ShoreTel Launches "Lowest Total Cost of Ownership Guarantee" for Unified Communications Customers

Updated: April 20, 2011

SUNNYVALE, CA, Apr 13, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- ShoreTel(R), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications (UC), today introduced a first-of-its-kind program that guarantees the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) for new ShoreTel customers.

The ShoreTel UC solution was built from the ground up for IP networks, helping to eliminate the complexity typically associated with other solutions, which results in high maintenance and management costs. By designing a powerful yet brilliantly simple solution from the start, ShoreTel drives down the TCO, helping organizations realize dramatic cost savings year after year.

For the ShoreTel Lowest TCO Guarantee Program, ShoreTel uses independent third-party data to compare the actual costs a business incurs for its UC system over time. If the TCO analysis shows that ShoreTel's TCO is higher than a competitor's, ShoreTel will lower its prices to beat the competition. See the full details of the ShoreTel Lowest TCO Guarantee program, including specific terms and conditions.

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

• On average, upfront costs for a UC system typically represent only 25 percent of its TCO. Based on data compiled from independent third parties as well as ShoreTel customers, operating costs such as hardware replacement, training, support, software upgrades, moves, adds and changes, system management, power consumption, and other ongoing charges comprise approximately 75 percent of a system's five-year TCO.
• ShoreTel's brilliantly simple architecture delivers an intrinsically lower TCO and dramatically greater value than the more complex and less reliable solutions offered by other vendors.
• The ShoreTel Lowest TCO Guarantee combines independent research firms' data with a comprehensive and easy to use TCO tool to analyze TCO for each customer's exact requirements.
• To achieve a fair comparison, the ShoreTel reseller and customer are fully involved in the TCO analysis, and have the opportunity to use their own data.
• TCO calculations are based on a like-for-like configuration and feature set, over a five year or more time period.
• The Lowest TCO Guarantee program supports ShoreTel's resellers' efforts to provide solutions that deliver the full financial benefits of UC throughout an enterprise, rather than simply offering commodity hardware and support agreements.

ANALYST QUOTE

Irwin Lazar, vice president of communications and collaboration research, Nemertes Research "According to Nemertes Research, 80 percent of organizations have flat or declining IT budgets, and 85 percent of IT expenditures require a pre-approved business case, therefore minimizing TCO is an essential requirement for a successful UC implementation. IT executives interviewed by Nemertes Research for Nemertes' annual PilotHouse Award program, rate ShoreTel tops in value, primarily due to ShoreTel's lowest annual total operating cost."

CUSTOMER QUOTES

idX, St. Louis, Missouri idX Corporation is a worldwide leader in retail display fixture manufacturing, logistics and project management, with customers that include Starbucks, Old Navy and Charles Schwab. Delivering its signature custom service depends on effective communications throughout idX's global network of employees, including more than 1,000 employees across its eight offices and manufacturing plants in North America, London, and Shanghai. To help ensure effective communications across borders and disciplines, idX relies on a ShoreTel UC system.

Ryan Dibisch, director of information systems, idX "With our initial deployment of 450 ShoreTel phones and software licenses, we observed an 80 percent reduction in management costs compared to alternative IP based solutions. We evaluated ShoreTel and other leading providers, and selected ShoreTel for its demonstrated lowest total cost of ownership over a 5+-year period. ShoreTel's overall simplicity has enabled us to reduce costs, while empowering our internal staff with communication solutions that result in superior service to our clients."

The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, South Dakota The Society is a religious, charitable, nonprofit long-term care organization founded in 1922 and currently serving more than 19,372 patients and residents throughout the United States. When The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society prepared to upgrade its communications system, it carefully evaluated several IP system vendors to determine the one that would best serve its patients, residents, staff and other constituents. The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society is deploying the ShoreTel UC system to support more than 17,000 end users in an installation that includes about 5,000 mobile devices and reaches across 200 offices.

Rustan D. Williams, CIO, The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society "We're committed to provide the best possible care and services for our residents and patients. Managing our costs for communication services for our employees factors into the care and services we provide. It was very important to find a cost-effective solution that could meet our needs and enhance our ability to provide long-term medical care and services to our thousands of residents and patients. In our evaluation of UC solutions, we determined that two finalists would be able to provide a solution that would meet our communication requirements. Although the upfront costs were similar, an analysis of the costs associated with these solutions over several years identified ShoreTel as having a lower total cost of ownership. ShoreTel's TCO advantages became obvious when considering their overall administrative simplicity and unique distributed architecture while maintaining the ability to administer the system from a central location."

RehabCare, St. Louis, Missouri RehabCare is a leading provider of physical rehabilitation program management services and facilities with 1,200 hospital programs, skilled nursing facilities and other long-term care facilities throughout the United States. The company is committed not only to using the latest treatment technologies, but going above and beyond to deliver personalized, reassuring care to help their patients regain their lives. The ShoreTel UC system helps them stay connected with patients, even after they have gone home, and puts the right data in the right hands at the right time.

Doug Schweiss, manager, telecommunication services, RehabCare "Delivering world-class service to patients requires modern communications systems, which warranted an upgrade from our existing systems. We evaluated ShoreTel and other leading providers, and selected ShoreTel for its demonstrated lowest total cost of ownership over a 5-year period or longer. Our analysis of the alternatives determined that ShoreTel's overall management costs were at least 25 percent lower than the next competitive system. Since our deployment, we have observed substantial reductions in costs, including an 80 percent reduction in manpower for moves, adds and changes over our legacy systems. ShoreTel's overall simplicity has enabled us to reduce costs, while empowering our internal staff with communication solutions that result in superior patient care."

SHORETEL RESELLER QUOTE

Julie Howe, account executive, Tricom Communication Services, North Carolina "We've been able to focus customers on the importance of total cost of ownership with UC solutions, as they formulate their long term communication strategies. We've observed ShoreTel's total cost of ownership tools effectively demonstrate ShoreTel's lowest total cost of ownership advantages against Mitel and other leading vendors, and are pleased to have been selected by customers for our ShoreTel solutions."

SHORETEL QUOTE

Mark Arman, vice president of business development, ShoreTel "For years, customers of all sizes have demonstrated that ShoreTel has the lowest total cost of ownership. Based on independent third party data as well as feedback from ShoreTel customers, ShoreTel's ongoing operating costs are typically 50 percent to 75 percent less than most alternative solutions. This fundamental advantage is driven by ShoreTel's brilliantly simple design that results in significantly lower costs for implementation, training, maintenance, moves, adds and changes, system management, long distance charges and energy consumption."

About ShoreTel, Inc.

ShoreTel, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!shor/quotes/nls/shor (SHOR 6.40, -0.06, -0.93%) is the provider of brilliantly simple Unified Communication (UC) solutions based on its award-winning IP business phone system. We offer organizations of all sizes integrated, voice, video, data, and mobile communications on an open, distributed IP architecture that helps significantly reduce the complexity and costs typically associated with other solutions. The feature-rich ShoreTel UC system offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) and the highest customer satisfaction in the industry, in part because it is easy to deploy, manage, scale and use. Increasingly, companies around the world are finding a competitive edge by replacing business-as-usual with new thinking, and choosing ShoreTel to handle their integrated business communication. ShoreTel is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices in Austin, Texas, United Kingdom, Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.shoretel.com.