Premises Systems Blog

"Why we chose ShoreTel" - a new Premises Systems client's perspective

2011-12-02T13:59:00.000-05:00

Michigan's economy seems to finally be improving. Premises Systems is witnessing this first hand as companies that have been holding on to their outdated phone systems are now investing in ShoreTel and other voice and data communications upgrades.

Following are the top ten reasons one of its new client's selected Premises Systems and ShoreTel:

"Top Ten reasons our team chose ShoreTel"

I – ShoreTel system is never out of date. Proactive maintenance program includes all new software revisions and patches. ShoreTel averages one major and one minor release per year (currently on v 12)

II – ShoreTel system is extremely reliable with no single point of failure. Documented 99.999% uptime.

III – Very easy to use, this leads to increased productivity since end-users actually use the features.

IV – Easy to administer. Non-technical personnel such as HR managers and receptionists often handle simple administrative tasks such as adding, changing, and deleting user records. This cuts vendor dependencies and frees up internal IT resources

V – Optimize existing IT investment. Leverages WAN's, LAN's, and VPN's to deliver one flat phone system across multiple sites. (reduces expenses and improves customer services). ShoreTel does not mandate any particular brands or models of switches, routers, or firewalls.

VI – Enhanced ability to leverage emerging carrier technolgies and services. ShoreTel does not require 'fork lift upgrades' when clients' change from older voice and data carrier platforms. System supports older and newer transport methodologies (analog, digital, and IP).

VII – Integrated voice-mail and email. Unified messaging enables users to get messages on the device of their choice. Reduces operational redundencies and improves customer service.

VIII – Six party teleconferencing included with base system. Most phone systems only include three party conferencing.

IX – Built to accomodate significant business expansions with same hardware & software platforms. System scales to 20,000 users.

X – ShoreTel is consistently ranked the #1 IP PBX in independent studies

Please feel free to call 248.715.1087 or email: rbruinsma@premsys.net to explore how Premises Systems can help your business leverage ShoreTel to reduce ongoing expenses, drive greater operational efficiencies, and improve customer service.

Press release: Premises Systems maintains world-class ShoreTel partner customer satisfaction ranking

2011-09-13T09:36:00.000-04:00

Premises Systems blog ranks first in world when searching under UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALISTS in Google

2011-06-20T07:59:00.003-04:00

21st Century business phone systems are known by many names, VoIP, IP PBX and unified communications systems. Premises Systems launched this blog http://UnifiedCommunicationsSpecialists.blogspot.com in October 2008.

Today, this blog ranks first in the world out of 3,980,000 results under a Google search of Unified Communications Specialists. It also placed 2nd out of 2,970,000 results of Unified Communications Michigan.

Premises Systems' developed its cost effective blogging campaign to communicate its value proposition to a larger audience.

It is designed to communicate with a class of business owners and key executives who realize the importance of forming partnerships with value-added, professional IT integrators who keep their team's skills and product offerings up to date.

PSI is focused on helping each of its clients and prospective clients leverage up to date IP communications technologies to gain and maintain a competitive edge. The company is narrowly focused on what is presently known in the 21st Century business telephone industry as unified communications - the convergence of voice and data networks & information systems.

Premises Systems is the most experienced ShoreTel partner in Michigan and Ohio. This blog placed 1st, 2nd, and 5th on the first page out of 465,000 Google results for ShoreTel Partner Michigan and sixth out of 1,030,000 under a Google search of ShoreTel Partner Ohio [more]

"Zero option not defined" - Is this good customer service?

2011-04-28T07:00:00.002-04:00

There seems to be a trend of more and more businesses not enabling the zero option on their PBX's. I wonder what motivates this strategy (if it is a strategy).

Have the owners and/or managers of these systems simply decided that only callers who know who they want to talk to are people they want calls from?

Have they simply eliminated the receptionist and don't want to be interrupted by a ringing phone?

Do they think that email is the only way prospective customers can call them?

What is happening to personalized customer service?

Do you control your PBX?

2011-02-10T07:05:00.028-05:00

Premises based unified communications and hosted PBX offerings approach customer control and customer service from two very different perspectives.

The carrier maintains complete control over its customers hosted PBX and data network. Hosted PBX vendors normally sell generic phones to their clients up front and lease the brains of the hosted core system to them forever.

System features are limited to what the carrier offers all of its customers, unless you would like to pay extra. Hosted customers' voice and data communications, including voice-mail, features, network security, and ongoing maintenance are all controlled by the host. Hosted clients will never "own" their phone systems.

If the hosting vendor experiences an outage, there is minimal backup capability at the client's site. All phone records and call history is stored in the vendor's facility. The hosted client is dependent on the financial stability and level of service offered by a single service provider. Changing vendors is a very difficult and tedious process.
These are vendor controlled solutions.

