Background
This document aims to clarify the terms referenced by 8x8 in its product documentation, marketing materials and customer communications, relating to the call charges. This page and 8x8 product documentation may be updated from time to time. If there is a conflict, the 8x8 product documentation controls.
User plans
X Series, XF or 8x8 Engage
8x8 offers a tiered range of usage plans for users to select from to truly tailor the 8x8 Platform to your needs combining functional capabilities (e.g., UCaaS, CCaaS, CPaaS, or XCaaS) with a variety of calling plan options (metered or unmetered calling), and countless valuable integrations including for 8x8 Work. Among other aspects of differentiation, 8x8 licenses vary based on the calling zone associated with the user license.
8x8 Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams Ⓡ
New user license type that enables 8x8 PSTN calling for Microsoft TeamsⓇ users. As such, there is no associated 8x8 UC or CC capabilities included.
Please note that Microsoft Teams is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.
Understanding 8x8 Calling Zones
See Calling Countries for X-Series Licenses for more detailed information on calling countries associated with specific X-Series Licenses.
Nationwide
Available in 10 countries, such that a user may select one of those countries as a home country which includes domestic calling within that home country. A user does not incur outbound call charges to standard tariff mobile or landline geographic numbers within the home country for which their primary Direct Inward Dialing (DID) number has been provisioned. All other calls are metered at the then-current 8x8 rates. For clarity, DID is a service that allows one or more virtual phone numbers to be assigned such that a phone call is directly routed to a specific phone number.
International Calling Zone 1
Unmetered calling zone (e.g., associated with 8x8 X Series X2 licenses and above) that includes 14 country destinations. Note that unmetered calling includes calls to standard tariff geographic (geo) numbers in each country. Calls to mobile numbers are also included, unless indicated otherwise in the 8x8 Documentation.
International Calling Zone 2
Unmetered calling zone (e.g., associated with 8x8 X Series X2 licenses and above) that includes 32 country destinations. Note that unmetered calling includes calls to standard tariff geographic numbers in each country. Calls to mobile numbers are also included, unless indicated otherwise in the 8x8 Documentation.
International Calling Zone 3
Unmetered calling zone (e.g., associated with 8x8 X Series X2 licenses and above) that includes 48 country destinations. Note that unmetered calling includes calls to standard tariff geographic numbers in each country. Calls to mobile numbers are also included, unless indicated otherwise in the 8x8 Documentation.
Calling plan Types
UC Bundles
Includes unmetered calling, based on the associated calling zone of country destinations. This includes calls to standard-tariff landline (geo) and mobile numbers. For certain destination countries, calls to mobile numbers are not included, as detailed in 8x8 Documentation. Non-limiting examples of 8x8 products where this applies include X Series X1/X2/X3/X4 user licenses.
CC Bundles
Includes unmetered calling to 48 country destinations (International Calling Zone 3), subject to a 4,000 minute per license usage cap, that is pooled on an account level basis rather than a user level basis. Overage minutes are billed at prevailing 8x8 call rates. Non-limiting examples of 8x8 products where this applies include X Series X6/X7/X8 (bundled) seat licenses. Note that the standard X Series X6/X7/X8 licenses are unbundled and do not include any calling plan or minutes allowance. For these, all minutes are chargeable as outlined in an Order or otherwise specified for CC bundles at the 8x8 Usage Page.
Usage Bundle Prepaid
In order to benefit from optimum call rates from 8x8, customers can opt to subscribe to the prepaid usage package (e.g., VOSVC0204-005 SKUs), that offers tiered discounting, based on total spend.
Call charges
Metered outbound
All calls are billable.
Unmetered outbound
Include calls to standard-tariff geographic and landline numbers as well as to standard-tariff mobile numbers (excludes mobile numbers that are designated as “select mobile” as explained in the definition of “local”).
