Following 8×8’s acquisition of Sameroom back in late 2016, 8×8 has officially launched its new team collaboration app, as part of their newly badged X Series. Eagerly anticipated, 8×8 introduce both team collaboration features and interoperability between platforms to market in one hit.
The move sees 8×8 transition from a recognised leader in Unified Comms as-a-Service to an out and out players in the collaboration space. I met with David Chase, Solutions Marketing Manager at 8×8 to give me a whistlestop tour of the new platform.
Headline Features
Carrying through stock features from their Virtual Office product, 8x8s new team messaging product comes pre-packed with standard features like voice and video calling. We see stock items from the new lobby license through to instant messaging, content sharing and call recording. Where the new team messaging product really comes to the fore, is the new collaboration suite.
- Full Screen Application: moving from a soft phone interface to a true collaboration area and an intuitive user interface
- Public Rooms: multiple people in a chat room with the ability to share files, follow the room and get notifications for @ mentions
- Meet Now: instant meeting setup for one to one messaging and public rooms
- Searchable Archives: persistent chat with the ability to see who has read your messages
- Emojis: when words aren’t enough, emojis have become commonplace in business chat
- File Sharing: send, receive and view files across collaboration spaces
- Voicemail Transcription: dictated voice messages natively accessible via the app
How Does The Sameroom Integration Help?
Using the Sameroom integration capability, the 8×8 app now integrates into a plethora of other collaboration apps. When users of other messaging apps such as Slack exist in a business, they can continue to use the app of their choice. David commented on the productivity gains he has seen since using the new app internally:
“I don’t have to leave the 8×8 app during the day, so I’m no longer losing all my time switching between apps”.
Recognising apps like Slack are stand out players in the messaging world, 8×8 offer the ability to message across platform to those users without having to leave the 8×8 app.
Where Does It Sit In The Market?
The 8×8 focus remains on providing a full solution. Where companies require many or all of hosted voice, Unified Comms, team messaging and contact centre, 8×8 feel this is their sweet spot.
Still mid-market, but now fully able to integrate with enterprise grade products, 8×8 may see themselves up against new competition. The addition of team messaging opens the door for direct and reseller business to attract a new audience, rather than the traditional PBX replacement scenarios.
“The market opportunity is so big that we’re not massively hung up on competitors”.
In the marketplace, 8×8 looks a solid option for business after a catch all solution. David said that “when people want a range of functionality including voice and messaging, without the hassle of multiple contracts, suppliers or applications for their employees to use, we are a great fit”.
