Our company is look to move our phone system to Cisco or ShoreTel.

If you take cost out of the picture, who has the better system, that allows future growth, we are using a call center, want to use remote users, and looks for a full redundant system.

I would love to hear from someone that has worked with both

Thanks

OK, I'll bite.

Question 1: Are you a Cisco shop now? If not then you should lean towards Shoretel. If you have all Cisco network equipment now and are Cisco trained then lean in that direction.

2: Better system? That is too subjective to the user/installer/sales person to answer really. It depends on the application.

3: Future growth. Shoretel makes it easy to grow to over 20,000 endpoints with just adding Shoregear boxes that can be distributed across the network or local, all with a single system image....because it is one system, not disparate systems networked together.

4: Call center? Would you need a full blown contact center or would Shoretel wrokgroups (for more basic call centers, but still powerful) work? If workgroups works for your application then Shoretel makes a great cost effective solution. Even if you needed to go to ECC for a full blown contact center solution then Shoretel is still cost effective.

5: Remote users? Define your application.

6: Fully redundant: Shoretel is incredibly cost effective when you need redundancy. It can be as redundant as you need.

Steve

Cisco and ShoreTel are both excellent solutions, but for different reasons. If you would like to speak to 100's of ShoreTel customers, please message me at [email protected]

If you're looking for a solution that is easy to use with the lowest total cost of ownership, ShoreTel is ideal.

If you're looking for having a Cisco branded phone on the desk, and don't mind paying for software upgrades or being tied to Cisco networks, and have a staff that can handle the complexity, then Cisco is very desirable.

Regards,
Bernard Gutnick

"If you're looking for having a Cisco branded phone on the desk, and don't mind paying for software upgrades or being tied to Cisco networks, and have a staff that can handle the complexity, then Cisco is very desirable".

That doesn't sound very desirable to me!!!

**wow sorry just noticed how old this thread is *

If I were in your shoes I would also factor in the odds of which manufacturer has staying power.

I'd buy only from a diversified products manufacturer. Cisco, Samsung, NEC, Panasonic, Toshiba, etc fill that description.

The chances are these companies being around in five years is much higher than a company that primarily sells phone systems only, ie, Shoretel, Mitel, Tadiran, etc.

This is coming from 27 years experience selling phone systems and watching manufacturers come and go. When they go, often times the buyers are stuck in the mud.

The point is taken, however, ShoreTel has seen quarter over quarter growth of over 38% since the down turn in 2008 - that is more than almost any other manufacturer can say. They also have millions in cash in the bank, and consistently are gaining ground in the VoIP market space to the point where they are now just behind Cisco and Avaya. Size and diversity do not necessarily equate to survival in the market - look at Nortel. They were huge and had diversified into the data space and now they are no longer. Larger small and medium enterprises are only looking at a few products overall, and they are Cisco, Avaya, and ShoreTel. That is not to say that Mitel and NEC, etc. do not get big wins - they do - but overall the market is between these three. At least that is what surveys and personal experience has shown.

Steve

I wonder what the nay sayers said about Cisco, Samsung, NEC, Panasonic, Toshiba when they were 8 to 10 years in. Probably the same thing, that you need to buy from a manufacture that has staying power like western electric, Bell systems, ITT.
Nortel- so much for staying power!!