Since we last reviewed 8×8 X Series, the company has prettied up the product name to 8×8 eXperience Communications as a Service (XCaaS), but it remains the same solid business voice-over-IP (VoIP) contender. As with previous releases, 8×8 has continued to enhance its offering with iterative improvements. New features this time mainly focus on making communication tasks easier and better integrated with services like Microsoft Teams.
8×8 XCaaS Pricing and Plans
Pricing for the base 8×8 XCaaS Express service starts at $15 per user per month, the same as the X1 tier from our previous review. This level includes unlimited voice calling, video, and messaging, plus support for multi-site and multi-level auto-attendant. This feature list makes 8×8 Express a good value for an entry-level service tier.
The next level up is the X2 tier, the starting price for which has been lowered by a dollar to $24 per user per month. This tier adds unlimited voice calling to 14 countries, video and audio conferencing plus chat, and a respectable list of small business and enterprise integrations.
The X4 service costs $44 per user per month ups international calling to 48 countries provides access to the new Frontdesk call-reception feature (more on that below), advanced call handling, call quality reporting, analytics, and call-center features including barge, monitor, and whisper.
In general, 8×8 is one of the more affordable offerings in our current roundup, with pricing comparable to Dialpad.
Client User Experience
As in our earlier reviews, one of 8×8’s greatest strengths is the overall usability of the product’s interface, which has been consistently high for users and admins alike. At the same time, the interface is still missing some productivity features found in other products like Dialpad and our Editors’ Choice winners RingCentral MVP and Intermedia Unite. You can get similar features if you’re a Microsoft Teams user, but they don’t exist in the product itself.
The 8×8 XCaaS desktop client is called 8×8 Work for Desktop, and installers are available for both Windows and macOS. New for this release, users can also get the same user experience from a web browser via the 8×8 Work for Web product, which is available for all service tiers at no additional charge. All functionality found in the desktop client, including video meetings, is available using the browser-based version.
Like other products in this roundup, 8×8’s focus on meetings is readily apparent. The product supports meetings of up to 500 participants as a part of its base X2 package, which will cost you extra with Dialpad. Other features such as in-meeting polls, post-meeting summaries, breakout rooms, and virtual backgrounds bring 8×8 on par with all the popular video conferencing products. Also new is additional mobile support for screen sharing and even mobile browsers for users who haven’t installed the 8×8 mobile client.
Updates to the product’s basic voice features include seamless call flipping between devices, sharing of voicemails, a call quality indicator for desktop and mobile, and support for messaging on Android Auto.
Also on the mobile device front, it’s now possible to initiate video meetings from mobile devices. You can configure this feature so that it’s available over a phone’s mobile data plan or restrict it to Wi-Fi only. We were able to initiate a meeting from the phone and connect both from the desktop client and the web browser interface. We also tried out the call-flip feature, which works a little differently than some of the other products we tested. With 8×8, you initiate the flip from the device you wish to move to by dialing *88 and hitting Send.
Account Administration
All basic administration tasks happen through an admin web portal, which boasts a UI that does a great job of easing administration tasks. The layout and functionality haven’t changed much at all since our last review. Tasks are still grouped under the headings of Setup, Phone System, and Work Groups.
Some functions have been moved around, such as designating system administrators. This now happens under the Roles & Permissions section. A Virtual Assistant is available for all administrative functions to help guide you through unfamiliar processes.
However, while we remain impressed with 8×8’s user experience overall, some longstanding—if minor—annoyances persist. For example, you’ll still need to use the bulk edit to change an individual’s assigned site.
Frontdesk Reception Handling
One of the more significant additions to this year’s release is the new Frontdesk feature, which offers extra functionality to companies who want to designate an extension as their phone receptionist. It’s designed to make it easier to designate a user to receive and greet all incoming calls and route them to the appropriate extensions. One downside is that you’ll need at least an X4 license to take advantage of this new feature.
We went through the process of configuring a Receptionist role and found it to be straightforward. You must either create a new user or designate an existing user as a Receptionist in the Users section of the Administration page. Once that’s done, the new Receptionist will have additional Frontdesk features available in the desktop client application to make finding employees from the company directory and transferring calls a little easier.
Integrations and Analytics
Like other players in our current roundup, 8×8 offers a variety of integrations with third-party software that your organization might already be using. For example, in addition to basic password authentication, it also integrates with corporate identity management systems and provides a SCIM 2.0 compliant interface for exchanging credentials. Default SCIM support is available for Microsoft Azure Active Directory and Okta.
Access to analytics must be enabled on a user-by-user basis. Once that’s done, analytics will show up as an option from the single sign-on (SSO) page. The web-based interface provides access to a wide range of statistics about calls and some information about call quality. You can’t modify any of the reports, but you can filter by date and view the information by device or user.
8×8 also provides APIs that developers can use to access SMS, video, and analytics. For example, using the SMS API it’s possible to create a mobile verification text message for use by any application. The platform also supports the open-source Jitsi project for building secure video conferencing applications. And then there’s Sameroom, an integration for connecting with team messaging applications like Slack and Telegram.
A Solid Choice for SMBs
We continue to see 8×8 XCaaS as a reliable option for small businesses, with a strong and growing menu of features. The new Frontdesk component is a welcome addition for companies that want to emulate a traditional receptionist’s desk. What’s more, 8×8’s entry-level pricing will be attractive to new customers, and even its higher pricing tiers are competitive. It’s still missing some of the advanced features of our Editors’ Choice category leaders. Still, its easy-to-navigate UI should make it attractive to businesses that don’t want or need to dedicate much time to configuring their phone systems.
