8x8 :: VoIP Biz-News.com

Number of results 18 for 8x8

05/02/2010 - 8x8 Announces Voice over 3G Update to its iPhone App

8x8 announced that an update to its Virtual Office Mobile application which supports business voice services over 3G is now available in the Apple iTunes app store for iPhone and iPod Touch models.

28/01/2010 - 8x8's business revenues grew 19% year over year

Take that economic downturn! 8x8 announced in their earnings this week that their revenue from business customers grew 7 percent sequentially and 19 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Business churn also decreased to a record low of 2.4 percent, compared to a churn rate of 2.7 percent in the previous quarter and 2.9 percent during the same period last year.

All was not good news, however, as net income was down sequentially by about $300,000. Also while business customers were becoming a larger and larger portion of 8x8's revenue stream, residential customers were falling off. Revenue from residential customers declined 21 percent sequentially and 41 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Perhaps their latest iPhone app offerings and the Facebook 'Call Me' feature will help appeal to and retain residential customers in the future.

For more:
- read the release

22/01/2010 - IT EXPO: 8x8 launches Virtual Office Online across offerings

Taking the hosted solution a bit further, 8x8 announced at IT EXPO that it is making its new “Virtual Office Online” dashboard a standard feature of all its Virtual Office Unlimited, Metered and Global Extension plans.

8x8's Virtual Office Online offers a web-based solution letting users manage features of their Virtual Office phone service remotely through a web portal. The system allows users to choose any convenient handset or computer headset to take and make calls, allows for dialing directly from a corporate directory or Microsoft Outlook contact database, view and listen to voicemail online, as well as check out lists of phone calls and chats. The system also sets call handling rules like Do Not Disturb and Call Forwarding.

For an extra $20 a month per extension, 8x8's PRO version offers business users fax and virtual meetings. "With the Pro version and a web camera you can do web conferencing meetings straight from the portal and it is completely integrated with the other Virtual Office services," said VP Business Development for 8x8, Huw Rees in an interview with FierceVoIP.

For more:
- read this release

22/01/2010 - IT EXPO: 8x8 adds Call Me feature for Facebook

Wouldn't mind getting calls from long lost friends on Facebook, but don't want to give out your phone number to your other 300 so-called friends? Well, 8x8's VoIP service has added a feature for customers to make this possibility a reality.

8x8's Facebook app adds a 'Call Me' button to users' profiles and when it is clicked, a caller enters their own phone number to start the call. The application calls the caller's phone and then connects it to the user's preferred number on the 8x8 system. The user's number remains private as the call is connected through the 8x8 service.

Although the service sounds like a consumer play, the focus is actually on 8x8's small business users who use the Virtual Office System and have recently set-up Facebook pages for their businesses. The 'Call me' button will make it that much easier for customers to connect with businesses through their preferred online methods.

For more:
- read this article

21/01/2010 - 8x8 adds Virtual Office Mobile to iPhone users' arsenal

It's seems like just about every VoIP company will have an iPhone app one day and in that blessed future, we will hopefully all be working from the beach just outside the conference halls of IT EXPO. In the mean time you could log on to 8x8's new iPhone app from any of the WiFi hotspots around the show floor.

8x8's Virtual Office Mobile allows subscribers to use their Virtual Office phone number and service remotely when they log on to a WiFi connection using their iPhone. The service converts the iPhone into a Virtual Office extention and allows unlimited inbound and outbound domestic calls, as well as international calls at competitive rates. The app will also allow extension dialing, 3-way calling and voicemail. Sounds like the perfect app for making calls from the beaches in Miami.

For more:
- read the release

15/01/2010 - 8x8: Service outage caused by unaffiliated ISP interference

8x8's VoIP service outage on January 12 lasted about four hours and resulted in some frustration for both customers and the company itself. 8x8 was gracious enough to provide us with some more details about what exactly happend.

According to Joan Citelli, director of Corporate Communications for 8x8, the outage occured when an unaffiliated Tier-1 ISP interfered with the routing for 8x8's own IP address blocks provided by their own ISP. Some customers were able to get service quickly after the outage when the company provided correct routing info via their backup data providers, but the disruption for the outside ISP continued for a few hours and prevented some customers from getting service.

All of 8x8's core software and networks were operational, but due to the IP addresses being blocked they were inaccessible to customers. The company plans to implement further mechanisms to deal with similar routing problems in the future as well as add alternative methods of communication to let customers know about outages and repair times. Look back here for more info on these moves in the future.

