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ShoreTel Reports Financial Results for First Quarter Fiscal Year 2012
October 27 2011
Company Delivers 22 Percent Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 27, 2011 – ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated Unified Communications (UC), today announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, which ended Sept. 30, 2011. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, revenue was $53.9 million, up 22 percent from the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. GAAP net loss was $(4.6) million, or $(0.10) per share, compared to a GAAP net loss of $(3.6) million, or $(0.08) per share, reported in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. Excluding stock-based compensation expenses of $3.3 million, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, and related tax adjustments, the non-GAAP net loss for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 was $(1.2) million, or $(0.02) per share, compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $(0.2) million, or $(0.00) per share, reported in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. GAAP gross margin for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 was 65.9 percent, compared with 66.7 percent during the same quarter last year. GAAP gross margin in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 included $0.4 million in stock-based compensation charges and amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, compared to $0.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. Non-GAAP gross margin, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, was 66.7 percent in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, compared with 67.2 percent during the same quarter last year. As of Sept. 30, 2011, the company had $109.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. The company generated approximately $4.1 million in cash flow from operations during the quarter. “ShoreTel continues to build and strengthen customer relationships, adding over 1,000 new customers in the quarter,” said Peter Blackmore, president and CEO of ShoreTel. “ShoreTel’s strengths of brilliant simplicity and the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership are resonating well with customers. While the U.S. Enterprise IP Telephony market has seen small quarterly declines over the past few quarters, we have gained market share steadily. Synergy Research’s most recent quarterly report showed that ShoreTel’s share of the U.S. Pure IP telephony market grew from 9.2 percent in the March 2011 quarter to 10.2 percent in the June 2011 quarter, our most significant increase in several quarters. We are confident in our competitive positioning and expect to continue to capture market share and grow revenue throughout the year,” Blackmore added. “We remain focused on executing on our strategy for growth.” Operational Highlights Enhanced Technology In early October, the company announced an update to its ShoreTel Mobility product offering, a smartphone integration solution that simply and intelligently integrates all leading smartphones and tablets with leading IP PBX systems extending full UC and cost-saving calling capabilities to the mobile workforce. With its heterogeneous platform support, ShoreTel Mobility delivers capabilities that conform to the way people work. ShoreTel Mobility enables corporate communication applications on employee-owned smartphones and tablets, reducing support costs and burden with a simple and easy separation of personal and business identities on a single mobile device. This most recent release, which is expected to be generally available in the company’s second fiscal quarter, will add native telephony interface in
PANASONIC SHOWCASES AWARD WINNING SIP TELEPHONY SOLUTIONS AT ASTRICON 2011
October 25 2011
Close this window print this page spacer PANASONIC SHOWCASES AWARD WINNING SIP TELEPHONY SOLUTIONS AT ASTRICON 2011 Previews Innovative SIP Phones for the Business Market Denver, CO (October 25, 2011) – Panasonic System Networks Company of America, the leader in small business phone systems*, will showcase an extensive range of IP telephony solutions at AstriCon at Panasonic booth #204 at the Westin Westminster in Denver, Colorado, October 25-27. As an AstriCon 2011 Gold sponsor, Panasonic is demonstrating a broad range of SIP telephones including SIP Cordless Phone Systems and KX-UT series which are interoperable with Asterisk’s open source PBX. Panasonic’s SIP telephones work with the Asterisk platform which offers both classical PBX functionality and advanced UC features. In its seventh year, AstriCon is the longest running conference devoted to the Digium® Asterisk® communications platform. AstriCon brings together open source enthusiasts, from coders and system integrators to service providers and enterprise IT professionals who are looking for an in-depth understanding of Asterisk open source technology. “We are proud to play a role as both sponsor and exhibitor at this year’s