8×8 is a cloud communications platform that combines voice, video, chat, contact center, and analytics into a single application. In this 8×8 review, it got a perfect score in general features and customer service, thanks to its complete unified communications features and 24/7 availability in support channels. However, it scored lower in ease of use and pricing due to the slight learning curve and lack of a free plan and volume discounts.
8×8 Review: At a Glance
What We Liked
- Unmetered international calling to 14 or 48 countries on X series plans
- Mix and match plans for different user requirements
- Up to 500 video meeting participants
- Robust security features and compliance policies
What's Missing
- Limited features in the base plan
- No volume-based discounts
- Lacks toll-free minutes
- Limited team collaboration features like task management
- International calling: Its unmetered calls to 14 or 48 countries makes it our top voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service for overseas calling.
- IVR system: 8×8 offers a contact center platform with basic & intelligent IVR solutions
- Call management: 8×8’s upper-tier packages include basic contact center features like call monitoring and supervisor analytics
- Compliance requirements: 8×8 maintains various industry-leading security and compliance certifications set by regulatory agencies
- Third-party integrations: 8×8 has 60 integrations, far less than the 200+ offered by RingCentral. Read about it in our RingCentral review.
- Virtual phone system: Check out Grasshopper if you don’t need all the extra features offered by 8×8. Learn more in our Grasshopper review.
- Metered subscription: If you don’t need the high cost of an unlimited calling plan, try Phone.com, which offers affordable metered subscriptions. Read our Phone.com review for more details.
8×8 Deciding Factors
8×8 is a business phone system that ranks high for its scalability, mobility, and multinational support. It is best for small teams wanting an affordable business phone system, midsized businesses needing a contact center solution, and companies with high international call volumes. With its 8×8 Work App, distributed teams can share files, join video meetings, and collaborate from anywhere.
Best For | Small teams and large enterprises needing unified communication (UC) capabilities |
Standout Features |
|
Pricing Plans |
|
Annual or Volume Discounts Available |
|
Key Integrations |
|
Customer Service | 24/7 availability via live chat, phone, and web base |
8×8 Alternatives
While 8×8 meets a wide variety of business communication needs, subscriptions don’t come with toll-free minutes and upper-tier plans could be too expensive for small teams. Consider the providers below, or read our full list of the best 8×8 alternatives.
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
Best For | Solopreneurs and small teams looking for a cheap VoIP service | Scaling businesses looking for a robust UC solution with hundreds of integrations | Businesses needing a centralized platform for team collaboration and customer engagement |
Monthly Starting Price (Per User) | $9.99 | $30 | $30.95 |
Learn More |
8×8 offers three plans for business communications and three options to add contact center features. For this review, we’ll focus on its business communications packages.
8×8 pricing got a slightly low score due to the lack of a free plan and volume discounts. Still, it offers a very affordable base plan that starts at $15 per user, monthly. All plans include unlimited domestic calling, voicemail, team messaging, and video meetings.
Plans can be mixed and matched based on the needs of your users. Lower tiers are suitable for small business VoIP services, while higher-priced tiers include unmetered international calling and contact center features.
8x8 Plans | 8x8 Express | X2 | X4 |
|---|---|---|---|
Best For | Small teams wanting voice, video, and messaging capabilities | Businesses looking for unmetered international calling to 14 countries | Supervisors needing advanced call handling and analytics tools |
Monthly Pricing ($/User/Month) | $15 | $28 | $57 |
Annual Pricing ($/User/Month) | $15 | $24 | $54 |
Mix and match plans | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Unlimited global calling | Per-minute fees | 14 countries | 48 countries |
Video meeting attendees | 100 | 500 | 500 |
Auto-attendant | Basic | Multi-level | Multi-level |
Supervisor Analytics | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Third-party integrations | ✕ | 60 applications | 60 applications |
Media storage retention | ✕ | 30days | 130 days |
8×8 Features
8×8 is packed with robust features that enable teams to communicate and collaborate on multiple channels. It includes a business phone system, video conferencing tools, team chat, analytics, and contact center features. Integrations and embeddable application programming interfaces (APIs) allow users to build third-party connectivity.
8×8 received a perfect score for this category as it offers all the standard VoIP features for routing callers, transferring calls, and handling high call volumes. Users also have access to unified communication capabilities, such as video conferencing, screen sharing, team messaging, and cloud recordings. With the 8×8 Work app installed, users get a unified experience for both mobile and desktop.
Here are some telephony features offered by 8×8:
- Voicemail
- Auto-attendant
- Call recording
- Hot desking
- Caller ID
- Call waiting
- Hold music
- Ring group
- Call queuing
- Call transfer
We gave 8×8 a score of 4.38 out of 5 for its niche features because most of its inclusions are locked in expensive plans. Users must upgrade to the X4 plan to get unlimited calls to 48 countries, while the IVR system requires a contact center license. However, a plan upgrade is still worth the money if you need advanced features for handling call volumes, analyzing call data, and integrating with business software.
