8x8 Feature Highlights - Fall 2023

Contact Center

8x8 Intelligent Customer Assistant for Voice - Intelligent Customer Assistant, a conversational AI solution, is now available for voice self-service. The addition of voice expands 8x8 Intelligent Customer Assistant’s powerful, user-friendly AI self-service capabilities for creating simple to complex experiences across digital and voice channels to minimize wait times and provide instant access to highly personalized, natural interactions. Learn More →

8x8 Technology Partner Ecosystem - A carefully curated network of independent software vendors, value added resellers, and systems integrators that can solve specific customer experience use cases with 8x8. Each partner provides integrations that feel native in 8x8 to enhance customer experience through cutting-edge technologies with AI and persistent data. The program allows customers to assemble solutions that solve their unique business problems without trade-offs of all-in-one solutions or the expense of custom development. Learn More →

8x8 Contact Center Video Elevation - Contact center agents can now elevate customer interactions to video directly within 8x8 Agent Workspace, allowing agents to visually help customers troubleshoot issues through their mobile devices. The new solution embeds 8x8 secure video interaction capabilities directly into 8x8 Contact Center, allowing organizations to easily and seamlessly add video for enhanced first contact resolution. Learn More →

8x8 Webchat Quick Replies - Using 8x8 scripting functions, admins can build out questions and quick replies to interact with customers; all of which can then be routed back to an agent providing the necessary context to begin the live conversation. This is useful for our customers that don’t need an AI-powered chatbot, but still want to give customers menu options so they can route them to the right agent. Learn More →

8x8 Agent Workspace Embedded Softphone - Agents can now handle calls directly in Agent Workspace with no need for an external hardphone or softphone. This feature minimizes disruptions by eliminating the need to switch between different tools, which helps boost agent productivity. Learn More →

8x8 Supervisor Workspace Enhancements

  • Addition of Interaction Retrieval page which provides a detailed list of all recorded voice and digital interactions
  • Access to Barge, Monitor, Whisper functionality within Agent Table widget for monitoring real-time agent interactions
  • Enhanced filtering with the ability to select multiple criteria
  • New widget highlighting the trend in accepted interactions
  • The ability to create and manage multiple pages (views) within Supervisor Workspace
  • The ability to change an agent status from a live/active status to a non-active state
  • Update Supervisor Workspace for Web Content Accessibility (WCAG) compliance 2.1
  • Support for French Canadian language in Supervisor Workspace

Learn More →

Unified Communications

8x8 Phone App for Microsoft Teams - A cost-effective and native experience designed to be Teams-first and enable PSTN calling without requiring per-user Teams Phone licenses, installing desktop plugins, or running additional software outside of Teams. Built on 8x8’s direct routing service, the app unlocks native calling functionality within Teams that is intuitive for users across devices, simple for IT to manage and deploy, and flexible for organizations to optimize licensing costs to business needs. Watch Video →

8x8 Meetings

Support for Very Large Meetings - 8x8 now supports up to 10,000 meeting participants. Enjoy an optimized interface and customization options to conduct company town halls or meet your specific use cases, such as auctions and other large audience events. To get access to this beta program, please get in touch with your Customer Success Manager or Account Executive.

Support for AV1 Codec - 8x8 meetings now support the modern AV1 video codec.

Option to Turn Off Video Hardware Acceleration - Disabling hardware acceleration improves shared content legibility for some video boards and operating system combinations.

Learn More →

8x8 Work Enhancements:

Enhanced call recording filtering. Users can filter large call recording lists by number.

Import Office 365 and Outlook Contacts in 8x8 Work. Users can import personal or company contacts from Office 365 and Outlook into 8x8 Work for desktop.

Enhanced Microphone Automatic Gain Control (AGC). 8x8 Work for desktop users can turn on or off the AGC of their microphone input. When the toggle is on, users will notice a difference if talking softly or far away from the microphone, as the AGC boosts the voice level.

Learn More →

Improved Iconography - Introduced a new Call Using Computer icon better aligns with calling using computer audio devices. The headset icon, previously used for Call using Computer, is now reserved for 8x8 Contact Center capabilities.