AstriCon conference,” said Bill Taylor, President, Panasonic System Networks Company of America. “As interoperable partners, Panasonic and Digium provide customers with an outstanding business communications solution to meet their needs. Panasonic in conjunction with its interoperable partners is pleased to offer SIP-based telephony options which are flexible, reliable and demonstrate an excellent return on investment for the business market.” Panasonic’s SIP Phone Systems: The Panasonic SIP Cordless Phone System is a small business communication solution that offer the flexibility of convenient expansion as a company grows. The KX-TGP500 system features a wall-mountable base unit and one cordless handset. Expandable up to six DECT 6.0 cordless handsets, the model supports up to eight phone numbers and three simultaneous calls. It boasts Wide Band Audio (G.722) and five hours Talk Time, 10 days Standby. Its elegant design features a white backlit large LCD on the handset and a Handset locator button on the base unit. It also has a handset speakerphone, 2.5mm headset jack and belt clip. The KX-TGP550 model has all the features and benefits of the KX-TGP500 and adds a corded base unit with a large white backlit LCD, plus a Hands-Free Speaker phone, Handset Call Button on the base unit, and one-touch call transfer with Busy Lamp Indication. Also on display, the Panasonic KX-UT series offers a cost-effective communications solution for businesses of all sizes that leverages the latest developments in Hosted and Open Source PBX technologies and is designed to complement a company’s existing communication infrastructure. Most models feature two data ports so users can connect a second network device without the time and expense of running an additional Ethernet cable. The KX-UT series models are Power over Ethernet (PoE) ready which eliminates the need for additional electrical adaptors. Wide-band, high-definition audio (G. 722 codec) coupled with echo cancellation and an expanded acoustic chamber allows the KX-UT series to offer crisp sound quality for crystal clear conversation. Panasonic is also previewing the new KX-UT670, a highly expandable corded SIP phone with a seven inch color LCD touch screen function that will help to transform business communication. Additional key features include HD Voice (G.722), two Ethernet ports, 3-way conference calling, IP camera integration, full duplex speakerphone, 100 entry phonebook and PoE ready. *For full calendar year of 2010 and first quarter of 2011 in North America. By the Parsippany, NJ based information technology market research firm T3i Group. Defined by T3i Group as the sum of key/hybrid, PBX, and IP-PBX business phone systems with 2-40 extensions. * For full calendar year of 2010 globally. By the UK-based market research firm MZA Ltd. Defined by MZA as the Corded PBX/IP PBX systems under 100 category.
Mitel Simplifies Management for Unified Communications
October 24 2011
MCD 5.0 Includes a Host of New Features to Increase Value to Channel Partners and Lower TCO for Customers OTTAWA, Oct. 24, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mitel® (Nasdaq:MITL), a leading provider of unified communications and collaboration (UCC) software solutions, today announced the release of Mitel Communications Director (MCD) 5.0 software. MCD is the foundation of Mitel's Freedom architecture, giving organizations the ability to access an advanced set of communications applications through a single, cloud-ready software stream that can be readily deployed on industry standard servers, including virtualized server environments. With today's announcement, Mitel has incorporated multiple new features designed to make managing its software even easier than it already is. Interested parties can find out more details on MCD 5.0 here — http://www.mitel.com/DocController?documentId=32750 MCD 5.0 incorporates significant new features optimized for medium-to-large sized enterprises and industries such as hospitality including: The ability to scale Virtual MCD (vMCD) so a single instance will support up to 2,500 users A streamlined process for installing and commissioning systems, and simplified ongoing administration of the solution with features such as fully synchronized Active Directory integration Support for large-scale hospitality properties, with a centralized deployment model that delivers scale and high availability to large-scale analog environments The option to deploy MCD on an industry-standard server with fully redundant components, including processors, power supplies, and fans to further augment Mitel's strong business continuity solution. "It's always nice to know that you're being listened to and Mitel has demonstrated they are a strong partner by incorporating our feedback into their product development," said Frank Ball, telecom coordinator at Okanagan College. "With this latest version of MCD, our day-to-day management has been simplified dramatically. In addition, the flexibility of their Freedom architecture gives us the ability to leverage our