Team collaboration tools have never been more important than today. With the growing need to adapt to mobile solutions, it’s necessary to keep up with the times and be able to work across time zones...
Jul 12, 2020
8x8 vs FluentStream Technologies
Compare 8x8 vs FluentStream Technologies. Find out whether 8x8 or FluentStream Technologies is better for your VoIP business or home needs. The experts at VoipReview have analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of 8x8 and FluentStream Technologies and detailed analysis of the comparison can be found below.
User Ratings & Reviews
- 47 Reviews
- 26 Reviews
Overview:
8x8 is a trusted provider of award-winning cloud communications systems for business of all sizes. Having earned over 125 patents and counting, 8x8 is dedicated to developing innovative solutions that help businesses work simply and perform...
FluentStream Technologies offers a fully hosted business VoIP phone solution designed to help businesses work smarter and simpler. Their phone solutions come with over 90 features plus business app integrations to help organizations connect...
Provider Info
- Website: 8x8.com
- Headquater Country: United States
- Founder Year: 1996
- Website: www.fluentstream.com/
- Headquater Country: United States
- Founder Year: 2007
Plans Available*
- 8x8 Call Center Software - N/A
- 8x8 Global Extension - $79.99
- 8x8 Metered Extensions - $24.99
- 8x8 SIP Trunking - N/A
- 8x8 Unlimited Extension - $39.99
- Virtual Office - $19.99
- Virtual Office Pro - $49.99
- N/A
Users Average Rating
Recent User Reviews
8 x 8 is charging me $740 to cancel service. I have been a customer since 2017. Needed to cancel as my business closed for Covid 19 They where horrifying to speak with about this. They had 3 different amounts then landed on the $740 being the most. This had nothing to do with monthly charges, as those where always automatic and up to date. This is a totally made up number as they can not produce a contract. They tell me to reference small print. The small print is not clear- and they cant confirm that was even there with I started service in 2017. There is nothing about an amount for a cancelation fee in the small print. The whole thing is criminal and fraudulent. You can't even get a professional on the phone. They where all emotional and escalated. One even laughed at me. This is beyond traumatizing. I didn't know stuff like this still happened. Please- I will do everything I can to protect other small businesses from this horrifying company. Please- there are many other VOIP companys- pick any of them but 8 x8- and please ask them about hidden fake contracts, and cancelation terms.
"Mid-Market" 8x8 customer since 2012 with 34 lines and 10 toll free numbers. I was hired in 2013. From the moment I was hired I was getting complaints about dropped calls, spotty call quality, and issues with the softphones. After cleaning up the network, I came to realize it wasn't us (or our 500Mbps DIA connection) it was 8x8. Constantly have had problems over the past five years. If you need support, expect long hold times (30 minutes +) and to have to start running the gauntlet at the base level of support. If, you can get the person on the other end to understand that you're in a higher tier of support, expect more hold time. It's incredibly frustrating considering hosted PBX/VOIP services are supposed to save you time and make your life easier. I'm constantly having to call 8x8 support due to not being able to call certain numbers. Their softphone app constantly crashes or interferes with other programs like webex, chrome/firefox, VNC, Lync, Skype, Hipchat, etc. and often causes issues with computer sound (running Dell optiplex and XPS in this office) forcing a reboot to restore sound levels. The "meetings" part of the softphone app is a disaster. It's so bad we just ended up using gotomeeting instead. The conference lines kept having a problem where if you called in with an iPhone people could hear you but you couldn't hear anyone else. Billing is absolute nonsense. My company's accounting team and IT got together with 8x8 trying to determine what we were being billed for and no one at 8x8 could actually tell us. it's been 6 weeks and we're still waiting on an answer. This company has been an absolute nightmare to work with. If you decide to be brave and use them, you'll regret it. Here's an image of their softphone desktop app (and the amount of time I've been on hold with their support team for yet another number that can't be dialed. You'd think calling from Austin to Anaheim would be easy, huh?) http://imagehost.phoenix-nest.com/?di=6154948616415
Our needs weren't particularly easy. Two small companies at one location operating separately and answering the phones with 2 business names (with shared personnel), using an old phone system in a small office, in an industry that doesn't always welcome technology changes! Going to VOIP from Analog was the challenge of trying to make something newer - look more like the older system in order to minimize the technology pushback. We purchased Cisco SPA508G phones (not password protected), all with Attendant Sidecars (maybe not ideal since programming options can be more advanced), but they work well for us, were affordable, and we mostly use the basics anyway. We also have a warehouse speaker paging system. I'm not a phone guy - but decent with technology. We got by with only me doing the change out and with a little help from our contract IT guy to prioritize call quality and make sure our firewall ports were set correctly. FluentStream and more specifically Kaitlin, not only did an outstanding job of working with us to get where we needed to be - but they also cut our monthly bill by about 2/3. Are there cons... sure - very minor ones. I'm pretty sure they aren't (yet), a technology giant with unlimited funds - but - every need we had and that mattered - they met with a GREAT attitude and with AMERICAN customer service that was easy to understand. Actually, my view is that their setup options for he $ spent are VERY advanced. We tried two others before deciding - one of the LARGEST Voip companies out there, and one very small 2-3 person company. NO COMPARISON - even from the large company. They had no flexibility and hard-to-communicate with overseas people for support. Those we work with at FluentStream take time to listen and solve issues that are important to us. What is that worth? Every penny that we saved - and every $200. - $300. monthly that I feel we overpaid CenturyLink and 2 other companies over the last 6 years - for below average, often grouchy time-taking customer service. If you are like us, you will save thousands per year and for small businesses, and more importantly for large businesses, that can be significant. I really can't believe how much we are saving and how adaptable their system has been for us. We would definitely do this again and again and again!
I have been a FluentStream customer for a little over a year now and am completely 100% satisfied. The features we now have make our small business seem much larger to our customers and enables us to provide a much better service as well. The customer support has been outstanding and the questions I have had have been answered and explained and support has been available non-stop. Extremely cost efficient! I highly recommend!!
*Plan pricing displayed here has been sourced directly from the provider's website or via the provider's sales team. Pricing is subject to change without notice. Check provider's website for most current pricing.Plan pricing may differ based on the country for which you are requesting service.
