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8x8 and Melaleuca Join Forces to Offer Packet8 Internet Phone Services Through Consumer Direct Marketing Reps

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 8x8, Inc. , the Packet8 broadband voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service provider, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Melaleuca Inc., an international consumer direct marketing company with distribution in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

The agreement enables Melaleuca's several hundred thousand home-based marketing entrepreneurs to market and distribute Packet8 voice and video Internet phone services, under the MelaCom brand name, to a base of more than 500,000 customers worldwide.

"With consumer adoption of Internet phone service moving into the mainstream, the timing is right for Melaleuca's marketing executives to introduce their customers to a world class solution from one of the leading VoIP players in the industry," said Jeff Hill, Senior Vice President of Sales. "We chose the Packet8 service for our VoIP offering because of its inherent technological advantages, state of the art videophone capabilities and breadth of features and applications."

Melaleuca markets its products through a unique system it pioneered called Consumer Direct Marketing. A hybrid of the best aspects of the insurance, direct sales and catalogue sales industries, Consumer Direct Marketing is an efficient, value-based marketing approach that empowers average Americans to create primary and supplemental career-level income.

"We are very pleased to be associated with an organization as pervasive and well respected as Melaleuca," said 8x8 Vice President of Marketing & Sales Huw Rees. "The Melaleuca Consumer Direct marketing model is an ideal strategy for VoIP because it creates an opportunity for word-of-mouth exposure and personal referrals. This can be a very powerful motivator for consumers who may need some reassurance that switching to internet phone service is a good choice."

The MelaCom branded offering encompasses voice and video broadband phone services powered by Packet8. The Packet8 VoIP solution allows Internet users to enhance the functionality of their high speed connection with a telephone service that is affordable, as easy to use as a regular telephone, and bundled with many advanced features (e.g., voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, call waiting caller ID, call forwarding, hold, line-alternate, 3-way conferencing, web access to account controls, etc.) not included with traditional circuit-switched telephone services. The standalone Packet8 VideoPhone is the industry's first exceptional quality, consumer priced videophone that uses a standard broadband internet connection to transmit high quality audio and crisp instant-on video communications.

About 8x8, Inc.

VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service provider 8x8, Inc. offers internet-based telephony solutions (http://www.packet8.net/) for individual residential and business users as well as small to medium sized business organizations. In addition to regular Packet8 VoIP service plans, priced as low as $19.95 per month for unlimited anytime calling to the U.S. and Canada, 8x8 now offers the Packet8 DV 326 VideoPhone, the industry's first stand alone broadband consumer videophone. Packet8 Virtual Office, 8x8's VoIP system for small to medium sized businesses, is a hosted PBX solution comprised of powerful business class features. For additional company information, visit 8x8's web site at http://www.8x8.com/.

About Melaleuca

Melaleuca manufactures and distributes nutritional, pharmaceutical, personal care, facial care, home hygiene, and lifestyle products of superior quality, and distributes them direct to the consumer through a full-service catalog and internet shopping system. The company was founded in 1985 with seven people, and now employs over 2,000. Operations are run from a 48,000 square-foot corporate office complex along with manufacturing plants in Idaho Falls and nearby Rexburg (totaling 120,000 square feet) that include automated manufacturing and shipping lines. Several hundred employees handle in excess of 70,000 orders a day in call centers located in Idaho Falls and Rexburg. Melaleuca also has a 170,000 square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility in Knoxville, Tennessee which serves customers in the Eastern United States and Canada. Melaleuca's continued growth is reflected in its sales, which grew to over $500 million in the year 2003. In addition to the United States and Canada, Melaleuca has expanded its markets internationally, with operations now running in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Korea, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

NOTE: 8x8, the 8x8 logo, Packet8, the Packet8 logo and Packet8 Virtual Office are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

8x8, Inc.

CONTACT: Joan Citelli of 8x8, Inc., +1-408-687-4320, orJCitelli@8x8.com

Web site: http://www.8x8.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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