investment as we evolve our IT delivery strategy." "Through numerous conversations with our channel partners and customers, we created MCD 5.0 to deliver a host of significant design changes to more effectively address the needs of our large customer base," said Ron Wellard, executive vice president and general manager, Mitel Communications Solutions. "This new solution improves our management capabilities for both on-site administrators and channel partners, which ultimately reduces the TCO to the customer." About Mitel Mitel (Nasdaq:MITL) is a global provider of business communications and collaboration software and services. Mitel's Freedom architecture provides the flexibility and simplicity organizations need to support today's dynamic work environment. Through a single cloud-ready software stream, Mitel delivers a powerful suite of advanced communications and collaboration capabilities that provides freedom from walled garden architectures and enables organizations to implement best-of-breed solutions on any network; extends the "in-office" experience anywhere, on any device; and offers choice of commercial options to fit business needs. For more information, visit: http://www.mitel.com The Mitel Networks Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7323 Mitel and the Mitel logo are registered trademarks of Mitel Networks Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners
Mitel Extends UC Freedom to Apple iPhone and iPad
October 22 2011
OTTAWA, Ontario, Sept. 26, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mitel (Nasdaq:MITL), a leading provider of unified communications software solutions, today announced that Mitel Unified Communicator® (UC) Advanced software is now available on the iOS mobile operating system for Apple® iPhones® and iPads®, the leading choice among Small- to Medium-Enterprises (SMEs)1. This offering further extends the reach of Mitel's unified communications platform on mobile devices, allowing IT managers to accommodate the BYOD phenomenon in which workers bring their personal mobile device into the workplace. The BYOD movement is one of the many additional challenges that make it difficult for IT departments to cope with security and control issues in the enterprise. Mitel is now making it possible to handle this trend with greater ease through unified communications for iOS and other mobile platforms. This offering continues to build on Mitel's Freedom architecture, which eliminates the closed, single-vendor unified communications architecture that has historically defined the industry. Mitel's Freedom architecture delivers a best-in-class approach to communications infrastructure. IT now can deliver Mitel unified communications applications via mobile clients across iOS-based as well as RIM- and Android-based mobile devices, representing the vast majority of mobile devices in business environments. "Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced for iPhone and iPad, in combination with the Freedom architecture, allowed our employees and our IT department to utilize our existing infrastructure and devices of choice without having to purchase new equipment," said Matthew J. Estes, director of Strategic Initiatives, TaxResources, Inc. "The product's flexibility and functionality were key factors in our decision to go with Mitel for our customized unified communications solution at TaxResources." "We recognize that delivering unified communications software to the iOS platform for Apple products is essential to our customers," said Ron Wellard, executive vice president and general manager, Mitel Communications Solutions. "The BYOD phenomenon is one companies can't ignore. By supplying a single software stream that works on the most popular mobile platforms and offering exceptional adaptability to existing infrastructure within an organization, Mitel aims to change the game in unified communications software." Mitel UC Advanced provides desktop and mobile users a single interface to access all of their Mitel communications capabilities, including voice, video, instant messaging, conferencing and presence. Mitel UC Advanced Mobile for iOS includes the following capabilities: Search the corporate directory and click-to-dial from corporate contact list to place calls through the corporate network. View missed, dialed, and received calls. Access visual voicemail from your office extension and manage messages by preference rather than sequence. Automatically update presence status and call routing preferences based on your location, or time of day. UC Advanced Mobile for iOS is available to UC Advanced users in Apple's App Store: iPads: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/uca-mobile/id448794620?ls=1&mt=8 iPhones: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/uca-mobile-for-iphone/id457628484?ls=1&mt=8 About Mitel Mitel (Nasdaq:MITL) is a global provider of business communications and collaboration software and services. Mitel's Freedom architecture provides the flexibility and simplicity organizations need to support today's dynamic work environment. Through a single cloud-ready software stream, Mitel delivers a powerful suite of advanced communications and collaboration capabilities that provides freedom from walled garden architectures and enables organizations to implement best-of-breed solutions on any network; extends the "in-office" experience anywhere, on any device; and offers choice of commercial options to fit business needs. For more information, visit: http://www.mitel.com
