At CRI, we don’t like to toot our own horn. We leave that up to our raving fans – our clients and customers who love telling others about how we’ve helped them with their business communications needs.

However, we can’t help but be honored when ShoreTel, our premier voice partner, takes notice of the positive work we do and how satisfied our customers are with our work.

We work extensively with ShoreTel to provide voice over IP (VoIP) solutions, including Unified Communications (UC), Call Center, Mobility and application integration, to our clients.

CRI recently received the ShoreTel Customer Satisfaction Award for delivering world-class professional service and customer care for the first half of the fiscal year.

This award was given to ShoreTel resellers who achieved customer experience scores above 55, as measured by an independent third party. Currently, CRI’s customer satisfaction score is 100 – meaning all our customers would enthusiastically refer us to others.

Receiving this award is quite humbling. But, it is also a big responsibility for our company. It means that our team members must live up to the excellence that our customers – and the people they tell about us – expect from our company.

Our passion is people. We care deeply about our customers and helping them succeed. It is truly an honor and privilege to work with them every day. And we can’t thank them enough for their ongoing support.

The recent release of the ShoreTel 13 operating software includes a number of enhancements that will make it easier for companies to communicate.

Here are the four best features improvements we’re seeing with the new software:

1. Usability Improvements with Communicator

One of the most significant improvements with the latest release is the upgrade to the ShoreTel Communicator software. ShoreTel is making some huge strides to make the software more user-friendly. The users will have the ability to make all the changes they have before, but this time, it’s is a much simpler process.

With ShoreTel, users have always had the ability to easily program their incoming calls. But now, version 13 gives users external routing features such as find me, a feature that finds you at other phones. It als gives you the ability to ring additional phones in one simple menu. This menu also lets users select which call handling modes these features should affect.

In addition, upgrades to the “find me” feature allows users the option to activate this feature without interaction from the caller. This is a great advancement to ensure callers get a seamless experience whether you are in or out of the office.

You can choose many more phone numbers for the system to reach you at too. This saves all the numbers you many use.

With previous releases, you had to pay extra for the Professional Communicator, an upgraded version of the software that comes with each extension programmed in the system. Now with the release of ShoreTel 13, all users will have access to the advanced features in their Communicator with no additional costs.

This includes the ability to use IM, if your company has that feature enabled. Users will have access to a screen in the program that will show you when your colleagues are on the phone or away from their desks. You’ll even be able to set your Communicator to let you know when people are available to take a call from you.

2. Outlook Compatibility Upgrades

With the spotty relationship between Microsoft Outlook 2010 and ShoreTel 12 releases, Outlook 2010 users will be happy to hear these issues have been fully resolved in ShoreTel 13.

In addition, when importing contacts from Outlook, it will be much quicker. Your system administrator adds many of the contacts that are public to the whole office right to the system itself. This means no more waiting for all those folders to import. You will only have access to your personal folders in the future and it will be up to your system administrator to add the public folders.

Additionally, both personal and public contacts will be uploaded to the ShoreTel system rather than housed on the local machine. This means an end user with 2,000+ contacts, won’t see any performance issues from a lack of space on their local machine. This does not mean that your personal contacts are available for the entire company to see. They will still be private to your Communicator.

Why was ShoreTel able to make such an amazing upgrade with Outlook 2010? Because the communicator client no longer needs the MAPI client that was causing all the incompatibility! With the removal of the MAPI client, the ShoreTel Communicator software is now a cinch to install. With no need to reboot the system after install and no double checking Outlook to ensure it registered the MAPI, software installation should take half the time.

Users still on Outlook 2003 will not have the interactions between Outlook and Communicator. This should not be too much of change for you as 2003 was officially an unsupported relationship as of release ShoreTel 12.

3. Simplified System Administration

System administrators will get a simplified management of the system with more control over the options of the server, without extra equipment. ShoreTel 13 will fully support SIP trunks, without an ancillary device, to support basic telephony functions. With more features at the end users fingertips, it means less specialized programming to make up for features the system does not have.

4. New Web Conferencing Features

If web conferencing is a feature used in your environment, ShoreTel has enabled web conferencing recordings to be used without the use of a service appliance. And with the direct integration with Lifesize video conferencing, it becomes a company resource, not just a conference room resource.

