by Ray Horak, Technology Editor
ShoreTel (NASDAQ: SHOR) recently released ShoreTel 11, the latest version of its award-winning Unified Communications (UC) software. ShoreTel 11 is a pure IP system built on strong foundations. The ShoreTel solution was designed and developed entirely in-house, so it is homegrown and organic, which yields lots of advantages, including tight integration. The design concept focused on a highly scalable solution that would serve the needs of virtually any size organization, whether SMB or enterprise, single site or multisite. That design challenge pointed to a unique distributed architecture. According to Kevin Gavin, VP of Marketing, “The result was what we term a brilliantly simple solution—one that offers highly advanced capabilities, but eliminates complexity to simplify its deployment and administration. ShoreTel 11 is the latest in a highly evolved lineage of systems rich in feature content and delivers uniform communications capabilities through a common user interface throughout the enterprise.”
With this newest release, ShoreTel has changed the name of its award-winning desktop application from ShoreTel Call Manager to ShoreTel Communicator to reflect the expansion of capabilities that extend well beyond traditional “calls” to include UC. The Communicator client now is now available for the Web and for the iPhone, allowing users to manage communications from Macintosh computers and iPhones, along with BlackBerry and other popular devices. ShoreTel Communicator for iPhone is available from the iTunes App Store as a free download.
ShoreTel 11 enhances the reliability of the ShoreTel distributed architecture with distributed database capabilities. Additional instances of the ShoreTel 11 database can be installed at remote sites, helping to alleviate potential performance bottlenecks and eliminate single points of failure. ShoreTel 11 also offers extended legacy PBX integration capabilities with expanded QSIG support, making it easier for customers to leverage existing investments and migrate to ShoreTel’s all IP-based UC capabilities over time.
Altogether, ShoreTel 11 is designed to help large businesses simplify system management, improve reliability and lower communications costs, while increasing handheld device options for mobile workers. As with all previous ShoreTel releases, ShoreTel 11 is available as a free upgrade for current customers with a ShoreTel support contract as part of ShoreTel’s standard support service.
“We are really encouraged by the positive feedback we received from our channel partners at our Champion Partner Conference last week. The level of enthusiasm and confidence reflects on the success that they have been having selling and supporting ShoreTel” commented Kevin Gavin, ShoreTel VP of Marketing. “They were also excited to see that our product roadmap going forward is so strong as we continue to add advanced capabilities and features while maintaining the focus on simplicity that our customers rave about.”
ShoreTel has built a base exceeding 15,000 customers in 35 countries around the world, with over 1 million VoIP-enabled phones and end user licenses. ShoreTel end users can be found across all market sectors, including government, education, health care, retail, financial services and entertainment. ShoreTel maintains an extensive network of regional channel partners, and more recently added service providers including AT&T, Verizon and Qwest in North America, Telstra in Australia, and Vodafone in the UK. ShoreTel has entered into a global development, sales and marketing agreement with IBM to offer ShoreTel software integrated with the IBM Foundations solution for businesses. ShoreTel software and systems are designed in the USA with award winning support provided on-shore and in-country. For more visit shoretel.com.