LifeSize to Bring Enterprise-Class Video Conferencing to iPhone 4S
October 04 2011
Jacey Overton, LifeSize Communications – USA (512) 623-4215 - PR@lifesize.com LifeSize to Bring Enterprise-Class Video Conferencing to iPhone 4S LifeSize ClearSea adds immediate iOS 5 support, enables anytime, anywhere enterprise video calling on broadest range of devices AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 4, 2011 - LifeSize, a division of Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI) (SIX: LOGN), today announced that LifeSize® ClearSea™ (formerly Mirial ClearSea), an enterprise-class desktop and mobile video conferencing platform, now supports iOS 5 and will soon feature support for the new iPhone 4S. Users will be able to instantly connect from any iPhone, including iPhone 4S to any standards-based video conferencing system. Since Logitech’s acquisition of Mirial in July, LifeSize has been working to extend open, interoperable video collaboration solutions to anyone, anywhere, on any device. LifeSize leads the industry in bringing enterprise-class mobile video to market and driving adoption, with video calling apps available today for a wealth of iOS and Android-based mobile devices from Apple, Dell, Google, HTC, Motorola and Samsung. As a result, LifeSize is now the only vendor in the enterprise video conferencing market to offer natively interoperable video calling from the conference room to the PC and Mac as well as to iOS 5 and a broad range of smartphones and tablets. “For years the market has struggled to deliver interoperable video conferencing solutions to mobile devices – the experience has been far from the simplicity of a voice call,” said Craig Malloy, chief executive officer of LifeSize and Logitech senior vice president. “At LifeSize, driving relentless innovation is in our DNA. We know enterprise users, ourselves included, want the ease of making a video call anywhere at any time on any device. With today’s iPhone 4S announcement, we’re making that possible and changing the video calling landscape – all while maintaining enterprise-class quality.” LifeSize ClearSea is an enterprise-class client/server solution for desktop and mobile video collaboration. Because it’s open and interoperable, users can seamlessly connect from their desktops or mobile devices to any H.323 or SIP-based video conferencing system or infrastructure solution in seconds. LifeSize ClearSea Server is available as a hardware appliance or virtual machine software and includes a state-of-the-art HD desktop client for PC/Mac and Android/iOS mobile devices as well as NAT/firewall traversal and multi-party conferencing capability. Pricing and Availability LifeSize ClearSea is available globally today starting at approximately $8,000 (U.S.) LifeSize ClearSea supports iOS 5 today and will have support for Apple iPhone 4S to market in November 2011 A free trial of LifeSize ClearSea can be downloaded at: http://www.clearsea.com/download.html
Mitel Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2012 Financial Results
September 01 2011
Revenue of $164.1 million, up 3% from the prior year quarter Year-over-year revenue growth across all Business Units OTTAWA, Sept. 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mitel (Nasdaq:MITL), a leading provider of Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) software solutions, today announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 ended July 31, 2011. All financial results are in U.S. dollars. Financial Highlights Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was $164.1 million, compared to $160.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Adjusted EBITDA (as defined below) for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was $18.0 million. Cash and cash equivalents as of July 31, 2011 were $71.3 million. Operating cash flows for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 were $12.4 million. Debt repayment of $12.3M "We are pleased with our execution in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 where we again exceeded our guidance, implemented our new strategy and initiated organizational changes to position Mitel for growth," said Richard McBee, chief executive officer, Mitel. "We remain focused on maintaining our technology leadership. For instance, this week at the VMworld conference we announced the integration of our virtualized UC Advanced client software with VMware View 5, dramatically expanding the power of desktop virtualization. As IT administrators continue to focus on reducing costs, our combined solution extends a company's desktop and mobile