SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 3, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGHT), provider of innovative business communications solutions, today announced that Food for the Hungry (www.fh.org), an international Christian relief and development organization, has deployed the 8x8 Virtual Office VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone service to streamline communications between its domestic and international locations.
Founded in 1971 to provide on-site disaster relief in crisis-stricken locations such as Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Vietnam and Guatemala, Food for the Hungry helps poor communities in more than 26 countries improve their way of living through sustainable programs in areas such as education, agriculture, health, water, and leadership training. To keep domestic and overseas staff and volunteers connected, Food for the Hungry chose the 8x8 Virtual Office phone solution, which not only offered the geographic coverage and flexibility it needed, but also saved the non-profit organization significant capital and ongoing operational expense.
"The distributed and dynamic nature of the services we perform dictated a communications platform that could run over a single worldwide network, be quickly activated in new locations and do so without costing a fortune," said Randy Black, Senior Systems Administrator for Food for the Hungry. "8x8's hosted VoIP solution is ideal for the environment we operate in every day where, even though our organizational structure might change from one hour to the next, we know that our vital communications will remain intact."
Food for the Hungry currently subscribes to over 150 Virtual Office Unlimited extensions along with 8x8 virtual and toll free numbers and fax extensions. Field offices in the United Kingdom, Guatemala, Bolivia and Haiti, as well as individual volunteers working from remote distributed locations, are connected seamlessly over 8x8's VoIP network, enabling workers to call one another by simply dialing an extension and subsequently eliminating international toll charges. As emergency relief operations establish in new locations, 8x8 Virtual Office IP phones are simply plugged into existing broadband networks to keep additional personnel connected.
Today, in addition to implementing transformational development programs in impoverished communities, Food for the Hungry is actively working in Haiti to build healthier, more stable communities for children and families following the massive January 2010 earthquake and the recent cholera outbreak which has claimed the lives of 253 people and infected approximately 3,000 Haitians. To learn more about Food for the Hungry's work in Haiti or to make a donation go to http://www.fh.org/give/donate. To follow Food for the Hungry on Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/foodforthehungry.
About 8x8, Inc.
8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGHT) leverages its patented software technologies to deliver high quality voice solutions and integrated messaging and video to businesses of any size with employees in any location on a wide variety of business telephony, web and mobile platforms. 8x8 also offers managed hosting and cloud-based computing services. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or connect with 8x8 on Facebook and Twitter.