ShoreTel Sky Adds 400 Series IP Phone to Cloud Lineup

ShoreTel (SHOR) announced this week that it is now offering its popular ShoreTel 400 series IP phones as part of ShoreTel Sky, successfully extending its Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) product to cloud users.

According to the company, its 400 series IP phones for ShoreTel Sky will deliver “seamless integration with all ShoreTel cloud applications for an enhanced user experience and superior service.” ShoreTel will retain full control of the evolution of devices used by its customers, which will allow it to include updates as needed, from new features to faster firmware upgrades, according to the press release.

“What we’re seeing is that the channel partners are finding that customers really want options—whether it’s a cloud solution or a premise solution … it opens up the number of alternatives that those resellers have to serve their customers,” said Bernard Gutnick, ShoreTel’s senior director for Product Marketing, in an interview with The VAR Guy. “Having a customer being served well is the only thing that matters … so that’s what the resellers want to do: Give the customers the service that makes sense for them.”

ShoreTel is offering the 400 series phones in three models, which range from basic business phones to those with backlit, color displays. The company promises to give users a complete end-to-end experience, which will include a dedicated account team, custom-design call configuration to meet specific business objectives, plus VoIP guidance and end user and administrator training.

“We’ve listened to our customers and created an end-to-end solution that will benefit their businesses,” said Pej Roshan, vice president of Product Management at ShoreTel, in a statement. “By offering an integrated and high-quality cloud service with ShoreTel 400 phones, we are providing customers with a seamless communications solution designed to meet their unique needs. The 400 phones are integrated with ShoreTel’s cloud-based PBX and cloud applications, resulting in an unmatched cloud user experience.”