environment to anywhere an employee has an Internet connection." Mitel recorded restructuring charges of $4.8M reflecting previously announced actions taken to drive improved operating performance. Accordingly, net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was $2.8 million, or $0.05 per share, compared to net income of $6.8 million, or $0.12 per share, for the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was $9.2 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $10.8 million, or $0.19 per share, in the same period last year. Please refer to the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation tables in this release. Business Unit Results Mitel Communications Solutions revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 grew 1% to $124.4 million from the same quarter of 2011. Operating margin declined 1.6% versus the prior year reflecting increased product margins being offset by a decline in service margins and higher operating expenses. Mitel NetSolutions revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 grew 4% to $20.0 million from the same quarter of 2011. Operating margin declined by 0.4% over the same period due to the investment in Mitel Mobile and Mitel AnyWare capabilities. Mitel DataNet revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 grew 14% to $19.7 million from the same quarter of 2011. Operating margin improved by 4.3% over the same period due primarily to higher gross margins resulting from a combination of revenue mix and improved purchasing power due to higher volumes. Business Highlights Mitel has integrated its virtualized Unified Communicator® (UC) Advanced client software with VMware View™ 5, enabling Mitel and VMware to deliver soft phone and mobile device integration into a desktop virtualization environment. New customer highlights: Hancock Estabrook selected Mitel's Freedom architecture to allow its attorneys the ability to work flexibly and effectively from any location. The solution provides seamless, unified communications between the firm's 60+ lawyers and their clients. Hospitality wins include the Hotel Palace Madrid, Hotel J Stockholm and the Mandarin Hotel in New York City
ShoreTel Receives Nemertes Research PilotHouse Top Provider Award for IP Telephony for Eighth Year in a Row
August 02 2011
ShoreTel Receives Nemertes Research PilotHouse Top Provider Award for IP Telephony for Eighth Year in a Row SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 2, 2011 – ShoreTel® (Nasdaq: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications (UC), today announced that, for the eighth year in a row, it has received the highest ratings for IP telephony products from IT decision makers in the Nemertes Research annual PilotHouse Awards report. The high ratings earned ShoreTel the Nemertes PilotHouse Award for Top IP Telephony Provider among Market Challengers. Nemertes, an independent research firm based in Illinois, received ratings for 22 IP telephony vendors and determined the award solely on the views and experiences of more than 2,000 actual users of IP telephony systems. ShoreTel’s overall score of 4.32, was above all vendors examined. NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Customers rated their providers on a scale of 1 to 5 in the following categories: Technology, Customer Service, and Value. ShoreTel scored above a 4 rating in all categories. Nemertes analysts also conducted in-depth conversations with a subset of IP telephony decision-makers to understand the reasons behind the results. Technology: Technology ratings examine how customers view sophistication, features and implementation of the product. ShoreTel received a rating of 4.18 for technology. The report states, “ShoreTel has kept pace with technology innovation, invested in and integrated mobility into its platform through its Agito acquisition, and provides the integrated UC functionality including conferencing and high-quality desktop video that its IP telephony customers want.” Value: The value rating measures what customers think about what they get for their money. With a score of 4.65, ShoreTel received the highest score of all the IP telephony vendors in any market category. The report cites IT professionals feel the solution is affordable and easy to implement and operate. Respondents told Nemertes they “get a good bang for their buck” and the IT director of a midsize transportation company said plainly, “I like the simplicity.” Customer Service: Customer-service ratings look at technical support, responsiveness to deployment issues, sales support and general customer care. ShoreTel received a 4.18 rating for customer service, surpassing last year’s score of 4.10, with the report noting that ShoreTel has built its brand on solid customer service. QUOTES “What makes ShoreTel successful is our focus on clear product differentiation, low total cost of ownership and our commitment to continuously improving customer satisfaction. Adding new capabilities such as mobility to drive new revenue streams, product simplicity and quality shows our focus on Brilliant Simplicity is working. We are honored to win this award for the eighth year running as this demonstrates that we continue to deliver on these promises. - Peter Blackmore, CEO, ShoreTel “For the unprecedented eighth straight year, ShoreTel claims the t
