Latest News
Texas Automobile Dealers Association Moves to New Headquarters in June
15 May 2008
Austin, TX, May 15, 2008—In late June, the Texas Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) will move into their beautiful new headquarters building located at the southwest corner of 12th and Lavaca, one block west of the State Capitol. TADA will occupy the 8th and 9th floors. The 8th floor is unique in that it will consist of a half-floor of office and meeting space, along with a landscaped rooftop terrace for events. The terrace will have a perfect overlook of the State Capitol grounds and Capitol Building. The nine-story building consists of 70,000 square feet of office space. The building will also include a multi-story parking facility and street-level retail space. The Building is a partnership between TADA, the Texas Hospital Association (THA) and Development 2000. The building will also become the new headquarters facility for the Texas Hospital Association. Since 1916, the Texas Automobile Dealers Association has been the voice of Texas' franchised automobile and truck dealers. TADA represents the dealer body before the Texas Legislature and regulatory agencies. It provides members with legal support, an annual conference, training and education programs, business services, a variety of informative publications, public relations on behalf of the industry, and even a consumer mediation service.
ShoreTel Wins TMC Labs Innovation Award from Unified Communications Magazine
12 May 2008
ShoreTel Wins TMC Labs Innovation Award from Unified Communications Magazine First TMC Labs/Unified Communications Innovation Award Honors "Trendsetters in Unified Communications" SUNNYVALE, CA, May 9, 2008 - ShoreTel, Inc., (NASDAQ: SHOR), a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions, announced today that the company was named a TMC Labs/Unified Communications Magazine Innovation Award winner. The 2008 Unified Communications TMC Labs Innovation Awards recognize "ground-breaking products in the communications and technology world," as well as technology that "challenges established standards and introduces different approaches to achieve distinctive results that signify innovation within the industry." Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC), an integrated global media company helping companies build communities in print, in person and online, has honored ShoreTel 7.5, along with products from 15 other companies. ShoreTel 7.5, announced in November 2007, offers customers new options for extending corporate communications to mobile workers, increased support for international locations and reliable switches that provide twice the capacity in half the space. The release includes ShoreTel's ShoreWare® Mobile Call Manager, which extends to mobile phones the same visual communications environment customers rely on at their desktop, native BRI connectivity, support for 11 languages and 20 countries' dial plans, ShoreTel's ShoreGear® voice switches (consume 20% less power, 60% more efficient than the previous generation), the ShorePhone IP 265 and the ShorePhone IP 115. "As mobility becomes an integral component of companies' overall communications strategies, ShoreTel delivers Unified Communications solutions that allow a business professional to take his office anywhere," Steve Timmerman, vice president of marketing, ShoreTel. "ShoreTel's newest mobile offering provides business professionals with visual voicemail, access to the corporate directory with convenient speed dialing, and the ability to assign their corporate extension to any phone in the world." "TMC Labs sought trendsetters in unified communications solutions to honor with this newest Innovation Award. Like all TMC Labs Awards, only the highest standards of accomplishment were recognized. The companies whose products broke the mold with a new product launch or devised a brilliant spin to an existing application were singled out," said Rich Tehrani, President and Group Editor-in-Chief. "The TMC Labs engineers have extensive knowledge of the UC market and selected only those companies that proved their out-of-box thinking to transform the industry. My congratulations to all winners."
Capital Commercial Investments Acquires Perry-Brooks Building in Downtown Austin
22 April 2008
Capital Commercial Investments, Inc. A Value Oriented Real Estate Investment Company, has recently purchased the Perry-Brooks Building located at 720 Brazos Street, just west of the Omni Hotel in the Central Business District of Austin TX. The handsome red brick structure was built in 1952 and partially renovated in 2000. The 12-story office building has 134,000 square feet of net rental space and over 500 parking spaces in its two garages. A unique feature preserved during the 2000 renovation is that the suites have single pane operable windows to enjoy fresh air on our beautiful spring and fall days. Capital Commercial Investments will be occupying one of the floors, and will be actively seeking tenants to occupy the available space with a goal to achieve full occupancy by the end of 2008. A&A Telecom Group will be moving and re-installing their state-of-the-art ShoreTel Voice over IP phone system in conjunction with the move. If any of our customers that read this news article are in the market for some prime Class B office space located in the heart of the Central Business District, please contact Doug Argawal, president of Capital Commercial. Doug can be reached at 512-472-6990.