With all of the upgrades and improvements, it’s not hard to see why we at CRI are so excited. If you’d like more information about ShoreTel 13 or would like to schedule your upgrade, click here to contact us.

Most businesses spend a ton of time using their phone and email to communicate with contacts. But, wouldn’t it be great if you could use both from the same program?

You can thanks to the ShoreTel Communicator, the tool for managing calls through your computer. It was built to integrate with Microsoft Outlook so you can see all of your information in one place. In fact, that’s one of the many reasons CRN Magazine named ShoreTel Sky Communicator as one of the most Innovative Products of 2012.

Let’s take a look at how it works.

Contact Integration

ShoreTel gives you the ability to pull in your contacts from Outlook into the Communicator. That way, when you’re ready to place a call, you will be able to type in a person’s name and their contact info will appear. You will even be able to choose a phone number, if the contact has multiples.

But, you don’t have to have to place the call from the ShoreTel communicator. This integration allows you to place the call directly from Outlook.

Here’s how it works – When you access their contact card in Outlook, simply right click on a phone number and an option to call will appear. This means you can call contacts from two programs with just a click of the mouse.

For someone like me, that is amazing! I can quickly make calls and avoid dialing the wrong number.

Calendar Integration

With the Outlook Calendar integration, you can make calendar appointments inside of Outlook and set the call handling mode you want to display during that appointment time, all inside one program.

The system will automatically change your ShoreTel call-handling mode to whatever you set with your Outlook appointment during the appointment time. This means if you have utilized your call handling modes to the fullest extent (Click here to find out how to do that) you only have to set the appointment. Outlook and ShoreTel does the rest for you – letting both internal and external callers that you are not available, or how to reach you (or not).

Voicemail to Email

Another great feature allows you to have the ShoreTel system send your voicemails into your email. This can be completed with one of two types of emails. One as  email with a .wav file attachment. This attachment can be played on many different devices.

The other option is to have it send as special type of message that allows the user to play the message right in your outlook without any attached files. This one however, can only be played on your computer. This centralizes all the messages and communication you might be receiving in to one spot, which means managing one inbox instead of two.

With the simple integration with Outlook, you can begin take advantage of true Unified Communication.

If you’re a ShoreTel user, have you tried any of these feature yet? What questions do you have about using ShoreTel with Microsoft Outlook?

A work group is a group that works, right?

Thankfully, the ShoreTel system makes it easy to optimize how your group – whether it’s a customer service center, help line or billing department – communicates with callers.

The ShoreTel system, by default, has a basic version of an Automatic Call Distribution Group, or as we call it, Workgroup. A workgroup is small to medium group of individuals that can work a contact center or call center.

ShoreTel workgroups are composed of five parts: Workload Distribution, The Queue, Monitoring Software, Coaching Tools, and Reporting. We’ll go over each of these below.

Workload Distribution

This feature allows the caller to hear more than ringing in their ears. When a call comes in, it will automatically filter through a list of people we will now refer to as the Workgroup. When an agent of this group is busy, that agent can be skipped and the caller is filtered to the next agent. If all the agents are busy, the caller is then placed into a Queue.

Queue

The queue works just like a line at the amusement park, only a little less fun. When a call is in the queue, the caller is placed in a line for the next available agent. While the caller is waiting, they can be given on-hold messaging with as little or as much information as you choose. They can be given wait time, a specialized message, or a menu for them to escape the queue.

Monitoring Software

With the ShoreTel monitoring software, the agent is empowered to provide the best customer service to all customers. The agent is able to see each caller waiting in the queue and how long each caller has been waiting. The agent can select to answer the calls in any order – based on wait time, Caller ID or name. This same software is available to a supervisor, which not only allows them to monitor the queue, but the agents too. If more staffing is needed, with a simple click of the mouse, new agents can be added and logged in from anywhere.

Coaching Tools

The system has the capabilities to allow real-time coaching from the supervisor team. Whether it be barging into a call to protect an employee or silently coaching the employee with what to say, the supervisor can help. This prevents multiple transfers of an angry caller and also allows the agent the security that their supervisor is only a mouse click away, even if the supervisor is in another zip code.

