This series provides a comparison between national hosted PBX providers compared to TeleDynamic Communications, a local hosted PBX provider. 

Overview: 8X8 is one of the two largest national hosted PBX providers in the U.S.  Here we compare their pricing and terms versus our TeleDynamic hosted PBX service.

Pricing

8X8 has a very simple pricing structure at $19.99 per extension. 

This price includes unlimited domestic inbound and outbound calling. TeleDynamic prices their solution using two components: TeleDynamic’s price per extension is $8.95 (and we also suggest) plus a $34.95 fee per call path (a call path allows one phone call to the outside world). This pricing method provides fairer pricing to the customer versus 8X8’s one-size-fits-all pricing. Let’s take this example of an engineering firm that has a low call volume:

Virtual Extension Pricing

8X8:  $19.95 activation fee, and a $9.95 monthly fee plus 2.9 cents per minute for calls forwarded to traditional phone numbers.

TeleDynamic:  $4.95 monthly 

Contract Duration

8X8: 1, 2, 3 and five-year contracts.

TeleDynamic: Contracts from one to five years.

Contract Auto-Renewal

8X8: Contract automatically renews for a period of one year, unless the customer provides a formal 30-day advance notice.

TeleDynamic: Our contract does not automatically renew. 

Early Termination Fee

8X8: The company has quite harsh terms for a customer who for whatever reason wishes to end their service with 8X8.  As per their Terms and Conditions:  “If a Customer terminates the Agreement, or some of the Services provided under the Agreement, before the end of the Term, 8×8 will charge the Customer an early termination charge equal to 100% of the Monthly Service Fee for the terminated Service(s) multiplied by the number of months remaining in the Terminated Term on the date of termination. If the Terminated Term is the Initial Term, 8×8 will also charge the Customer, and the Customer will pay, any unpaid non-recurring charges waived at the beginning of the Initial Term.”

TeleDynamic: Our early termination policy is “If you really want to leave us, regretfully we’ll let you go.” We don’t want an unhappy customer being forced to do business with us.

Phone Cancellation Fee

8X8: If a Customer terminates a Service Plan associated to a physical telephone in the first 12 months, 8×8 shall charge a disconnection fee of $59.99. If a Customer terminates a Plus Extension Service Plan in the first 24 months, 8×8 will charge a disconnection fee of $200.00 for each extension.

TeleDynamic: We believe that one of the inherent advantages of a hosted PBX is that you pay for what you need. We have no penalties for disconnecting phones or service. As your business grows and contracts so does your monthly bill… as it should be.

Customized Pricing

8X8:  8X8 salespeople sell by the book. The pricing structure is the same for every customer.

TeleDynamic: TeleDynamic’s prices are very competitive, and they are generally less expensive. However, from time-to-time we come across customers with unusual situations that call for custom pricing. We have the flexibility to create price effective solutions for the most unusual situations.

Summary  

While 8X8 heavily advertises low pricing, the overall monthly cost is generally in-line with TeleDynamic’s pricing after all of the extras are considered.

Conclusion: What is markedly different are the terms of doing business with the two companies.  TeleDynamic’s way of doing business is simple, straight-forward and without extra fees, penalties or financial surprises. TeleDynamic offers a fair price for an excellent product, delivered by a reputable local company, in business for over 25 years.