8×8, Inc. (NYSE:EGHT), a leading integrated cloud communications platform, today announced Italy-based classroom collaboration platform WeSchool is now using 8×8’s Jitsi.org open-source video conferencing solution to connect Italy’s teachers and students.
WeSchool, founded in 2016, is dedicated to the digitization of Italian schools, providing a free platform for teachers to bring their classes online, and for over two million students to connect, collaborate and learn via video, chat and lessons curated by teachers and experts.
Following school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WeSchool and others answered the call of the Italian Ministry of Education to support remote education. Today, in the midst of national school closures, nearly thirty percent of Italy’s secondary school teachers are using WeSchool to continue their classes online and connect with students virtually.
“In the face of this public health crisis, we’re committed to ensuring school goes on,” said Marco De Rossi, Chief Executive Officer, WeSchool. “Nearly 30 percent of all secondary school teachers in Italy are now using our online classroom collaboration platform, powered by 8×8’s Jitsi.org open-source video conferencing solution, to stay connected with their students. This rapid adoption gives us a great deal of hope today and for the future.”
WeSchool transitioned to 8×8’s Jitsi.org infrastructure earlier this month in response to a 40x increase in average website traffic. The enhanced infrastructure is now enabling live video conferencing between teachers and students on the WeSchool platform.
“8×8’s mission is to deliver cloud communications solutions that allow organizations to be ready, resilient and responsive, said Vik Verma, Chief Executive Officer at 8×8, Inc. “The work WeSchool is doing to connect Italy’s teachers and students virtually in the midst of this public health crisis is incredible. 8×8’s Jitsi.org open-source video conferencing solution is dedicated to enabling exactly this kind of innovation, powered by a vibrant global developer community.”
1.7 Million Monthly Active Users Globally and a Growing Community of Developers
8×8 is the main contributor to the Jitsi.org open-source solution, and the standalone and integrated versions of 8×8 Video Meetings are based on it. The Jitsi.org code has been hardened with over a million downloads and in applications like banking video conferencing, education as a service platforms and home security applications globally. The product is packaged with 8×8 X Series for businesses that have a mobile and remote workforce requiring a highly reliable and resilient solution across desktop and mobile devices for voice, video, chat, contact center, APIs and advanced analytics. It is also available as a standalone offering and as part of 8×8 Express, which is for small organizations and teams that require a complete, preconfigured business phone system with a dedicated business number, video meetings and messaging in a single desktop and mobile application.
The free, standalone version of 8×8 Video Meetings, introduced to the public in November 2019, is available at https://8×8.vc, and includes international dial-in numbers in more than 55 countries. 8×8 Video Meetings utilizes the WebRTC standard which enables attendees to instantly join meetings without any downloads or plugins.
Since the beginning of March 2020, 8×8 has experienced a significant increase in usage across its video meetings solutions with monthly active users growing globally to more than 1.7 million.
About 8×8, Inc.
8×8, Inc. (NYSE: EGHT) is transforming the future of business communications as a leading Software-as-a-Service provider of voice, video, chat, contact center, and enterprise-class API solutions powered by one global cloud communications platform. 8×8 empowers workforces worldwide to connect individuals and teams so they can collaborate faster and work smarter. Real-time business analytics and intelligence provide businesses unique insights across all interactions and channels so they can delight end-customers and accelerate their business. For additional information, visit www.8×8.com, or follow 8×8 on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
8×8® and 8×8 X Series™ are trademarks of 8×8, Inc.
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