7 Best 8×8 Alternatives: Which One’s The Best CCaaS For Your Enterprise?

8×8, a leader in cloud communications and ranked fifth among vendors in 2024, appeals to mid-sized businesses and enterprises due to its scalability, user-friendly CCaaS platform, and competitive pricing for its feature set.

However,  its potentially restrictive features, lack of deployment flexibility, and post-purchase support issues may prompt users to look for other options. If you’re in the market for 8×8 alternatives, this article gives a comprehensive comparison between some of the best options on the market.

One standout alternative is Enghouse Interactive, which offers customizable integrations, multiple deployment options (cloud, on-premise, and hybrid), and unique features like real-time translation. These capabilities make it especially suited for both small- to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprises looking for tailored communication solutions.

Dive into our detailed analysis of these platforms, exploring their key features, pricing, pros and cons, key differentiators, and more to find the perfect 8×8 alternative for your business needs.

Why Must You Look for 8×8’s Alternatives?

While 8×8 offers an easy-to-use and reliable contact center solution to improve CX, several flaws might force you to look elsewhere. Here are a few of them:

Limited Support

The biggest problem customers face is the lack of post-purchase customer support. Many have complained about their support team not picking up phones, ghosting customers, and providing unsatisfactory and elaborate answers.

One of the customers has complained about technical issues after one of their updates and no support from their technical team:

Source: Trustpilot

8×8 assigns account managers to individual accounts. However, those account managers change frequently, leaving customers stranded without assistance and unsatisfied.

Billing Complaints

Customers have voiced frustrations over continued payment deductions even after canceling services. They are also irritated by the need to navigate lengthy, complicated procedures and the difficulty in reaching a helpful contact.

Source: Trustpilot

Missing Features

Additionally, 8×8’s feature set isn’t as comprehensive as some of the other providers. For example, 8×8, by itself, doesn’t offer AI-powered features like agent assist that provide automatic answers to user queries from the knowledge base to reduce agent workload (it rather integrates with another tool called awaken intelligence to offer this capability). This integration could potentially complicate setup and management, create dependency on third-party software, and incur additional costs or compatibility issues.

Alternatives like Enghouse Interactive pride themselves on providing outstanding customer support. EnghouseAI enhances agent performance with actionable insights that improve customer interactions. Moreover, the team behind EnghouseAI maintains strict standards for accuracy and data privacy.

7 Best 8×8 Alternatives

We’ve explored some potential shortcomings of 8×8’s CCaaS offering. But the good news is that there are a wealth of options available to meet your business needs. This section dives into several strong alternatives to 8×8, each offering unique advantages. Here are the ones covered below:

• Enghouse Interactive
• Dialpad
• Nextiva
• RingCentral
• Vonage
• Zoom Contact Center
• GoTo Connect Contact Center

Enghouse Interactive stands out with its world-class customer support and a comprehensive feature set addressing functionalities missing in 8×8. If seamless integrations and a mobile-centric approach are your priorities, then Dialpad deserves your attention. Nextiva, on the other hand, shines with its intuitive user interface and excellent support.

By the end, you’ll be well-equipped to choose the CCaaS solution that perfectly complements your company’s communication strategy.

1) Enghouse Interactive

Enghouse Interactive is the leading contact center solution both SMBs and large enterprises use to improve customer experience, modernize their CX practices, and make customer support more efficient.

Here’s how it accomplishes that:

• With omnichannel communication, customer questions can be handled however they reach you. Conversations can move seamlessly between multiple channels, such as phone calls, email, video, and chat, depending on the situation and customer preference.
• Thanks to Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), inquiries are automatically routed to the best agent for the job. This means shorter wait times and happier customers!
• You can make smart decisions based on real-time data on how your agents are doing, how your customers interact, and how well your contact center performs.
•  35+ years of expertise in the contact center space to provide a truly unparalleled solution.
• With flexible deployment options such as the cloud, on-premise, and hybrid you get what suits your industry the most.

This, combined with integrated UCaaS offerings, fosters seamless collaboration within your organization.

