8×8 is expanding its contact center capabilities, announcing that it will roll out direct support for workforce management as a standard feature of its 8×8 Contact Center platform from mid-November. The company also now provides native support and direct sales for most widely used Mitel SIP desk phones, strengthening its position in enterprise communications.
By building workforce management into the 8×8 Platform for CX, the business communications platform provider aims to help small and midsize contact centers to forecast, schedule, and staff across voice and digital channels quickly without requiring professional services or complex configuration.
As customer interactions now span chat, email, and social media alongside traditional voice calls, managing staffing and service levels has become more complicated. Many organizations still rely on spreadsheets or standalone WFM tools that operate separately from the contact center, requiring business to manage multiple vendor contracts and teams to use extra logins, manual processes and fragmented data.
8×8’s platform brings together contact center, unified communications and communication APIs in one environment, helping businesses manage employee and customer interactions in real time.
By using AI throughout the system, the integration gives CX and IT leaders real-time visibility and control to adjust contact center staffing and respond faster to customer needs. They can manage demand across channels more efficiently while keeping service quality and operations on track.
Bringing in WFM functionality increases agent engagement and transparency, as they can view their schedules, track shift changes, and update their availability in one place, cutting down on admin tasks. Built-in forecasting, reusable shift templates, and easy-to-read dashboards take the place of spreadsheets, streamlining operations and making scheduling more strategic.
And as organizations grow, they can expand into more advanced capabilities or connect with partner solutions without disrupting their workflows.
“Contact centers today are being asked to do more with less – across more channels, with higher customer expectations,” said Hunter Middleton, Chief Product Officer at 8×8.
“It’s about replacing those spreadsheets with purpose-built tools that help teams stay ahead of demand, empower agents, and deliver consistently exceptional experiences – without added cost or complexity.”
8×8 Broadens Voice Reach with Mitel Support
In addition to expanding its contact centre platform, 8×8 is extending its reach with new native Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) support and direct sales for the most widely used Mitel SIP desk phones, including the 6900 Series. That allows businesses to keep their Mitel devices while gaining access to the company’s AI-powered communications and contact center capabilities.
The new integration broadens 8×8’s enterprise voice options, allowing organizations to modernize at their own pace. By pairing Mitel’s hardware with 8×8’s global cloud platform, customers can use its contact center tools without the disruption or cost of replacing devices.
“Physical handsets continue to play an essential role for many enterprises,” said Victor Belfor, Global Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at 8×8.
Maintaining SIP handsets is particularly suited for hybrid workplaces and industries that depend on secure communications for shared spaces and compliance purposes. The 8×8 Platform for CX integrates phone, contact center, chat, video, APIs, and AI under a single service, which it backs with a 99.999 percent uptime guarantee and global PSTN coverage in more than 55 countries. Maintaining SIP handsets gives companies added flexibility for shared spaces and compliance-heavy sectors.
Native Mitel support is available globally for select models, while U.S. customers can upgrade or purchase new devices for enhanced performance. Mitel also recently moved its IP phone production to Germany through a partnership with Gigaset, a shift aimed at boosting supply chain resilience by reducing lead times in Europe and ensuring consistent quality for regulated industries.
