ShoreTel Rolls Out ShoreTel Connect – Unique Common Platform, User Experience For Cloud, Onsite And Hybrid Unified Communications

ShoreTel Connect allows businesses to seamlessly communicate and collaborate internally and externally

ShoreTel, the leading provider of brilliantly simple phone systems and unified communications (UC) solutions, recently rolled out ShoreTel Connect, a unique, single platform and user interface that provides business communications from the cloud, onsite or a hybrid combination of both. ShoreTel Connect changes how companies communicate with a unique new collaboration experience that unites groups and adapts to individual preferences. With ShoreTel Connect, businesses gain flexibility and customer insights and increase their ability to collaborate with employees inside as well as partners and customers outside the company – all while lowering IT operating costs.

Unlike other communications vendors that work either in the cloud or onsite and put the onus on companies to choose how to best deploy and integrate disparate platforms, ShoreTel Connect is designed to simplify the way IT deploys, manages, scales, and secures phone systems. As a single platform and user interface, ShoreTel Connect can be configured multiple ways for the cloud, onsite and mixed or hybrid options to fit with individual company growth and business models; ensuring that what companies select today will grow with them as their needs change in the future.

“Built on our strong belief that ‘there has to be a better way,’ ShoreTel Connect helps customers determine how and when to move communications to the cloud and is pioneering hybrid options along the way. ShoreTel Connect extends our commitment to simplify the way companies deploy, manage and maintain business communications – no matter how many sites or employees,” said Don Joos, president and CEO at ShoreTel. “Whether you prefer to subscribe to a managed cloud service, invest in an onsite system, or deploy a combination of the two, there is a single UC solution that delivers the same user experience and outstanding capabilities to the entire team. ShoreTel Connect removes complexity and frees up resources, allowing customers to focus on their core business and not on the technology.”

“ShoreTel is poised for success with ShoreTel Connect, its single comprehensive UC&C platform for midmarket and enterprise customers. The new common platform enables ShoreTel to offer customers what they want: a choice of premises, hosted, or hybrid solutions with a consistent user experience across a common software stream,” said Rich Costello, senior research analyst at IDC. “The common platform also makes UC&C easier for its channel partners to deploy and support as well as for customers to migrate from one model to another as needed. With its fully integrated solution, ShoreTel eliminates the need for customers and partners to piece together complex solutions from multiple parties.”

Natural User Experience
The new ShoreTel Connect client is intuitive and forgiving, setting a new standard for a natural, collaborative user experience and placing enterprise communications on-par with personal communications. ShoreTel Connect saves time, taking impediments out of the way so people can focus on relationships, getting their ideas heard, and growing the business. The ShoreTel Connect client app makes collaboration simple and consistent across various deployment types. With one click, users can easily escalate a conversation from an IM to a call, to an online meeting, and then to a web desktop share and video. Browser-based, the app allows seamless collaboration among internal teams, while also enabling external users to engage and collaborate in the same experience without the need for plug-ins, multiple application windows, passwords or complex set-up.

“We’ve had a really good experience with the ShoreTel Connect client. Users like the slick design and especially how it expands as needed,” said Miguel Abreu, New York superintendent at Black Box Network Services, a Connect beta user. “The ease of use of the client is great – there is no need for extensive training.”

New Capabilities
ShoreTel Connect includes many new features with capabilities that include:

• Personalized call handling and call routing for both office and mobile devices
• Advanced collaboration tools including instant messaging, audio and web conferencing, point-to-point video and desktop sharing
• Seamless feature integration and collaboration apps for smartphone, tablet and wearable devices
• Richly featured integrations with CRM systems including Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Desk.comTM and NetSuite. (See separate press release also issued today.)
• Many specialized apps like voicemail to text, emergency notification, integrated call recording, and enhanced paging.

Three Deployment Options
ShoreTel Connect is unique. One common platform and user experience that ShoreTel delivers as a service or as a product that the customer can choose to deploy in one of three ways:

ShoreTel Connect ONSITE
ShoreTel Connect ONSITE is an end-to-end UC solution that customers own, maintain and control. It includes IP PBX telephony services, ShoreTel desk phones, the ShoreTel Connect client app, mobility application, a collaboration suite, softphone functionality, browser-based administration portal, and more.

ShoreTel Connect CLOUD
ShoreTel Connect CLOUD is a fully hosted and managed end-to-end UCaaS solution.

The platform includes IP PBX telephony services, ShoreTel desk phones, the ShoreTel Connect client app, mobility application, a collaboration suite, softphone functionality, browser-based administration portal, and more.

ShoreTel Connect HYBRID
ShoreTel Connect HYBRID enables onsite customers to have applications delivered via the cloud. Hybrid apps such as ShoreTel Fax and ShoreTel Scribe (voicemail transcription) are available now.

About ShoreTel, Inc.
ShoreTel, Inc. is a leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems and unified communications solutions powering today’s always-on workforce. Its flexible communications solutions for on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments eliminate complexity, reduce costs and improve productivity. Recognized for its industry-leading customer experience and support, ShoreTel’s innovative business phones, application integration, collaboration tools, mobility, and contact center applications enable users to communicate and collaborate no matter the time, place or device, with minimal demand on IT resources. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and has regional offices and partners worldwide. For more information, visit www.shoretel.com.