In marked contrast, a premise based IP PBX is owned by the client and maintenance is provided by their most recently selected service provider.
The client owns the "brains" of the system and hosts their voicemail and databases on their premises. It is far easy to switch vendors if you are not satisfied with your ongoing support, without the risk of losing important caller data, voicemail messages, emails, etc. These are client controlled systems.

Are you ready to assume control?

Please contact Roy Bruinsma to learn how Premises Systems can help you assume control of your PBX and leverage unified communications.

PH: 248.715.1087
email: rbruinsma @ cablers.com

Premises Systems, Inc. (PSI) – the most experienced ShoreTel partner in Michigan and Ohio – serves the voice and data communications needs of businesses. Premises Systems designs, implements and supports WANS & LANS and ShoreTel unified communications systems in over twenty states and a few foreign countries.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-29T06:16:00.002-05:00

The Premises Systems family extends its heartfelt thanks to all our Clients, family, and friends. Thank you for putting your faith in us and being important parts of our lives.

We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a safe and prosperous 2011!

ShoreTel earns rave reviews by industry insiders

2010-10-21T19:49:00.008-04:00

Synergy Research report reaffirms ShoreTel's growing market share – highlighting increased acceptance by companies worldwide:
A leading independent research firm declares ShoreTel The Fastest Growing IP Telephony Vendor Worldwide, #1 Worldwide Unified Communications Desktop Solution Provider, and the third leading suppliers in the United States. It was not long ago when Nortel’s bankruptcy opened up that third spot at the table. ShoreTel has leapfrogged Mitel, Siemens and NEC and others, and is now second in market share to only Cisco and Avaya. [more]

CIOs Select ShoreTel at the Midsize Enterprise Summit for best execution of a mid-market solution – validating ShoreTel's unique market approach of delivering brilliantly simple solutions
When awards are based on customers ratings, ShoreTel wins hands down. CIOs chose ShoreTel in more categories than any other vendor. This reflects their positive response to ShoreTel's presentations outlining its ability to eliminate complexity without sacrificing sophistication, to be brilliantly simple. [more]

Nemertes Research 2010 customer surveys rate ShoreTel the highest in all categories in IPT - highlighting ShoreTel's tremendous focus on ensuring the best experience for its customers. This is ShoreTel's seventh top place finish in a row!
Nemertes Research is an independent organization that interviews end-user customers regarding their experiences with top IP telephony vendors. ShoreTel placed at the top of all categories including customer satisfaction, training, support, technology, and value. [more]

Contact Premises Systems at 248.715.1087 to learn more about how ShoreTel can benefit your organization.

ShoreTel partner Premises Systems maintains world-class customer satisfaction ranking with 98.7 score

2010-09-12T21:29:00.011-04:00

Premises Systems continues its unbroken streak of customer satisfaction rankings in the high 90% range for 2009-2010. "ShoreTel is pleased to recognize your outstanding achievement in customer satisfaction for the reporting period from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. Your average score of 98.7 reflects a world class level of professionalism and customer care in network assessment, system design, project management, end-user training and post-sale follow-up as reflected in the ShoreTel customer satisfaction surveys conducted by an objective third party during that period."

Premises Systems - voice and data networking experts

2010-08-10T22:19:00.012-04:00

The following brief description has been crafted by the Premises Systems marketing department to clearly and concise describe who we are, what we do, and why someone should do business with us.

Premises Systems, Inc. (PSI) – unified communications specialists – are voice and data networking experts who design, implement, and supports voice over IP (VoIP) business telephone systems, pure IP PBXs, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), virtual private networks (VPNs), and IP infrastructures including switches, routers, firewalls, low-voltage cabling, and fiber optics to support 10/100 and Gigabit (Gb). Services include standalone and multi-site network and circuit designs. Carrier coordination and/or selection for DS3, T1, PRI, SIP, MPLS, point to point, private line, international, and internet connections. PSI is the most experienced ShoreTel partner in Michigan and Ohio.

URL(s):
http://cablers.com
http://premisessystems.net
http://unifiedcommunicationsspecialists.blogspot.com

Contact:Roy Bruinsma
Title: Director of Business Development
Email: rbruinsma@cablers dot com
Phone: 248.715.1087

Address:4305 Pineview Drive, suite 200
Walled Lake, MI 48390

ShoreTel Partner Premises Systems world-class customer satisfaction ranking hits 99.3

2010-06-02T22:55:00.010-04:00

Premises Systems customer testimonials

2009-12-07T13:32:00.017-05:00

Premises Systems, Inc. focuses on maintaining long-term 'win-win' relationships with its clients. Following are a few examples of what PSI's customers have to say about their experiences.

"We have been impressed with the level of service provided by Premises Systems and the reliability of our ShoreTel system. It has been hassle-free and much easier to use than our old PBX, especially when conferencing and transferring calls. We are also impressed by the sturdy construction and clarity of the phones. I have not had any complaints from our staff. Everyone is very happy with the system."

