ShoreTel Launches Platform for Cloud, Onsite and Hybrid UC
Unified communications (UC) solutions provider ShoreTel (SHOR) has released ShoreTel Connect, a platform and user interface (UI) that provides business communications from the cloud, onsite or a hybrid combination of both.
ShoreTel Connect “is designed to simplify the way IT deploys, manages, scales and secures phone systems,” according to ShoreTel. It can be configured multiple ways for the cloud, onsite and mixed or hybrid options, ShoreTel said, to fit with individual company growth and business models.
“Unlike other 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 has done the hard work, and ShoreTel Connect provides flexibility for businesses of all sizes,” ShoreTel Chief Marketing Officer Mark Roberts told Talkin’ Cloud. “It also ensures that what companies select today will grow with them as their needs change in the future.”
ShoreTel Connect’s features include:
- Call handling and call routing for both office and mobile devices.
- Collaboration tools including instant messaging, audio and web conferencing, point-to-point video and desktop sharing.
- Feature integration and collaboration apps for smartphone, tablet and wearable devices.
- Integrations with customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
- Specialized apps such as voicemail to text, emergency notification, integrated call recording and enhanced paging.
In addition, ShoreTel Connect can be deployed in one of three ways:
- ShoreTel Connect ONSITE – An end-to-end UC solution.
- ShoreTel Connect CLOUD – A fully hosted and managed end-to-end unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) solution.
- ShoreTel Connect HYBRID – ShoreTel Connect HYBRID enables onsite customers to have applications delivered via the cloud.
Roberts noted that ShoreTel remains focused on ShoreTel Connect, and his company will “continue to train partners, [educate] the market and add new features and integrations.”
What are your thoughts on ShoreTel Connect? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at dan.kobialka@penton.com.
