CCaaS solutions like 8x8 Contact Center give call center agents the tools they need to provide fast and effective service while helping supervisors to monitor interactions, train new agents, and improve key performance indicators.

Find out the pros and cons of 8x8 Contact Center along with its features, pricing plans, and more in the breakdown below.

 

What is 8x8 Contact Center? 

8x8 Contact Center software combines omnichannel communication tools with team messaging and video conferencing capabilities. 8x8 excels in security and reliability, and provides advanced AI-powered features like voicemail transcription, speech analytics, and intelligent IVR. Although priced higher than competitors, 8x8 is a great value for larger contact centers focused on customer experience optimization.

Nate Reviewing 8x8

 

Pricing and Plans Overview

8x8 offers three different contact center plans, all of which include 8x8 UCaaS features like voice calling in 48 countries, multi-level auto attendant, and CRM integrations. Contact Center users choose from metered or unmetered bundles and can mix and match plans. 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams, Intelligent Customer Assistant, and Secure Pay are offered as add-ons.

Below is an overview of 8x8 Contact Center plans.

 

X6 Plan: $85/user/month

Starting at $85/user/month, 8x8’s X6 plan is priced slightly higher than competitors like NICE CXOne and Genesys. However, it includes more channels and features, providing greater value to multichannel contact centers.

In addition to all of 8x8’s UCaaS features such as voicemail transcription, hot desking, and call queues, the X6 plan includes:

  • Voice+digital communication channels (voice calling, chat, email, SMS, social media, messaging apps)
  • Skills-based omnichannel routing
  • Queued and web callback
  • Post-call surveys
  • Custom 8x8 Agent Workspace
  • Contact center reporting+analytics

 

X7 Plan: $110/user/month

Starting at $110/user/month, the X7 plan is priced significantly higher than the X6, and there isn’t much difference between the two plans. The only real benefit of the X7 plan is that it includes access to advanced, out-of-the-box integrations with Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Freshdesk, HubSpot, and other CRM/productivity apps.

 

X8 Plan: $140/user/month

Starting at $140/user/month, 8x8’s X8 plan adds premium features like:

  • Quality management tools to monitor 100% of omnichannel customer interactions
  • AI Speech+text analytics
  • Predictive, progressive, and preview outbound auto dialers

The X8 plan’s biggest advantage is its suite of supervisor tools, ideal for agent training and real-time call center activity monitoring. Since 8x8 offers mix-and-match pricing, companies can save by purchasing the X8 plan for supervisors and the more economical X7 or X6 plans for agents.

 

Key Features of 8x8 Contact Center 

Here are some of the standout features of 8x8 Contact Center.

 

Agent workspace

The agent workspace, included in all 8x8 Contact Center plans, lets agents access internal and external communications under one pane of glass.

The control panel allows agents to manage incoming interactions, view agents and queue activity; and chat with coworkers.

When agents set their user presence to “available,” they’re assigned to the call queue with the longest wait time. Customer CRM data, account and interaction history, and notes from other agents are automatically displayed on agent screens.

Agents can also make outbound calls, send texts, initiate warm or blind call transfers, and send emails from the workspace.

 

Omnichannel Routing

8x8 Contact Center allows agents to communicate with customers across voice and digital channels like email, live chat, SMS, Facebook, X, and WhatsApp. Admins can quickly add new and emerging channels, and omnichannel routing is included with all plans.

Supervisors customize workflows on any channel, using rules and logic to route interactions to the best available agent. Agents can handle up to six concurrent live chat interactions at once. Real-time translation is available in 20+ languages.

 

Auto Dialer

8x8’s auto dialer is included with the X8 plan and is available as a paid add-on for other users. Auto dialing modes include preview (displays caller information before the call connects), progressive (dials the next number on a list as soon as an agent finishes a call), and predictive (predicts when agents will become available and starts dialing before agent finishes a call).