Reporting

The built in reporting functionality allows the agent supervisor to see data on Call Handling. This can be a general report to see the calls and the way they were handled by the queue or as detailed as every call handled in or out by an agent. This allows the management team to evaluate staffing, and call volume.

In short, with five powerful tools from ShoreTel, even the smallest of call center can perform like the largest. And, the beauty is that you get all the same features, without much added cost.

What questions do you have about ShoreTel workgroups?

ShoreTel and Cisco are arguably the top two VoIP leaders today, and on a feature-by-feature  basis are essentially identical over time. They have similar advanced feature options such as contact center, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), Audio & Web Conferencing, and a range of choices for IP telephone sets. The two systems also require a similar network switching and cabling infrastructure, but that is where the similarities end.

In this post, we’ll explore some of the major differences between these two products so you can decide which system is right for you.

Scalability

ShoreTel’s solution consists of a single system that is scalable from 1-20,000 users with all of the call processing, analog devices, and PSTN connections handled through ShoreGear Voice Switches which are sized according to requirements. One server (physical or virtual) is required for management, voicemail, and automated attendant unless server redundancy is required.

There are optional licenses for an operator, workgroup agent, or workgroup supervisor which adds additional capabilities, and integration to Outlook and Internet Messaging are standard features.

Cisco, on the other hand, consists of a portfolio of telephony systems with size limits that are not upgradable. These would include Unified Communications for Small Business (2 Options), Unified Communications Express (router based), Business Edition (3 options), and Unified Communications Manager (server based) requiring a Cisco MCS7800 series server. PSTN connections would require a Cisco Router, and analog devices would require a separate analog gateway, similar to ShoreTel.

Redundancy

Adding redundancy to the ShoreTel System is as simple as adding a low cost ShoreGear Voice Switch anywhere on the network. In the event of a voice switch failure, the IP phones for that site will automatically re-register to that backup switch until the defective unit is replaced. Voicemail redundancy can be added by utilizing either a V-Series voice switch or Distributed Voice Services Server.

Depending on the system implemented, Cisco would require a second hardware and licensing component for the system + voicemail on a per site basis with the exception of Unified Communications Manager. This exception is a centralized design and would require only one physical MCS7800 server or Virtual Machine and voicemail to add redundancy.

Recommendation: Have both systems designed with redundancy if required.

System Management

ShoreTel Director is the software component that resides on the server and is the single management interface for the entire ShoreTel System. It is intuitive, easy to learn and operate, and can be managed by anyone in the company once trained.

Because the Cisco system was built through numerous acquisitions (22), there are multiple management interfaces to use (Call Manager, Unity Voicemail, and Cisco IOS). These are significantly more complex and will require a Cisco certified engineer to understand and manage these interfaces.

Recommendation: Have both vendors demonstrate the management interfaces, and end user controls. If you choose Cisco, make sure you have engineers on staff to manage it.

Ownership Cost Considerations

ShoreTel will have significantly lower implementation, change order, and training costs (25%) as well as lower annual maintenance costs. Maintenance is based on a percentage of hardware + licensing costs (13%), and software upgrades are included as part of the maintenance plan with the exception of labor for the upgrades.

Cisco’s complexity will require significantly more time to implement, train, and test resulting in higher costs. Maintenance is on a per device basis through Smartnet, and will require 3 Smartnet components; hardware, software, and upgrades.

Recommendation: Run a 3 and 5 year total cost of ownership analysis.

VoIP System Considerations

Before choosing one of these phone systems ask the following questions to ensure you will choose the right system for your company’s needs:

1. Will your IT infrastructure support a VoIP deployment? (see #3)
2. What internal IT resources are available to support the system?
3. Have you completed an IP Telephony network assessment?
4. Are the 2 systems comparable? Redundant design, PSTN failover.
5. What are your long term growth plans? Is the system scalable to meet those needs?

The bottom line is to do your homework. There are pros and cons to both systems, but you must determine the resources you have one staff, you current infrastructure and your company’s long-term needs to find the right fit for you. Is the cost differential justified?

Considering ShoreTel or Cisco solution? What questions do you have about the two systems?

“Stop the bleeding.”

