If you’re tired of running your business with a patchwork of complicated phone systems, messaging apps, and video conferencing tools, this 8×8 guide will introduce you to one of the most versatile ways to streamline your communication strategy.
First founded in 1987, under the name “Integrated Information Technology”, 8×8 has emerged as one of the most popular providers of cloud-based communication services worldwide. Offering companies an easy way to eliminate silos, connect teams, and even tap into powerful AI tools, 8×8 is changing the game for companies worldwide.
Whether you’re investing in streamlined unified communications, building an omnichannel contact center, or even using APIs to embed real-time communication features into existing apps, 8×8 offers the perfect range of scalable solutions.
Ready to find out if 8×8 is the right communication partner for your business? Here’s absolutely everything you need to know.
8×8 Guide: Products and Solutions
8×8 is a world-leading provider of communication tools, focusing on UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS solutions. Designed to give businesses the flexibility they need to stay agile in today’s world, 8×8 combines reliable technology, with end-to-end integrations, enterprise-grade security, and cutting-edge artificial intelligence.
Here’s a deep dive into the core components of the 8×8 ecosystem.
8×8 Work: Versatile Unified Communications
8×8 Work, previously known as the “X Series” platform, is 8×8’s answer to unified communications as a service (UCaaS). It blends a versatile VoIP solution, packed with enterprise-grade calling features like advanced routing, auto attendant, and voicemail features with a range of intuitive tools.
Teams get access to built-in HD video conferencing, with screen sharing, whiteboarding, and meeting transcription tools. You also get integrated SMS capabilities, and mobile and desktop apps, designed to address the needs of flexible workers.
Plus, staff can stay connected through team chat solutions, enhanced by artificial intelligence. You can explore AI features for meeting summaries, noise suppression, automated polls and transcripts, and more. All that, and 8×8’s machine learning powered “Global Reach” tech ensures employees get a high-quality, reliable connection, wherever they are.
8×8 Contact Center and 8×8 Engage
For flexible customer communications, 8×8 offers an omnichannel cloud-based contact center solution (which can also integrate seamlessly with its UCaaS platform). This intelligent contact center supports omnichannel routing, making it easy for teams to manage customer queries across SMS, chat, social media, voice, email and more.
Teams can create AI-powered self-service solutions, with versatile agents that can manage everything from customer queries, to secure payments. There’s also the option to enable skills-based routing, and access both real-time and historical insights from every conversation. Real-time dashboards can even offer guidance on customer sentiment, throughout the buyer journey.
Speaking of AI, as we’ll explore throughout this 8×8 guide, companies get the freedom to fully customize their intelligent solutions, with “bring your own language model” capabilities. Additionally, 8×8 helps to unify companies around exceptional customer experiences with its 8×8 Engage system, that extends AI tools beyond the traditional contact center environment.
This solution gives non-contact-center employees, like sales teams and service reps, access to the intelligent data they need to collaborate on new ways to enhance conversion and retention rates.
8×8 for Microsoft Teams
8×8 has been helping companies extend the value of their Microsoft Teams collaboration platform with a while now. Recognized as one of the top Microsoft partners, 8×8 offers both direct routing, and Operator Connect solutions to bridge the gaps in Teams’ telephony features.
In fact, it’s one of the few companies certified for Operator Connect that also offers a native contact center. Companies can access global PSTN coverage (in over 50 regions), as well as built-in compliance and call recording tools. There’s even a native 8×8 Phone app for Microsoft Teams, that offers cost-effective calling without Teams phone licenses.
On top of that, 8×8’s solutions don’t just integrate with Microsoft Teams – the company offers comprehensive connectivity for solutions like Salesforce, Zendesk and ServiceNow, as well as Google Workspace, and various other business apps.
8×8 Communication APIs: CPaaS Solutions
If you came to this 8×8 guide looking for a vendor that offers companies the freedom to bake real-time communications capabilities into heir existing apps and workflows, you’re in luck. 8×8’s communication APIs enable users to set up custom workflows for things like two-factor authentication via SMS, appointment reminders, and fraud detection.
Teams can experiment with omnichannel messaging, with connectors for SMS, WhatsApp, and beyond. Plus, you can add voice to virtually any workflow, with flexible features like text-to-speech, voice IVR systems, and custom notifications.
8×8 is also one of the few CPaaS providers to offer video APIs, allowing companies to experiment with new strategies for KYC security, virtual consultations, and troubleshooting.
8×8 Guide: The Core Features & Benefits of 8×8
If you’re looking for a vendor that addresses all aspects of the communication landscape, from unified communications, to CPaaS, 8×8 is hard to beat. The company has become a market-leading partner for organizations in search of a scalable, truly unified platform, that offers extensive access to flexible AI and automation tools, and a robust global infrastructure.
