8x8 opens first retail, catalog and co-marketing channels for its ViaTV consumer video phone

Business Wire, March 6, 1997

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 1997--8x8, Inc. announced today that its ViaTV Phone - the first affordable consumer video phone - is being offered through three new distribution channels: retail, catalog and co-marketing.

8x8 is currently shipping ViaTV directly to consumers nationwide. The addition of these new channels to 8x8's direct marketing efforts dramatically expands consumer access to this exciting new product.

Communications Expo, the innovative retailer of communication and computer technology, will feature ViaTV Phones in their Dallas store beginning March 8, and upscale telephone catalog merchant Hello Direct will include ViaTV Phone in their catalog beginning in April. In addition, Hewlett-Packard Company is including promotional literature for ViaTV Phone in shipments of its consumer-oriented HP Pavilion home multimedia PC.

Communications Expo is the first technology retailer to feature a totally interactive environment for selling computers, telephones, wireless communications and connection services, and the retailer will feature the ViaTV Phone in two of their 40 interactive displays.

"ViaTV is defining a new product category," noted Chris McNiffe, 8x8's vice president of sales and marketing, "and we wanted our first retailer to be on the cutting edge of retailing trends. Communications Expo's unique interactive environment will let consumers experience the dramatic difference that visual interaction makes in personal communication. We were also impressed by their focus on providing communications solutions to their customers. This combination makes them the perfect first retailer for ViaTV."

"8x8's ViaTV Phone is truly a breakthrough product," said Michael Flink, Communications Expo's vice president of merchandising and advertising. "The level of image quality is substantially better than that of previous POTS (plain old telephone service) video phones. ViaTV's video quality, coupled with its simple set up, ease-of-use and the fact that it doesn't require a computer or special phone lines, will make it appealing to a broad market."

ViaTV Phone goes on sale at Communications Expo on March 8. To allow customers to get a true feel for the unit's easy interface and video quality, the store is setting up two ViaTV Phone Kiosks, which will be connected to one another via the store's comprehensive telephone network.

Hello Direct will become the first catalog merchant to offer a standalone video phone when they feature the ViaTV Phone in their April catalog. As the world's leading direct resource for telephone products, Hello Direct adds ViaTV Phone to a product line that ranges from professional-quality headsets to wireless, teleconferencing, cellular, paging and computer telephony products. Hello Direct mails its catalog to over 800,000 businesses and consumers each month. ViaTV Phone will also be featured on Hello Direct's web site (www.hello-direct.com) beginning mid-March.

"We have focused our channel development efforts on key market leaders that have experience reaching and supporting users of telecommunication products," said 8x8's vice president of business development, Mike Noonen. "With their exclusive focus on telephone products and their superb reputation for customer service, Hello Direct was the only choice for ViaTV's first catalog retailer."

"To date, video conferencing, with the high price of equipment and its requirement for digital telephone lines, has been out of reach for small and medium sized businesses," said Ron Becht, Hello Direct's vice president of product marketing. "These cost and network issues often prevent even large companies from deploying video conferencing widely.

"ViaTV changes all that by eliminating the need for special lines and dramatically lowering the cost of a system. We expect that small business owners and end-users will find that ViaTV gives them a great tool for building relationships with their most important clients, and we're delighted to be the first catalog merchant to bring this product to the business community."

In the last two years, HP has become one of the largest suppliers of personal computers, both to business and home users. Their HP Pavilion line of multimedia PCs for home use, in particular, has become synonymous with ease-of-use, value and innovation.

To promote HP's video phone upgrade for HP Pavilion PCs, 8x8 and HP are co-marketing the ViaTV Phone and the video send technology upgrade via a four-page color brochure included with all Pentium processor powered Pavilion PCs. Promoting the PC-based video phone together with the standalone ViaTV Phones gives HP Pavilion users the option to order a ViaTV for a PC-less friend or relative when they order their video phone upgrade from HP.

"Personal computer users - comfortable as they are with the multimedia experience - represent one of the fastest growing segments of the visual communication market," noted 8x8's McNiffe. "But computer makers like HP recognize that not every member of a PC user's extended family has a personal computer. Compatibility with ViaTV ensures that HP Pavilion owners will have a rapidly growing base of video phone to `talk' with, including consumers that have traditionally not purchased PCs."