What's new in 8x8 Engage?

What's new in August 2026?

In this release, we have introduced the following enhancements:

• 8×8 Engage user-initiated company SMS

• 8x8 Engage company caller ID

8x8 Engage user-initiated company SMS

As an 8x8 Engage user with digital channels enabled, you can now send outbound Contact Center SMS messages directly from My inbox, keeping your customer conversations in one place. Messages are sent through your Contact Center SMS channel. When the customer replies, the conversation appears in your digital interactions list, so you can easily manage interactions.

Limitations

Contact Center SMS channels are loaded when the app starts. If an administrator adds a new channel, it appears only after you reload the app. Channel selection does not sync across devices, so each device defaults to the first available channel.

To send an outbound SMS:

1. Log in to 8x8 Work for Desktop or 8x8 Work for Web.

2. From the navigation menu, click My inbox.

3. Click the New SMS button to open the outbound SMS window.

4. Select a Contact Center SMS channel number as your From address.

5. Enter the recipient number including the country code and plus sign, such as +1209123456.

6. Click Send SMS.
   A confirmation appears when the message is delivered, and the message shows up in My inbox.

8x8 Engage company caller ID

As an 8x8 user, you can now present a Contact Center channel as a company caller ID when making outbound calls, rather than your personal work number.

Before you place a call, choose from your assigned Contact Center outbound queues. When you select a company call line ID, dialing out is a two-step process:

1. Enter the number and start the call.

2. Answer the incoming call you receive.

After you answer, the system dials the number you entered and the other person's phone rings. The called party sees the company number configured by your administrator for your profile in Configuration Manager.

The selected queue is used for reporting in 8x8 Analytics for Contact Center and the Contact Center channel admin-controlled User profile as the outbound caller ID.

Note:

Your administrator cannot enforce which queue you use for outbound calls. You must select your own queue in the app.

The Select Caller ID list updates in real time. If your administrator assigns or removes a queue, the change appears immediately. If your selected queue is removed, your caller ID falls back to your default identity.

Note:

Even with an outbound queue selected, calls to corporate contacts (extension, DID, or other) go out as standard calls from your personal work number.

Change your caller ID on desktop/web

1. Before you place a call, click your profile avatar.

2. Choose a Contact Center outbound queue from either:

   • The Select Caller ID drop-down list in your profile, or

   • The dialpad, if Display Caller ID is toggled on in the Call Settings section of your profile.

3. Make the call.

4. Answer the incoming call in 8x8 Engage.

5. The system dials out to the destination number. After the callee accepts the call, you can use the options available on the dial pad.

To learn more about managing queues on desktop/web, see Manage queues on desktop/web.

 

Change your caller ID on mobile

1. Before you place a call, click your profile avatar.

2. Choose a Contact Center outbound queue from either:

   • The Select Caller ID drop-down list in your profile, or

   • The dialpad, if Display Caller ID is toggled on in the Call Settings section of your profile.

8. Make the call.

9. Answer the incoming call in 8x8 Engage.

10. The system dials out to the destination number. After the callee accepts the call, you can use the options available on the dial pad.

To learn more about managing queues on mobile, see 8×8 Engage: Manage queues on mobile.

Calling Line ID for outbound calls

The Calling Line ID is set per user in Configuration Manager > Users. As an admin, select the user, assign the caller ID, and the assigned caller ID shows up when the agent places an outbound call using the company identity.

The selected caller ID applies to all queues assigned to that user. Selecting a queue does not change which number is presented; queue selection only adds granularity to reporting in Analytics for Contact Center.

Limitations

• Administrators cannot enforce which queue you use for outbound calls. Users must select the queue in the app.

• While you are on an active queue call, you can’t place a second call using your company identity. You can still call using your personal work number.

• Auto-answer for outbound calls is currently not supported. When placing a call using the company caller ID, you must answer the incoming call from the system immediately to connect to the caller.  

To learn more about configuring users in 8x8 Configuration Manager, see 8x8 Configuration Manager - Add Users: Configure Phone Settings and 8x8 Configuration Manager Add Users: Assign agents to queues.

What's new in March 2026?

In this release, we have introduced the following enhancements:

Introducing 8x8 Engage Digital-only

Note:

This feature is currently in Limited Availability. To enable 8x8 Engage Digital-only, contact your 8x8 Account Manager.

8x8 Engage Digital-only allows organizations to manage customer conversations across digital channels such as chat, SMS, and social messaging without requiring a full Contact Center infrastructure.

With intelligent routing, these messages are automatically added into My inbox in 8x8 Engage. From this tab, users can access their digital interactions and conversation history, which provides read-only access to previously resolved interactions.

Note:

8x8 Engage Digital-only users who are not provisioned with an 8x8 Engage Voice Unlimited/Metered license don’t have access to Unified Communications capabilities such as calling and meetings. They can use messaging capabilities only.

Supported digital channels:

• Webchat

• SMS

• WhatsApp

• Facebook

• RCS

• Viber

Benefits

• Digital interaction handling: Manage digital conversations from a single workspace.

