One Platform, One Trust: Margarita Rivera’s Key Takeaways at 8x8 Connect Manila 2025

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Sep 5
2 min read

By: Zenia Pearl V. Nicolas 8x8 Connect: Manila 2025 took place on August 28, gathering business leaders and technology professionals to discuss how companies can keep pace with fast-changing customer expectations. The focus was on three demands that now define the digital economy: speed, security, and personalization. One of the sessions that drew strong attention was led by Margarita Rivera, Solutions Engineer at 8x8. She walked participants through how unified communications and security can be brought together on a single platform to strengthen customer trust.

From Many Tools to One Platform

Rivera opened with a simple but pointed theme:

“Good on Their Own. Better as One Solution.”

She explained that while most organizations rely on separate systems; SMS platforms, contact centers, authentication apps, and collaboration tools,

8x8

offers something different. Instead of leaving these tools disconnected, 8x8 delivers an all-in-one solution that unifies Contact Center, unified communications, and CPaaS APIs. The result is a seamless experience for both companies and their customers, proving that integration matters now more than ever.

Why Security Matters Beyond IT

Rivera then highlighted numbers that underscored the urgency of stronger safeguards:

More than 300 million fraudulent sign-in attempts take place daily.
The average cost of a data breach in 2024 reached $4.9 million.
Half of consumers say they feel more secure with multi-factor authentication (MFA).

She noted that weak verification isn’t just a technical issue. It carries financial risks and, just as importantly, damages customer confidence.

Verif8: Simplifying OTP Delivery

Rivera introduced Verif8, 8x8’s OTP-as-a-Service product, designed to make mobile verification less complex. The service offers:

Self-service onboarding without lengthy documentation.
Localization, so customers receive messages in their preferred language.
Multi-channel delivery across SMS, Viber, and other platforms.
Analytics dashboards to track delivery rates, conversions, and performance.

Her explanation emphasized practicality: businesses can secure transactions quickly without creating extra hurdles for end-users.

Practical Scenarios

To make the benefits tangible, Rivera shared examples where Verif8 applies directly:

Time-to-live – allowing traffic to continue while Sender IDs are being provisioned.
Secondary destinations – protecting logins with OTPs to block account takeovers.
Long-tail onboarding – instantly verifying users during high-value transactions.
Each scenario linked back to everyday challenges that companies face in balancing speed with protection.

RCS + Viber: Expanding Engagement

Rivera also discussed Rich Communication Services (RCS), highlighting its growing adoption: 2.5 billion monthly active users worldwide and 35x higher engagement compared to email. When combined with Viber, RCS can help businesses: Announce new product collections with interactive visuals. Run flash sales or cart recovery campaigns with personalized reminders. Turn static notifications into two-way conversations. These examples showed how businesses can create messaging that feels more direct and engaging.

Key Point for Businesses

Rivera’s session at 8x8 Connect: Manila 2025 reinforced a clear message that fragmented tools are no longer enough. Companies need integrated platforms that combine communication and security while keeping the customer experience seamless. For the leaders in the room, the discussion was less about chasing the latest tool and more about rethinking how trust and communication fit into one connected system.

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