Also, when the 8x8 Work app is starting up, the Call Using Computer icon now shows a loading indicator badge instead of the exclamation mark to avoid confusion with an actual device issue while loading audio devices. Learn More →

8x8 Contact Center Call Controls Disabled - For agents working in 8x8 Work, incoming call notification only displays the Answer option.

Reorganized the General Tab in Settings - Application settings have been reorganized under the General tab. The Look and Feel tab and the settings previously available in the root menu are now integrated into the General tab. Learn More →

Embedded Call Quality Alert for Connection Status - The call quality alert “Try closing a few apps to restore better quality of your connection” is now embedded into the call quality tooltip. If users notice poor connection quality, they can hover over the Connection tooltip to view details of the connection strength. Learn More →

Ring Groups Toggle to Enforce Resolving Contacts - By default, Ring Groups display information according to the settings made by the admin in the Ring Group Caller ID section in the 8x8 Admin Console. Now, users can see their personal or company contacts when they receive a call by toggling on the Resolve Ring Group calls against available Contacts option. Learn More →

Globalization

New Global Carriers for Improved Redundancy - 8x8 will be onboarding two new global carriers to Hong Kong and South Africa as we continue to deliver improved redundancy and effective local support in these countries. Explore 8x8’s global coverage and service availability →

Communication APIs

8x8 Voice IVR - 8x8 Voice solutions now encompass Voice IVR capabilities, enabling customers to build an automated phone system that handles actions like routing calls and capturing digits. By providing real-time user interactions such as allowing customers to access the information that they need through a self-service method, automatically routing calls to increase issue resolution, and more, customer support efficiency is achieved and the overall customer experience is enhanced. Learn More →

Smart Channel Routing - 8x8’s unique smart channel routing feature identifies telecom operators that are charging premium SMS rates, seamlessly routing these SMS messages to more cost effective alternatives without requiring any technical modifications or additional setup. This feature is especially beneficial for businesses with International Sender IDs, guaranteeing cost-effective message delivery.

Zalo Notification Services - The Zalo Notification Service (ZNS) channel is now available as part of the 8x8 Chat Apps offering. With ZNS, businesses can now send customer-centric and personalized notifications such as real-time alerts, one-time passwords (OTPs), account updates, and more to users in Vietnam. Learn More →

Sender ID Dashboard on 8x8 Connect - Agents can now track the process of their SMS Sender ID registration by operator on 8x8 Connect. This gives businesses visibility into the status of their registration requests, whether there are any issues or delays, and the opportunity for efficient troubleshooting. View the Dashboard →

8x8 Voice API enhancements

8x8 App to App Calling with Automated Fallback - 8x8 App to App Calling now allows automated fallback to PSTN (either through push notification delivery status or dynamically in call). This enhances call reliability, even in situations such as poor internet connectivity or app-related issues. With a seamless switch to PSTN, users benefit from a seamless and consistent calling experience with no disruption to the call. Learn More →

Voice CDR (Call Detail Record) on 8x8 Connect - Users are able to access comprehensive voice logs on 8x8 Connect, with detailed call reports for both VoIP & PSTN Calls that include insights into call duration, frequency, and call quality(MOS Score). These insights empower businesses to build more efficient and effective voice communications. View Voice CDR on 8x8 Connect →

Calls API on Voice - Users can now create custom call flows, incorporating specific actions such as sending voice messages or text-to-speech, capturing DTMFs, and playing audio files, enhancing the adaptability of our voice service. This is the first phase of our programmable voice initiative that would allow customers to build their own customized calls flows, including complex multi-step IVR trees. Learn More →

8x8 Communication APIs additional enhancements

Enhanced WhatsApp Reporting on 8x8 Connect - With enhancements made to the WhatsApp reporting dashboard on 8x8 Connect, users can now differentiate between free session messages and chargeable messages. This allows businesses to effectively manage their costs and optimize their WhatsApp messaging strategies. View the Dashboard →

Multi-browser Support for 8x8 Video Interaction - Browser compatibility for the 8x8 Video Interaction portal has been expanded, reducing user inconvenience and enhancing usability to provide an improved experience for users. Learn More →

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on 8x8 Converse - Two-factor authentication (2FA) has been implemented on 8x8 Converse to enhance security measures. Learn More →