“We need to maximize our efficiencies and minimize our costs.”

“It’s not in the budget.”

These are certainly things we have all heard from businesses the last couple of years due to the declining economic conditions. As the economic conditions brighten, companies are still looking for any way they can to bring their company back in the black.

So, why not begin with the most important communications tool within your company? The company telephone system.

It can’t be just any old telephone system but the brilliantly simple solution from Shoretel. How on earth can my telephone system improve my profits you ask? Just like this, my friends:

ShoreTel Reduces Management Costs so You Can Focus on Your Business

Bringing phone management in-house saves time and money and allows you to be in charge of your own system—not at the mercy of a service provider for personnel moves, adds and changes (MACs).

ShoreWare Director, ShoreTel’s browser-based management interface, allows you to access the system from anywhere on the network and easily manage every site and feature, including voice mail, automated attendant and desktop applications. Adding a new user is simply a matter of a few keystrokes, which trigger automatic updates to the voice switches, automated attendant, and dial-by name and number features. This interface also makes it a snap to manage MACs, so management time is minimized and you can get back to your business.

ShoreTel Reduces Telecommunications Costs

ShoreTel decreases long distance toll charges by sending voice calls over your existing data network so you can spend your budget on more important things like investing in growing your business.

You can also share voice trunks between locations and reduce the number of phone lines you’re leasing. Finally, you save on costly teleconferencing services with ShoreTel’s conference bridge, which provides your consultants with voice and web conferencing right from Microsoft Outlook, enabling them to collaborate more readily and meet client demands quickly.

ShoreTel Helps You Satisfy Customers Faster and More Effectively

With ShoreTel Personal Call Manager, and features like AnyPhone and Follow Me Find Me, a caller can be assured of reaching the person they need no matter where they are, which is a necessity because so many professionals are constantly on the go. With these features, your specialists can be productive no matter where they are—in the office, in a conference room, at a client site, at a restaurant or Starbucks, or at home.

In addition, powerful messaging features allow your consultants to forward voice mails directly to colleagues as attachment files, so no client issue or message will ever get lost in the system. With Call Manager, receptionists and operators have access to online directories that help them quickly connect callers with the right person and also enhance their collaboration with key staff.

Your telephone system should be your friend and not your foe. So, if you want to shore up your bottom line then consider the operational efficiencies of the Shoretel IP PBX solution. It might just make perfect “cents” for your business.

What questions do you have about switching to a ShoreTel solution?

With the ShoreTel Communicator, you have control of your calls. Calls are going to come to your extension, and if that’s what work’s best for you, then that is all it has to do. But with the fast-paced business environment that we are in, there are certain calls you never want to miss.

To make sure I never miss an important call, I utilize ShoreTel Call Handling Modes, which includes call routing support. But sometimes, I forget. I run out of the office on my way to my next meeting or I get pulled into an impromptu meeting. So this is where call routing based on priority is really helpful.

Find Me

With the “Find Me” feature, you can tell your most important clients and customers to dial 1 when greeted by your voicemail. When a caller does this, the ShoreTel system will automatically look for you at another number of your choosing. You will be presented with the office Caller ID (this may be different depending on your telephony carrier) and you can choose to answer this call. If you decide not to answer, the caller will be sent back to your corporate voicemail rather than your cellular voicemail.

“Find Me” can also require users to record their name, prior to trying to find you. This recording will be played for your prior to accepting the call.

However, if you want that option available to all your callers, you can record the information in your voicemail greeting for all to hear. This means all callers will have the option to find you if they need you.

How to Set it Up

Now, that you have set these features, how and when do you want them to work?

That is where your ShoreTel Call Handling  Modes come in. With each of the modes, you have  the option to activate these features. For me, I like additional phones when I am in the offic, but I might not be sitting at my desk. I prefer find me when I am out of the office. This way, I have the option to tell customers I am waiting on calls from to dial 1 to find me.  This way I always get my calls, even if I have to run out of the office.

Additional Phones

In addition to the “Find Me” feature, ShoreTel offers the ability to make your phone attempt to reach you (or a colleague) at two additional phone numbers. The system will ring these additional phones and if you do not answer, the users will be returned to your voicemail. The call will tier between the two numbers, which means it will try one phone first and then the second phone.

