[April 22, 2014]

Multi-State Law Firm McDonnell and Associates Reduces Costs, Enables Mobility and Improves Efficiency with 8x8 Cloud Communications

8x8 (News - Alert), Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT), a provider of cloud-based unified communications, contact center and collaboration solutions, today announced that McDonnell and Associates, a multi-state, general practice law firm, is connecting seven offices and dozens of remote workers using 8x8 Virtual Office cloud communications services. The firm transitioned from an on-premise key telephone system to 8x8's cloud-based platform in less than 30 days and has seen a dramatic reduction in its telephony maintenance costs and improvement in employee efficiency as a result.

McDonnell and Associates is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, and maintains additional offices in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. McDonnell and Associates operates as a general practice firm, focusing on real estate law, auto accidents and personal injury law, business formation, criminal defense, domestic issues and family law, wills/estate planning/probate, general civil law, civil litigation, and creditor's rights.

Initially, McDonnell and Associates used an NEC (News - Alert) key system within its headquarters, but as the firm expanded, provisioning new users and installing equipment became time consuming and expensive. The firm's ongoing maintenance contract for the system was also costly. Management decided to transition to a cloud-based telephony solution that could support McDonnell's multi-state offices, as well as mobile attorneys who travel to complete real estate closings.

According to the firm's CIO Paul Siskin, a couple of factors differentiated 8x8 right from the start. "8x8 has the most robust cloud solution and the best references in the industry," sid Siskin. "The mobile app is also ideal for our users, because we have attorneys traveling to banks and homes to sign off on closings, sometimes making multiple trips in one day."

McDonnell and Associates first installed 8x8 service at its Columbia offices and at the locations of remote employees. Full deployment took less than 30 days. To date, McDonnell's most significant cost savings have resulted from the drastic reduction in ongoing maintenance charges. According to Siskin, that is one of the most important advantages of the 8x8 system.

"We used to have a maintenance contract for our key system," Siskin noted. "Whenever we wanted to make a change to it or add something new, we had to call a service tech and pay an installation fee. 8x8's self-service portal lets us maintain the system on our own, and make changes on the fly when we need to."

In addition to unifying the firm on a single telephony platform, 8x8's solution includes an online meeting and collaboration solution that saves time and promotes employee efficiency. For example, McDonnell recently selected a new provider for its healthcare plan. Rather than give the same presentation seven times in each of the firm's offices, the HR department used 8x8 web conferencing and desktop sharing features to present the information at one firm-wide meeting.

"The ubiquity of cloud communications enables 8x8 to unite organizations with offices and users in multiple locations immediately," said 8x8 CEO Vik Verma. "There is no inside wiring to install and 8x8 phones and mobile applications make the transition from a traditional phone system simple and seamless. Once our cloud-based service is deployed, customers can easily manage it themselves. When they need a change, they make the change and go right back to focusing on their business."

About 8x8, Inc.

8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT) is the trusted provider of secure and reliable cloud-based unified communications and virtual contact center solutions to more than 36,000 small, midsize and distributed enterprise organizations operating in over 40 countries across six continents. 8x8's out-of-the-box cloud solutions replace traditional on-premise PBX hardware and software-based systems with a flexible and scalable Software as a Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) alternative, encompassing cloud business phone service, contact center solutions, and web conferencing. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or www.8x8.com/UK or connect with 8x8 on Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About McDonnell & Associates

McDonnell & Associates operates as a general practice firm, focusing on real estate law, auto accidents & personal injury law, business formation, criminal defense, domestic issues & family law, wills/estate planning / probate, general civil law, civil litigation, and creditor's rights.

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