Dennis Webb, Chief Business Development Officer,
W.F. Whelan Company

"Premises Systems has been very responsive to our needs over the years. We have also found them to be competitively priced. The ShoreTel system has been far more reliable than our previous phone system, and we especially like the fact that it is easily administered by our receptionist."

John Frohock, Chief Financial Officer, Grosse Pointe Yacht Club

"Our ShoreTel unified communications solution has responded transparently to MessageWay's business expansion, both within our headquarters facility as well as new field offices. Being able to communicate seamlessly has allowed us valuable flexibility with minimal administrative overhead."

Greg Faubert, President & CEO, MessageWay Solutions, Inc.

ShoreTel Named Best IP Telephony Provider for Sixth Year in a Row

2009-11-03T12:01:00.003-05:00

SUNNYVALE, CA -- 11/03/09 -- ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated Unified Communications (UC), today announced that for the sixth year in a row ShoreTel has been named the Best IP Telephony Provider in the Nemertes PilotHouse Awards - Top Providers, IP Telephony 2009. This year, the awards rated 39 IP Telephony vendors and included 1,393 participants. Unique in the industry, Nemertes bases its results entirely on the experiences of IP-telephony decision-makers.

According to the Nemertes report, ShoreTel "has created a solid customer experience. ShoreTel has scored at the top in every ratings category since Nemertes began tracking IP-telephony vendor performance six years ago. This year is no different as ShoreTel won every ratings category. ShoreTel's key driver continues to be its value, with a 4.31 rating. Customers routinely praise their purchases of ShoreTel gear as providing an exceptional set of features and a highly resilient architecture at both lower upfront and ongoing costs than its competitors. Its distributed architecture provides for redundancy at an affordable price."

[more]

TMCnet Interview with ShoreTel

2009-10-22T11:06:00.002-04:00

TMCnet Interview with ShoreTel

Press Release: ShoreTel Surpasses Ten Thousand Enterprise Customers - over one million end user licenses

2009-08-21T12:49:00.010-04:00

Premises Systems clients are well aware of the significant business enhancements and ongoing cost savings the "brilliantly simple" ShoreTel system delivers. They are part of a growing list of progressive companies and organizations who recognize the competitive advantages of leveraging unified communications.

ShoreTel Surpasses 10,000 Enterprise Customers

ShoreTel's Brilliantly Simple Communication Solutions Meet the Growing Demands of Today's Busy Enterprise

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - July 27, 2009) - ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated Unified Communications (UC), today announced it has surpassed its ten-thousandth enterprise customer, demonstrating the company's continuing success in this market. ShoreTel's brilliantly simple UC solutions are attracting a growing number of customers worldwide, as enterprises increasingly look for flexible, easy-to-use and easy-to-manage communication tools that offer a strong competitive advantage.

The number of enterprises deploying ShoreTel UC systems continues to grow not only because of ShoreTel's excellent performance, but also because of its brilliant simplicity -- advanced features and capabilities that help organizations boost productivity and improve customer service, based on a highly available and easy-to-manage platform. The result is a highly flexible UC system with the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry.

As further proof of ShoreTel's rising popularity and growth, a recent report from Synergy Research Group found ShoreTel to be the number one in worldwide market share in UC desktop applications for small and midsize businesses, as well as making significant strides among enterprise customers.

Despite the economic climate, ShoreTel has consistently delivered high quality products with world-class customer satisfaction ratings. To date ShoreTel has deployed more than 60,000 switches, nearly 900,000 VoIP-enabled phones, and has sold more than one million licenses for end users. ShoreTel end users can be found across all market sectors, including government, education, health care, retail, financial services and entertainment, and in organizations of all sizes. [more]

The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club endorses Premises Systems

2009-07-30T09:59:00.006-04:00

The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (GPYC) is one of the premier yacht clubs in the United States. According to its website:

"The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club's roots reach back to 1914, when 25 local men formed a club to pursue their interests in ice boating and sailing on Lake St. Clair. Guy Lowell, a well-known Boston architect and yachtsman of the 20's, was responsible for the unique 18th century Italian Renaissance design of the clubhouse. It was dedicated on July 4, 1929."

In 2006, the GPYC was in need of replacing an aging TDM based phone system. GPYC management decided to do their own research and explore what technolgy offered the best long-term investment. Premises Systems is proud to report they selected ShoreTel. The GPYC remains a very satisfied PSI client. Following is the text of an endorcement letter from GPYC GM/COO, Michael Mooney:

"I strongly recommend Premises Systems, Inc. (PSI) to anyone planning to replace their phone system with new technology. Before the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club selected PSI, our old phone system was on its last legs. We were spending too much on support agreements, service calls, and analog phone lines. It was past time to invest in something new.

