alternatives to 8×8 Nextiva and RingCentral are my top recommendations for most businesses. Nextiva works well for companies of all sizes with a range of basic to advanced plans. RingCentral is better for midsize and larger teams that need more powerful features across the board.
Here’s a closer look at how 8×8 compares to its closest competitors.
8x8NextivaRingCentralDialpadOoma Starting priceCustom quote$28.95 per user per month$20 per user per month$15 per user per month$19.95 per user per month Free trialNoDemo14 days14 daysNo SetupComplexEasyComplexEasyVery easy Call recordingCall center onlyTop planYesYesTop two tiers Video meetingsYesYesYesYesTop two tiers TextingYesTop two tiersYesYesTop two tiers Online faxYesYesTop two tiers+ $10 per monthYes Team chatYesYesYesYesTop two tiers Integrations65+20+300+70+10+ Nextiva Image: Nextiva 8×8 works well for global businesses, but not everyone needs that. If you want a better balance of affordability, ease of use and functionality for US-based businesses, Nextiva is the way to go.
RingCentral Image: RingCentral RingCentral is one of the most powerful phone systems out there–even more so than 8×8. While it offers PSTN replacement and support in other countries, you won’t get unlimited international calling with RingCentral. Instead, you’ll get advanced features like IVR, ACD, monitoring and a massive range of AI capabilities on every RingCentral plan.
Dialpad Image: Dialpad If automations and AI are a priority for you, Dialpad offers a wide range of capabilities. From AI-powered scorecards and predictive CSAT scores to in-call agent assistance and full digital assistants, you’ll get cutting edge functionality at an affordable price.
Ooma Image: Ooma Need desk phones for a traditional office space? While any of the companies listed here can provide that, Ooma is the easiest to deploy, even if you don’t have technical staff on your team. All of their devices are pre-configured, so all you have to do is plug them in. Ooma is missing a lot of the advanced features you’ll see elsewhere, but it’s ideal if you need something simple.
Methodology I review all business communication systems based on a set of standard criteria.
Standard vs advanced features I looked at key features including video conferencing, voicemail, SMS messaging, virtual receptionist, call transfers between devices, call forwarding, desktop apps and mobile apps and compared their availability at different plan tiers.
Customer support I researched the hours of availability for customer support, each service’s support channels and any customer reviews related to the provider’s level and speed of service.
Third-party integrations In order to compare functionality at an enterprise level, I checked each platform’s ability to sync with frequently-used business software, like CRM, cloud storage, fax, ERP, SMS and more.
Security and privacy Encryption, account management, redundancy architecture, data center audits, multi-factor authentication and multiple servers and data centers in various locations were all considered.
Uptime percentage I checked for any reports of unplanned outages, infrastructure problems or technical issues that could lead to uptime problems, delays or service interruptions.
Demo or free trial This metric includes both the ability to test the service using a trial or demo before committing to a subscription, as well as the length of time provided for that free trial.
Overall cost This includes all of the related fees, including free trials, discounts, monthly pricing versus annual pricing, cost per installation and price per user. It also factors in whether existing or new equipment is required to use the call center phone system.
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