Click on each feature below to learn more about 8×8’s top niche offerings:
8×8 offers a variety of summaries, detailed reports, and dashboards. Each delivers insights critical to maintaining consistent service, predicting call volumes, and improving agent performance. For example, Conversation IQ transcribes voice conversations and tracks keywords and phrases to understand customers’ sentiments and measure employee empathy. An online portal helps supervisors get instant visibility about internal and external call activities.
8×8 Speech Analytics transcribes speech into text and analyzes it based on different topics, such as caller/agent positive performance. (Source: 8×8)
8×8 Frontdesk is a desktop application designed for receptionists and operators to help manage calls, voicemails, and chat sessions and route calls to the appropriate contacts within the company. Its full-screen operator panel offers a complete view of the company-wide directory, including access to multiple call handling capabilities. This allows you to facilitate faster call connection during high volumes of calls.
8×8 Frontdesk is optimized for high-volume call handling to enable phone receptionists easily route multiple incoming calls to the appropriate contacts. (Source: 8×8)
8×8 integrates with 60 third-party applications, including customer relationship management (CRM), productivity, security, and workforce management platforms. If you want to incorporate 8×8’s communication services into your workflows, 8×8 offers a developer hub that includes API references and guides.
8×8 integrates with popular business applications, such as Salesforce, Google Workspace, and Microsoft Teams. (Source: 8×8)
Unfortunately, 8×8 Express only connects to Google and Microsoft calendars to set up and invite participants from your calendar. Plus, you’ll need an X series subscription for out-of-the-box integrations with other platforms.
8×8 stands out for its customer service because it offers 24/7 availability for all its support channels, including phone, live chat, or email. There is also a service portal where users can fill in a case form to submit a support request. If you want to seek answers on your own, 8×8 has a comprehensive knowledge base powered by an AI-powered virtual assistant called Otto.
8×8 has a dedicated service portal where clients can submit support requests, monitor active cases, and view resolved issues. (Source: 8×8)
We gave 8×8 a score of 2.63 out of 5 for its ease of use, as most users faced a slight learning curve when navigating its platform. Some have difficulties setting up voicemail, while others have to contact technical support to determine where things are. Although 8×8 is fast and easy to set up, training and technical knowledge are still required to utilize its capabilities fully.
For our expert score, 8×8 earned 3 out of 5 because there are still areas that need improvements, such as ease of use, volume-based discounts, and the number of integrations available. Despite these limitations, many users appreciate 8×8’s offerings as it offers great value for money. They particularly like its omnichannel platform, call routing capabilities, and data security features.
- Gartner: 4.5 out of 5 based on 205 reviews
- GetApp: 4 out of 5 based on 246 reviews
- TrustRadius: 8.3 out of 10 based on 474 reviews
How We Evaluated 8×8
To write this 8×8 review, we considered six critical factors: pricing, general features, niche features, customer service, ease of use, and expert score. Click on the tabs below to see how we evaluated 8×8 against other unified communications platforms.
20% of Overall Score
Cost is an essential consideration for businesses with budget constraints. With that in mind, we looked for the availability of a free plan and volume-based discounts. Although 8×8 lacks these offerings, it received an extra point for offering annual discounts, a base plan that costs $30 or less, and a second-level plan that costs less than $60.
25% of Overall Score
For unified communications as a service (UCaaS) providers, we looked at features that are essential to users. These include unlimited calls to the US and Canada, video/audio conferencing, and a mobile app. We awarded 8×8 a perfect score for this category for providing all these requirements.
20% of Overall Score
We looked at advanced features that make 8×8 stand out from other providers. We checked for features like integrations, overseas calling, and international numbers. 8×8 almost got a perfect score for this category, but it doesn’t have an IVR system for its business communication plans.
10% of Overall Score
We checked 8×8’s ability to provide timely and adequate customer support. 8×8 received a perfect score for offering 24/7 service hours, live chat, voice channel, and email support.
10% of Overall Score
We tested the system and looked at online reviews to evaluate 8×8’s ease of use. We read users’ feedback about its interface and analyzed the technical skill required to set up and operate its platform.
15% of Overall Score
We investigated 8×8 reviews on credible software sites to see how popular it is to other users and what they think about its ease of use. We also added our expert opinion on essential features and value for money.
Bottom Line
8×8 provides a robust unified communications platform that enables users to keep in touch via chat, voice, or video. It also comes with advanced analytics capabilities to enable companies to analyze the full spectrum of their customer interactions. Plus, the unlimited international calling in X series plans makes it one of the best providers for businesses with a global market. Sign up for a 30-day free trial to see if it’s a good fit for your business.
