8x8, Inc., provider of Packet8 residential, business and video Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone services, announced that its Packet8 Virtual Office hosted PBX VoIP phone service is now being used by more than 5,000 U.S. small and medium-sized businesses ranging in size from three to 250 employees.

According to 8x8 Vice President of Sales and Marketing Huw Rees, the adoption rate of the Packet8 Virtual Office service by U.S. based businesses has increased dramatically over the past twelve months, with nearly 1,000 new businesses added in the last quarter alone. Often, the occurrence of a change event such as relocation to new offices or replacement of an outdated phone system will motivate a business to consider switching from traditional business phone systems and landline phone service to VoIP service. In many other cases, a business will simply be searching for ways to cut operating expenses by reducing telecom costs.

"Businesses today are well aware of the advantages VoIP phone service offers and will actively conduct research to find the solution that will save them the most money while providing the flexibility and feature set that best suits their needs," says Rees. "The Packet8 Virtual Office solution allows a company to utilize their existing high speed Internet connection to drive a hosted PBX phone service that offers unlimited calling, geographic freedom and powerful call management features, including full service administration, for just $39.99 per extension per month. This is a huge advantage for the typical small business which, until now, has had to sacrifice performance for price."

Virtual Office is an affordable, easy-to-use alternative to traditional PBX systems that allows users anywhere in the world to be part of a VoIP-hosted virtual phone system. The service includes an auto attendant, extension dialing, business class voicemail, a full featured conference bridge and ring groups, in addition to a rich variety of other business class PBX and dial tone features not normally found on premise-based PBX systems. Virtual Office reduces an organization's telecommunications total cost of ownership because of its minimal initial investment combined with unlimited local and long distance business calling in the United States and Canada and access to Packet8's low international rates.