ShoreTel Ranked Among Silicon Valley's Top 150 Public Companies
17 April 2008
Annual San Jose Mercury News Report Reviews and Ranks Silicon Valley's Largest Public Companies SUNNYVALE, CA, April 17, 2008 - ShoreTel, Inc., (NASDAQ: SHOR), a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions, announced today that the San Jose Mercury News has included ShoreTel in the 2007 Silicon Valley 150, ranking the company number 148 with $117.5 million in reported revenue for CY 2007. ShoreTel earned even higher marks for other report metrics, including 126th in market capitalization at $219.8 million, 95th in profit at $8.3 million and 70th in profit margin at 7 percent. The Silicon Valley 150 was published in the April 13, 2008 edition of the San Jose Mercury News. The San Jose Mercury News, recognized as the newspaper of record for the Northern California technology business region, conducts the annual Silicon Valley 150, ranking public companies headquartered in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, southern San Mateo and southern Alameda Counties. Companies are evaluated on the basis of worldwide revenues for the most recent available four quarters. Market capitalization -- the number of shares outstanding multiplied by the price of a single share -- is as of March 31, the last trading day of the first quarter of 2008. Throughout 2007, ShoreTel maintained a steady stream of partner, product and customer announcements, including strategic distribution partnerships with AT&T and Black Box.
LifeSize Shatters Price-Performance Barrier Again With World’s First Sub-$5000 High Definition Video Communication System
14 April 2008
Austin, Tex. – LifeSize Communications, the global leader in high definition video communications, announced the world’s first high definition video communication system with a retail price below $5000. LifeSize® Express™ with the new LifeSize® Focus™ integrated HD camera and microphone array is available for $4999 and delivers an immersive, high definition telepresence experience over existing broadband networks. Sleek, powerful and easy to use, LifeSize® Express with Focus can bring telepresence to any room. “LifeSize Express with Focus is the world’s most affordable telepresence system,” said Craig Malloy, CEO and founder, LifeSize Communications. “We are committed to extending our price-performance leadership and bringing the telepresence experience to everyone.” Compact, simple and elegant, LifeSize Focus features a high definition video camera that delivers full HD 1280x720 video at 30 frames per second. Built to operate in any office or conference room environment, the camera delivers outstanding image quality in a wide range of light conditions. An integrated two-microphone array with beam-forming technology provides excellent sound quality. By integrating the microphone array in the camera housing, LifeSize Focus saves space and eliminates clutter. LifeSize systems are ideal for enterprises expanding and upgrading their video infrastructure and for new users seeking the benefits of video. By eliminating cost and complexity, LifeSize video conferencing systems can be deployed almost anywhere, by anyone. Conference rooms, executive offices, field offices and home offices can all become telepresence rooms. LifeSize systems are simple enough for anyone to use, yet can be fully managed and integrated into the sophisticated IT infrastructures found in large enterprises.
Customers find LifeSize Answers to Current Travel Problems
14 April 2008
Austin, Tex. – Global competition is increasing at an unabated pace, and travel isn’t making life any easier. Hundreds of thousands of travelers are being stranded or delayed in airports daily due to emergency safety inspections, the latest in a series of widespread air travel crises in 2008. The recent travel delays come after the airline industry’s worst year ever for on-time performance. In 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration reported that 27 percent of U.S. airline flights were cancelled or delayed. Tempting as it may be to simply swear off flying forever, it is important to keep one fact in mind: employees travel because the phone and email aren’t enough to stay in sync with their colleagues around the world. The need to connect is so powerful that people continue to travel despite the delays and cost. LifeSize Communications, the global leader in high definition video communications, believes that telepresence is a far superior alternative to travel. “Now is the ideal time to introduce high definition video in your organization,” said Craig Malloy, LifeSize CEO. “High definition video delivers cost savings immediately and boosts productivity quickly. It is the best investment you can make with your IT dollar – or your travel budget.” “High definition makes video communication a pleasant business experience,” said Malloy. “The image is clear. The motion is fluid. It feels natural, like being in the same room with someone. You have eye contact, you connect, and the ideas flow. Users get as much in and out of a session as they might in a face-to-face meeting, but without the cost and pain of modern business travel.” By implementing video communication as an alternative to travel, companies can immediately reduce expenses