Gaia trusts 8x8 for reliable hybrid communications

The Challenge: Starting anew

The Gaia streaming platform grew out of parent company Gaiam, a consumer product and multimedia distribution company. Gaia had evolved and expanded to the point where the project actually outgrew its parent company. In the process of that business transformation, Gaia had an opportunity to make some big changes internally, starting with a new communications system.

Gaia was looking for a modern cloud provider that would better suit their new, unique needs than their previous system. They needed a solution that could support a hybrid work environment, as some employees were fully remote and others prefered to stay in-office using a desk phone. “I did not want to manage any sort of in-house, on-premises system for the phone services,” says Jason Riley, Gaia’s Senior Director of IT/Operations. They’d had some frustrations with managing and maintaining their previous on-premises system, and Riley and his team were looking for a full-cloud solution for Gaia as the company started its new chapter.

Riley and team were also specifically on the hunt for a great VoIP provider that fit their budget without sacrificing quality or security. Additionally, they only had about two months to migrate, so they were looking for a provider they could trust to guide them through a swift and efficient transition. After evaluating various cloud communications providers, Gaia chose 8x8 to lead them into this next phase.

The Solution: Expert communications, from anywhere

When Gaia first migrated to 8x8 in 2016, employees were primarily working in the office. Every employee had a desk phone, which was their main way of communicating with customers, staff, and teammates. Now, only a few years later, their work landscape has changed dramatically. The company has gone from a primarily in-office workforce to a hybrid workforce, with many employees working remotely periodically. These remote employees rely on virtual phone lines and 8x8 Work to stay connected with each other and with their customers.

“We've progressed to the point now where most people don't have a physical phone, they use the virtual number or they have the 8x8 app on their phone,” explains Riley. “Since then, it's been working great. We're able to manage the platform and the support has been good when we needed it.”

8x8’s stability, reliability, and ease-of-use were huge wins for Gaia. “8x8’s ease of use is a big one,” says Riley. “It only took a minimal amount of training for our team to be able to use the platform, so 8x8 quickly became ingrained into our business processes.”

The Benefits: Huge savings lead to more time and resources

After switching to 8x8, Gaia saw some enormous savings. Monthly phone bills went down 50%, allowing the company to use its resources on exciting new features and ideas. Riley encourages other businesses to look to 8x8 when evaluating cloud options. “I think the rollout is so straightforward and simple, it's definitely worth a review because the functionality versus the cost is perfect.”