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Internet Protocol communications solutions provider 8x8 Inc. announced today that it has received a new United States patent designed to enhance its Internet Telephony (News - Alert) solutions.

 

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Patent Number 7,606,221, called “Network Communications Having Endpoint Device with Automatic Connection to IPBX" on Oct. 20. The newly issued patent supports a telephony communications approach that implements an auto-discovery feature that helps an endpoint device automatically locate and establish communication with a specific server among other interconnected servers.

 

For example, the endpoint device is an Internet-type telephone communicating with a remote server in an Internet-based Private Branch Exchange, 8x8 (News - Alert) said.

 

The latest patent marks 8x8’s 74th patent since the firm was established in 1987, company officials said. 8x8 is best known for its Packet8 VoIP and video communications services for business and residential customers.

 

Last July, 8x8 secured a patent for Internet Protocol communication systems, particularly broadband telephony services that have distributed local gateways.

 

With the global recession, companies are increasingly taking new interest to deploy VoIP solutions primarily for the cost benefits that can be achieved with the technology. For example, Utah florist FlowerPatch recently announced it deployed 8x8’s Virtual Office hosted VoIP to cut its phone bill. With 8x8’s solution, FlowerPatch saves about 82 percent from its original monthly phone costs.

 

Beyond the cost savings, FlowerPatch solved other problems by implementing 8x8’s IP telephony solutions, such as ridding the business of long wait times that often resulted in hang ups and correctly routing calls to the proper location.

 

In other news, 8x8 partnered with Aastra (News - Alert), a global provider of communications products, to offer co-branded Virtual Office business IP phones bundled with the 8×8 Virtual Office suite. Under the partnership, Aastra supplies the co-branded 8x8/Aastra 6755i Virtual Office IP phone, while 8x8 manages the 8x8 Virtual Office hosted IP PBX (News - Alert) service.