8×8 Phone System Review and Pricing

8×8 Editor’s Score: 8.6/10 

Why We Chose 8×8 for Growing Businesses

Not every Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system offers international numbers or supports non-U.S.-based workers. However, this is where 8×8 shines. Its global reach extends to direct inward dial (local numbers) in over 55 countries and virtual phone numbers for more than 120 countries. 

8×8 goes the extra mile by offering international deployment and multilingual customer service teams. This global support is invaluable for companies looking to establish an offshore call center or handle 24-hour customer service calls. We also appreciate the convenience of the mobile and desktop admin controls. From a single administrative interface, you can quickly serve users, configure the system and manage sites. 

8×8 lets you select call recordings, sites and more to manage data and settings. Source: 8×8

Cost is always a concern when it comes to business expansion. That’s why we appreciate 8×8’s flexibility. Its mix-and-match plans cater to various roles, including receptionists and omnichannel customer service agents. Depending on your subscription, you can reduce international calling costs by taking advantage of unmetered calling to 14 or 48 countries. 

It’s not just about cost savings — 8×8 delivers value. All voice plans come with advanced call management, video conferencing and messaging tools. It also integrates with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, including a no-license Microsoft Teams option. 

8×8’s Experience Communications as a Service (xCaaS) platform is designed to keep your workforce connected as your company grows. Its reliability, scalability and feature-rich services make it one of the best business phone systems on the market. 

Ease of Use

Cloud PBX (public branch exchange) systems like 8×8 let employees interact with co-workers and customers using any internet-connected device. We found 8×8’s desktop client user-friendly and comparable to RingEX or Vonage. Its light and dark themes, special action icons and sound library let you customize your experience to suit your needs.

8×8 lets you adjust settings to improve the look and feel of your desktop application. Source: 8×8

We like that 8×8 allows you to add a custom status message in addition to standard presence data. It syncs to your calendar, and you can select which message to display when you have an event. However, the iOS and Android apps could be more intuitive. Some business users mentioned having problems transferring and parking calls. We found that Nextiva and Ooma have more straightforward and usable mobile apps. 

8×8 integrates with some of the best customer relationship management (CRM) software platforms around; we found it easy to activate apps from the 8×8 settings integration panel. In contrast, some competitors, like Nextiva, require a third-party integrator tool to connect the phone system to the help desk or CRM software. Notably, 8×8 had more limitations when it came to onsite integrations. We preferred Ooma Office for seamless connection to analog paging systems and fax machines. Learn more in our Ooma Office review.

8×8 X Series Features

As your company expands, you can enable optional 8×8 functions for users or departments or enforce them company-wide. This flexibility and the phone system’s advanced capabilities make it ideal for growing businesses. Below, we identify the 8×8 X Series features that support your organization’s growth and development.

Desktop and Mobile Administration

All VoIP phone systems have online admin portals, but not all providers or plans are multisite or globally compatible. We were thrilled that 8×8 added mobile administrative tools in late 2023. The apps fully sync to the main 8×8 Admin Console, displaying time-critical alerts and a performance analytics dashboard. This addition allows companies to manage several locations from a single admin platform on desktop or mobile devices.

8×8 helps you make decisions based on real-time data, even if you’re not in the office. Source: 8×8

We liked the time-saving features, like standardized rules and auto-site generation. Establishing a new site’s phone system was quicker than it was with some competitors’ software that required us to start from scratch. We could also update all office lines simultaneously instead of applying changes manually.

Multilevel Auto-Attendants

8×8’s multilevel automated receptionist supports the complex call flows that are standard with larger organizations. A system like Nextiva provides a virtual receptionist on its base plan, whereas 8×8, RingEX and Dialpad have multilevel auto-attendants with all subscriptions. With 8×8, you can configure submenus and create multisite ring groups. 

We also appreciate 8×8’s built-in configurations for alternate menus. These allow administrators to immediately switch to a substitute auto-attendant during an unplanned event that affects phone service. You can designate alternate menu greetings and call-forwarding rules to ensure business continuity, even if one or more of your locations cannot accept calls.

During an emergency, toggle the switch to apply 8×8’s alternate menu. Source: 8×8

Analytics for 8×8 Work

Data analytics, like 8×8’s unreturned calls or quality trends reports, are invaluable to growing businesses. Analytics data for 8×8 Work provides historical and real-time information for hardware and extensions across your organization. We liked the customization and filtering options. The platform displays granular details in a table or graph from any device. 

8×8 call activity and supervisor analytics come with x4 unified communications plans. In our RingEX review, we noted that this vendor also includes essential business analytics on its midtier subscription while offering analytics for IT administrators on the base package.

View 8×8’s extension summaries to see total calls by type or search for specific data. Source: 8×8

Integrations

Because 8×8 has phone and call center features on one platform, we love that it also supports integrations at the base and contact center levels. It syncs with core CRM, service, productivity and support applications. For instance, 8×8 stores contact call data in HubSpot and Zoho while providing call controls.  

8×8 offers Zoho CRM integrations for Work and Contact Center phone systems. Source: 8×8

Although 8×8 integrates with fewer applications than RingEX or Zoom, we were impressed that all X Series licenses include built-in calling functionality within Microsoft Teams. We appreciate Teams integration options that don’t require a Teams Phone license. Dialpad and RingEX also offer no-license solutions. And as we noted in our Vonage review, that system has a stand-alone VoIP and Teams plan.

