ShoreTel IP Phones Go Beyond an Earful of Voice

With the continued evolution of IP networks, IP telephones, softphones and mobile devices are displacing the traditional analog wired phone from businesses environments. These advanced IP-based communications devices offer features that align more closely with today's business needs and give users better control over how they communicate.

Each of these new communications devices has advantages. Mobile phones give the flexibility of anytime, anywhere communication, and softphones combine the robust features of the desktop with tight integration with desktop applications. IP telephones, when combined with unified communications applications, offer ease of use, high quality calls and improved productivity. With so many options available, businesses must weigh their users' needs and workplace environment before selecting their next generation phones.

"Everyone wants a choice around how they communicate," said Dieter Rencken, product manager at ShoreTel. "For many businesses, giving every employee a mobile phone is not practical, and PCs with a softphone solution do not offer the levels of reliability required for many business environments. The IP telephone will be an important part of any business for many years to come."

Enterprises that rely exclusively on mobile or softphones need to be aware of the potential risks of using these forms of communication. "The phone on your desk is the go-to communication tool and it must always be on," Rencken explained. "When you need to make a phone call, you can't afford to reboot your desktop PC because of a crash in your word processing application."

For mobile phones, voice quality can be a major drawback because sound issues can jeopardize a business meeting. "Being on a lousy call can make for a frustrating meeting," Rencken said. "Misunderstandings can crop up when words drop. You can't conduct important business in that kind of environment."

Until the call quality of mobile phones improves, businesses must complement mobile phones with the assured voice quality of IP telephones on the desktop. The reliability of IP telephones also gives them an advantage over softphones. Add in ease of use, convenience, presence location, integrated applications, reliability and ROI, and IP phones are a clear winner.

Two key ease-of-use features in the ShorePhone® IP telephones are access to phone directories, and when complemented with ShoreWare® Call Manager, access to features such as visual voicemail and presence. IP telephones can retrieve the corporate phone directory with a simple click of a button on the phone.

"Many people find it easier to do some things on the phone rather than mouse around the desktop or scroll through screens," Rencken explained. "Users of ShoreTel UC solutions have options. ShorePhone IP Telephones work well with and without ShoreWare Call Manager. And because ShoreTel also integrates with Microsoft Office Communicator, users can choose to communicate by IP telephone or through the desktop, and still take advantage of the powerful features in either Microsoft Office or ShoreWare Call Manager."

Visual voicemail eases communications by displaying a list of voicemails so the user can choose which messages to pick up first, rather than being forced to listen to the messages in the order they arrived.

Be Present and Save Time

Presence information, another time-saving feature, improves communication and productivity. Using ShoreWare Call Manager, it is easy to quickly identify if a coworker is on the phone or busy. Knowing a coworker's status eliminates multiple call attempts that waste time. Businesses can further add efficiencies by creating custom applications suited for their unique work environments. With the ShoreTel API, developers can build integrated applications, such as E911 Emergency Notification Application. This valuable application supports 911 emergency message broadcasts to IP telephones.

One final important feature is the overall look and feel of the work phone. ShoreTel charged its design team with developing an IP telephone that was not only aesthetically pleasing, but easily adapts to the physical workplace. As the focal point for interacting with the ShorePhone IP Telephone, the color screen option helps users distinguish information and improve ease of use.

Comfort is an important ergonomic factor in business phone design, too, and ShoreTel has pioneered ergonomic IP telephone design. "We want people who use the phone to enjoy how it feels, no matter how long they spend talking on it, and feel empowered by the ease of use of the because it's sitting on their desks," Rencken said.

The IP telephone has proven itself as a business communication device that can adapt for the future, and will continue to meet the needs of changing business environments.

"The IP telephone has been optimized for efficient communications, and the innovative communications capabilities that they deliver will continue to evolve," Rencken said. "ShoreTel is focused on developing new applications and tightening integration with desktop activities to make business communications more effective, and offer users the tools they need to enrich the workplace."

Learn more about ShoreTel's ergonomic ShorePhone™ IP telephones.