ShoreTel News

Wellesley, Mass. – June 9, 2015 – Datamart Inc. of Wellesley, Mass. today announced The Boston Globe Newspaper has upgraded their  communications system for 1200 users to ShoreTel unified communications with contact center capabilities, realizing improved communications, added mobility and projected cost savings of $1.6 million over five years.

The Boston Globe, a multimedia source of news and information, was plagued with an aging phone system that was no longer supported, and lacked mobility features. After reviewing four providers, they selected ShoreTel to bring increased communication efficiencies and productivity improvements within the various departments, most notably the newsroom and advertising representatives. With ShoreTel, The Boston Globe is realizing significant costs savings while gaining mobility for its users and ease of portability when offices are moved in the near future.

“We’re very happy with the solution,” said Mary Beth Bayes, telecom manager at The Boston Globe. “ShoreTel is a reliable, affordable, and portable system that provides a robust communications platform with features like ShoreTel Communicator and ShoreTel Mobility that make users’ more productive and happy. Our partner Datamart is terrific and very professional.”

“Helping The Boston Globe communicate more efficiently, reduce expenses and evolve their business has been a terrific experience,” said Keefe Bailey, vice president of Datamart. “As a ShoreTel Gold Partner, Datamart has been providing ShoreTel communications solutions for the past 14 years to companies of all sizes, from businesses with single locations to those with offices worldwide.”

https://www.shoretel.com/news/boston-globe-newspaper-relies-datamart-and-shoretel-improve-communications-and-save-16-million

Vertical expertise, total cost of ownership, ease of management and reliability all are key factors in ShoreTel’s public sector dominance

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – May 27, 2015 – ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple phone systems and unified communications (UC) solutions, continues to provide solutions that enable state and local government agencies to meet constituents’ needs for high-quality communications services.

As communications technologies evolve and budgets are reduced, government agencies are under increasing pressure to spend less on information technology (IT), while striving to provide high levels of connectivity, access to instant information and modern collaboration capabilities. ShoreTel helps government agencies overcome these challenges with integrated voice, video, data and mobile communication solutions offering plug-and-play simplicity on an inherently reliable architecture that leverages their existing infrastructure investments.

“ShoreTel strives to stay ahead of the game with its offerings in the government vertical,” said David Petts, senior vice president of worldwide sales at ShoreTel. “We are constantly seeking customer feedback on implementations in order to continue improving our solutions and providing the best customer experience possible.”

ShoreTel is a leading provider of UC solutions in the government sector and works with government agencies of all sizes, including more than 2,000 state and local government customers with an average of 500 seats. According to ShoreTel government customers, the top reasons they chose ShoreTel over its competitors are the ease of management for organizations with limited IT resources, lower TCO, and reliability due to an architecture with built-in redundancy, disaster recovery and no single point of failure.

Key considerations for the Alabama Department of Transportation were greater employee productivity, faster response times and reduced IT costs, when it looked to replace its legacy Nortel system. The ShoreTel system the department implemented for its more than 5,000 users has enhanced responsiveness to constituent calls and usability for the department’s employees.

“Our ShoreTel system allows us to not only save money, but provide remote monitoring and reporting, and survivability from a security standpoint,” said Susan Butler, telecommunications manager for the Alabama Department of Transportation.

When building a new facility, the Little Falls Police Department in Little Falls, New Jersey, was in search of a new communications system to replace its existing AT&T Centrex system and chose ShoreTel. The police department is also home to the city’s 911 call center, making a reliable communications system of the utmost importance. Due to the flexibility of ShoreTel, the department is working to launch an automated routing system for 911 calls, which will free up operators to spend more time performing radio dispatch duties.

“Our organization considered Cisco, as well as some other competitor systems, but the functions as well as the flexibility and limited IT footprint of the ShoreTel system stood out to us,” said Police Chief John Dmuchowski.

The City of Beaumont, Texas, has been a customer for six years after replacing its Nortel system with ShoreTel. They currently have 999 users across 22 sites with several additional sites expected soon. ShoreTel was selected because of their functionality, reputation for reliability and a total lower cost of ownership on a yearly basis.