14/01/2010 - Packet8 back online after outage

8x8 says the failure of its VoIP system Packet8 yesterday was caused, according to the company, by "an Internet element beyond our control." The service returned by 4:30 PM pacific time and the company is still looking into the causes of the disruption.

A major issue during the disruption was 8x8's own internal systems (including their website) went down with the VoIP service. Their own 8x8 Virtual Office is used internally, and when the system went offline, 8x8 employees used their own cell phones to communicate with frustrated clients.

TMCnet points out that the outage has a occurred almost a year after Packet8 experienced an outage due to a DNS issue. Back then a domain name service registry problem with www.packet8.net resulted in customers not being able to reach the packet8.net website and having failures in phone service. Registry.com was apparently at fault. Packet8 had a number of fail-over processes, but DNS issues prevented the mechanisms from working as anticipated. The 2009 outage bares a striking resemblance to this new outage with phones going down as well as the website. Could the same problem strike again?

For more:
- read this article

Related articles
DNS hiccups at Packet8
8x8 launches HD voice for its Virtual Office product
8x8 seeing more gov biz, larger customer
8x8 sees Q2 profits increase with new customers and sales team

07/01/2010 - 8x8 launches HD voice for its Virtual Office product

8x8's small business and enterprise VoIP product 'Virtual Office' now has HD voice. HD audio quality will be available for the company's branded IP phone models 6753i, 6755i, and 6757i.

HD calls double the regular VoIP sampling rate from 8K to 16K samples per second making calls clearer and more detailed. Current 8x8 customers will need to contact the company in order to get the new HD service. New customers will automatically get the HD voice offerings.

For more:
- read this article

02/11/2009 - 8x8 sees Q2 profits increase with new customers and sales team

8x8 is seeing green despite the economy's effect on its traditional markets. After making moves to target larger companies and the federal government while increasing sales staff, 8x8's second quarter earnings results show revenue growth for the first time in a year as well as the highest level of operating income the company has ever had since going public. The VoIP provider posted $1.3 million in net profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2010.

The company shifted away from resellers earlier in the year to focus more on direct sales while doubling their sales force. The move seems to have paid off as 8x8 has seen a sequential spike in net income--a 2900% increase from a year ago according to Telephony.

The profit spike seems to be due in part to the economy forcing companies to look at hosted VoIP for the cost savings, and also Nortel's recent bankruptcy issues which might be bringing some potential customers over to 8x8's side.

For more:
- read this article

22/10/2009 - 8x8 wins auto-provisioning patent; broad implications for industry?

Yesterday, 8x8 announced that they have been awarded a patent for a technology that enables a VoIP phone to automatically locate and connect to web servers to download appropriate configurations and upgrades.

The patent seems simple and harmless enough, but Garrett Smith over at Smith on VoIP raises a red flag. "I’m no patent lawyer and certainly some of the verbose used in the patent is lost on me, but it sure seems that what 8X8 has patented is how just about every residential and hosted VoIP provider goes about offering 'plug-n-play' functionality to the end customer as well as the ability to push new settings, firmware, etc seamlessly," muses Smith on his blog.

If he's right in the way he's reading this patent, the implication is that VoIP providers might have to start looking for other ways to provide their automatic configuration and firmware upgrade features.

For more:
- read the release
- read Smith on VoIP's story

Related articles
8x8 posts net profit for fiscal Q1 2010
8x8 announces Q3 2009 results, adds cash
Rumor mill: 8x8 stocking up cash to go shopping

03/09/2009 - IT EXPO West - 8x8 seeing more gov biz, larger customer deployments

LOS ANGELES - 8x8's recent financial results have given credence to the company's claims that it is not only surviving but preparing to take market share during the current recession. Executives at IT EXPO West said the average line deployment per customer is growing quickly, and Huw Rees, VP of business development, said the company is seeing traction with government entities around hosted VoIP solutions. He said he's placing a bid at least every two weeks with government clients and that the company is closely monitoring the opportunity around broadband stimulus.

8x8 CMO Debbie Jo Severin said while July and August are typically slow sales months for the company, which has been incorporated since 1987, this August saw a record number of new customer wins. She said the company will be adding more unified communications functionality to its Virtual Office hosted IP PBX product in the upcoming months. She also said, while it was never wise to "lose your sense of vulnerability," that Digium and Skype's announcement of Skype for Asterisk did not represent a major threat to 8x8's core offering.

