By Sharla Sikes
Since absorbing the failed Sunrocket’s customers, 8×8 seems to be doing quite well for itself.
Recently, 8×8 contracted to provide its Packet8 Virtual Office hosted iPBX phone services to SupportSave Solutions, Inc., a provider of business process outsourcing services.
SupportSave plans to boost its phone lines from 75 to more than 150 in the next three months, and up to possibly 1,000 lines in a year. Â
“We are pleased that SupportSave, a rapidly growing BPO service provider, is expanding its usage of our Packet8 Virtual Office technology and will be one of our larger customers,” said 8×8 vice president of sales and marketing Huw Rees. Â
“We are extremely satisfied with the service that 8×8 has provided SupportSave and value the contributions its solutions provide to our growing business,†said Chris Johns, CEO of SupportSave. “Packet8 Virtual Office services have helped us lower our communications costs while enhancing our ability to communicate effectively with our customers.”
 8×8 has also introduced small business videoconferencing for its Virtual Office subscribers. The Virtual Office Tango Video Terminal Adapter is a desktop videoconferencing solution for the Virtual Office system.
“Many of our Packet8 Virtual Office voice customers have at least one employee located in a remote location, so being able to videoconference with these employees by just dialing their regular extension is an easy and inexpensive way to boost office productivity,” 8×8 chairman and CEO Bryan R. Martin. “When dealing with external customers and clients, the advantages of inexpensive, high quality visual communications go even further for those businesses that simply cannot afford the time and expense involved in travelling or purchasing high end videoconferencing and telepresence solutions which require heavy support and expensive, dedicated bandwidth.”
The VTA replaces Packet8’s broadband phone adapter previously used by Virtual Office and has a 5-inch LCD screen and rotating camera to enable the videoconferencing feature. It integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Virtual Office calling features, Packet8 Softalk office and has a built-in router and digital picture frame. Tango is designed for ease of use and setup and is available bundled with the Virtual Office speakerphone, or as an add-on device.
Finally, 8×8 announced a no obligation, no fee trial program recently at CES. The program allows customers of any U.S. wireless provider try out its MobileTalk international calling service.
MobileTalk was introduced late last year, and bypasses programs that make overseas calls on cellular phones difficult. Using the free trial, wireless callers can download 8×8’s MobileTalk application to their mobile phone for free until a total of $2 per minute in fees has been reached. MobileTalk’s international rates run from $.02 to $.05 per minute for most parts of Europe and Asia.
yes its true 8×8 has also introduced small business videoconferencing for its Virtual Office subscribers. Its running smooth with any java applications or cheesy graphics.