Page 5 - Telecom Reseller April-May 2014

TAeplreicl/oMmaRy e2s0e1ll4er
5
Telecom ReMsaerclhle/Arpril 20145
I
f you grew up in the 70’s (like I did), you add-on business that I ran part-time from my
PERCY
Hby Alan D. Percy, Senior Director of
may remember the “Power to the People” dining room. Still BI, I sent a letter to each of
o
ak
Marketing, AudioCodes
r
chant, used by civil rights and anti-draft
my customers asking them to share any software
organizers of the time. What they knew then
they had created for the products, promising User G roups and The
that everyone that contributed would get a
is that when people get together, work together ShoreTel 14.2 delivers customizable virtulization
andact together, they can accomplish far more
copy of everyone else’s contributions. Before
I knew it, the floppy disks started arriving in
in-
ned
and d
d en
B
tirely
scales easily to serve the needs of virtu-
30,000 businesses of all sizes in over 60
y Ray H
orak, Te
chno
itor
logy Ed
tem
than any one person ever could. And they
desig
evelope
Se People
Power to Th
did this 20-years BI (Before Internet), using
the mail with an incredible assortment of great
house, so it is homegrown and organic, ally any size organization, whether SMB
countries.
which yields lots of advantages, includ- horeTel recently released ShoreTel or enterprise, single site or multisite. That
I recently interviewed ShoreTel rep-
newsletters, telephone trees and leaflets.
software tools; each solving some problem that
ing tight integration. The design concept
14.2, the latest version of its award- design challenge pointed to a unique dis-
resentatives who explained that ShoreTel
One of my first experiences of the “power of
I never would have imagined or had the time
ed on
n that tributed architecture used by more than (UC) software. ShoreTel is a pure IP sys- tio
winning Unified Communications
focus
a high
the people” was a small user group I formed in
to solve. Boxes of floppy disks went back out
ly m
odula
r solu
14.2 takes the ShoreTel solution to another
1985, based on customers of a small computer
to the members only to create round-after-
dimension—a virtual dimension that deliv-
round of user group disks and libraries that
ers much greater flexibility for deploy-
resulted. My KCT User Group quickly turned
Searching high and low for a
ments, with the ability to mix and match
into its own part-time job collecting, organizing
Searching high and low for a
and distributing content. Fortunately for
ShoreTel hardware-based Linux appliances
me, Bulletin Board software was one of these
or now as virtual software appliances on
contributions, allowing me to let users organize
customer provided general purpose serv-
Cloud Telephony Solution?
ers running VMware in a single network,
Cloud Telephony Solution?
themselves on-line. I just had to supply a
computer and modem - they did the rest.
or a combination of both, all managed
Skip ahead to today with Social Media
via a single web-based management inter-
making it easier to assemble virtually with other
face. Companies deploying ShoreTel 14.2
people that share your interests– but virtual
can select the UC deployment model that
Are you a reseller, VAR, or ‘like’ a service provider
meetings only get you so far (so says the dating
Are you a reseller, VAR, or ‘like’ a service provider
needs—physical, virtual, or a hybrid com-
best suits their business and infrastructure
sites). To get real value from a relationship, you
prising any combination. Bernard Gutnick,
need an occasional face-to-face meeting and a
Director of Product Marketing for ShoreTel
and looking to buy, rent, or host your own system?
chance to break bread together. Fortunately our
and looking to buy, rent, or host your own system?
explained that “The associated benefits are
industry has a number of opportunities to do so
clear and immediate, including reduced
with some great industry user groups.
hardware and operational complexity,
IAUG CONVERGE 2014 - One of the largest
Look no further.
higher application availability, increased
Look no further.
user groups, The International Avaya User
scalability and reliability.” ShoreTel 14.2
Group (IAUG) held their annual meeting in
enables all ShoreTel UC components,
Dallas, TX. I was there and meet with some
including call control, SIP trunks, CRM
of the 5,200 members, a collection of Avaya
integration, unified messaging, contact cen-
communications users, administrators, channel
ter and collaboration applications, to be
partners and suppliers. With the purpose of
virtualized and implemented on industry
acting as an advocate for its members, the
standard servers.
IAUG hosts regular educational on-line events,
I Gutnick went on to explain that ShoreTel
n
regional events along with their national
ncrease
14.2 is flexible enough to support central-
conference. Demonstrating their independence,
Sales
ized or decentralized call control on prem-
IAUG has even invited some Avaya competitors
ises or in the customer’s private cloud. Due
to the conference to share their products and
to its unique architecture, the ShoreTel
thoughts with the audience (this should be
system incorporates a level of redundan-
interesting).
cy that delivers a truly high availability
LyncUG - Another group I’ve had the
solution through a single failover switch
fortunate opportunity to work with this last
(called Spare switch) that can be positioned
spring is The Lync User Group. Focused
anywhere in the company’s network. In
Reduce on best practices and training for designers
addition, ShoreTel customers can leverage
and administrators of Microsoft Lync, the
VMware vMotion to enable practically
Churn
nation-wide group was originally formed in
zero-downtime in case of hardware or soft-
January 2011 by the merger of three different
ware failure.
independent chapters in New York City,
In terms of scalability, ShoreTel 14.2
Cincinnati and Columbus. With over 15 chapters
Boost
quadruples the port capacity per virtual
with roughly 1,500 members, the organization
regularly expands with new chapters in new
machine. ShoreTel virtual machines in
cities every few months. The Lync User Group
VMware supports up to 1,000 phones and
Profits
500 SIP trunks. This increased capaci-
Profits
collaborates on content creation and presentation
ty simplifies deployment especially for
to the various chapters, building on each of the
customers that choose a centralized UC
contributors’ skills and expertise. Most meetings
deployment. The ShoreTel solution can be
start with rather serious business, but wrap up
implemented on the customer’s choice of
with food and beverage supplied by one of their
industry-standard virtualized servers, thus
National Sponsors.
Upgrade to the Industry’s Choice TODAY!
Upgrade to the Industry’s Choice TODAY!
consolidating the server hardware across
If you haven’t had a chance to do so yet, give an
multiple applications, reducing energy
industry user group a try – you might find others
requirements and minimizing hardware
out there with the same concerns and wishes as
footprint. ShoreTel 14.2 is available now
If you’ve been searching for an addition to your premise based
If you’ve been searching for an addition to your premise based
you. It may take a couple glasses of wine to find
from qualified ShoreTel reseller partners.
offering, or you want to add cloud to your portfolio, contact us today.
“the Power of the People”, but I bet you will.
ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR) is a
offering, or you want to add cloud to your portfolio, contact us today.
Alan is the Senior Director of Marketing at
leading provider of “brilliantly simple” IP
AudioCodes, a Microsoft Gold Competency
phone systems and unified communications
Partner, offering One Voice for Lync a broad
solutions. Its award-winning on-premises
portfolio of products and services that facilitate
IP-PBX solution and cloud-based hosted
Microsoft Lync implementations. For more
phone system eliminate complexity and
information, visit: www.audiocodes.com/
improve productivity. ShoreTel is head-
Microsoft
quartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and has
regional offices and partners worldwide. %
i
Follow Alan’s musing and other
www.bicomsystems.com | sales@bicomsystems.com
Formoreobviseitrwvwatwio.snhsoroentelT.cwomit.ter@AlanDPercy
www.bicomsystems.com | sales@bicomsystems.com

p1-28_TelecommsReseller_AprMay_2014.indd 5
13/05/2014 20:24