"Skype might have an effect, but what I think is great about 8x8 is that it's built for small businesses, and it's not taking a consumer business and slapping an enterprise piece on it," Severin said. "It might do well in a 2 or 3 line situation, but these small businesses are going to want the feature set, the auto attendant and other business functionality that 8x8 provides."

Also of note, Severin said TMC CEO Rich Tehrani confirmed that 8x8 is the longest running consecutive vendor at IT EXPO.

For more:
- see 8x8's IT EXPO West announcements here and here

29/07/2009 - 8x8 posts net profit for fiscal Q1 2010

Business VoIP service provider 8x8 posted a net profit of $414,000 for its fiscal Q1 2010, up sharply from the $3.9 million loss it posted in its fiscal Q4 2009. The company reported it gained 2,907 new business customers for a net gain of 1,253 business subscribers as well in the quarter, showing strong growth despite the weak economy.

The company reported $15.6 million in revenue for the fiscal quarter, down slightly compared to the $15.8 million revenue it reported for its fiscal Q4 2009 and $16.3 million it reported for the same quarter a year ago. 8x8 said it plans a stock repurchase plan, in which it will buy back up to $2 million of its outstanding common stock.

"Demand for our hosted IP telephony solutions continues to grow, surpassing last quarter's record number of sales to new business subscribers," 8x8 Chairman and CEO Bryan Martin said in a statement. "This accelerating growth indicates our strategy of minimizing the upfront cost of entry for small businesses is working, making our services even more compelling in today's tenuous economic climate. We expect to report increased revenue and net income next quarter as a result of this strategy."

For more:
- see the press release here

11/06/2009 - M&A, venture funding in IP communications heating up

After a bone dry first quarter, it appears that the market for mergers and acquisitions and venture capital investment in the IP communications world is ramping up again. After BroadSoft formally announced its purchase of Sylantro in late December 2008, there were only two funding announcements and no significant acquisitions around IP communications until Acme Packet announced its purchase of Covergence for $23 million April 30.

Given the drastic economic downturn, it's not altogether surprising that investors and companies looking for acquisitions sat the first quarter out. But now that "green shoots" are beginning to appear and experts are forecasting a gradual economic turnaround, it looks like it's open season again on the M&A and VC front--there have been four acquisitions and three funding announcements since Acme bought Covergence six weeks ago.

Just this week, jaxtr was bought by SabSe Technologies and Natural Convergence announced it was buying NewStep Networks for its FMC technology. In May Avaya purchased contact center software maker Agile and Voxeo bought IMified for its IM API.

On the funding front, fring raised a Series C round, hosted VoIP play Telesphere raised $15 million, and Xcast Labs raised $2.7M, with all deals announced after May 1.

Garrett Smith, at Smith on VoIP, sees the acquisition trend continuing in mobile VoIP as companies that weathered the recession well look for bargain prices on their less fortunate peers. Start-ups or smaller companies with strong SIP technology or a compelling UC story could also be acquisition targets as the year goes on.

Rumors circulated in February that 8x8 might be a likely buyer, as the profitable company stockpiled more than $16 million without any other clear purpose. Voxeo, whose IMified buy was its third in 12 months, also could purchase another company with a strong tech set. The big tech companies with cash stockpiles, such as Cisco, Apple and Microsoft, could always poach an IP communications company, but it's difficult to see a clear place they'd make an investment to fit their current voice product lines.

Which companies do you think will be active in M&A in the second half of 2009? Is there a company you think will be targeted for acquisition? Shoot me an email or a tweet and we can discuss.

- Pete
@fiercevoip

30/03/2009 - VoiceCon 2009: 8x8 launches enterprise version of hosted IP PBX phone service

Continuing its march across the business VoIP market, 8x8 announced Virtual Office Enterprise, the latest version of its hosted IP PBX business phone solution.

The new enterprise solution provides high availability, quality and redundancy. 8x8 recently upgraded its service infrastructure, deploying a new triple redundant architecture across three independent data centers with each data center connected to redundant IP access providers. This new architecture allows for failure of any software component, server, cluster or even a complete data center failure without affecting service to the end customer.

Details in the release didn't state what type of a SLA enterprise customers would be offered or how many customers per site the solution would handle. SMB customers affected by Packet 8 glitches in the past six months may wonder what they might be getting out of this new announcement.

For more:
- 8x8's announcement.

11/02/2009 - Rumor mill: 8x8 stocking up cash to go shopping

At the end of January, 8x8 reported that it had accumulated $16.2 million between cash and investments. So what's it going to do with all that loot?

