Source: www.voip-news.com

8×8, Inc. and Aastra have teamed up to offer co-branded Virtual Office business IP phones bundled with the 8×8 Virtual Office suite. The new products are available at Office Depot.

According to the companies:

The 8×8/Aastra 6755i Virtual Office IP phone replaces the Virtual Office ST2118 analog business phone which Office Depot had previously been carrying. These plug-and-play IP telephones serve as endpoints for the 8×8 Virtual Office hosted IP PBX business phone service, currently in use by over 16,000 companies. 8×8 Virtual Office provides businesses with a complete, enterprise class phone system at a fraction of the cost of a traditional PBX and roughly half the cost of traditional business phone service.

“The 675xi Virtual Office IP phones developed jointly by 8×8 and Aastra have been favorably received by our subscribers since their introduction last summer and we are excited to now offer this next generation product to Office Depot customers with the added convenience of retail availability,” said 8×8 Vice President of Business & Channel Development Huw Rees. “Office Depot has been a valued sales partner for over two years and we applaud their continued commitment to offer businesses the latest advanced communication technology services and products.”

The new phones can plug into any broadband Internet connection, allowing users to make or receive calls instantly without any changes to the firewall or network configuration.

“8×8 and Aastra have experienced great synergy working together on an OEM level, and we look forward to broadening our relationship into the retail sales and marketing channel,” said Tim Whittington, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Aastra USA. “The combination of Aastra’s superior quality business IP phones together with 8×8’s

Source: www.voip-news.com

8×8 is the latest of the VoIP companies to announce their call to release the data on their earnings for the quarter that ended on March 31. For 8×8, that means FY09, quarter 4 — so the year end results will be released at the same time.

The conference call will be led byBryan R. Martin, the chairman and CEO and Dan Weirich, the CFO and president. It will begin at 4:30 p.m. EST on May 21.

Here’s the detes:

Date: May 21, 2009
Time: 4:30 p.m. EDT
Dial In: (888) 397-5338, domestic
(719) 457-2630, international
Replay: (888) 203-1112, passcode 4712725, domestic
(719) 457-0820, passcode 4712725, international
Webcast: http://investors.8×8.com/

Source: www.voip-news.com

The 11th Annual AeA Micro Cap Financial Conference is coming. It’s scheduled for May 3-5 in Monterey, California at the Monterey Plaza Hotel. The conference brings together tech companies and tech investors to talk about trends, emerging technologies and more.

There are a variety of wireless, telecom and other tech companies presenting, including 10 key private companies.

Among the presenters will be Bryan R. Martin, the chairman and CEO of 8×8, providers of Packet8 VoIP service and 8×8 Virtual Office. President and CFO Dan Weirich will also be presenting. California Micro Devices, Incredimail, Qualstar and more will also be presenting.

Source: www.voip-news.com

There is now an enterprise version of 8×8’s hosted IP PBX phone service that is intended for use by larger organizations.

“Core enhancements to the Virtual Office hosted PBX platform and additional redundancy in our network now enable us to offer this solution to larger organizations that are analyzing the cost and functionality of their current telecommunications infrastructure alongside a requirement for high quality, availability and redundancy from this mission critical service,” said 8×8 Chairman & CEO Bryan Martin.

According to 8×8:

8×8 Virtual Office Enterprise, the latest generation of 8×8’s broadband agnostic hosted IP PBX business phone solutions, brings the features, flexibility and economies of hosted VoIP to enterprise environments at a time when economic conditions are forcing CIOs and CFOs to seek new ways to reduce operating expenditures. Unlike premise-based PBX phone systems that require a significant financial investment plus management and maintenance resources, Virtual Office Enterprise is a complete business phone solution that delivers advanced PBX calling features combined with cost-effective IP dial tone service, eliminating the need for expensive on-site equipment.

“We are very pleased with the roll out of our new network and application design,” said 8×8 Vice President of Service Delivery & Support Mehdi Salour. “Our services are now designed to be more reliable than ever and the addition of multiple connections to several different tier one access providers will enable us to provide even higher quality services to our customers.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

8×8 Chairman and CEO Bryan R. Martin is going to present at B. Riley & Co’s 10th Annual Investor Conference at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas next week on March 19. His presentation is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Pacific time.

Here’s the details:

The two-day conference will feature presentations by approximately 120 companies representing a variety of industries, including retail, restaurants, semiconductors, technology hardware, software, IT services, communications, media, healthcare, and financial services.

Source: www.voip-news.com

It’s not conference season or anything, is it?

Bryan R. Martin, the Chairman and CEO of 8×8, Inc., will be presenting at the 5th Annual Winter Technology Conference held by Security Research Associates at the Omni Hotel in San Francisco on Monday, March 9. He is scheduled to talk at 1:30 p.m.

According to 8×8:

Conference attendees will include a select group of institutional portfolio managers and analysts, and will feature CEO’s and CFO’s from some of the fastest growing companies in the technology sector.

Source: www.voip-news.com

8×8 has hit a new milestone in its business. The company, which offers 8×8 Virtual Office and Packet8, now has an IP telephony service customer base in excess of 15,000 companies. 8×8 surpassed the milestone on January 31.

The company says that the customer base has grown rapidly thanks to many customers taking advantasge of its Virtual Office hosted PBX solution.

“We are very pleased to report this new subscriber milestone and to know that
our business phone services are helping companies reduce their operating costs
during these turbulent economic times,” said 8×8 Chairman and CEO Bryan R.
Martin.

