Technology Solutions
Unified Communications
Integrated, "complexity-free" voice, messaging, conferencing, video and web sharing
How We Communicate Today
Business phone systems hardly changed after they were introduced in the 1950s: an on-location PBX managed multiple phone lines and routed calls. Sure, there were technical advances and add-on services enhanced performance, but communication was basically limited to voice.
Today, however, there are countless ways to email, text, buddy, share, video chat, conference—and place a call. This brings tremendous advantage by increasing the speed of business. But it also spawns equally tremendous complexity. How can IT departments keep up with administering and securing a multitude of applications? Fortunately, there's a better way.
Unified Communications: Putting it all together
Beyond a "phone system" - it's a communications platform
ShoreTel Makes Unified Communications Easy
Enter ShoreTel. We build phone systems with unified communications (UC) built in, not bolted on. This means that we integrate all the key components for robust business communications—voice, email, instant messaging, presence (i.e., being able to check the availability of a co-worker), calendaring, video and audio conferencing and desktop sharing—into one seamless package.
Other vendors provide pieces of this puzzle. They may offer a desktop sharing solution. Or they may offer video calling, or messaging. But it's rare to find a company that offers an entire suite of enterprise-quality quality communications tools designed as integral pieces of the the core IP PBX business phone system.
ShoreTel is that company. Our UC solutions eliminate communications complexity for both end users and system administrators. We "purpose-built" our VoIP business phone solution to ensure that all components worked with minimal configuration and maximum flexibility, to relieve IT departments (and their budgets) of the cumbersome, complicated and redundant tasks required by systems from other vendors.
Truly Unified Means Multi-Site And Mobile
It's one thing to offer unified communications inside an office. Where ShoreTel shines is in our ability to extend this communications suite across campuses, into remote locations, and even into home offices. We have two unique platforms—the signature distributed architecture of our onsite ShoreTel Connect ONSITE and our fully hosted and managed cloud service, ShoreTel Connect CLOUD—and both are ideally suited for companies that have multiple locations or that need to scale. You never have to worry about out-growing a ShoreTel phone system. You never face a forklift upgrade with us.
Truly unified also means fully functioning desktop features on the mobile devices you love. Whether using a smartphone, a tablet or wearable device (like the Apple Watch), you and your employees deserve the ability to BYOD—that's bring your own device—and use it to transfer calls, host web share sessions, video chat, check co-worker availability and more.
Truly Unified Means Application Integration
Unifying communications means blurring the lines that separate your business processes. By introducing phone system functionality and metrics into applications that track and measure contacts—like customer relationship management software (CRM), applicant tracking systems (ATS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and cost accounting programs—you open doors to better management.
When the systems are fused together, each becomes more powerful, employees become more productive and better business intelligence starts to emerge. "What's measured improves," and your ShoreTel phone system can play a role in optimizing staffing levels, evaluating employee performance, analyzing marketing spend and understanding customer behavior. Just like with mobile devices, it is not what your phone system does that makes it “smart,” it’s what it knows.