• Resolved conversation visibility: View previously resolved conversations in the History tab.

• Mobile access: View interaction details for closed conversations on iOS mobile devices.

Requirements

• 8x8 Engage Digital-only requires an 8x8 Engage CC license.

• Access to 8x8 Configuration Manager for setup.

• Access to 8x8 Admin Console for user license assignment.

• To enable 8x8 Engage Digital-only, reach out to your 8x8 Account Manager.

Limitations

• 8x8 Engage Digital is currently not supported on Android devices. 8x8 Engage Digital is available on Desktop, Web, Teams, and iOS. If you need Android support, contact the Work Apps team at workapps-team@8x8.com.

• SMS is only supported in select countries. See the list of supported countries and rates for SMS messaging.

To learn how to configure Digital-only users, see Configure 8x8 Engage Digital-only users.

To learn how to handle digital interactions, see Handle digital interactions.

Introducing 8x8 Engage Omni

Note:

This feature is currently in Limited Availability. To enable 8x8 Engage Omni, contact your 8x8 Account Manager.

8x8 Engage Omni unifies digital and voice interactions in a single experience, enabling users to manage customer conversations across channels without switching applications. 8x8 Engage Omni users can easily manage phone calls alongside web chat, SMS, and social channel interactions within the same workspace.

Benefits

• Clear separation of voice and digital interactions: Access voice queues and digital conversations from separate tabs, making it easier to manage each interaction type without confusion while maintaining a unified workspace.

• Seamless cross-environment engagement: Handle digital interactions within supported collaboration environments, helping teams stay productive without switching tools.

• Improved interaction visibility: Review resolved digital conversations in the new History view, helping you quickly reference past interactions without affecting active work.

• Simplified interaction reassignment: Transfer active digital conversations to another user, a contact center agent, or a queue with a streamlined workflow.

Requirements

• 8x8 Engage Omni requires an 8x8 Engage CC license to support digital interactions, and 8x8 Engage Voice Unlimited/Metered to support voice interactions.

• Access to 8x8 Configuration Manager for setup.

• Access to 8x8 Admin Console for user license assignment.

• To enable 8x8 Engage Omni, reach out to your 8x8 Account Manager.

Limitations

• 8x8 Engage Digital is currently not supported on Android devices. 8x8 Engage Digital is available on Desktop, Web, Teams, and iOS. If you need Android support, contact the Work Apps team at workapps-team@8x8.com.

• SMS is only supported in select countries. See the list of supported countries and rates for SMS messaging.

To learn how to configure Omni users, see Configure 8x8 Engage Omni users.

To learn how to handle digital interactions, see Handle digital interactions.

What's new in November 2025?

In this release, we have introduced the following enhancement:

Support for 8x8 Engage in the 8x8 for Microsoft Teams app

8x8 customers who use Microsoft Teams can now access 8x8 Engage directly within their 8x8 for Microsoft Teams app (8x8 Teams app). With 8x8 Engage in Microsoft Teams, you can stay organized, respond faster, and improve the customer experience without switching apps.

Note:

8x8 Engage is only available in the 8x8 Teams app if your administrator has enabled it for your user account.

Benefits

• Faster response: Manage 8x8 Engage conversations directly in the 8x8 Teams app without switching apps, reducing response time.

• Integrated communication tools: Access 8x8 Work features like SMS, team messaging, meetings, etc, without leaving the 8x8 Teams app.

• Real-time status tracking: Monitor the availability of 8x8 Engage users and queues to make informed routing decisions and improve response times.

Requirements

• 8x8 Engage license

• Microsoft Teams license

• Access to 8x8 Admin Console (admin only)

• Access to the Microsoft Teams Admin Portal (admin only)

For more information on enablement, see how to Enable 8x8 Engage in the 8x8 for Microsoft Teams app.

Known issue

Signing out of the 8x8 Teams app doesn’t remove you from call queues. As a result, you may still receive queued calls even after logging out. To prevent receiving queued calls after logging out, set your status to On break or deselect the queue(s) and click Save before signing out.

Set up 8x8 Engage in the 8x8 for Microsoft Teams app

As an admin, you can enable 8x8 Engage in the 8x8 for Microsoft Teams app (8x8 Teams app) to help specialists manage customer conversations and collaborate with teammates.

To learn how to enable 8x8 Engage in the 8x8 Teams app, see Enable 8x8 Engage in the 8x8 for Microsoft Teams app.

How does the presence status reflect across the apps?

The 8x8 Presence Sync enables the integration of Microsoft Teams Presence into your 8x8 applications, as well as the presence status of 8x8 users who are on active calls into the Teams environment.

Important:

To ensure accurate presence status for 8x8 Engage users, admins must enable one-way presence sync with Microsoft Teams during 8x8 Engage deployments. To learn how to enable Presence Sync, see this 8x8 Support article.

The table below indicates how presence is mapped for users of 8x8 Engage in Microsoft Teams.

Tip:

To avoid receiving queued calls after logging out, set your status to On break or manually deselect your queues and click Save before signing out.

For enhancements introduced prior to this release, see our list of previous releases.