8x8 announces updates to its cloud communications platform

Cloud communications platform provider 8x8 has announced upgrades to its contact centre, voice communications, chat and meetings.

The upgrade includes the new 8x8 Work for Web as well as a platform-wide SLA, to help organisations enable hybrid work.

According to research commissioned by 8x8, 82% of organisations plan to offer a mix of in-office and remote work, and it says the new 8x8 capabilities will enable employees to stay productive however they work.

The company says users now have the ability to access voice communications, team chat, video meetings, and other capabilities directly from any device with a supported web browser. This includes mobile browsers on both iOS and Android using Safari or Chrome.

Some other new product features include:

• Custom video meeting backgrounds, enabling participants to select an image or blur their background during meetings for privacy control.
• Respond to specific team chat messages with inline messaging.
• Silence incoming calls during video meetings. Call notifications appear silently so meeting audio is not interrupted.
• View real-time connectivity status and additional call quality metrics during an active phone call.
• Use Machine learning and AI for Smart Administration. 8x8 says its Otto bot is now available in the 8x8 Admin Console to help administrators perform system changes and get real-time support on frequent operations.

The company also says its Voice for Microsoft Teams app is now generally available, and 8x8 for Salesforce FastTrack.

According to 8x8, its new Trust Center can share security measures, compliance standards, reliability and uptime guarantees, as well as detailed current status transparency for monitoring the latest network and service conditions. This public site will report real-time availability of 8x8 services by region, application and capability.

8x8 has expanded its global coverage, and now offers enhanced in-region data residency compliance, with operations in new geographic regions, including Australia, India, Germany, and the broader European Union. With the addition of Argentina, 8x8 Global Reach expands Public Switched Telephone Network services and global calling plans to 43 countries.
 
"Organisations across the globe are adopting a hybrid work model, which is transforming the way employees and customers communicate, collaborate and engage," says 8x8 chief product officer, Dejan Deklich.

"The 8x8 Customer First, Product First, Team First culture drives our commitment to innovate on the integrated cloud contact centre and communications platform, allowing organisations and their employees to work and engage from anywhere, on any device in the app of their choice.