SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 6, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGHT), provider of innovative cloud communications and computing solutions, today announced that it is celebrating 25 years as a communications technology innovator in Silicon Valley. Over the past quarter of a century, 8x8 has spearheaded the evolution of voice, video and mobile communications technologies through inventions that have been awarded 79 patents and achievements that have laid the groundwork for the company's existing business model as a provider of cloud-based business services.
"Being in the fast-paced competitive Silicon Valley tech environment has fueled our innovation the past 25 years," said Bryan Martin, 8x8 Chairman and CEO, who has been with 8x8 since 1990 and has seen firsthand the company's growth. "While so many companies have come and gone, we've managed to leverage our internally developed technologies to create new business opportunities ranging from supplying our proprietary vision processor chip to AT&T for its next generation Picturephone to licensing our service creation software to Lucent Technologies to launching one of the first VoIP phone services."
8x8 was founded in 1987 by Dr. Chi-Shin Wang and Dr. Y.W. Sing under the name Integrated Information Technology. Initially focused on developing multimedia semiconductors, embedded firmware and software, Integrated Information Technology changed its name to 8x8 in 1996 to reflect a new emphasis on programmable solutions for the videoconferencing market. (The "8x8" name refers to the number of video pixels, or dots of light, that are used as the basic building block in many image compression and video transformation functions.). The company firmly established itself as both a pioneer and trailblazer, paving the way in the technological development of VoIP phone service, hosting solutions, video conferencing and unified communications.
"8x8 has operated at the speed of technology, constantly keeping pace with the online and digital age we live and work in," said Martin. "We've not only been able to create innovative products such as our Virtual Office hosted PBX phone service, we've also been able to continuously update those offerings with adjunct services like Virtual Office Mobile and Virtual Room video conferencing to keep our customers on the cutting edge of technology as it moves into the cloud."
In recent years, 8x8 has made several key acquisitions cementing the company's leadership into the cloud. In 2010, 8x8 acquired server hosting company, Central Host, allowing 8x8 to offer managed hosting services and cloud-based computing solutions to business customers. 2011 saw two more acquisitions beginning with Zerigo, which expanded the hosting portfolio with cloud servers, virtual private servers, geographically aware DNS and full IPvS support. This was followed by the acquisition of Contactual, a cloud-based call center interaction management solutions company.
25 years and more than 25,000 businesses subscribing to its services, 8x8 continues to innovate as a leader in cloud-based voice and video communications with no sign of slowing down. "We've seen a lot in 25 years," said Martin. "Smartphones, the modern Internet and social media weren't even around when we began. We saw the dot com boom, survived the dot com bust and have emerged from the Great Recession with our stock up significantly. Now we're bringing SMB's, enterprises and government agencies into the cloud. As the next 25 years get underway, the sky's the limit for 8x8."
8x8 Highlights and Milestones:
| 1987 -- | 8x8 founded under the name Integrated Information Technology |
| 1990 -- | Company establishes itself as a leading manufacturer of semiconductors used in |
| embedded videoconferencing and videophone products | |
| 1990 -- | Bryan Martin hired as "Member of Technical Staff" and ultimately becomes |
| CEO in 2002 | |
| 1992 -- | Patented Vision Processor Chip chosen by AT&T for use in next generation |
| Picturephone videophone | |
| 1994 -- | Developed the Video Compression Processor (VCP) chip which obtained 90% |
| share of the videoconferencing market | |
| 1996 -- | Developed and marketed its first consumer videophone for regular phone lines |
| under the ViaTV brand name | |
| 1997 -- | 8x8 goes public and shortly after develops a family of Voice over Internet |
| Protocol (VoIP) chips and software | |
| 2002 -- | 8x8 begins offering VoIP service direct to consumers under the Packet 8 Brand |
| name, and quickly grows to become the second largest standalone VoIP services | |
| provider in the industry | |
| 2004 -- | 8x8 launches the first VoIP E-911 service; introduces DV326 Desktop Consumer |
| VideoPhone and 8x8 Virtual Office hosted PBX phone system | |
| 2007 -- | 8x8 Virtual Office ranked #1 hosted VoIP phone system choice by U.S. based |
| small and medium sized businesses by telecom research firm AMI Partners | |
| 2009 -- | 8x8 expands business telephony offerings into unified communications and |
| introduces 8x8 Virtual Meeting web conferencing service | |
| 2010 -- | 8x8 launches Virtual Office Mobile iPhone app and Virtual Office Pro unified |
| communications solution for businesses; acquires managed hosting service | |
| provider Central Host | |
| 2011 -- | Reaches milestone of over 25,000 business subscribers; acquires cloud hosting |
| service provider Zerigo and cloud contact center provider Contactual; introduces | |
| flat-rate Virtual Room cloud videoconferencing solution with Polycom | |
| 2012 -- | Announces record quarterly revenue of $23.3 million (31% year over year |
| increase) and net income of $2.6 million (73% year over year increase) |
About 8x8
8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGHT) is a leading provider of cloud communications and computing solutions. With a portfolio of SaaS and IaaS solutions encompassing hosted communications, contact center, unified communications, video web conferencing, managed dedicated hosting, virtual private servers and more, 8x8 is uniquely positioned as a business' one-stop shop for everything cloud. 8x8 has been delivering cloud services since 2002 and has garnered a reputation for technological excellence and outstanding reliability, backed by a commitment to exceptional customer support. 8x8 customers include small to medium sized businesses, distributed enterprise organizations and government agencies. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or connect with 8x8 on Facebook and Twitter.