Source: Enghouse CCaas

Key Features

Enghouse Interactive arms your business with the tools to deliver exceptional customer service across all channels, such as:

• Omnichannel Communication: Reach and be reached by customers on their preferred platform – phone call, emails, chat, SMS, social media, or video. Automatic call distribution ensures inquiries reach the right agent, while real-time chat translation enhances the experience and reduces costs.
• Self-Service Solutions: Empower customers with omnichannel self-service options and an intelligent IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system powered by AI for natural conversation. This reduces dependence on human agents, lowers costs, and improves customer satisfaction.
• Data-Driven Insights: Leverage real-time reports, comprehensive dashboards, and out-of-the-box features to understand agent performance, customer behavior, and identify areas for improvement. You can even create and customize reports for deeper analysis.
• Agent Empowerment: An AI-powered knowledge management system facilitates efficient problem-solving, while real-time interaction monitoring ensures compliance and promotes improved performance. Additionally, workforce management integrations enable flexible scheduling, accurate forecasting, and adherence to service level agreements (SLAs).
• Seamless Integrations: It integrates with leading solutions like Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Freshdesk, and more. Advanced APIs and toolkits simplify complex integrations.

Source: Enghouse CCaas

Why Choose It Over 8×8?

For businesses seeking a more comprehensive and user-friendly CCaaS solution, Enghouse Interactive emerges as a compelling alternative to 8×8.

It addresses many of the potential shortcomings found in 8×8 by offering a feature-rich platform at a competitive price point.

With Enghouse, you’ll gain access to innovative features not present in 8×8, like:

• AI-powered Agent Assist: Empower your agents with real-time AI guidance for faster resolution and improved first-call rates.
• Flexible Deployment Options: Choose the deployment model that best suits your needs, with options for a fully cloud-based solution, a hybrid approach, or even on-premise deployment.
• In-depth Industry Knowledge: They understand the unique challenges both SMBs and enterprises face across industries, allowing them to create solutions that address specific pain points, not just generic problems.
• Proven Track Record: Reflects their commitment to innovation and being a long-term partner to support you throughout your experience.
• Top-Notch Customer Support: Receive assistance and guidance throughout your CCaaS journey.

Customers have praised their seamless integrations, useful features, and helpful and reliable customer support team, as seen in this review:

Source: G2

Pros & Cons

Enghouse Interactive is an impressive solution. Here are some of the pros and cons of the platform:

Pros

• Choose from on-premise, hybrid, or cloud deployment, and customize workflows for a perfect fit and better scalability.
• Prioritize high-value customers, resolve issues faster with AI, and free up IT with a secure, reliable platform.
• Reduce costs with multi-language support and equip agents with real-time guidance and a user-friendly interface.
• Deliver seamless omnichannel experiences and proactive problem-solving to improve CX.
• Benefit from Enghouse’s 35+ years of expertise, global support, and seamless integrations with existing tools.

Cons

• Not suitable for businesses with less than 10 agents
• Does not include unlimited internet fax support

Pricing

Enghouse Interactive offers two pricing plans: Standard at US$109/user/month and Advanced at US$139/user/month.

The advanced plan offers extra features like digital channels (chat, SMS, and email, screen recordings, agent evaluation, etc.

Source: Enghouse CCaas

Best for: Customer-facing industries like education, banking, airlines, utilities, and retail looking to improve customer support, increase efficiency and cut costs, reach out to more leads, or migrate from on-premise to cloud-based solutions.

2) Dialpad

Dialpad is an all-in-one app offering unified communications, contact center solutions, and outbound sales software. Its key differentiator is AI-enabled features and processes to boost efficiency, such as automatic meeting summaries, transcriptions, live AI assistance for agents, AI scorecards, and AI CSAT. It’s also straightforward to set up and scale to more users and pretty reliable with a 100% uptime SLA.

Source: Dialpad

Key Features

Dialpad takes a different approach to CCaaS, focusing heavily on AI-based features. Here are some of its key functionalities:

• Agents can switch between calls, texts, and video chats seamlessly and transfer conversations on any device.
• AI boosts efficiency with auto-summaries, a virtual assistant answering basic questions, and quality monitoring.
• Integrates with communication & sales platforms for teamwork, faster onboarding, and centralized data.

Why Choose It Over 8×8?

Dialpad is an excellent choice over 8×8 as it offers more intelligent features to boost your call center’s productivity and reduce costs.

While it integrates with 30+ apps, less than 8×8’s offering, its APIs allow for any type of integration and allow you to build custom apps and integrations.

Users have particularly mentioned Dialpad’s customer support to be one of the best in the industry, highlighted by reviews like the following:

Source: Trustpilot

However, one of the areas where it lacks compared to 8×8 is that it offers its UCaaS and contact center solutions separately, making it more expensive.

