ShoreTel is a leading provider of pure IP telephony solutions worldwide and well known for exceptional customer satisfaction. ShoreTel's unique architectural approach to IP telephony delivers unmatched reliability, scalability and manageability, plus a user interface that sets the standard for ease-of-use.

ShoreTel System Overview

The ShoreTel system is a fully distributed IP phone system with no single point of failure. Call control is distributed to intelligent gateways - called voice switches - and voice applications, including voicemail and automated attendant, run on standard server hardware from anywhere on your IP network. The result is a single-image system across all geographies, with complete feature transparency. Gone are the days of multiple PBXs, voice mail systems, automated attendants, and Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) systems. With ShoreTel, the phone system is distributed, the voice applications are integrated, and the management interface is best in class.

A ShoreTel phone system typically consists of:

1. ShoreGear voice switches, which provide a gateway to telephones and trunks as well as call control software for the voice switches and IP phones
2. ShoreWare software for voice mail and automated attendant services
3. ShorePhone telephones with beautiful sight, touch and sound ergonomics
4. ShoreWare Personal Call Manager desktop software for enhanced productivity
5. ShoreWare Director for end-to-end system management, including installation, administration, maintenance and call detail reporting.

Additional options depend upon your particular needs, and might consist of:

1. ShoreWare Operator Call Manager for operators and executive assistants
2. Optional ShorePhone BB24 devices, which provide 24 programmable buttons typically used by operators and executive assistants
3. ShoreTel Mobility solutions for your mobile workforce
4. ShoreTel Converged Conferencing for large audio conferences, as well as collaboration tools for application and desktop sharing, as well as instant messaging
5. ShoreTel Contact Center solutions for informal, formal and advanced call centers

If you are creating a multi-site configuration:

1. Simply use the same components as the ShoreTel system scales seamlessly and can be distributed across the network as a single image system
2. The new site simply needs additional ShoreGear voice switches and ShorePhone telephones
3. An optional local voice mail server can also be added for reliability and failover capabilities

The flexibility of the ShoreTel phone system allows it to be configured to your particular business needs. Learn more about the components that comprise a ShoreTel phone system.