Source: www.voip-news.com

The IP Hosted Key System from 8×8, Inc. won a Best in Show Award at the recent TMC Internet Telephony Conference and Expo East 2009 in the Most Innovative Product category. The system is intended to replace traditional business key systems with an IP-based system that can be used on any public or private broadband Internet connection.

“Service providers, enterprise buyers, developers, and resellers come to ITEXPO because they know they’ll find solutions from innovative companies like 8×8, Inc. that can help their business today,” said TMC President and Conference Chairman, Rich Tehrani. “Outstanding companies like 8×8, Inc. with their award winning solutions, help to validate ITEXPO’s status as the leading forum in the communications industry.”

According to 8×8:

The INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO Best of Show Award recognizes innovative products and solutions that were featured in the Exhibit Hall during the event. This designation serves to highlight the technological achievement and creative product features that set these winners apart from the rest of the crowd. INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine editorial staff evaluated the pre-show nominations, and met with vendors to inspect and review the displayed products on the first day of the Expo.

Source: www.voip-news.com

8×8 Virtual Office and Packet8 provider 8×8, Inc. has announced their  financial operating results for its third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2008. The company showed a strong business for the period.

According to 8×8:

Revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 were $16.2 million, compared with $15.8 million for the same period of fiscal 2008 and $16.4 million for the previous quarter. 8×8 business services revenue grew to 66% of total revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 compared with 48% of total revenue in the same period of fiscal 2008 and 60% of total revenue in the previous quarter. Sequentially, 8×8 Virtual Office revenue grew 41% from the same period of fiscal 2008 and 8% from the previous quarter. Overall gross margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 was 67%, compared with 65% for the same period of fiscal 2008.

“We are very pleased to report the seventh consecutive quarterly increase in our cash and investment balances and the fifth consecutive quarter of net income,” said 8×8 Chairman & CEO Bryan R. Martin. “In addition, during the December quarter, the Company organically added more new business customers than ever before, with over 2,400 gross additions. On a percentage basis, we also experienced our lowest business churn in more than 18 months, a metric that we have been focused on improving.” Martin continued, “While our overall revenue growth does not yet reflect the Company’s strategic shift in focus from residential to business services, our underlying business services results, which now represent approximately two-thirds of our revenues, clearly indicate that our strategy is succeeding. We continue to feel optimistic that this strategy will deliver value to both our customers and shareholders despite the current macro-economic conditions.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

8×8 was really reaching when they put out a recent press release. The company said that services like 8×8 Virtual Office and Packet8 reduce monthly costs (yes, that’s normal) and (gasp) would mean less holiday stress since it creates a way to manage the billing costs. But 8×8? Well, they said that it reduces holiday stress. Um yea.

“The holiday season puts customer-facing companies to the test, regardless of the economic climate,” says 8×8, Inc. Chairman & CEO Bryan R. Martin. “Outsourcing your business phone service to a hosted provider like 8×8 means that our California-based service professionals will take care of your phone service for you, including all administration, moves, adds and changes, so you can concentrate on running your business.”

Reaching. Totally reaching.

“With the stress of long lines, worsening traffic and their own end-of-year financial concerns, the customers of small businesses have even less tolerance for long hold times or navigation of patchy phone systems. Internet-based telecommunications solutions like 8×8’s Virtual Office are enabling small businesses to appease impatient customers by cutting queue times and improving the customer calling experience without having to augment staff or pay for pricey PBX (private branch exchange) systems traditionally afforded by larger companies,” said Martin.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Well, I guess this could be gettin’ in the holiday spirit.

8×8, Inc. is temporarily reducing its monthly service charges for Virtual Office Business Phone Service by 50 percent for new subscribers. The company is declaring it an effort to relieve cash-strapped small businesses.

According to 8×8:

Normally priced at $49.99 per month/extension, Virtual Office hosted PBX phone service, an all inclusive Internet-based telecommunications solution which combines unlimited local and long distance calling with advanced PBX features, is now available to companies who subscribe by December 31, 2008 for a monthly fee of $24.99/extension or a one-time annual fee of $250/extension for the first year of service. New customers must purchase 8×8’s new Internet protocol (IP) phones and agree to keep service for a minimum of one year in order to be eligible for the promotion.

“VoIP technology has quickly come into focus as an effective and immediate cost cutting tool for small and medium-sized businesses. Benefits like predictable monthly phone bills, remote working capabilities, and Fortune 500 enterprise-class calling features are not only helping our small business customers survive in this recession, but are actually helping them to prosper and run their businesses more efficiently. We want more companies to experience the business advantages that VoIP communications services like Virtual Office can deliver,” said 8×8, Inc. Chairman & CEO Bryan R. Martin.

Source: www.voip-news.com

8×8 has signed an agreement with Avtex LLC to transition the company’s hosted PBX and unified Messaging subscribers to Packet 8 business solutions. 8×8 is softening the transition by providing new subscribers with free equipment, activation and a first-month discount.

“We are pleased to welcome iTELConnect subscribers to Packet8 and look forward to a seamless transition as we provision our services to these customers,” said 8×8 Vice President of Sales and Marketing Huw Rees. “Our goal is to provide the same exceptional quality of service and support they had been receiving from Avtex and to deliver cost-effective, best in class business communications solutions that contribute to the growth and success of their organizations.”

8×8 will also be working with Avtex to build relationships.

“I am very impressed with the technology behind the Packet8 solution and the ease with which it can be deployed in any business setting,” said Jay Groenke, managing partner at InTouch Services Group. “With today’s challenging economy, more and more businesses are looking to trim expenses without sacrificing quality and Packet8’s innovative IP communications solutions deliver on both fronts.”