Of course, when you leave the office, you have the option to send the calls directly to another number using your Call Handling mode “No Answer” destination, but setting up these options means forgetting to change your call handling mode doesn’t always mean losing your chance to answer the calls regardless of who, what, where, or how forgetful you are. Of course, when you leave the office, it may be easier, just to route all calls to your cell phone. If that is what works best for you, you are probably already using it.

How to Set it Up

Access your Application button (the ShoreTel swirly S) and then from the drop-down menu, select “options”. Once inside of the Options Panel, find Additional Phones. You’ll notice it has two options for each of these numbers. You can choose how many rings the system will offer each number prior to moving onto the next number.  We recommend at least three (3) rings. You also have answering options.

Do you want to have to press a number? Its up to you. I prefer just answering, but that’s because I don’t have a dialpad readily available.

Have you used any of these features? Let us know in the comments. And, if you need help programming these options, contact us at at support@yourcri.com

It’s Friday afternoon and you’re an IT manager for a regional company with 10 branches across the Southeast. All systems are running great and you are looking forward to the long weekend with the family.

Then it happens.

The phone system has decided to make your long weekend an extension of the workweek. Even worse, your vendor has called you back to tell you they can’t get spare parts until Tuesday because of the holidays.

Now it’s gone from bad to worse.

The calls start flooding in from management wanting to know when the phone system will be working because your customers can’t contact you and this is costing the company money.

At this point, you are ready to pull your hair out. After all, your data systems are redundant. So, why can’t your phone system be redundant too?

It can if you use the right phone system.

Although most phone manufacturers will tell you that your system can be redundant, you have to account for users with different features – some may not have voicemail, while others have to call long distance to reach another branch. And, to make all of this become redundant, you have the added cost of replacing every office with another switch that costs double what you already paid.

So, what’s the answer?

A brilliantly simple solution called ShoreTel.

Most IP PBXs are implemented with a central server (sometimes called a media gateway controller) that runs the call control to set up calls and provide telephony features. These systems use 1 to 1 (1:1) redundancy to provide 99.999 percent (five-nines) availability.

In contrast, ShoreTel uses a distributed call control model based on an appliance approach where each ”voice switch” provides call control for a limited number of phones (and PSTN lines), while working seamlessly with other appliances to support system users. A system is implemented by combining multiple voice switches that can provide full-featured reliability throughout the network.

By distributing the call control, voice switches can be made smaller, simpler and more reliable as each unit takes on only a portion of the overall task.

ShoreTel’s unique, distributed architecture allows the “unit” of redundancy to be much smaller. A ShoreTel Unified Communications (UC) system can be made redundant by the addition of an incremental unit, rather than duplicating the entire system. This is called n+1 redundancy and allows businesses to decide on the level of reliability and cost of the communication system.

The business manager simply adds the number (n) of extra voice switches that they want. Under normal operation, the load is spread across all units. When one unit fails, the load is redistributed across the remaining units. If the system is constructed with extra capacity, there will be enough capacity for all users, and no system degradation.

ShoreTel’s n+1 redundancy is so much simpler and more cost-effective than the 1:1 redundancy used by other systems. For an n + 1 architecture, redundancy costs an extra 1/n. For a 1:1 architecture, redundancy costs 2n.

So, if long weekends and time away from your family is your thing, then stick with traditional server-based phone systems. If you want less headaches and an easy to manage system that will keep your company up and running, then ShoreTel is certainly a viable solution.

You make the call.

When Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) first burst onto the scene, it was considered an expensive and unreliable phone solution. However, in recent years, VOIP has improved considerably and is now the most cost-effective and technologically sophisticated solution for businesses.

However, if you’re still not sure if VOIP is for you, here are a few reasons why you might want to take another look:

1. It will save you money.

Although there are some up-front costs with switching to a new a new phone system, the conversion to VOIP quickly pays for itself. Because VOIP is routed over the Internet, companies no longer have to deal with long distance or international charges.

And, because VOIP is easier to manage in-house (see below), you’ll save money in maintenance costs and downtime. On average, we see companies recoup their initial investment within a year.

