Almost every aspect of business technology has moved over to the cloud. More and more companies are now moving away from traditional, on-site hosting solutions for their VOIP phone systems. The cloud, even with its forever-cost of use, has certain advantages over owning & running your own infrastructure at your office or in your own data center.

One advantage is, that by simply paying your bill to the Cloud VOIP provider, you get access to seamless VOIP technology, crystal-clear phone calls and a whole suite of available unified communications (UCAAS) and productivity features for better collaboration. You get these features by simple paying 8×8 for their service, along with a few configuration settings on your office network infrastructure. You don’t need a full IT department to implement or maintain 8×8 as a cloud VOIP service. If taking care of the phones is part of the ongoing work of a managed IT services company, make sure coordinating VOIP setup for 8×8 and ongoing maintenance and optimization is part of the scope.

We are taking a quick look at few features of 8×8, a hosted VoIP business phone service that has grown in popularity for both single-branch and multi-branch organizations.  8×8 is currently the #1 ranked hosted VoIP provider, as it is extremely advanced and less expensive than other options in the market. Other options include Avaya, Nextiva and a host of other platforms.

What does 8×8 offer?

DEVICE INTEGRATION

Business can sometimes be on-the-go, which is why being able to flawlessly switch from your mobile device to your computer without interrupting a phone call is so important. 8×8 has a call flip feature, that allows users to move calls between devices without mention. This feature streamlines conversations as they happen, and also gives users access to their phone calls through all of their business technology whether it is in the palm of their hand or in their office.

ONLINE MEETINGS

8×8 makes hosting online meetings easier through Virtual Office Meetings Online. It’s simple to navigate for both the host of the meeting and attendees. The host simply sends a link and a meeting ID number to attendees. Once attendees click the link, the meeting pops up in a web browser. From there, the host and guests can collaborate by sharing their screens, sending content, and chat messaging as a group or to specific individuals. Users don’t have to install any software or plugins, which streamlines the whole virtual meeting experience.

ENGAGEMENT

8×8 helps to modernize on-the-phone experiences for all parties. This is important, as effective communication helps organizations grow and collaborate. The more efficient the communication, the more engaging the conversations. According to a Walker study, 86% of buyers would be willing to pay more if they were guaranteed a better customer experience, which is why consistent communication helps with that engagement. With 8×8 your employees can easily transfer calls, and can work to solve customer issues quickly, while clients can easily get a hold of your organization.

How do you buy 8×8 cloud VOIP Solutions

You can buy directly from 8×8 if you like the sound of their solutions, or you can through a member of their Authorized Partners program. We’re more a fan of going through a Partner, as you typically can benefit from having a skilled intermediary handling your purchase of 8×8 or other services.

Buying from a Partner also gives you someone with accountability in the transaction besides 8×8. Also, if 8×8 is not the right solution for you, the Partner may have other cloud VOIP relationships to leverage on your behalf.

These Partner benefits are some of the same advantages you get some purchasing through a single source vendor or single source purchasing arrangement for all of your IT and other needs tied to the technology infrastructure of your business.