Inbound Toll-Free
Whereas calls to an 8x8 provisioned toll-free (TF) number are free for the calling party, as the number owner, the customer incurs call charges for all inbound call minutes. This applies for all (CC and UC) 8x8 user plans, with the applicable in-bound TF rates listed in an Order or as otherwise specified using the 8x8 rate card tool. For convenience, here is a downloadable PDF of TF call rates, though please note that the 8x8 rate card tool controls if there is a conflict between the above PDF and the 8x8 rate card tool.
Inbound Numbers
8x8 does not charge for all types of inbound calls to non-TF numbers. See the 8x8 Usage Page for more details on applicable call charges.
Number types
Local
For the country associated with your DID, calls are designated by prefix (e.g., city/area code in the US, STD code in the UK) indicating the geographic location of the subscriber. Standard tariff mobile numbers are included in the majority of in-country calling plans with some exceptions where mobile calling is not included. Select mobile numbers exclude premium tariff mobile (e.g., those reserved for call-forwarding services).
Geographic
Synonymous with ‘local’. Sometimes abbreviated as “geo”.
Non-geographic
Where the prefix is not location-specific and indicates the service type, based on an individual country’s regulated telephone numbering plan (e.g., Ofcom in the UK). Non-geographic (or “non-geo”) number types include premium tariff mobile numbers, toll-free, premium rate, shared cost and special numbers.
Domestic
This is a more generic term that encompasses all number prefixes within a country, including geographic and non-geographic numbers. Please note that additional charges may apply to premium tariff mobile numbers and non-geographic numbers.
National
Synonymous with domestic.
Toll-free
Commonly used generic term for non-geographic numbers, which can be called with no charges incurred by the calling party.
In the US, these are defined by the FCC as “...telephone numbers with distinct three-digit codes that can be dialed from landlines with no charge to the person placing the call. Such numbers allow callers to reach businesses and individuals out of the area without being charged a long-distance fee for the call.”
Although the term is universal, there are country-specific names for toll-free numbers, such as FreeCall in Australia and FreePhone in the UK.
Premium
Non-geographic numbers that include value-adding charging elements, for example, shared-cost mark-up. As such, these are excluded from unmetered calling plans and will incur charges.
Special
These numbers have specific prefixes and tariffs that differ from standard landline and mobile, for example those associated with premium-rate call forwarding or non-business-related entertainment services. As such, these are excluded from unmetered calling plans and are always billed at prevailing 8x8 metered rates.
International
Numbers outside a user’s home country or outside the country where the DID is provisioned.
Offshore
In some cases, calls to national-format numbers are excluded from domestic calling plans. Specifically, UK offshore mobile numbers (associated with MNOs in UK Offshore territories, including Isle of Man, Alderney, Jersey, Guernsey) and countries in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) that fall outside of the 50 states, in the Caribbean and beyond.
Billing
General
Whereas service fees and other monthly-recurring charges are billed monthly in advance, call and other usage charges are billed in arrears .
Call rates
Maintained within 8x8 billing systems. The current rates can be accessed via the 8x8 Call Rates look-up tool and rate card generator at: www.8x8.com/why-8x8/global. See the 8x8 Usage Page for more helpful information around using the 8x8 Rate Card Configurator.
Call Detail Reporting
This is an opt-in billing option for qualifying customers. This provides a full listing of inbound and outbound calls during the billing period. This includes time-stamp, originating and destination number, call duration, license category and calculated call cost.
Call charging
8x8 calculates call durations based on data it records in one-minute increments (rounding up partial minutes). If the charge for a call includes a fraction of the smallest unit of currency, 8x8 rounds it to the nearest whole unit. Unanswered outbound calls may still incur charges.
Reasonable business use (Fair usage policy)
For any features or functionalities of the 8x8 Platform that are designated as unlimited (or unmetered), Customer Use must comply with reasonable business use thresholds (“Fair Use”) specified in an Order or the 8x8 Documentation. If unspecified, Fair Use means up to three times the average monthly use of that specific feature or functionality by all 8x8 customers. 8x8 reserves the right to enforce Fair Use as outlined in its Terms. Overages exceeding the Reasonable Business Use threshold will be billed at the applicable calling rates specified using the 8x8 Rate Card Tool.