Panasonic Named First in Small Business Phone Business for the first half of 2010
October 12 2010
SECAUCUS, NJ (October 12, 2010) – Panasonic System Networks Company of America today announced that it continues to lead the small business telephone market* by achieving #1 market share in North America for the first half of calendar year 2010. The new market information was released by the Parsippany, NJ based information technology market research firm T3i Group, in September of this year. The T3i report, InfoTrack for Enterprise Communications, North America reports that Panasonic achieved 21% market share for the North American market in Q1 with a 6 point lead over competitor Vertical Communications and 20% in Q2 with a 3 point lead over Avaya/Nortel. The executive summary also notes that Panasonic experienced ‘solid gains in line shipments,” reporting 6.2% growth quarter-over-quarter for Q1, and 19% growth for 2Q. Year over year shipments were up 26.3% and 4% for the first two quarters respectively. “Panasonic offers one of the industry's most comprehensive portfolios of reliable, affordable, and flexible solutions for small and medium-sized businesses,” said Bill Taylor, President of Panasonic System Networks Company of America. “Our consistent performance quarter after quarter reflects this commitment. Business decision-makers know that they can count on Panasonic solutions to deliver exceptional performance and enhanced productivity, which translates into an improved bottom line for our customers.” Panasonic business telephone systems continue to be the top choice for small and medium-size businesses and also continue to be the top brand for custom installers. A recent survey conducted by CE Pro Magazine concludes that 80% of the installers surveyed reported using Panasonic telephone products.
ShoreTel Achieves VMware Ready™ Status
October 05 2010
SUNNYVALE, Calif., October 5, 2010 –ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications (UC), today announced that it has achieved VMware Ready™ status. This designation indicates that the latest ShoreTel software release has passed a detailed evaluation and testing process managed by VMware and is now listed on the VMware Partner Product Catalog. Passing the extensive VMware-specified testing helps ensure that ShoreTel makes best use of VMware technology and is ready for deployment in customer environments. “We are pleased that ShoreTel qualifies for the VMware Ready™ logo, signifying to customers that it has passed specific VMware testing and interoperability criteria and is ready to run in production environments,” said Bernie Mills, senior director, alliance programs, VMware. “By deploying ShoreTel in a virtualized environment with VMWare® VSphere 4.0, enterprises can further lower their total cost of ownership by reducing server requirements, and saving energy and space. ShoreTel’s commitment to cutting the cost of complexity with brilliantly simple solutions aligns perfectly with the virtualization benefits offered by VMware,” said Kevin Gavin, vice president of marketing, ShoreTel. The VMware Ready program is a VMware co-branding program for qualified partner products and is a benefit of the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program. With more than 1,300 members worldwide, the VMware TAP program works with best-of-breed technology partners to provide them a comprehensive set of VMware technical and marketing services, support, tools and expertise to deliver enhanced value to joint customers. ShoreTel can be found within the online VMware Partner Product Catalog at http://wwwa.vmware.com/partnercatalog/catalog/. Hardware products can be found within the online VMware Hardware Compatibility List at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search. About ShoreTel, Inc. ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR) is the provider of brilliantly simple Unified Communication (UC) solutions based on its award-winning IP business phone system. We offer organizations of all sizes integrated, voice, video, data, and mobile communications on an open, distributed IP architecture that helps significantly reduce the complexity and costs typically associated with other solutions. The feature-rich ShoreTel UC system offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) and the highest customer satisfaction in the industry, in part because it is easy to deploy, manage, scale and use. Increasingly, companies around the world are finding a competitive edge by replacing business-as-usual with new thinking, and choosing ShoreTel to handle their integrated business communication. ShoreTel is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices in Austin, Texas, United Kingdom, Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.shoretel.com.