2. It’s easier to manage and scale.

The beauty of VOIP is that it’s easier to for your IT team to manage. The days of relying on outside vendors to make changes at high costs ($150/visit on average) are gone.

With a VOIP-based system, these changes can be made using internal resources, and adding new applications to enhance business revenues is now possible.

3. It gives you advanced calling features.

VOIP gives you the ability to manage calls from your desktop with a simple mouse click. It also integrates with other applications such as email and instant messenger.

Additionally, VOIP offers a number of advanced calling features that each user can customize based on his or her preferences. For instance, if you want to route calls to your cell phone, you simply type in your cell phone number and it’s done.  And, if you want to receive voicemails  in your email, simply check  a box to receive .wav files in your inbox.

4. It’s location independent.

Do you have multiple locations? Then you’ll love how VOIP can connect your offices on one phone system. This gives you the ability to make interoffice calls – even if the offices are hundreds of miles apart – using a simple extension or speed dial.

Additionally, VOIP is portable. So, if your office ever moves or you simply want access to your phone on your business trip, you can simply log-in to your profile from any phone and everything will follow you.

5. It’s more reliable.

Since VOIP operates on your data network, you can build as much redundancy as you need, and calls will not be interrupted as long as the data network is intact. You can also build multiple failover points for the carrier network to ensure maximum uptime.

Still have questions?

There are many other benefits to VOIP, but this should give you a good idea of how this technology can improve your business communication.  So, what are you waiting for?

If you still have questions about VOIP, let us know in the comment section or give us a call. We’d be happy to talk to you about how VOIP can benefit your business.

ShoreTel’s Call Handling is modes one of the most valuable assets built in the system and provided at no extra cost. However, it often goes unused.

Here are a few of the benefits of ShoreTel’s Call Handling modes:

Informing your callers and co-workers of availability

ShoreTel Call Handling modes give the users the ability to notify their callers why their calls were not answered without changing your message every time you leave your desk.

While this feature is beneficial to the external caller, it will also help in reaching colleagues in the most efficient way. When users utilize their call handling modes, colleagues can see whether the user is available. This also allows receptionists or assistants to quickly and easily direct calls to an available person. It prevents callers from long hold times (and that awful 70s elevator music!) while the receptionist calls multiple extensions looking for an available person.  

Route your calls to any phone

We know you don’t always want to be found, but some calls are just too important to miss. You can set your forwarding destination out of the system to another phone. Whether it is the lovely hotel cordless that sits beside you at the pool or the cell phone that is super glued to your hand, you can always get your calls. 

With the ShoreTel Communicator, the end user has the ability to change the call handling mode, but also the routing of your own calls with a few clicks. This is a huge improvement from phone systems of the past that required the system administrator, or even the phone company, to make all of the changes. With ShoreTel Communicator and Call Handling modes the end user is put in charge of their communication resource.

Easily change your call handling mode

Integrating with Microsoft Outlook calendar gives users the ability to automatically change the call handling mode based on the appointments on their calendar. And even if you don’t have Outlook, the ShoreTel UC comes with Communicator, which allows the user to change their mode from a simple drop down menu. In addition, the user can change the Call Handling Mode from their phone or remotely through the Voicemail system.

How to Change your Call Handling Mode using Communicator

Now that you know the benefits of using the Call Handling Mode, we’ve provided a step-by-step guide to show you how it works.

After opening the ShoreTel Communicator you will see the word Standard with an arrow letting you know there us a drop down menu.

Once you have found the area where you can change your call handling mode, you can utilize the drop down menu to choose another mode. From this drop-down you can program your Call Handling Modes and record personalized greetings for each of the Call Handling Mode.

When you select the record a greeting option, you will be given a classic “red record” button.

Once you have recorded your name, you can then program how your calls are handled in the various call handling modes.

The user can even leave notes so their co-workers know why the user is set to that Call Handling Mode.

Programming your whole mode can happen for each of the five Call Handling Modes along the side.

Now if you are like me, you want calls to come to you when you are out of the office.  You can do that by simply altering the destination that your calls go to.

With ShoreTel Call Handling Modes, you can better manage your calls – whether you are in or out of the office. And, if you ever need assistance with implementing call handling modes, contact your administrator or our support team and we will be glad to assist you.