After all, as 8×8’s Sam Wilson said in 2025, the company’s “north star” is ultimately “customer-centric” innovation. That means giving businesses the tools they need to create seamless communication experiences anywhere, without the stress of disconnected modules.
Let’s dive into some of the top features and benefits of 8×8’s ecosystem:
Scalable, Cloud-Based Communications
Like most market leaders in the communication space, 8×8 is a cloud-first organization, promising businesses an easy way to leave clunky, on-premises technologies behind. The company’s cloud-based voice and video services offer enterprise-grade reliability – worldwide.
Whether you making calls from your desktop in New York or hopping on a video conference from your smartphone in Tokyo, 8×8’s infrastructure ensures high-quality, low-latency performance. 8×8 goes beyond the basics of simple cloud-based voice, with end-to-end solutions for everything from HD video conferencing, to SMS.
If you’re looking for omnichannel UCaaS, or CCaaS – or you just want to add real-time communication capabilities to your existing workflows, 8×8 delivers everything you’ll need.
Versatile Collaboration Tools for Hybrid Workers
For companies struggling to keep hybrid and flexible teams connected, 8×8 is an incredible partner. Aside from offering some of the best Microsoft Teams solutions in the market, 8×8 has built a robust collaboration suite with persistent chat channels, file sharing, archiving, and presence indicators.
The company even upgraded its collaboration suite recently with AI assistants that can help foster team collaboration, track action items, summarize calls, and answer questions in seconds. Plus, as well as giving companies fantastic global coverage (with minimal latency), 8×8 also ensures team members get a consistent experience on any device.
There’s a dedicated mobile app that allows teams to access all the features and tools they need from anywhere, without having to deal with clunky desktops.
Intelligent Contact Center Solutions
The 8×8 contact center is more than just an innovative solution for managing inbound and outbound calls. It’s a smart, AI-infused omnichannel platform that makes it easier to manage comprehensive customer journeys. Companies can deliver support, and proactively serve customers across channels from voice and chat, to social media, SMS, and video.
The AI-driven routing engine allows businesses to connect callers with agents based on factors like skills, availability, and previous call history. Teams can even use AI to deflect calls, by sending customers with common queries to chatbots or virtual assistants.
Plus, 8×8’s contact center comes with customizable agent workspaces, secure payment systems for financial teams, and even dedicated solutions for specific industries, like healthcare. On top of that, with 8×8 Engage, business leaders can access the tools they need to align various different departments around customer-focused workflows.
Advanced Analytics and Dashboards
Every interaction – phone call, chat transcript, or video meeting – generates valuable data for businesses. 8×8 consolidates that information into real-time dashboards with in-depth reporting options for a range of use cases.
Companies can tap into customizable dashboards that show valuable metrics like call volumes, wait times, and even customer sentiment. You can even create separate dashboards for agents and supervisors – focusing on the metrics that matter most to each user.
Plus, 8×8 offers workforce engagement management solutions, such as AI-powered forecasting and scheduling tools, and systems for collecting feedback through surveys. You can even use predictive analytics to intelligently identify future staffing needs.
Security & Compliance: Peace of Mind, Built In
As mentioned earlier in this 8×8 guide, maintaining security and compliance with this world-leading communications vendor couldn’t be easier. 8×8 is HIPAA compliant, and offers intuitive payment processing solutions to reduce risks for financial companies.
The company promises end-to-end encryption for all communications, powerful tools for securing voice recordings, and comprehensive access controls. For digital-first companies, 8×8 also strives to adhere to data archiving standards.
Plus, the 8×8 platform comes with built-in tools for fraud detection, and the company promises business leaders exceptional reliability too, with a 99.999% uptime guarantee.
Integration Capabilities: Flexible Connectors
One thing you’ll notice throughout this 8×8 guide is that the vendor puts a premium on flexibility. Although 8×8 has attempted to build an all-in-one platform that gives businesses everything they need in a unified place, it still supports integrations with various other business tools.
Aside from Microsoft Teams, companies can leverage connectors for popular CRM platforms, like Zendesk, ServiceNow, and Salesforce. There are also plenty of dedicated apps and solutions available for companies in specific industries. For instance, healthcare companies can take advantage of “SpinSci Patient” assist, for AI-powered patient management.
Plus, as mentioned above, 8×8’s flexible communication APIs mean you can easily add the functionality offered by 8×8’s technologies into virtually any app or workflow.
8×8 Guide: The Top Use Cases for 8×8 Technologies
Throughout this 8×8 guide, we’ve drawn attention to just how versatile 8×8’s solutions really are. Whether you’re running a lean startup or a sprawling global enterprise, 8×8 makes it easy to build the technology stack that suits your specific needs.