Leading Analyst Firm Declares ShoreTel The Fastest Growing IP Telephony Vendor Worldwide
September 22 2010
ShoreTel also rated as the #1 Worldwide Unified Communications Desktop Solution Provider and moved into the top three suppliers in the United States SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 22, 2010 – ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications (UC), today highlighted the results from the most recent Synergy Enterprise Voice Q2 2010 report: Fastest growing: Synergy data shows that ShoreTel is the fastest growing IP telephony vendor worldwide, based on Q2 revenues over Q1. Leads the industry in UC desktop deployments: ShoreTel continues to lead the industry as the No. 1 UC desktop vendor for small and midsize businesses. Top three suppliers in North America: For the second quarter in a row, ShoreTel is in the top three IP telephony suppliers in the United States, based on revenue. QUOTES FROM THE SYNERGY REPORT: “ShoreTel has rapidly become successful in terms of market share and revenue growth and is regarded by most as a healthy company, even in these tough economic times, which adds to its allure.” “ShoreTel’s success in capturing market share in the SMB and now larger enterprise markets centers on product quality and simplicity (a single communications platform) and its development of a strong global indirect distribution channel.” “Over the past several quarters Synergy’s research has identified ShoreTel as the leading vendor in the global SMB voice marketplace.” “Although ShoreTel’s initial strength was in the SMB market, the company has been encroaching upon the larger enterprise market. Every new enterprise win will add credibility in this area.” “National partners, which are ATT, Qwest, Verizon, BlackBox and CDW, showed a solid 77 percent growth in volume fiscal year-over-year.” “We believe those vendors that are strong will be able to ride out the current situation and gain market share when spending improves.” Synergy has identified ShoreTel as one of these strong vendors. ShoreTel also recently was named the Best IP Telephony Provider in the Nemertes PilotHouse Awards – Top Providers, IP Telephony 2010 for the seventh consecutive year. Like last year, ShoreTel was again ranked first in every category against every competitor . In addition, the company recently initiated a major advertising campaign to call attention to an “Anti-Complexity Movement” that encourages business to reject the unnecessary and costly complexity that has become the norm for many vendors in enterprise communications. SHORETEL QUOTE “This Q2 2010 Synergy report validates that our ongoing commitment to product and service excellence continue to meet the communication and collaboration needs of our customers. ShoreTel continues to grow and capture market share because of our brilliantly simple approach to sophisticated IP-based communications. As more and more businesses emerge from the downturn, they are recognizing that upgrading their communications infrastructure is key to prospering in the highly competitive environment ahead, and that ShoreTel can give them the business agility they need.” - Kevin Gavin, Vice President of Marketing, ShoreTel SYNERGY QUOTE “ShoreTel continues to successfully execute on its growth strategy in the Enterprise IP Telephony market. In Q2 2010, ShoreTel grew its U.S. revenues faster than any other vendor, faster than Avaya and four times faster than Cisco. Considering the size of their competitors and the state of the economy, ShoreTel is showing signs of remarkable strength and resiliency.” - Jeremy Duke, Founder and Principal Analyst at Synergy Research Group. About ShoreTel, Inc. ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR) is the provider of brilliantly simple Unified Communication (UC) solutions based on its award-winning IP business phone system. We offer organizations of all sizes integrated, voice, video, data, and mobile communications on an open, distributed IP architecture that helps significantly reduce the complexity and costs typically associated with other solutions. The feature-rich ShoreTel UC system offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) and the highest customer satisfaction in the industry, in part because it is easy to deploy, manage, scale and use. Increasingly, companies around the world are finding a competitive edge by replacing business-as-usual with new thinking, and choosing ShoreTel to handle their integrated business communication. ShoreTel is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices in Austin, Texas, United Kingdom, Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.shoretel.com.