Terry LaFleur, communications systems manager, comments: “System administration is very simple, it only takes minutes to make changes. Users are happy with ShoreTel Communicator's functionality and ease of use. The ShoreTel reporting is very easy to use and the basic reporting meets most of our needs right out of the box. For example, being able to generate call details helps in managing Workgroups. We’re very happy with our ShoreTel system as well as the support we receive from Creative Switching Design. They are always readily available and they provide excellent customer service.”

ShoreTel’s roster of government customers is comprised largely of state and local agencies, including 87 cities in California alone, representing one of ShoreTel’s largest industry verticals. The company has an active vertical sales program focused on government and is committed to staying in tune with the needs of the government vertical, attending more than 80 industry conferences each year.

For more information on ShoreTel’s government vertical programs, please go here.

https://www.shoretel.com/news/shoretel-experiences-continued-success-government-customers

ShoreTel continues to lead mobile UC innovation, with support for the latest wearable from Apple

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – April 24, 2015 – ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple phone systems and unified communications (UC) solutions, today announced that ShoreTel Mobility is among the first UC applications available for the Apple Watch™. ShoreTel Mobility is a proven software application that enables businesses to integrate iPhones® and iPads® with their existing enterprise phone systems, bringing mobile workers the same productivity-boosting features that unify communications for workers in the office.

“Wearable technology is a fascinating frontier for the mobile professional. ShoreTel is leading the way by delivering the extensive UC capabilities of ShoreTel Mobility via its new app for the Apple Watch,” said Pejman Roshan, vice president of product management at ShoreTel. “By extending ShoreTel Mobility to the wrist, accessing your enterprise UC system is literally as simple as checking the time. This is emblematic of our commitment to providing an unrivaled experience to our users.”

Apple Watch owners can stay connected with ShoreTel Mobility on the go, without taking their iPhone from their pocket. The smartly designed ShoreTel Mobility home screen on the watch allows users to access commonly used UC functions, such as viewing any unread instant messages, accessing favorites, and joining a meeting. For instance, when weaving through a crowded airport, the app will deliver a notification on the user’s wrist for when a conference call is about to begin, and with one simple tap, the user is automatically dialed-in, authenticated and ready to participate on the call or video.

The Glance view reveals ShoreTel Availability State, missed call and IM indicators, as well as Notifications alerts, and allows the user to act on incoming calls and messages.

ShoreTel Mobility on the Apple Watch allows users to:

• Easily access their corporate favorite contacts with initiation of an enterprise call across WiFi, cellular or cellular data
• Re-dial a missed enterprise call
• View and respond to secure corporate instant messaging lightning-fast by selecting from a predefined set of responses or by speaking into the Apple Watch
• Answer or reject an incoming enterprise call
• View and update enterprise presence
• One tap join a ShoreTel collaboration session

ShoreTel Mobility users can download the latest update to receive the beta version of the app for the Apple Watch, available now from the Apple app store.

https://www.shoretel.com/news/shoretel-introduces-mobility-app-apple-watch

Sunnyvale, Calif. – April 22, 2015 – ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple phone systems and unified communications (UC) solutions, today announced that HP has joined its Innovation Network. The Innovation Network is a group of more than 85 partners who utilize ShoreTel’s open architecture to develop hardware, software and services that extend the capabilities of ShoreTel's UC and enterprise contact center solutions.

HP’s industry-leading switches and routers have been fully tested and certified with ShoreTel and ShoreTel Sky®. This certification provides customers with an optimized solution for their UC needs, whether on-premises or in the cloud. 

"Many HP customers also use ShoreTel's unified communications solutions and are in need of compatible routers and switches, that are pre-tested and certified, to enhance the overall experience," said Bob Johnson, vice president, HP Networking Americas. "As a member of the ShoreTel Innovation Network, HP is building upon a long-standing global alliance with ShoreTel and enabling joint customers to seamlessly integrate HP routers and switches with ShoreTel offerings."

“We’re excited to welcome HP to the ShoreTel Innovation Network – we’ve been working together as a member of the HP AllianceOne Network partner program to offer best of breed solutions to our joint customers, and now ShoreTel customers can enjoy easier integration to HP switching and router offerings,” said Sam Koury, vice president of channels and strategic alliances at ShoreTel. “There is a substantial ecosystem developing around ShoreTel’s open platform that shows the importance of tight integration of a company’s communications system with their business applications and processes, workflows, and networking and storage infrastructures.”

