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8×8 announced Dec. 7 that it has added Packet8 Virtual Office Plus to its Packet8 VOIP-hosted PBX services.
The new voice-over-IP service will provide businesses with PBX functionalities while also including an array of features such as auto-attendant, conference bridge, extension-to-extension dialing, business-class voice mail and ring groups, the company said.
The auto-attendant function offers businesses an automated system that can transfer calls by extension, name, company directory or workgroup, while conference bridge provides businesses with an audio conferencing system that allows businesses to hold meetings involving clients from other locations.
Virtual Office Plus voice mail feature gives business up to eight prerecorded greeting options as well as passwords, voice mail-to-e-mail options, and the ability to listen to voice mail through either attached e-mails or through the phone.
8x8s new VOIP product will also enable business users to be a part of a hosted VOIP virtual phone system no matter where they are located.
“Packet8 Virtual Office combines all of the elements that are important to a small business owner, including ease of installation and use, advanced calling features and low overall total cost of ownership,” Huw Rees, vice president of sales and marketing at 8×8, said in a company release.
According to the company, Packet8 Virtual Office Plus allows businesses to use a corporate-class phone system, which includes Virtual Office, Virtual Attendant and fax services, without having to purchase other Virtual Office business-class phones and terminal adapters.
Each extension provided by the VOIP service will include its own non-blocking line service, three-way conferencing, multiple call handling, a direct dial number, business-class voice mail and other features.
Virtual Office Plus promises to reduce companies telecommunications cost of ownership by requiring a minimal initial investment and offering unlimited local and long-distance business calling plans, the company said.
“Our new Virtual Office Plus plans lower a business total cost of ownership for telecommunications even further than our already affordable IP PBX business phone solution, now in use by over 5,000 companies,” Rees said.
Companies that subscribe to Virtual Office pay $39.99 per month per extension for enterprise-class PBX functionality along with unlimited local and long-distance calling. Subscribers to Virtual Office Plus can pay an additional $5 to $10 a month per extension for business-class VOIP phone services, varying from unlimited calling plans that include advanced PBX features to IP fax service.