Additional auto-dialing features include:

  • TCPA compliance
  • Real-time lead list management
  • Answering machine detection
  • Integrated Carrier Call Blocking
  • TPS/TCPS DNC list support
  • Configure abandonment rates, ring time, and retry attempts

 

IIVR

Available only as a paid add-on, 8x8 Intelligent IVR routes calls to the most qualified agent by leveraging conversational AI, Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Admins can design customized self-service experiences and call flows using drag-and-drop graphical scripting tools.

 

8x8 Contact Center Reporting and Analytics

Included in all CCaaS plans, 8x8 Contact Center Analytics monitors real-time and historical metrics. Supervisors can customize the analytics dashboard by setting up real-time alerts and scheduled reports, sharing dashboards and reports with colleagues, and setting custom metrics.

Contact center KPIs that supervisors can track include:

  • Timeline of agent status changes
  • number of interactions accepted by agents
  • Rejected or diverted calls
  • Interactions abandoned by callers
  • Average time on hold
  • Average handle time
  • First call resolution

 

Team Messaging

Available on desktop and mobile devices, 8x8’s team chat platform is included for all UCaaS and CCaaS users. Contacts are automatically added from the company directory. Users can engage in public and private 1:1 or group chats, share files, launch audio/video calls directly from threads, and set push notifications.

 

Video Conferencing

8x8 includes high-definition video conferencing on any device for all users. Users can host video meetings with up to 500 participants, and there are no duration or meeting limits. The platform is highly secure with features like meeting lock, participant lobby, attendee permissions, and optional end-to-end encryption.

Other video features include: 

  • Dial-in from 50+ countries
  • Video and audio recording
  • Virtual backgrounds
  • AI-generated meeting summary and post-meeting insights
  • Analytics with participant engagement stats

 

The Pros & Cons

8x8 Contact Center Pros

  • High level of security and reliability with HIPAA compliance, SSO, and a 99.999% uptime SLA for all users
  • Mix-and-match pricing plans gives users the flexibility to pay for only what they need
  • Intuitive interface with plenty of customizations and options

8x8 Contact Center Cons

  • Several features, including IIVR, speech analytics, and auto dialers, are offered as add-ons and can drive up the price
  • The standard retrieval period for calls from storage is only 30 days. Users can increase to 130 days or obtain cold storage for added fees
  • Routing options are limited to the longest idle and skills-based

 

Who Should Use 8x8 Contact Center?

  • High-volume call centers: 8x8’s platform is equipped to handle large interaction volumes with features like real-time analytics, call recordings, and CRM integrations
  • Healthcare industry: 8x8 is suitable for hospitals and other healthcare industry call centers thanks to HIPAA compliance, unlimited internet fax, and single sign-on (SSO)
  • Inbound and blended contact centers: 8x8 includes tools for inbound call centers such as multi-level auto attendant, call handling, and unlimited call queues in all plans. Outbound features like bulk texting make 8x8 suitable for hybrid contact centers
  • Global contact centers: 8x8 includes voice calling in up to 48 countries and video dial-in in over 50 countries, making it a great choice for international teams
  • Remote and hybrid teams: 8x8 offers many remote-work-friendly tools like video conferencing, call whisper, and co-browsing

 

Who Shouldn't Use 8x8 Contact Center 

  • Companies on a tight budget: 8x8 Contact Center starts at $85 per user, per month–outside of most small business budgets. While cheaper options are available, you may sacrifice on security, reliability, and AI-powered features
  • Outbound call centers: While 8x8 offers an autodialer, it’s limited to three dialing modes and must be purchased separately as an add-on feature
  • Voice-only or digital-only contact centers: 8x8 includes both voice and digital channels on every plan, while other providers such as Genesys offer “voice only” or “digital only” options
  • Businesses that want a “no frills” solution: 8x8 is a robust platform with many features and a lot of customizations. For businesses wanting a minimalist solution, it might not be a good fit
  • Businesses prioritizing customer support: 8x8 users have complained of the slow response time of 8x8 customer service