8×8 NASDAQ: EGHT), the parent company of Packet8, has regularly been the subject of e-mails to me from some shareholders who feel that their marketing is rather anemic in light of all that Vonage and AT&T are doing. I tended to agree, for they have not really reached out to the media and embraced them the way the team @ Vonage (Brooke Schulz and Michael Slepian) and now Gary Morganstern of AT&T seem to clearly understand.
So, I found it rather apropos to post that Packet8 announced they are going to the FCC to present their video over IP solution and its benefits to the disabled.
While this niche market has all the reasons to be supported for altruistic purposes, it needs to be part of a larger and more cohesive marketing strategy. Given the announcement in March of a fifty million dollar shelf registration, and then a deal to use Level3’s network and their Virtual Office announcement also both made in March, it would appear that 8×8 is heeding the advice of their shareholders and starting to market, if for no other reason than to get another round of investment dollars and to make sure they stay in the news, something they were able to do around the recent VON conference in Santa Clara.
The good news is that Packet8 is making moves to get some attention. Let’s give them some room to maneuver and see where they end up.