The GPYC did not hire a consultant or go through a traditional RFP process to make our decision. Instead we scheduled two-way interviews with prospective vendors and allowed them to design solutions based upon their discovery processes. In the end, we selected three vendors to quote a new system. Premises Systems was the only vendor to offer IP Telephony (VoIP). The other two stated we were not big enough for VoIP, or did not think VoIP was a good solution for us. One claimed it was not reliable and did not make sense for a single site. We chose to disagree then and disagree even more strongly today. PSI was not the lowest bidder, but they offered the most innovative solution and delivered the greatest value with ShoreTel.

Shore Tel’s design made the cut-over easier than an older phone system would have been, since it uses our computer wiring, not separate voice cables. This allowed us to leverage an earlier investment in fiber optics to install IP Phones in outlying buildings. The system enables us to page all employees through speakerphones in the event of an emergency. This feature was important to us from a safety standpoint.

The installation went as smoothly as advertised, and the system is so user friendly that our receptionist Trish does most of the ongoing programming. ShoreTel is so easy to understand that our employees actually use most of the features (transfers & conference calls for instance) without calling anyone for help. This is also a testament to the Premises Systems trainers.

The ShoreTel system has so many features we are still exploring new ways it can help us better serve our members. Our members are already getting more personal service since ShoreTel caller ID integrates into a system directory and Outlook contacts to "pop" the callers’ names along with their caller ID information, thus allowing a personal touch when picking up the phone. We can also set up hunt groups, custom greetings, and dedicated voicemail boxes for special events in a matter of minutes, by ourselves.

Our new ShoreTel system has been a solid investment for the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. It is an investment that delivers on the promise of new technology. It is one of the best buying decisions we have ever made. Since the beginning, we have been impressed with Premises Systems professionalism, technical expertise, and commitment to us. They have gone above and beyond our expectations."

Sincerely,

Michael Mooney, CCM
General Manager/COO

Premises Systems maintains world class customer satisfaction ranking from ShoreTel

2009-06-27T08:31:00.011-04:00

Walled Lake, MI - Premises Systems - the most experienced ShoreTel partner in Michigan and Ohio is proud to announce its commitment to customer service has been recognized by ShoreTel once again.

"ShoreTel is pleased to recognize your outstanding achievement in customer satisfaction for the reporting period from May 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009. Your average score of 96.6% reflects a world class level of professionalism and customer care in network assessment, system design, project management, end-user training and post-sale follow-up as reflected in the ShoreTel customer satisfaction surveys conducted by an objective third party during that period."

Throughout its history, Premises Systems has consistently exceeded 95% in customer satisfaction. This world-class focus is greatly appreciated by PSI's clients.

Michael Mooney, General Manager/COO of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club summarized his impressions this way. "Our new ShoreTel system has been a solid investment for the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. It is an investment that delivers on the promise of new technology. It is one of the best buying decisions we have ever made. Since the beginning, we have been impressed with Premises Systems professionalism, technical expertise, and commitment to us. They have gone above and beyond our expectations."

What is Unified Communications?

2009-05-29T14:09:00.005-04:00

Just like VoIP and IP Telephony, the term Unified Communications means different things to different people. ShoreTel has put together a rather concise definition that also points to its significant competitive advantage.

"With increasingly busy shedules and workers located around the world, it's not always easy to reach the right people at the right time. We play phone tag, interrupt important meetings to take calls, and fly all over the world, all the while continuing to wrestle with and endless list of voicemails, e-mails, missed calls and more. To avoid delays in projects, incomplete decisions, and reduced employee performance resulting from this communications chaos, organizations need to simplify operations with solutions that connect people and information more quickly and efficiently. This is the role of unified communications (UC)."

To learn more about how unified communications can help drive greater business efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer responsiveness please call 248.715.1087.

Press Release: ShoreTel Wins Best of VoiceCon Orlando 2009 Award Third Year in a Row

2009-04-02T15:09:00.006-04:00

Leading Enterprise Communications Event's Attendees Pick ShoreTel for a Three-Peat

ORLANDO, Fla., April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- VoiceCon Orlando 2009 (www.voicecon.com/orlando), produced by TechWeb , announced that attendees at the event voted ShoreTel with the 2009 Best in VoiceCon Award for the third year in a row. Best in VoiceCon recognizes new and exceptional enterprise communications solutions and is presented annually at VoiceCon Orlando. ShoreTel received award for its ShoreTel Release 9 Unified Communications System. VoiceCon Orlando 2009 is taking place at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL.

"The VoiceCon attendees have voiced their opinion, and voted ShoreTel Best of VoiceCon for the third year in a row," said Fred Knight, VoiceCon General Manager. "Congratulations to ShoreTel."

"This week has been tremendously successful for our industry and for VoiceCon," Knight continued. "Despite the challenging economic times, attendance remains strong and there was great energy and lots of business being conducted on the Exhibition Floor."