Certainly some of it is salted away for a rainy day, but with an average of about $14 to $16 million in revenues per quarter, there's still a lot of margin available for an all-cash acquisition or two, depending on the price tag.

The harder task may be trying to unearth a good bargain in these times that fits 8x8's business focus - which is businesses. The company would most likely want to add on a service business/ITSP/ISP focused on SMBs that has a good balance sheet (forget inheriting someone else's bad business practices and debts) and a decent set of customers to add to the rolls. Not a lot of companies floating around that meet such criteria.

Related article
8x8 announces Q3 2009 results, adds cash

30/01/2009 - 8x8 announces Q3 2009 results, adds cash

Unlike many other VoIP service providers, 8x8 managed to add some cash to its bottom line last quarter. The company announced its operating results for its Q3 quarter ending on December 31, 2008. Revenues were down slightly compared to last quarter, but up on a year-by-year comparison and the company added nearly a thousand new customers.

Revenues for Q3 FY 2009 were $16.2 million, compared to $15.8 million for the same period last year and $16.4 million for the previous quarter. Business services revenue now makes up 66 percent of total revenue for 8x8, as compared to 48 percent in Q3 2008 and 60 percent last quarter.

GAAP income for the quarter was $180,000 and cash and investments increased to $16.2 million in Q3 2008; in the second quarter they were $15.8 million and $14.3 million in Q3 2008. It is the seventh consecutive quarter of increased cash and investments and a total of $1.6 million for the year to date.

8x8's customer base increased by a net 962 new customers and the company now provides service to 14,706 business customers. On a percentage basis, business churn is down to the lowest in 18 months, down to 2.9 percent; it was at 3.3 percent in Q3 2008.

Reading the fine print, the company continues to add direct sales force, moving from 43 to 56 agents. Direct sales accounted for 84 percent of new business sales during the quarter.

For more:
- 8x8 publishes numbers. Release.

26/01/2009 - Hiccups at Packet 8 due to DNS problems

It seems 8x8 (Packet8) might have a "Service outages before announcing fiscal results" curse. On Thursday, Packet 8 customers were reporting that the company's VoIP service was interrupted and its website was down - not the kind of news the company is looking to talk about when it discusses its 3QFY09 earnings on Jan. 29.

A spokesperson for Packet 8 said that problems arose around 7 p.m. PST Jan. 22. A DNS (domain name service) registry problem with www.packet8.net resulted in customers not being able to reach the packet8.net website and having failures in phone service; Registry.com apparently mucked something up in the process. Packet8's phones and digital terminal adopters have "several" hard coded fail-over processes built into them, but DNS issues prevented the mechanism from working as anticipated.

Most ISPs updated to correct DNS routings within minutes of the initial problem, except AT&T, AT&T Mobile and Time Warner Roadrunner on the East Coast, said the spokesperson; at some point Cox and Verizon were also involved, according to DSL Reports. Packet8 contacted its customers with a workout for endpoints and phones and was working to contact ISPs to push DNS updates.

This isn't the first time 8x8 has had problems just before a looming financial call. Back at the end of July 2008, a residential service interruption might have lasted for at least an hour or so due to a Packet8 database crash at a Level 3 data center; business customers were unaffected.

Some Packet8 customers previously having service with SunRocket had some déjà vu and panic over the service interruption before matters were solved; SunRocket service and its webpage abruptly disappeared as the company went out of business.

For more:
- DSL Reports report.

03/12/2008 - 8x8's half-off sale

8x8 has announced a year-end 50 percent off special for new subscribers to its Virtual Office Phone service.

Businesses who sign up for the Virtual Office hosted PBX service can now pay $24.99 per month per extension if they subscribe by December 31, 2008, instead of the usual $49.99 per extension. They also can choose to pay $250 per extension in a one-time annual fee for the first year. New customers have to purchase 8x8's new IP phones and agree to keep the service for at least one year to be eligible.

Interestingly, we don't expect to see "relief" business packages from other VoIP and IP communications providers by the end of the year. All the others are sticking to the "we save you money over traditional phone service" line and seem to be reluctant to engage in a significant price cut/discount package for fear of trigging a price war - something no one wants at this point in time.

Life may be more interesting over on the consumer side in larger markets, however, with cable companies attempting to add more ARPU and/or suck up more market share from phone companies. Since October, Comcast has been offering free cable service with the purchase of Internet or phone service.

For more:
- Read the press release from 8x8.