Audio and Video Conferencing

8×8’s VoIP solution has a 500-person audio and video conferencing limit — higher than most competitors, including Dialpad and Nextiva. Still, RingEX supports 1,000 audio conference attendees. Although we didn’t get a chance to test the artificial intelligence (AI) tools offered by 8×8, our research revealed that most AI-generated meeting summaries, action items and highlights save businesses time and increase productivity. 

You can use 8×8’s AI to summarize meetings, including screen share snapshots and poll results. Source: 8×8

We like that 8×8 allows livestreaming to YouTube. The meeting application has advanced moderation controls and encourages engagement through instant polls, emoji reactions and hand raising. You can share videos in meetings and chat with participants. 

Call Handling and Management

8×8’s softphone apps help employees deliver exceptional caller experiences with tools such as call transfer, forwarding and parking. Admins can distribute calls for more efficient customer service by leveraging ring groups and call queues. We also like that 8×8 offers Frontdesk app functionality for receptionists and operators. RingEX’s receptionist console is available on the base plan, whereas 8×8 requires you to sign up for the x4 plan to get this capability.

8×8 lets companies retain their personal touch by handling incoming calls with a receptionist, who forwards them to the appropriate site, department or employee. Source: 8×8

8×8 X Series Pricing and Plans

The 8×8 X Series includes five service plans: two for unified business communications and three for contact centers. The vendor provides custom quotes and discounts for annual prepayment, extended contracts and high-volume license purchases. Previous pricing estimates put 8×8’s unified communications plans (x2 and x4) in the range of RingEX and Nextiva. 

However, Dialpad has a cheaper option with annual billing, and Zoom Phone’s metered subscription costs less. All 8×8 X Series subscriptions include video and audio conferencing with 500 participants, single sign-on support and voicemail transcriptions. Other business phone systems charge a premium for hot desking and higher video meeting capacity, whereas the 8×8 x2 plan is reasonably priced. 

Regardless of the package you choose, 8×8 includes these VoIP and contact center solutions:

• 8×8 Work: Unified mobile, desktop and web app
• Unlimited internet faxing
• Presence detection
• Unlimited extension-to-extension calling
• Team messaging with document sharing
• HD audio and video conferencing with screen sharing for up to 500 active participants
• Integrations with key CRM, productivity, service and support applications

Here’s a breakdown of what you get in each plan.

Businesses can add several features to boost their phone system’s functionality. Unified communications users can choose media cold storage for long-term archival purposes, and quality management and speech analytics are available to all licensed users. 

8×8’s Contact Center plans (x6, x7 and x8) offer an auto-dialer, intelligent customer assistant or interactive voice response and 8×8 Secure Pay. We especially like 8×8 Secure Pay, a payment processing tool that lets your customers add payment information through a secure interface.

Implementation and Onboarding

As with other cloud-based business phone services, 8×8 doesn’t require the special wiring and hardware that are necessary for traditional solutions. Once the system is configured, employees can access team messaging and calling tools using a desktop client, browser or mobile app. We liked the option to clone employee or administrator roles and bulk-upload new users. 

Otto, the system’s AI-powered assistant, helps with training and onboarding. It works in the 8×8 admin portal, knowledge base and 8×8 support portal (My 8×8). 8×8 also provides free online training and paid courses through 8×8 University, similar to what RingEX offers. However, we preferred Vonage’s free live training sessions and found Nextiva’s support center easier to navigate.

Still, 8×8’s free tutorial pages are helpful. These materials include 88-second guides, two- to three-minute videos and interactive demos. The complimentary self-paced learning modules help new users get up to speed without disrupting workplaces.

Click a button from the left-hand menu in the 8×8 app to access training videos and courses. Source: 8×8

Customer Support

Although the 8×8 X Series provides 24/7 customer support for all accounts, customer reviews and our experiences suggest that it’s difficult to reach and understand some agents. Users can submit a support ticket, chat online or call 8×8, but the availability and knowledge levels vary. For example, you’ll have to jump through a few hoops (roughly seven to eight mouse clicks) to reach a human via the live chat tool. 

We found that 8×8 often routes callers to the virtual chatbot during peak hours. Indeed, when comparing Nextiva to 8×8, we felt Nextiva’s agents were more responsive and better equipped to answer our questions. However, we love the recent updates to 8×8’s knowledge base. The addition of screenshots helped us navigate system configuration and basic troubleshooting without having to contact the support center.

Limitations

Some 8×8 features — like call barge, whisper and monitor — are found only in the platform’s pricier plans. Some competitors, like Zoom Phone, include these tools with metered and unlimited calling subscriptions. We also felt that 8×8 is falling behind with its AI offering. The AI video meeting tools are a nice touch, but we’d like to see 8×8 provide voice recaps for audio calls. 

8×8’s support is also concerning for businesses without a robust IT and administrative team. Yet 8×8 isn’t alone in this problem; we encountered it several times when researching and testing VoIP services. However, our review of Nextiva pointed out that our support experiences were noticeably better with this vendor than with many competitors. 

Methodology

For our 8×8 review, we tested the 8×8 Work application and admin console. Our process involved setting up auto-attendants, adding users, and performing basic call-handling tasks. We examined 8×8’s unified communications and call center capabilities to ensure scalability for growing businesses. Review our guide on choosing business phone systems to learn how usability and ease of implementation affect your decision-making process.

Bottom Line

We recommend 8×8 for …

• Organizations with growing remote, onsite and hybrid teams.
• Companies looking for high-capacity video conferencing.
• Businesses with international customers or employees.

We don’t recommend 8×8 for …

• Businesses that need monitoring features at a low price.
• Companies with 10 or fewer users.
• Solopreneurs who are looking to add a second phone number.