John W. Combs, Chairman and CEO of ShoreTel, said, "We are thrilled that the attendees of this year's VoiceCon recognized the ShoreTel 9 release for its excellence and leadership in unified communications and enterprise-class performance. ShoreTel understands the many challenges organizations face today, and continues to create solutions that meet their most pressing needs for high reliability, ease of management, low total cost of ownership, and most importantly, result in very high customer satisfaction. We are proud to have been chosen for the Best in VoiceCon award for the third year in a row."

To be eligible for the Best in VoiceCon Award, entrants must be a VoiceCon Orlando 2009 exhibitor, and the product or service must be new and officially announced with a published ship/launch date during the week of VoiceCon Orlando 2009. Core technology releases, enhancements and upgrades are valid entries.

About VoiceCon(R)
Now in its 19th year, VoiceCon(R) is the leading conference and exhibition for enterprise IP Telephony, Converged Networks and Unified Communications in North America. VoiceCon(R) brings corporate communications decision makers together with the industry's vendors, analysts and consultants to focus on the issues central to enterprise networks and communications. As the momentum toward IP Telephony and convergence has grown, VoiceCon expanded to include two yearly shows in the United States: VoiceCon Orlando, March 30-April 2, 2009 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel and VoiceCon San Francisco, November 2-5, 2009 at the Moscone North Convention Center. VoiceCon's No Jitter, (http://www.nojitter.com/), provides daily blogging and analysis of enterprise communications, and also serves the community with two weekly email newsletters -- VoiceCon eNews (http://www.voicecon.com/enews) and VoiceCon UC eWeekly (http://www.voicecon.com/unified-communications/). For more information, visit http://www.voicecon.com/.

About TechWeb
TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, VoiceCon and SD West; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, Dr. Dobb's Report, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections

PR Newswire

Press Release: ShoreTel 9 Simplifies Personalized Communications for Enterprises of All Sizes

2009-03-30T14:36:00.007-04:00

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - March 30, 2009) - ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications (UC) solutions, today released ShoreTel 9, the newest version of its award-winning UC software. With expanded features for personalized communications, ShoreTel 9 enables mobile and desktop users to communicate more effectively -- regardless of location -- and increase individual productivity and customer satisfaction levels.

Personalization features, including location-based services and individualized call handling, let users create custom call-routing scenarios to ensure priority callers can always reach them. With ShoreTel 9's high availability, enhanced redundancy and security, and integration with Microsoft Active Directory, enterprises are confidently deploying ShoreTel business phone systems across their organizations. In addition, ShoreTel 9 supports integration with Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007. When Microsoft OCS 2007 is integrated with ShoreTel 7.5 and higher, users of the ShoreTel system can use the Microsoft Office Communicator to manage their ShoreTel phone, view other parties' presence, and exchange instant messages with other Microsoft and ShoreTel users.

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
-- ShoreTel's UC software has already been widely deployed in large enterprise businesses with thousands of lines, and this milestone release expands the redundancy, security, and Microsoft Active Directory integration options that help further an effective UC strategy.
-- The recognized leader in customer satisfaction among UC vendors,ShoreTel has designed ShoreTel 9 to help enterprises improve customer satisfaction through rich, multichannel communications that increase employees' responsiveness to their customers.
-- Enhancements to ShoreWare® Professional Call Manager and ShoreWare Mobile Call Manager enable all users to personalize their communications to meet their exact needs.
-- ShoreTel 9 is available as a free upgrade for current customers who are on a ShoreTel support contract as part of ShoreTel's standard support service.

NEW FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Cost Effective with Low Total Cost of Ownership
-- ShoreTel's unique N+1 distributed architecture provides users with protection against multiple types of failures to keep critical voice services up and running. To augment its inherent WAN failure protection, ShoreTel has extended failover capabilities to allow phones to failover to a spare ShoreGear® Voice Switch that can be located anywhere in the network. This enables enterprises to provide extremely high system availability for all of the voice services equipment distributed throughout an enterprise, at a fraction of the cost of centralized communications systems, by deploying a single spare voice switch rather than needing a separate spare at each location. With ShoreTel N+1 redundancy, active calls are maintained in the event of a failover, assuring business continuity for end users, who are never even aware of an issue.

Enterprise Ready
-- Integration with Microsoft Active Directory simplifies and expedites new user provisioning using ShoreTel's management interface, ShoreWare Director, and simplifies end-user login to the powerful ShoreWare Call Manager by using existing network credentials for authentication within ShoreWare applications.
-- LLDP-MED and 802.1x support helps ensure secure network access and enhanced device management.
-- Industry standard SRTP/AES encryption helps ensure call privacy, and is designed to display encrypted call status on ShorePhone® IP Telephones and ShoreWare Call Manager displays, so users can see at a glance that the call is secure.
-- Significantly expands the capacity of ShoreTel's Contact Center Workgroup to now support up to 256 groups, and up to 300 users in a group.