and quickly see gains in productivity and business performance thanks to improved communication, accelerated business decision cycles, increased employee morale and decreased turnover. These benefits are now available to companies of any size. More than 25 percent of U.S. mid-market companies have more than 10 locations, many of which are outside the United States. Implementing high definition video communications eliminates frequent trips between company locations, resulting in enormous cost savings and productivity gains. Once viewed as an expensive, complex technology only found in the large global enterprises, LifeSize has developed systems that bring telepresence to any room for less than $5000. Industry analyst Peter Brockmann of Brockmann & Company sees high definition video as one of the most productive investments a company can make. “Our research shows that companies that use video more have higher customer satisfaction, higher employee satisfaction, and higher revenue per employee,” said Brockmann. “There is a strong correlation between video adoption and business performance.” Brockmann noted that travel and turnover have long been correlated and recent travel nightmares have made travel a hot-button issue for human resource professionals. “Top performing people don’t need to stay in a job that has them wasting time in airports, so smart employers need to keep their best employees happy. With high definition video, you’re providing a tool that lets them be more productive and travel less, which improves satisfaction and retention.” About LifeSize Communications LifeSize is the first company to develop and deliver high definition video communications products. Founded in 2003 by industry veterans and was named “Videoconferencing Company of the Year” in 2007 by Videoconferencing Insight. LifeSize’s award-winning solutions combine exceptional quality, user simplicity and administrator manageability to make video communications a productive, true-to-life experience. LifeSize is headquartered in Austin, TX with subsidiaries in Europe and Asia Pacific, and a network of channel partners reaching more than 80 countries.
Mitel Receives INTERNET TELEPHONY® Magazine’s 10th Annual Product of the Year Award
04 April 2008
Mitel Intelligent Applications Suite Recognized for Outstanding Innovation OTTAWA, Ontario – April 1, 2008 – Mitel® announced today that Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC®) INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has named the Mitel Intelligent Phone Applications Suite as a recipient of its 2007 Product of the Year Award. This is the third year in a row that Mitel has received this award. “Mitel has proven they are committed to quality and excellence while addressing real needs in the marketplace. INTERNET TELEPHONY is pleased to grant a 2007 Product of the Year Award to Mitel’s Intelligent Phone Applications Suite,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and editor-in-chief of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. “We’re proud to honor their hard work and accomplishments and look forward to more innovative solutions from Mitel in the future.” Mitel Intelligent Phone Applications Suite provides a rich feature set aimed at increasing worker productivity by providing tighter integration between desktop devices and tools used by enterprise and small business knowledge workers.
ShoreTel Wins Best of VoiceCon Orlando 2008 Award Second Year in a Row
20 March 2008
Attendees at Leading Enterprise Communications Event Pick ShoreTel ORLANDO, FL, March 19, 2008 - VoiceCon Orlando 2008 (www.voicecon.com/orlando), produced by TechWeb (formerly CMP), today announced that attendees at the event voted ShoreTel with the 2008 Best in VoiceCon Award, which recognizes new and exceptional enterprise IP unified communications solutions. ShoreTel received award for its ShoreTel 7.5 unified communications system. VoiceCon Orlando 2008 is taking place at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL. "Our attendees have spoken and we congratulate ShoreTel on winning Best in VoiceCon for the second consecutive year," said Fred Knight, VoiceCon general manager. "VoiceCon Orlando 2008 has been a tremendous success so far, with more exhibiting companies than ever before, creating fierce competition for the coveted Best in VoiceCon Award. ShoreTel's solution had a hard fight amongst the industry's leaders and should be very proud." "We're honored to receive this distinction for the second year in a row. We thank our amazing customers, partners, and industry colleagues for recognizing ShoreTel's unique offering," said John W. Combs, president and CEO of ShoreTel. "We will continue to innovate our unified communications offerings so our customers can increase their productivity and collaborate more effectively using a highly reliable system." To be eligible for the Best in VoiceCon Award, entrants must be a VoiceCon Orlando 2008 exhibitor, and the product or service must be new and officially announced with a published ship/launch date during the week of VoiceCon Orlando 2008. Core technology releases, enhancements and upgrades are valid entries.
Chicago Public Schools Select Mitel IP Communications Solutions to Support Every Child ... in Every School
19 March 2007