8x8
Encyclopedia
8x8 Inc. is a United States communications technology company, one of the largest VoIP
service providers in the country. 8x8, Inc. offers integrated voice, video and mobile unified communications solutions for small to medium-sized business and distributed enterprise customers.
The founders were both formerly of Weitek
. They began IIT as a fabless vendor of semiconductor
products for the math coprocessor and graphics chipset markets. The company produced x87
floating point
coprocessor
and graphics accelerator chips for the personal computer
market during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The floating coprocessors were produced for the 286, 386 and 486 generations of microprocessors.
In 1992 the company began shipping a lossless data compression product called Xtradrive.
In the early 1990s IIT began producing chips, software and other technologies for the videoconferencing
market. Frustrated by the high prices and low volumes of these videoconferencing systems, the company changed its name to 8x8 and began marketing its own set-top videoconferencing systems for consumers under the ViaTV brand. 8x8 went public on the NASDAQ
market in 1997, trading under the ticker symbol EGHT.
Soon after this, 8x8 launched a family of Voice over IP (VoIP) chips and software that were sold to IP phone, IP/PSTN gateway and other manufacturers of VoIP equipment. The Company acquired two companies (Odisei
and U|Force), to acquire network/server VoIP technologies, and began selling an end-to-end VoIP services technology solution to service providers in 1999.
In 2002, the company relaunched itself as a VoIP
service provider under the Packet8 brand. In 2003, the Company launched its first consumer videophone services on the Packet8 network. In 2004, the company became the first VoIP service provider to offer replacement, E-911 services to its subscribers. It also launched a suite of business services called Packet8 Virtual Office.
In 2008, 8x8 was the second largest standalone U.S. VoIP service provider (behind Vonage) with more than 100,000 residential customers, and more than 10,000 businesses and enterprises who use the company's Virtual Office services for their business telecommunications needs. Since 2008 however, competition has caused a dramatic drop in 8x8's residential customer base. In 2009 and so far in 2010 8x8 has seen their residential customer base continue to erode, with the company currently having less than 60,000 residential customers.
The company continues to develop most of the software and technology used in its VoIP service offerings. 8x8 has been awarded more than 76 U.S. patents related to communications technologies. In March, 2010 8x8 reported that their customer subscriber base had surpassed 20,000 business customers. May 1, 2010, 8x8 acquired Central Host, a California-based managed hosting company and began offering cloud-based hosting services.On June 20, 2011, 8x8 announced the acquisition of Zerigo, a Colorado-based cloud services company and began offering cloud servers and managed DNS services.
Voice over IP
Voice over Internet Protocol is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet...
service providers in the country. 8x8, Inc. offers integrated voice, video and mobile unified communications solutions for small to medium-sized business and distributed enterprise customers.
Products
- 8x8 Virtual Office: Business VoIP phone service that comes with voicemail, auto attendant, conference bridge, Outlook integration.
- 8x8 Virtual Office Pro: Unified communications bundle that includes business VoIP phone service, Internet faxing, call recording, and web conferencing
- 8x8 Virtual Office Enterprise: Business VoIP phone service for companies with over 1,000 extensions
- 8x8 Virtual Office Mobile: Extends Virtual Office phone service to the iPhone and iPad
- 8x8 Virtual Meeting: Web conferencing with video, call recording, and content sharing
- 8x8 MobileTalk: Low cost international VoIP calling compatible with over 450 smartphone models
- 8x8 Complete Contact Center: Hosted call center
- 8x8 Managed Hosting Services: Managed dedicated servers and private cloud insfrastucture services
History
8x8 was founded in 1987 Dr. Chi-Shin Wang and Dr. Y.W. Sing as Integrated Information Technology, Inc., or IIT. The name was changed in the early 1990s.The founders were both formerly of Weitek
Weitek
Weitek Corporation was a chip-design company that originally concentrated on floating point units for a number of commercial CPU designs. During the early to mid-1980s, Weitek designs could be found powering a number of high-end designs and parallel processing supercomputers...
. They began IIT as a fabless vendor of semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
products for the math coprocessor and graphics chipset markets. The company produced x87
X87
x87 is a floating point-related subset of the x86 architecture instruction set. It originated as an extension of the 8086 instruction set in the form of optional floating point coprocessors that worked in tandem with corresponding x86 CPUs. These microchips had names ending in "87"...
floating point
Floating point
In computing, floating point describes a method of representing real numbers in a way that can support a wide range of values. Numbers are, in general, represented approximately to a fixed number of significant digits and scaled using an exponent. The base for the scaling is normally 2, 10 or 16...
coprocessor
Coprocessor
A coprocessor is a computer processor used to supplement the functions of the primary processor . Operations performed by the coprocessor may be floating point arithmetic, graphics, signal processing, string processing, or encryption. By offloading processor-intensive tasks from the main processor,...
and graphics accelerator chips for the personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
market during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The floating coprocessors were produced for the 286, 386 and 486 generations of microprocessors.
In 1992 the company began shipping a lossless data compression product called Xtradrive.
In the early 1990s IIT began producing chips, software and other technologies for the videoconferencing
Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
market. Frustrated by the high prices and low volumes of these videoconferencing systems, the company changed its name to 8x8 and began marketing its own set-top videoconferencing systems for consumers under the ViaTV brand. 8x8 went public on the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
market in 1997, trading under the ticker symbol EGHT.
Soon after this, 8x8 launched a family of Voice over IP (VoIP) chips and software that were sold to IP phone, IP/PSTN gateway and other manufacturers of VoIP equipment. The Company acquired two companies (Odisei
Odisei
Odisei S.A. was a French company based in Sophia-Antipolis, France that developed the first Internet protocol private branch exchange software solution hosted by carriers Frédéric Artru launches Odisei in Sophia-Antipolis. It was founded by Frédéric Artru in 1998 based on his work at the Versit...
and U|Force), to acquire network/server VoIP technologies, and began selling an end-to-end VoIP services technology solution to service providers in 1999.
In 2002, the company relaunched itself as a VoIP
Voice over IP
Voice over Internet Protocol is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet...
service provider under the Packet8 brand. In 2003, the Company launched its first consumer videophone services on the Packet8 network. In 2004, the company became the first VoIP service provider to offer replacement, E-911 services to its subscribers. It also launched a suite of business services called Packet8 Virtual Office.
In 2008, 8x8 was the second largest standalone U.S. VoIP service provider (behind Vonage) with more than 100,000 residential customers, and more than 10,000 businesses and enterprises who use the company's Virtual Office services for their business telecommunications needs. Since 2008 however, competition has caused a dramatic drop in 8x8's residential customer base. In 2009 and so far in 2010 8x8 has seen their residential customer base continue to erode, with the company currently having less than 60,000 residential customers.
The company continues to develop most of the software and technology used in its VoIP service offerings. 8x8 has been awarded more than 76 U.S. patents related to communications technologies. In March, 2010 8x8 reported that their customer subscriber base had surpassed 20,000 business customers. May 1, 2010, 8x8 acquired Central Host, a California-based managed hosting company and began offering cloud-based hosting services.On June 20, 2011, 8x8 announced the acquisition of Zerigo, a Colorado-based cloud services company and began offering cloud servers and managed DNS services.