Keeping Mobile Workers Connected to Customers
-- ShoreWare Mobile Call Manager offers location-based services for GPS-enabled mobile devices, allowing users to automatically select ShoreTel's Office Anywhere and Call Handling settings. As a result, calls are custom routed based on the user's location -- at a branch office, home office, client site, or any other location. Users can ensure that their most important contacts can always reach them, without having to manually manage their call handling settings.
-- ShoreWare Mobile Call Manager now supports even more mobile devices,including new Windows Mobile-based devices, such as the HTC Mogul PPC-6800,and several new Nokia and BlackBerry models.
-- Personalized call-handling features include call filtering based on a variety of criteria (phone number, time of day, day of week and more), and custom routing (e.g. phone number, voicemail, Auto Find Me and more). This ensures priority callers always get through and eliminates distraction from lower priority calls.
-- Users now simply select from a list of any of their regular locations(branch office phone, home office phone, mobile phone, etc.) to serve as their active extension when using the ShoreTel Office Anywhere feature. This allows them to receive and place calls as if they were at their desk from any one of the phones they regularly use.

Enabling Knowledge Workers to Respond Faster
-- Multiparty instant messaging (IM) and tabbed chat let users connect with multiple people simultaneously, and carry on multiple chats in easy-to-reach window tabs. This feature helps speed decision making by enabling users to quickly find answers to questions.
-- The integrated presence change alert feature of ShoreWare Call Manager enables users to "camp-on" other users' lines when they are busy, and receive automatic notifications when they become available. This eliminates the need to play "phone-tag," and wait a long time for answers.
-- ShoreTel has expanded the flexibility of ShoreWare Call Manager with an open standard-based automatic contact import. In addition to providing quick access to dial out, and automatic name presentation for inbound calls, the application now allows users to read an additional contact file,and provide the same services for those contacts.
-- Support for 64-bit Windows Terminal Server on Windows 2003 Server enables organizations to drive down hardware costs by using thin clients,and supports server consolidation initiatives.

QUOTES
Jason McGinnis, president and founder, InfoBunker: "Our goal is to provide our clients with the most secure, robust and flexible data center environment attainable, and deliver exceptional service. ShoreTel helps us achieve this goal with a flexible and secure communications system. Capabilities such as third-party contact import capabilities, hot desking from any location, and back-end integration with the MySQL database help us improve business agility and customer service. Plus, ShoreTel support of 802.1x allows us to walk the talk when it comes to security, and offer our clients an easy way to establish a secure network and phone communications while they're visiting our facility."

Kevin Gavin, vice president of marketing, ShoreTel: "ShoreTel 9 delivers the personalization, high-availability and security capabilities that enterprises of all sizes need to support the widespread deployment of ShoreTel business phone systems with integrated unified communications. ShoreTel has won top customer satisfaction awards year after year, and ShoreTel 9 further enhances the solution to help a growing number of enterprises achieve the same great results that have created legions of raving fans for ShoreTel."

About ShoreTel, Inc.
ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR) is a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions. ShoreTel enables companies of any size to seamlessly integrate all communications -- voice, video, messaging and data -- with their business processes. Independent of device or location, ShoreTel's distributed software architecture eliminates the traditional costs, complexity and reliability issues typically associated with other solutions. ShoreTel continues to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction, ease of use and manageability while driving down the overall total cost of ownership. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices in the United Kingdom, Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.shoretel.com or call 1-877-80-SHORE.

Reprint - Premises Systems shows law firm a better VoIP

2009-02-16T12:39:00.006-05:00

Featured in the Great Lake IT Report - February 2008

Premises Systems shows law firm a better VoIP

The Bloomfield Hills intellectual property law firm of Rader Fishman & Grauer PLLC was worried about switching over to a new, Internet Protocol-based phone system.

But several months after a flawless switchover to a ShoreTel system installed by Walled Lake-based Premises Systems Inc., even the law firm's technophobes are happy.

"We've gotten kudos from end users we never thought we'd get kudos from," said Michael Stewart, managing partner of the firm who handles technology from the partnership side. "Staffers who are technology-reticent."

Steven Treppa, the firm's IT director, said the move to replace the firm's phone system was made because "the old PBX was aging, specifically the voice mail system, which was not going to last much longer. So we were in a situation where we were going to have to spend some money either way."

Knowing the future is in Voice Over Internet Protocol systems, Rader Fishman looked at products from Cisco Systems, Avaya and Nortel.