Pros & Cons

Dialpad boasts of impressive AI features, but it has considerable weaknesses as well. Here are some of its pros and cons:

Pros

• Very reliable due to 100% uptime SLA
• Helpful and responsive customer support–one of the best ones in the industry
• Easy to use with a modern UI while providing lots of data and information

Cons

• It is quite expensive as the contact center, sales center, and business meetings are sold separately.
• The contact center only supports inbound voice.
• Lacks workforce management features.

Pricing

Dialpad Contact Center offers three plans: Essentials at $95/user/month, Advanced at $135/user/month, and Premium at $170/user/month.

The lowest tier lacks essential features like real-time assistance, omnichannel customer experience, scorecards, and CSAT. However, you can purchase these as additional add-ons or upgrade to more expensive plans.

This could be quite expensive, especially for larger operations.

Source: Dialpad Pricing

Best For: Small to mid-sized businesses with fewer agents that don’t need very advanced features and prefer simplicity and ease of use.

3) Nextiva

Nextiva is a connected communications company that provides essential business services such as unified communications, VoIP phone systems, social media management, and contact center solutions.

Source: Nextiva Contact Center

Key Features

If user-friendliness is paramount, Nextiva deserves a closer look. We’ll delve into its key features in this section:

• Unifies data & analytics: Tracks everything (channels, agents, calls) in one place for performance insights.
• Effortless AI setup: Automates tasks (transcription, summaries, audits, compliance) with ease.
• Boosts efficiency & saves costs: Automates call routing, self-service options, and IVA compliance using smart dialing & dynamic scripts.

Why Choose It Over 8×8?

Nextiva streamlines operations and boosts revenue compared to 8×8. Its comprehensive features, including unlimited video conferencing and automated transcriptions, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.

Nextiva’s user-friendly setup and dedicated account managers ensure a smooth transition, minimizing churn and maximizing sales opportunities.

One Nextiva user said:

Source: Trustpilot

On the contact center solution side, Nextiva outperforms 8×8 by using richer analytics and data to improve agent performance.

However, one area that Nextiva lacks is that the UCaaS solution is not a part of their contact center offering and must be purchased separately, driving up costs.

Pros & Cons

Nextiva’s user-friendly interface is a major draw, but there’s more to consider. Here are some of its pros and cons:

Pros

• High-quality video and sound make for a great customer experience
• AI-enabled features significantly improve agent productivity
• High-quality 24/7 customer support along with a dedicated account manager

Cons

• Lacks flexibility; No on-premise or hybrid contact center solutions
• It can be expensive if you need a unified communications solution, too
• It is not built for international companies as it requires a US billing address, US ID, and US Credit Card and only offers US numbers

Pricing

Source: Nextiva Pricing

If you’re looking for a VoIP call center solution only, Nextiva offers two plans: Pro at $50/month/user and Enterprise at $100/month/user. A call center differs from a contact center in that it only supports voice, while the latter is omnichannel.

You’ll need to contact sales for Nextiva’s contact center solutions pricing.

Source: Nextiva Call Center Solutions

Best For: Nextiva Contact Center is ideal for budget-conscious businesses in the US or Canada with basic contact center needs and a focus on user-friendly solutions.

4) RingCentral

RingCentral is a cloud communications platform that offers various features, including business phone systems, video meetings, team messaging, and a contact center. It has two contact center solutions: RingCentral Contact Center and RingCX.

The former is a solution for advanced, large-scale enterprise deployments focusing on workforce engagement management features. At the same time, the latter is an AI-First Contact Center that’s simple to use and easy to deploy.

Source: RingCentral

Key Features

RingCentral’s different products cater to different types of companies. However, their key functionalities are mostly similar–barring a few advanced features–and we’ll explore them in this section:

• Unified Agent Workspace: Manage all interactions (calls, chat, email, SMS, social) in one place.
• AI-Powered Interactions: Leverage speech analytics, virtual assistants, and sentiment analysis for success.
• RingCentral Strengthens Workforce: Offers quality management, conversation insights, scheduling, and reports & dashboards.

Why Choose It Over 8×8?

RingCentral offers a more comprehensive set of channels than 8×8, with unique ones such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Apple Messages for Business, and Google Business Messages.

RingCentral is also more AI-driven and has better features to take advantage of compared to 8×8, improving agent efficiency.

Finally, RingCentral is more scalable as it’s divided into two unique solutions: one for small to mid-sized businesses and the other specifically for enterprises. 8×8’s plans might be too expensive for smaller players, and the high cost may hinder growth.

Pros & Cons

Here are the pros and cons for RingCentral:

Pros

• Two different solutions boosting flexibility, affordability, and scalability for customers
• One platform with multiple comprehensive features, apart from the contact center, such as a business phone system, video meetings, event management, etc.
• The contact center offers many unique channels and easy-to-use tools to manage conversations.