That being said, 8×8’s technologies may be particularly appealing to:
- Small Businesses: For small businesses, communication tools need to be simple, affordable, and reliable, 8×8’s flexible, modular tools make it easy to keep costs low. The solutions area easy to set-up and use, regardless of whether you’re designing a small informal contact center, or adding voice capabilities to tools like Microsoft Teams.
- Remote and Hybrid Teams: 8×8’s flexible collaboration tools, and versatile options for Microsoft Teams voice enablement make it excellent for hybrid and remote teams. The tools make it easy to keep staff members connected, with intuitive mobile apps, and solutions for chat, video and audio conferencing, and file sharing.
- Enterprise Deployments: For larger enterprise companies, 8×8 offers a fantastic combination of global reach, powerful compliance features, and admin dashboards for managing thousands of users, locations and policies. Plus, it’s easy to scale your systems to new regions, and access advanced features as your business grows.
- Specific Industries: With specialized solutions and integrations for healthcare, finance, and other highly regulated industries, 8×8 could be the perfect option for companies with specific communication requirements. Plus, 8×8 partners with a range of market leading implementation experts, who can help you build a custom solution.
8×8 Guide: Pricing Options and Plans
Pricing for 8×8’s solutions really depends on the type of technology you want to access. There’s no one-size-fits-all plan – instead companies can mix and match various offerings, from 8×8 Engage and contact center tools, to unified communications applications.
Since the price you pay is based on the specific features you need, you’ll need to contact 8×8’s sales team for a custom quote. However, the good news is that 8×8 supports pay-as-you-go pricing, ensuring you only pay for the tools you actually use.
You can explore demos of 8×8’s software solutions for free, however, and “add-on” extra functionality whenever you like. Keep in mind, of course, extra add-ons, and access to communications APIs may incur additional costs.
8×8 Guide: Getting Started with 8×8
At this point in our 8×8 guide, you might be wondering how easy it is to get started with the platform. Fortunately, after you get past the initial stages of contacting the sales team and requesting a quote for the features you actually need, getting your system up and running is pretty seamless.
All you need to do is select the features you want for your UCaaS, CCaaS, or CPaaS initiative, and use the intuitive admin console to add users, set up permissions, and design call flows.
If you have more advanced requirements or want to take advantage of custom integrations and APIs, there are plenty of “8×8 partners” that can help you with the configuration process. Once you’ve gotten your system ironed out, here are some top tips to help you make the most of 8×8:
Optimize Call Quality Like a Pro
First – your VoIP setup is only as good as your internet. Use 8×8’s Network Quality Manager and built-in QoS (Quality of Service) tools to monitor jitter, latency, and packet loss in real time. Enable adaptive audio codecs, prioritize voice traffic on your network, and ensure devices are using wired or high-bandwidth Wi-Fi for the best performance.
Leverage Analytics to Boost Results
8×8’s real-time dashboards and historical reports are fantastic for discovering ways to constantly optimize your communication strategy. Track KPIs like average handle time, missed call rate, agent availability, and CSAT scores. Use this data to coach underperformers, identify busy times, and adjust staffing accordingly. Make sure you’re taking advantage of 8×8’s advanced speech analytics tools too, for insights into customer sentiment, and call trends.
Prioritize Security
As mentioned previously in this 8×8 guide, the company’s tools and technologies are designed to enhance compliance and security. However, it’s still up to you to make sure you’re not exposing your business to unnecessary threats. Use role-based access controls, enforce MFA (multi-factor authentication), and keep all user endpoints up to date. Remember to provide teams with comprehensive security and compliance training too.
Develop a Strategy for Scaling
As your business grows, 8×8 grows with you. Use auto-provisioning tools, centralized user management, and global number provisioning to onboard new teams quickly. Whether you’re expanding to a new office or launching internationally, 8×8 keeps your comms unified and consistent – no IT headaches required.
Stay Up To Date
8×8’s technologies are constantly evolving, introducing new solutions like options for building AI-powered agents, and advanced analytical tools. Stay up to date with the latest features and tools the company has to offer. You can learn all about the latest capabilities offered by 8×8 for UCaaS and CCaaS here on UC Today.
8×8 Guide: The Ultimate Flexible Communications System
8×8’s versatile range of unified communication, contact center, and CPaaS solutions offer companies an incredible way to dive into the next era of business communications. If you’re looking for reliable cloud-based voice and video, omnichannel customer service solutions, and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, 8×8 is a fantastic partner.
Unlike patchwork setups or bolt-on solutions, 8×8’s unified architecture simplifies management, reduces costs, and gives you full visibility into performance and engagement. And with compliance, analytics, and AI baked in, you can stay one step ahead of the competition.
Still unsure? Check out our other comprehensive guides to discover the benefits of communication tools from leaders like Zoom, Dialpad, and AWS.
