8x8 2009 Annual Report Download - page 6

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and our 8x8 Virtual Office services are among the most feature-rich hosted VoIP business services in the
industry.
• Offer the best possible service and support to our customers with a world class customer support organization.
We have an established call center and customer support group at our headquarters in Santa Clara, California and
outsourced call center operation located in Santa Maria, California. We also have invested in significant upgrades
to our existing back office infrastructure to enhance the support we can provide to new and existing subscribers,
as well as our distribution partners. Our strengths include customer service from technically sophisticated
customer service agents providing support from onshore facilities located in California. In fiscal 2009, our call
center statistics were better than the industry averages with abandoned call rates averaging less than 4.3% and
wait times averaging less than one minute.
Our 8x8 Services
Our services work over virtually any high-speed Internet connection in the world, and allow calls to or from any phone in the
world, whether that phone is an IP phone or a PSTN phone. 8x8 utilizes IP communication customer premise equipment (i.e.,
an IP Phone or a broadband phone adapter) which, when used in conjunction with the 8x8 network software, enables plug and
play installation and a familiar dial tone user interface. The 8x8 service also uses web-based technologies to enable account
setup, account management, billing and customer support. We have developed proprietary implementation of standards-based
technologies underlying our 8x8 service, which works with third party carriers to terminate VoIP calls on the PSTN network.
As part of the 8x8 service, we currently resell private-branded telephone IP terminal adapters that allow a regular analog
telephone to be connected to an IP network, IP telephones and videophones, and pre-programmed business telephones. These
devices utilize derivatives of our licensed semiconductor technology and unique software modifications to the protocol and
application code that enable them to connect to the 8x8 IP services platform. We continue to enhance and develop new
functionality in the software code that is embedded in these devices.
Products and Services
8x8 VoIP and Video Telephone Service
We introduced our 8x8 VoIP telephone service in November 2002. To obtain the service, the customer must enter into a
service agreement with us and select a calling plan based on the anticipated use of the service. Service plans provide
alternatives for minutes of usage, up to an unlimited amount, at varying rates for calls in the United States and Canada that are
made to non-8x8 customers. Subscribers are charged at a per-minute rate for international calls to non-8x8 customers and,
depending on the level of plan selected, may be charged for calls to the PSTN if they exceed the minutes allowed under the
chosen plan. All of our plans allow for unlimited calling between 8x8 customers, regardless of their location. Depending on
the service plan selected, 8x8 will either sell or provide at no cost to the customer the 8x8 broadband phone adapter, IP phone
or desktop videophone to use with the 8x8 service. Each subscriber is assigned a telephone number in any of the area codes and
underlying rate centers currently offered by the service. We currently offer area codes in 46 U.S. states along with free number
porting from the customer’ s previous service provider to 8x8. All 8x8 customers receive access to a variety of telephone
features, including voice mail, caller ID, call forwarding, call waiting, 3-way calling, online account management and billing,
international call blocking and caller ID blocking. We currently offer enhanced 9-1-1, or E-911, service on all 8x8 calling
plans with a United States service address. An 8x8 E-911 call is routed as 9-1-1 emergency traffic and is accompanied by caller
information which enables emergency personnel to ensure that callers receive the exact same response that they receive from 9-
1-1 services provided by landline incumbent telephone carriers. Subscribers may also have toll-free numbers (e.g., 800
numbers) or virtual numbers. A virtual number is an additional phone number which will ring through to an existing
subscriber line. We offer virtual numbers in all of our U.S. rate centers, as well as in certain international countries. We also
are offering video over IP service using the 8x8 Tango videophone product, which includes all of the voice service plans and
features described above plus unlimited video calls to any other 8x8 videophone subscriber anywhere in the world.
8x8 Virtual Office Business Telephone Service
Our 8x8 Virtual Office business telephone service was launched in March 2004 and is targeted at the small and medium-sized
business market. 8x8 Virtual Office is an easy-to-use alternative to traditional PBX systems or Centrex class services from
legacy telecommunications providers that offers features and services neither provide. 8x8 Virtual Office allows users with a
high-speed Internet connection anywhere in the world to be part of a virtual PBX that includes automated attendants to assist
callers, conference bridges, extension-to-extension dialing and ring groups, in addition to a rich variety of other business class