Skype Me for Savings with ShoreTel

Interact with your customers on a whole new level while increasing customer satisfaction and lowering costs. Everyone likes free, and with ShoreTel now your customers can call free of charge using Skype for SIP.

"Skype me" is heard around the world by the more than 480 million registered Skype users. As Skype's customer base grows, businesses are looking into how to take advantage of this groundbreaking IP technology.

With the free Skype download plus Internet connectivity, anyone can make a voice call, send instant messages or video conference at no charge over the Skype network. ShoreTel is the first unified communications (UC) provider to team with this IP communications vanguard leveraging the power of SIP. ShoreTel is the world's first UC solution to be interoperable with Skype for SIP, and ShoreTel customers can now sign up for the beta version of Skype for SIP.

"Organizations with ShoreTel now have the potential to interact with any of the more than 480 million registered Skype users at no cost," said Steve Weinstock, senior technology partner program manager at ShoreTel. "With Skype for SIP now any Skype user can make a call to a ShoreTel phone, and it will be the same as a Skype client-to-Skype client call — free. For businesses with ShoreTel, this opens new ways for customers to shop, contact support, and engage with the business using their familiar Skype client at no charge. Skype and ShoreTel give customers multiple easy and cost-effective ways to communicate."

Setting Skype Up

Adding Skype to your existing SIP-enabled ShoreTel UC system is easy. First, sign up for Skype for SIP online. On the ShoreTel side you'll need Ingate SIParator to configure your SIP trunks and an ISP that can support voice over broadband access. After you configure your Skype for SIP and the SIP trunks on ShoreTel you are good to go!

To further enhance your customers' experience, upload a global click-to-call button on your Web site. When Skype users click on that button, their incoming calls will be routed over the SIP trunk to your ShoreTel UC system — free of charge.

You can further reduce costs by directing outbound calls from devices connected to the ShoreTel UC system via Skype for SIP to landlines and mobile devices worldwide at low Skype rates. SkypeIn online phone numbers is another cost-savings option. You may purchase and associate local online Skype numbers, currently available in more than 25 countries, with your ShoreTel UC system to receive inbound calls from landline and mobile phones.

"This option is great for companies that have customers around the globe," Weinstock explained. "For example, a U.S. based company can have an Australian SkypeIn number and when colleagues or customers place a call to your U.S. business, it is a local call to them. This makes smaller companies seem larger, and it gives them a worldwide presence — a flattening of the world."

ShoreTel and Skype: A Winning Combo

Penny-pinching customers (and who doesn't like to save money in this economy?) are sure to like the Skype option. Presenting ShoreTel UC and Skype for SIP is further evidence that your company is tech-savvy and customer focused.

"As part of our ongoing commitment to a standards-based open ecosystem that offers flexibility and choice, we are delivering a significant competitive advantage to ShoreTel customers," said John W. Combs, president and CEO at ShoreTel. "The simple-to-configure capabilities of Skype for SIP will further improve the flexibility and efficiency of our customers' operations, while lowering the total cost of ownership even further, and providing the boost in productivity they are used to seeing from ShoreTel's UC systems."