"Nobody offered a product that had more functions than we already had," Treppa said. "Just out of complete serendipity, Roy Bruinsma of Premises Systems gave me a cold call -- they were calling law firms, since VoIP is a natural fit for multi-site businesses. I had heard some things about ShoreTel, interesting technology, so I said sure, c'mon in, and when Dave Jasinski (Premises Systems director technology) showed us the product it just knocked our socks off, especially the integration with the PC. The other systems were still pretty much phone systems where your voice mail goes to your e-mail inbox. With the ShoreTel system, you can easily control your whole phone through your PC. Users can conference in someone without touching the phone, off their PC, without calling me for help. It's very hard to drop someone off a call accidentally."

Said Stewart: "I like how it integrates with Outlook. When someone calls in, their Outlook contact information automatically comes up. When you go to someone's Outlook contact, all the numbers you can contact them at come up and you just mouse click on them. I don't really touch my phone. And you don't even need to use a microphone on your PC. We're using a phone, we just don't have to touch it. Another feature I like is, if I work in a conference room, I can move my extension from place to place without any challenges."

Staffers can also have "VPN phones" at home or other remote locations, so that when clients or colleagues call their office number, the call automatically follows them there.

The system also automatically backs up voice mail messages, much like other types of messages are backed up. That's increasingly important for legal compliance reasons.

Rader Fishman officials said the initial cost of the new system was comparable to a Nortel system. Ongoing maintenance and support costs will be much less.

The complete project took two months from decision date, to implementation, to end-user training. The flawless Premises Systems installation happened over a weekend in July, with the actual switchover taking about 10 minutes.

"It's been rock solid," Stewart said. "We like the feature sets. Yet, we have been most impressed by its reliability and ease of use. We plan to expand the system to include our other offices."

More at http://www.premisessystems.net/contact_us.aspx

Hybrid & Legacy PBX's vs. ShoreTel - two very different business philosophies

2009-01-26T15:29:00.007-05:00

ShoreTel and legacy/hi-bred PBX manufacturers approach the market from two very different points of view. As a pure IP PBX manufacturer, ShoreTel designed its industry leading solution from the ground up to leverage client’s existing data infrastructures and deliver greater system control for network administrators across multiple sites.

The ShoreTel system has been consistently rated as the easiest to use, easiest to manage, and most reliable pure IP PBX (unified communications system) on the market. ShoreTel also utilizes open standards to deliver a slew of business productivity tools (such as unified messaging & six party conferencing) baked into the base system.

In marked contrast, hi-bred and traditional phone systems offer limited business productivity improvements - each site is managed as an island - and feature upgrades are typically sold ala carte. In addition, customers who purchase proprietary systems remain very dependent on their vendors for onsite moves, adds, changes, and system upgrades. These vendors typically charge for every site visit after the initial installation.

While hi-bred systems pricing often looks attractive in the first quote, adding features, future upgrades, and ongoing maintenance costs will exceed the perceived savings over the long-haul.

Understanding that a typical phone system investment is a relatively long-term decision, Premises Systems welcomes the opportunity of meeting with anyone interested in reducing their long-term communications costs, operating more efficiently, and better serving their clients.

Please call: 248.715.1087 for additional information.

ShoreTel's Commitment to the Environment & Energy Efficiency

2008-11-21T13:19:00.009-05:00

America and the world are waking up to the reality of ever-increasing energy costs, and the need for incorporating sustainability into business practices. As we become more dependent upon electronics to communicate and do our jobs, the energy consumption of various voice and data communications equipment needs to be factored into the ongoing total cost of ownership (TCO) by business owners and responsible corporate executives.

Efficient energy utilization is another area where ShoreTel outshines the competition. Following is a statement from ShoreTel's CEO, John W. Combs that provides more detail on ShoreTel's commitment to the environment.

"ShoreTel is committed to being a socially responsible and environmentally friendly corporate citizen.

First, as a leading provider of unified communications solutions, we design our products to be environmentally friendly, and we are proud that ShoreTel solutions use significantly less power, require less cooling, have a longer useful life, and take up less space than competitive solutions. This results in substantially lower carbon emissions versus comparable solutions from major competitive manufacturers. Analysis of specific deployments at which a ShoreTel solution replaced a competitor shows empirically that ShoreTel uses up to 40 percent less power than other leading brands. We encourage all of our prospective customers to include power consumption as a key driver in their selection process. We are happy to provide a summary of the estimated power consumption for any ShoreTel system.

ShoreTel’s unique architecture also allows for easy single-system administration of geographically dispersed sites. This saves trips to do on-site maintenance and administration such as moves/adds/changes, thereby saving time and fuel.

In addition, telecommunications by its very nature allows people to communicate across distance. This is taking on a new meaning today – using ShoreTel unified communications solutions including voice, video, IM, and data sharing, our customers are able to conduct business effectively without meeting face to face, reducing the need to travel, which minimizes carbon emissions from fossil fuel-powered transportation.

