FFuze
Available through IT Raven
- Unified Communications
- Contact Center and CX
Fuze is a cloud communications platform for large companies that puts calling, video meetings and chat into one application. Its documents place its headquarters in Boston, with offices in North America, Europe and Australia.
Its argument is consolidation. Fuze says it typically replaces four to eight separate communication tools at the companies it works with. Because the product is built on a single technology stack, it says, calls, meetings and chat all feed one source of usage data, where separate tools would each keep their own.
Fuze is now part of 8x8. Its own website presents the two companies as combined and says future development is going to the 8x8 platform, so anyone weighing Fuze today is really weighing that platform and its roadmap. The product details below come from Fuze's own materials from before the combination; read them as the starting point and check the current 8x8 lineup for what has moved or changed.
Best for
- Enterprises running several disconnected calling, meeting and chat tools that want one.
- Global companies that want unmetered calling across many countries on one plan.
- Organizations moving calling off an older phone platform that want to migrate at their own pace.
- Microsoft-centered workplaces that want presence tied to the Outlook calendar, contacts kept current from Office 365, and single sign-on.
- Departments such as sales, HR or IT that need voice call queues and routing without a full contact center.
What they offer
Cloud Phone Systems. Desktop and mobile apps with calling, meetings, one-to-one and group chat, and presence. Calling plans run from metered use to a global tier covering more than 100 countries. Fuze Meetings supports up to 1,000 participants and 12 high definition video streams. A data platform reports on usage for managers and for each employee, and real-time network monitoring is available. A migration service moves calling off Skype for Business, Cisco, Avaya and other older phone systems at a pace the customer sets.
Contact Center. Fuze Contact Center is a voice-only product for informal groups. It provides skill-based routing, priority queues, call recording, reports for supervisors, and a live view of what each agent is doing. It requires a contact center package, which sets up the application with up to five queues, in addition to the agent licenses. For text channels, outbound dialing or workforce management, Fuze integrates with NICE inContact and Five9.
Unified Communications
Cloud Phone Systems
Contact Center and CX
Contact Center
Proof
Customer stories Fuze has published, told here without the customer's name.
A global IT staffing firm with about 2,000 people across more than 20 locations. It ran multiple on-premises PBX systems and ISDN lines that could not keep up with rapid hiring. It moved to Fuze's single cloud platform, integrated with its Microsoft 365, Azure and Salesforce environment. New sites now come online as soon as there is an internet connection, new users are set up in minutes, and team leaders join live calls to coach new recruiters from any location.
A global manufacturer of revolving doors and secure entry systems with about 1,400 employees across 20 offices in 16 countries. It replaced six separate on-premises phone systems from different vendors with Fuze, integrated with Microsoft 365. It moved most staff to mobile and softphones off desk phones, and gave reception ring groups, call queues and a shared global directory in place of a system that could not handle its call volume.
A global industrial software company with about 6,000 employees across 100 offices. It standardized a patchwork of legacy phone systems on Fuze after a one-month proof of concept in a single office, then rolled it out worldwide. Its sales, support and renewals teams place calls, log notes and open cases directly from Salesforce through the Fuze connector, and no location needs local phone hardware or on-site support.
Fuze also lists an active-active structure and global data centers among the ways it protects uptime, including through natural disasters. Active-active means every site carries live traffic. The documents list no security or compliance certifications.
Good to know
- Fuze's older materials here carry no publication dates; the awards they cite run from 2016 to 2018 and one paper is titled for 2020. Fuze has since become part of 8x8, so treat the product specifics as a baseline and confirm them against the current 8x8 offering.
- Anything beyond voice queues in the contact center comes from a partner platform, NICE inContact or Five9. Ask which one is proposed and who supports it.
- Network monitoring is powered by AppNeta.
- The texting add-on is available in North America only.
- Existing conference room systems from Cisco, Polycom, LifeSize or Yealink can join Fuze meetings through an add-on, licensed for each device.
- One of its white papers tells buyers to insist on a published, guaranteed 99.999 percent uptime commitment from any vendor. The documents here do not state the terms of Fuze's own.
Similar companies
They offer some of the same services. Add two or more and we quote them against each other.
How buying works
The store is the easy part. Staying on the account is the job.
Anyone can show you logos. The reason to buy here is what happens on install night, and on the ticket you open nine months later.
- 01
Build your quote list
Add services and companies as you shop. No form stands between you and the shelf.
- 02
We bring back real options
A person shops the bench against your addresses, then walks you through what fits and what does not.
- 03
We handle the order and install
Paperwork, site survey, install dates, cutover night. You get one thread, not five vendors.
- 04
We stay on your account
Same team for moves, adds, tickets and the next renewal. That is the part everyone else drops.