Interoperability could help 8x8 Team Messaging stand out

8x8 has added a team collaboration app to its cloud-based unified communications and contact center portfolio, filling a gap in its product line as many competing vendors invest in similar products.

8x8 Team Messaging, introduced this week, supports small-group instant messaging and online meetings in an interface similar to Slack. Businesses can create public and private channels. Previously, 8x8 only had one-to-one messaging.

8x8 has made chat interoperability a priority. Last year, the vendor acquired Sameroom, a technology for federating instant messaging among apps from different vendors. For example, the tool would let a Slack user chat with a Google Hangouts Chat user without either party having to create an account in the other app.

8x8 will continue to offer Sameroom as a stand-alone service. But it has also used the technology to make 8x8 Team Messaging interoperable with 23 third-party chat apps, including Slack and Cisco Webex Teams. (Sameroom doesn't yet work with Microsoft Skype for Business or Microsoft Teams.)

The interoperability feature should appeal to large enterprises whose employees use multiple messaging products. It could also be helpful for external collaboration, eliminating the need for guest accounts, which create compliance and security headaches for enterprises. 

8x8 also highlighted how easy it is to deploy its team chat app company-wide. The app links with a customer's global directory, so that businesses can create 8x8 Team Messaging accounts for every employee, all at once. In contrast, many other team collaboration apps require businesses to manually add users.