Part of our RingCentral Buyer’s Guide.
Looking for a UCaaS vendor that can support all your needs for unified communication, contact centre management, and collaboration? Two of the most popular brands on the market today are RingCentral, and 8×8 – cloud-based companies with a focus on innovation and intuition.
Both 8×8 and RingCentral offer a range of fantastic products through the cloud, to companies that want to accelerate their digital transformation plan, and out-sell the competition. RingCentral is a cloud-based communication and collaboration organisation based in Belmont California, researched as the #1 market share leader for UCaaS.
Alternatively, 8×8 is a cloud communication and customer engagement company specialising in cloud voice, contact centre, and UC for businesses of all sizes. Let’s see which vendor is right for you.
Financials
Ever since RingCentral was launched in 1999, it’s seen incredible growth, delivering a range of new products and innovations to the market. In Q4 of the financial year for 2018, RingCentral published financial results like:
- Total revenue increased 34% year over year to $189 million
- Software subscriptions revenue increased 32% year over year to $172 million
- Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) increased 33% year over year to $726 million
- RingCentral Office ARR increased 38% year over year to $644 million
- Mid-market and Enterprise ARR increased 73% year over year to $309 million
- Enterprise ARR increased 99% year over year to $171 million
8×8 was founded initially as a company creating semiconductor products for the graphics and coprocessor chipset spaces. In 1999, 8×8 launched its family of VoIP products, and in 2002, the organisation became an entirely VoIP focused brand. 8×8 is a public company, and in the fourth quarter of 2018, they announced:
- A service revenue increase of 20% year-over-year to $75.3 million
- A total revenue increase of 19% year-over-year to $79.3 million
- Operating activity earnings of $2.7 million
Gartner Says:
Both RingCentral and 8×8 are strong contenders in the UCaaS environment. Each company appears regularly on the Gartner Magic Quadrant report for Unified Communication as a Service leaders. In the most recent UCaaS report, RingCentral earned their leadership position for the third year in the row, thanks to their innovative “as a service” offerings.
Additionally, 8×8 celebrated their sixth year in a row as a Gartner MQ leader for UCaaS in 2017. 8×8 believes that their flexible solutions for the small, mid-market and enterprise companies they serve helps them to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to state-of-the-art cloud offerings.
Glassdoor Says:
RingCentral and Vonage both have a positive reputation as employers. Each company provides their staff with plenty of opportunities for growth and development in the cloud comms space. RingCentral currently has around 2,500 employees, compared to 1,200 for 8×8.
Individuals using independent employer review site Glassdoor rate RingCentral as a 4.5 out of 5 for employee satisfaction, while 8×8 has a score of 3.9 out of 5.
Portfolio Comparison:
RingCentral and 8×8 both offer a broad portfolio of cloud communication services, covering the spaces of Unified Communications, Customer contact, and collaboration.
RingCentral vs. 8×8 UC
Both RingCentral and 8×8 provide the essential features you’d expect from your Unified Communications provider, including services like call forwarding, auto attendants, and voicemail extensions. Other features available from the RingCentral flagship UC product, “RingCentral Office” include:
- Intelligent IVR
- Voicemail to email
- RingCentral Messaging
- User templates for batch support
- Call monitoring and recording
8×8’s “Virtual Office” for Unified Communication comes with similar features like:
- Call recording
- Online Faxing
- Real-time analytics
- Automated assistant
- Call reporting
RingCentral vs. 8×8 Contact Centre
RingCentral and 8×8 also offer customer contact solutions. 8×8 provides the virtual contact centre, while RingCentral provides the “RingCentral Contact Centre.” Both options come with:
- Call centre analytics
- CRM integration
- Skills-based routing and IVR
- Omni-channel support
- Customer experience management
- Workforce optimisation
RingCentral vs. 8×8 Collaboration
For Collaboration, RingCentral has their “Glip” messaging service and the new “RingCentral Meetings” product for video conferencing. These services feature on-the-go mobile apps, task management services, file and screen sharing, team messaging and HD video.
Alternatively, 8×8 offers the “X Series,” a unique cloud solution for unified communication and collaboration which provides four different levels of support, featuring capabilities like web-based meetings, CRM integration, interaction and customer engagement analytics, and more.
Target Market & Regional Availability
RingCentral and 8×8 are both global companies that offer their services directly and through reseller partners. Each company has a broad portfolio of customisable cloud-based solutions that can be adapted and tailored to meet the needs of small businesses, mid-market companies, and large enterprises.
Pricing & How to Buy
In terms of pricing, RingCentral and 8×8 companies can both reach out to their vendors for tailored quotes on their services. However, RingCentral also offers four standard packages to choose from, as well as a 15-day free trial. Licenses include:
- Entry Level from £7.99 per user, per month
- Standard from £14.99 per user per month
- Premium from £19.99 per user per month
- Ultimate from £24.99 per user per month
8×8 doesn’t list prices on its website, but you can quickly reach out to a sales rep for a quote.
Finishing Thoughts
If you’re looking for a wide range of features in UC, collaboration and contact centre support, then you can’t really go wrong with either RingCentral or 8×8. Both companies offer very similar packages to customers, ranging all the way from omni-channel contact centres, to collaboration.
Q: What Services does each vendor integrate with?
A: RingCentral offers integrations with Box, Desk.com, Salesforce, Outlook, Oracle Sales Cloud, Office 365, and Zendesk. 8×8 integrates with ACT!, Desk.com, eAgent, NetSuite, Office 365, Outlook, Salesforce, Zendesk, and SugarCRM.
Q: What is the service guarantee for each vendor?
A: Both 8×8 and RingCentral offer their customers fantastic peace of mind through the cloud with an average uptime of 99.999%.
Q: What is customer service like for each vendor?
A: RingCentral has a 24/7 online chat service, ticket requests, phone lines, and an online user base to help you answer all your questions. Alternatively, 8×8 provides user and setup guides, online chat, phone-based support, and their own online knowledge base.