Cons

• RingCX includes domestic inbound calls only, and unlimited minutes are available only in the US and Canada.
• Customers report terrible support and assistance.

Pricing

RingCentral CX costs $65/user/month, billed annually. Workforce engagement features are sold as an add-on.

You’ll need to contact their sales team for the enterprise version’s pricing.

Source: RingCentral Pricing

Best For: RingCentral is a strong choice for small businesses seeking a feature-rich, easy-to-use solution. Larger companies might appreciate more advanced features that are available in other solutions.

5) Vonage

Vonage is a modern business communications company with a game-changer for your contact center: Vonage Contact Center (VCC). It streamlines interactions with features like omnichannel routing, skills-based call distribution, real-time reporting to keep you on top of everything, and CRM integrations.

In addition, Vonage offers communication APIs, unified communications, and conversational commerce.

Source: Vonage

Key Features

Vonage is an old and trusted provider in this space. Here are some of the key features of their offering for enterprises:

• Boosts Efficiency & Accuracy: Integrates AI for real-time call guidance, summaries, self-service, and post-call analysis.
• Proactive Customer Care: Analyzes social media sentiment to identify and address potential issues.
• Motivates Agents: Gamifies work with leaderboards, challenges, and rewards for a competitive, productive environment.

Why Choose It Over 8×8?

Vonage provides unique features and add-ons such as gamification and auto-dial, which are a part of their core offering–a feature only available on the most expensive 8×8 plans. Their integrations with critical apps, such as Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Zendesk, etc., are also very well implemented.

Vonage’s customer support is also much more responsive, professional, and helpful, as evident by reviews like:

Source: Trustpilot

Pros & Cons

Vonage offers a unique feature set, but it also has some tradeoffs. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros

• Seamless single-window integrations with several critical apps like Zendesk, Microsoft Teams, ServiceNow, and more.
• Emphasis on security and compliance with PCI DSS compliance, ISO 27001 certification, SOC 2 Type 2 certification, and more.
• Knowledgeable and supportive account managers and customer success team

Cons

• It might be overkill and expensive for small businesses
• Best features are only available as paid add-ons
• UI is a little outdated

Pricing

Vonage doesn’t have public prices for its contact center solutions. You’ll need to contact their sales team for a customized quote.

Most unique features aren’t a part of the core plans and can be purchased as add-ons, which might drive up the cost.

Source: Vonage Pricing

Best For: Vonage is best for large businesses and enterprises that want more data on their customer success operations and place a heavy emphasis on their social media presence.

6) Zoom Contact Center

Zoom Contact Center is more than just an extension of Zoom’s video conferencing expertise. It caters to businesses of all sizes but might particularly suit those already using Zoom and seeking to leverage video as a customer service tool.

This cloud-based platform helps you tackle customer service with AI-powered chatbots that answer routine questions, integrations with various data sources, unified comms with internal SMEs, and more.

Source: Zoom Contact Center

Key Features

Zoom places a heavy focus on video conferencing and overall integration with its suite of products, as reflected in the key features below:

• Faster Resolutions & Happy Customers: Skills-based routing, real-time agent help, and advanced self-service (virtual assistants) lead to quicker solutions and happier interactions.
• Data-Driven Optimization: Get in-depth reports & analytics to identify trends, improve workflows, and make data-backed decisions for better customer service.
• Seamless Video CX: Enhance customer engagement with features like online meetings, smooth handoff between voice & video, screen/file sharing, personalized waiting rooms, and more.

Why Choose It Over 8×8?

Zoom is a good choice over 8×8, particularly if you heavily emphasize video conferencing. Its integration with video conferencing and overall user experience are much better than 8×8’s. Unique features like personalized waiting rooms also give it an edge.

Zoom also boasts a user-friendly UI, making agent onboarding easier and more efficient. However, like 8×8, Zoom’s customer support is rated very poorly.

Pros & Cons

While Zoom offers CCaaS functionalities, it’s not the right fit for everyone. Here are the pros and cons of this platform:

Pros

• A video-centric approach leads to better customer engagement and satisfaction.
• Reliable infrastructure with effortless scalability
• Seamless integration with the Zoom ecosystem and supporting products

Cons

• Terrible technical and customer support
• There aren’t many specific integrations for Zoom Contact Center

Pricing

Zoom Contact Center costs $69/user/month and includes all the core features. Add-ons like virtual service phone numbers, toll-free phone numbers, and cloud storage are available for $5-$10/month.