Second, as a company we strive to be conscious of our environmental impact and diligent in our efforts to reduce any harmful effects. From our internal business practices to our manufacturing operations, we take responsibility for minimizing power consumption, reducing carbon emissions, and preventing hazardous waste contamination. In particular, our manufacturing process is certified as compliant with the ISO 14001 standard and conforms to the ROHS Directive, which restricts the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, including lead. Our manufacturing process is also certified as compliant with WEEE (the EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) which sets targets for the collection, recycling and recovery of all types of electronic equipment.

Please join us as we work with other forward-thinking companies and organizations to do our part as good corporate citizens to achieve a healthier and more sustainable environment."

Please call 248.715.1087 or email: rbruinsma@cablers.com to learn how the industry leading ShoreTel unified communications system can benefit your organization.

Premises Systems wins top 10 worldwide customer satisfaction ranking from ShoreTel

2008-11-10T09:21:00.009-05:00

Walled Lake, MI - Premises Systems - the premier ShoreTel partner in Michigan and Ohio is proud to announce its commitment to customer service has been recognized by ShoreTel. For fiscal year 2008, PSI's "average score of 99.73% ... qualifies you as one of our Top 10 Partners delivering customer satisfaction. Your elite status reflects a world class level of professionalism and customer care in network assessment, system design, project management, end-user training and post-sale follow-up as reflected in the ShoreTel customer satisfaction surveys."

Throughout its history, Premises Systems has consistently exceeded 95% in customer satisfaction. This world-class focus is greatly appreciated by PSI's clients. Michael Mooney, General Manager/COO of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club summarized his impressions this way. "Our new ShoreTel system has been a solid investment for the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. It is an investment that delivers on the promise of new technology. It is one of the best buying decisions we have ever made. Since the beginning, we have been impressed with Premises Systems professionalism, technical expertise, and commitment to us. They have gone above and beyond our expectations."

Reprint - Great Lakes IT Report feature of Premises Systems

2008-10-02T11:25:00.008-04:00

Great Lakes IT Report - February 5, 2008

Premises Systems boss wants to stay in the field, not the office

David Jasinski has already been through just about the worst the technology industry has to offer.

Now he helps his customers get its best.

Jasinski, partner and director of technology of Walled Lake-based Premises Systems Inc., started his career as an information systems operator for Fretter Inc., the legendary Detroit electronics retailer.

Eventually he rose to IS director – some time later Fretter, beset by deeper-pocketed national competitors in the brutally competitive consumer electronics business, declared bankruptcy. "It was the worst year of my life," Jasinski said. "I spent a year selling off what I had spent almost 15 years building."

After that experience, contacts led to a new IT job with auto supplier Key Plastics. "It worked out great," Jasinski said. "I wanted the automotive experience."

But he didn't want to live through another bankruptcy, so from Key Jasinski moved on to Art Van, the furniture retailer, where he led a complete network rebuild in a company with five major platforms, none of which could speak to each other.

"Eventually I had 21 people working for me," he said. "I felt like an HR manager. I wanted to get back out in the field."

So Jasinski moved on to consulting under a company named WANS for five years and eventually formed the company that became Premises Systems in 2005. The company posted 50 percent revenue growth in 2006 and added 40 percent more in 2007.

Partners Darrell Adkins and Ron Sizeland give Jasinski the business and sales expertise he needs, so he can concentrate on keeping the customers happy.

Today, Premises Systems has a number of field engineers and a small office in Cleveland. Its sister companies offer physical security technology, including surveillance cameras and card access, cabling services, and infrastructure integration.

Premises Systems leads with the Shore Tel VoIP product that converges voice and data networks.

"As an IS director, I always owned telephony, although I didn't ask for it," Jasinski said. "I had 255 locations at Fretter and every phone system was an island. It was a thorn in my side. I could take my laptop anywhere in the building, plug in and work. Why couldn't I do that with the phone?"

Jasinski said he's searched high and low in the Voice Over Internet Protocol world and is convinced that Shore Tel has a superior product over others in the industry, based on its exceptional architecture and manageability.

"My first ShoreTel installation was at the beginning of 2003 for an auto supplier, Fisher Dynamics in St. Clair Shores," Jasinski said. "Within a year they had spread it to locations in Troy and Tennessee. Right then we knew it was a good product and we became a ShoreTel partner ... We will continue to evaluate other products to add to our portfolio, but we will keep leading ShoreTel because of our success with it and we have a good sized customer base currently on it."

The ShoreTel product also offers proactive monitoring that alerts Premises Systems to problems, frequently before the customer even realizes there is one.

"The beauty of the system is that it will e-mail us errors or events," he said. "We had one customer who had a T1 down and we called their vendor to fix it before they even knew it was down."

Premises Systems targets small and mid-sized businesses with multiple locations. Customers include Champion Enterprises, the Grosse Point Yacht Club, the law firm Rader Fishman and Belle Tire.

Jasinski said he's trying to "methodically grow" the company while maintaining a high level of customer service.

More at http://www.premisessystems.net