Dr. Peter Cukor and his firm Prompt Action, Inc. have been consulting the Harvard Medical School on technical issues related to the school's Telepsychiatry program. One of the firm's recommendations to Harvard was to try out the ViaTV Videophones for videoconferencing as a possible solution to their frustrating experiences with other more expensive videoconferencing products.

An April 9, 1998 New York Times article detailed how Harvard's Telepsychiatry program is supplying, via a videophone, much needed support and training to Tribal Health Center social workers who counsel members of the Passamaquoddy tribe of Indian Township in Princeton, ME. Though 8x8 was not mentioned in the article, Harvard administrator John O'Laughlin confirmed that the videoconferencing units being used were 8x8's VC105s and were greatly preferred over the previous system.

At a recent staff meeting, Cukor says, "We were patting ourselves on the back for moving away from the ISDN system to 8x8's products. We all agreed when there is no motion behind subjects and just two people sitting and talking that the ViaTV Phone is comparable in video quality to the 128 kilobits-per-second ISDN line."

For less money, Dr. Cukor says the 8x8 phones provide comparable quality to and much more reliability than their ISDN videoconferencing. He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of 8x8's newest product, the VC150, which has built-in LCD screen and camera, for home health care applications. A nurse will be able to go to a patient's home and plug in the VC150. Then nurse and patient will be able to videoconference with a physician. This makes doctor appointments much less stressful for ailing individuals who won't have to travel outside. Also, the physician can make a house call without leaving his or her office.