Source: Zoom Contact Center Pricing

Best For: Ideal for businesses that crave an AI-powered, video-first approach to customer service, especially those in growth stages across any industry.

7) GoTo Connect Contact Center

GoTo Connect Contact Center ditches the traditional call center mold. This cloud-based platform offers smart features that make your agents rockstars, like chatbots to answer routine questions, AI whispering helpful tips during calls, and integrated video conferencing.

Plus, it goes beyond phone calls – emails, chats, social media messages, even WhatsApp – all in one place and allows you to talk to customers on the go with 180+ desk phones, laptops, or mobile devices.

Source: GoTo Connect Contact Center

Key Features

GoTo Connect presents another compelling CCaaS option. It focuses on efficiency and ease of use, as seen in its key features below:

• Faster Fixes: Co-browsing lets agents see a customer’s screen for real-time troubleshooting, reducing resolution times.
• Actionable Insights: Speech analytics analyze post-call surveys and sentiment to identify areas needing improvement.
• Smart Routing & Workflows: Connects customers to the best agent while pre-built workflows ensure a smooth experience for everyone.

Why Choose It Over 8×8?

GoTo Connect offers features not present in 8×8, such as gamification. Its 24/7 customer support is also very highly rated.

The reporting and analytics features also provide an in-depth understanding of your customer service and support.

Source: G2

Pros & Cons

While GoTo Connect offers a feature-rich and user-friendly platform, it’s crucial to consider both its strengths and weaknesses given below:

Pros

• Cutting-edge features like AI suggestions, advanced learning chatbots, gamification, and co-browsing
• Ability to communicate on the go using multiple devices such as desk phones, laptops, and phones.
• Robust help center and 24/7 customer support agents

Cons

• Limited out-of-the-box integrations
• Lacks workforce management features and capabilities

Pricing

The ‘Contact Center’ plan is the highest-end one, providing a business phone system and contact center capabilities wrapped into one product with all the bells and whistles.

Source: GoTo Connect Pricing

You must contact their sales team for a demo and quote.

Best For: GoTo Connect Contact Center excels for businesses that prioritize innovation and agent efficiency. It’s ideal for companies of all sizes, particularly those experiencing growth.

Quick Recap

Enghouse CCaaS – A Must Explore Alternative to 8×8

Don’t settle for a makeshift contact center solution when the CCaaS market is filled with robust options. Stand out from the crowd with Enghouse Interactive, which offers an all-in-one solution that combines industry-leading omnichannel engagement and AI-powered agent assistance for a truly magical customer service experience.

Enghouse Interactive eliminates channel silos and streamlines customer journeys by ensuring that inquiries are seamlessly routed to the best-equipped agent, regardless of the initial contact method– be it voice, chat, or email. This efficiency not only improves service delivery but also significantly enhances customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, our AI tools empower agents with real-time guidance and knowledge suggestions, expediting issue resolution and boosting overall service quality.

Elevate your customer service by empowering your agents with the best tools in the industry. Click here to request a demo and see firsthand how our solutions can transform your customer interactions.

FAQs

Considering a business communications solution other than 8×8? You’re not alone. We’ve done deep research to compile this FAQ that dives into common questions about 8×8 alternatives, helping you understand the features and potential benefits different options offer.

Who are 8×8’s Competitors?

8×8 competes with contact center solutions like:

• Enghouse Interactive
• Dialpad
• Nextiva
• RingCentral
• Zoom Contact Center
• Vonage

…and more.

What’s the Best Alternative to 8×8?

Enghouse Interactive should be your top choice as it boasts powerful AI for agent assistance and automation, seamless omnichannel engagement, and unmatched scalability. Plus, it integrates business communication tools for a complete package.

What are the Benefits of 8×8?

8×8 offers high-quality calls, a user-friendly interface, and the ability to call internationally with its integrated UCaaS platform.

Are There Any Drawbacks To Consider With 8×8?

Some users report difficulty reaching customer support. Additionally, 8×8 might lack advanced features like gamification and real-time translation that some businesses require. If these features are important to you, consider a solution like Enghouse Interactive.

How Much Does 8×8 Cost?

8×8 doesn’t showcase its prices publicly. It offers multiple tiers depending on your requirements. You can compare their pricing plans on their website and contact their sales team for more info.

Disclaimer – The insights presented in this article are sourced exclusively from publicly available information and customer reviews. Feel free to reach out if you require any modifications or updates to the content.