HP is also a Diamond sponsor of the ShoreTel Champion Partner Conference, which begins April 29^th  in Orlando. Attendees can visit the HP booth to learn more about joint solutions and how the HP/ShoreTel alliance can benefit partners and customers.

https://www.shoretel.com/news/shoretel-adds-hp-innovation-network

Services Ensure Customer Cloud Networks are Designed and Configured for Optimum Performance

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – March 31, 2015 – Recognizing that many cloud customers do not have fully staffed IT departments to support the corporate data network, ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR) today announced it has expanded its Network Services Portfolio to ShoreTel Sky® customers. ShoreTel identified the need for data networking services with on-premises customers and began offering services for them in Fall 2013. Now, ShoreTel is offering network services to cloud customers to ensure their IP networks are designed and configured for optimum performance when supporting their ShoreTel Unified Communications solutions. These services are complementary to the services offered by ShoreTel’s channel partners.

ShoreTel Sky Network Services offers a comprehensive portfolio of customer data networking services including Network Design Validation, VoIP Readiness Assessment, WLAN VoIP Readiness Assessment, Network Delivery, and Network Diagnostics.

“Leveraging the proven methodology and best practices from ShoreTel Professional Services teams and our certified Champion Partners, the ShoreTel Network Services Portfolio offers a robust and flexible array of data network assessment, diagnostic and implementation services that ensure cloud customers have the best user experience and ultimate reliability,” said Bharath Oruganti, senior vice president of services and operations at ShoreTel. “We’ve seen tremendous demand for these services from premises customers and ShoreTel Sky customers have been equally vocal. Together with the expertise of our channel partners and these additional data networking services, we further enable brilliantly simple communications for cloud users.”

STC Services is a ShoreTel Silver partner based in Penn. who has utilized Network Services extensively for premises installations. Jesse Molnar, account manager, comments: “ShoreTel Network Services – in particular VoIP Readiness Assessment and Network Design – are so helpful in identifying potential issues prior to installation that we build these into every quote. And we conduct several each month. Our customers have experienced IT people but they aren’t always knowledgeable about VoIP. As we expand into more cloud sales, we expect these Network Services to be critical to ensuring smooth customer installations and user satisfaction.”

https://www.shoretel.com/news/shoretel-network-services-now-available-shoretel-sky-customers

Annual guide recognizes best channel partner programs in the market

Sunnyvale, Calif. – March 23, 2015 – ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple phone systems and unified communications (UC) solutions for the cloud and premises, today announced it has been awarded a 5-Star rating in The Channel Company’s CRN 2015 Partner Program Guide. This annual directory is the definitive listing of technology vendors that service solution providers or provide products through the IT channel. The 5-Star Partner Program rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

ShoreTel has grown its channel partner program to more than 1,000 partners around the world, and recently announced that over half of its U.S. partners now offer cloud solutions. The Champion Partner Program is designed to enable solution providers to offer ShoreTel’s end-to-end UC communications products and services. The program includes mainstays such as opportunity registration, sales and technical training, MDF/marketing support and more. In addition, it offers tools and programs to increase solution provider success and profitability, such as workshops to facilitate cloud business planning and enablement, and sales professional recruiting assistance.

To determine the 2015 5-Star recipients, The Channel Company’s Research team assessed each vendor’s application based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support and communication.

“This recognition by CRN is further support that our channel program meets the needs of solution providers and enables them to offer a unique blend of premises, cloud and hybrid solutions to power today’s always-on workforce. We’ll be making even more exciting changes to our partner program later this year that map to these flexible delivery models,” said David Petts, senior vice president of worldwide sales at ShoreTel. “ShoreTel and its partners share the same goals of delivering UC solutions that eliminate complexity, reduce costs and improve productivity.”

“Solution providers have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting vendor partners. Identifying the right vendor, with the right technologies, and the right approach can make all the difference,” said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. “Our annual Partner Program Guide and 5-Star rating recognizes the best channel programs available in the market today to help solution providers determine which vendors deliver the best partner elements for their individual business goals.”

The 2015 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN, and online at www.CRN.com.

https://www.shoretel.com/news/press-releases/shoretel-awarded-5-star-rating-crn%E2%80%99s-2015-partner-program-guide