Mitel Ranked Highest of UC Vendors in the Market Challengers Category
September 15 2010
OTTAWA, Sep 15, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- Mitel® (Nasdaq:MITL), a leading provider of unified communications software solutions, has won the Nemertes Research PilotHouse Unified Communications Vendor award in the Market Challenger category. The goal of the awards is to gauge how companies perform for business end users, and the rankings are based on input from these organizations. Mitel was ranked highest of the unified communications vendors in the Market Challengers category, which recognizes companies on a path of growth with regard to market share and customer traction. Vendors were rated by their customers on a variety of criteria, including technology, customer service, and value. Mitel was specifically recognized for its growing portfolio of unified communications and collaboration products. "What makes the PilotHouse award unique is that results are solely derived from the ratings of technology buyers. Mitel's scores put it ahead of other market challengers in all rated areas," said Irwin Lazar, VP Communications and Collaboration, Nemertes Research. This award provides further validation of Mitel's growing stature as a leading unified communications software and services provider for businesses of all sizes. Earlier this year, Mitel placed second in the Top 25 Canadian Software Companies category of the Branham300 rankings. Additionally, the Virtual Mitel Communications Director, the first real-time voice application designed for the VMware vSphere™ 4 platform, received the Distinguished Honoree medal in the Best New Product or Service of the Year - Telecommunications category by The 2010 International Business Awards and it took the Silver in the Tech Awards Circle SMB and Enterprise Software Product category. "Mitel continues to receive tremendous customer feedback on the flexibility of our unified communications portfolio in meeting their business communications needs," said Kevin Johnson, director of consultant, analyst and public relations for Mitel. "This award is recognition that based on the strength of our portfolio; companies around the globe are adopting Mitel's advanced solutions for presence awareness, conferencing, messaging, and integration with email applications. These flexible solutions are helping to enhance worker productivity and drive down communications costs for our customers." For more information on the Nemertes Research 2010 PilotHouse Awards, please visit: http://www.nemertes.com/.
ShoreTel Launches an Anti-Complexity Movement
September 13 2010
ShoreTel Launches an Anti-Complexity Movement ShoreTel’s Brilliantly Simple Technology and Growing Market Share Validate Its Approach to Helping Customers Beat Complexity in IP communications SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 13, 2010 –ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications (UC), today announced an anti-complexity movement targeted at battling unnecessary and costly complexity in the IP Telephony industry. In addition, ShoreTel, which has successfully made simplicity the cornerstone of its approach to technology for more than a decade, attributes its increasing market share and industry accolades to growing customer recognition that “complexity costs money.” In a stinging rebuke of the larger, entrenched IP telephony vendors, ShoreTel denounced the common vendor practice of piecing together solutions from multiple proprietary technologies because these solutions end up costing customers more in the long run in the form of high costs for maintenance, upgrades, support and training. Rather than simplifying their solutions, these vendors seem to embrace complexity because it protects their position and helps guarantee a continuous revenue stream by making it harder for customers to break free from vendor lock in. By contrast, ShoreTel designed complexity out of its system from the very beginning. ShoreTel engineered a solution from the ground up that was optimized for IP-based communication and collaboration, and includes easy-to-use management and end-user features that fully integrate voice, video, data, and mobile communication. As a result of ShoreTel’s efforts to eliminate complexity and thereby reduce costs, ShoreTel is able to offer a one-of-its kind lowest total cost of ownership guarantee. NEWS HIGHLIGHTS In a recent whitepaper titled “IT complexity: Danger or Opportunity,” Roger Sessions calculates that each year the U.S. loses $1.3 trillion dollars to IT failures. That equates to $108 billion per month lost to the US economy – almost 9 percent of the U.S. GDP. Session says the culprit is almost certainly IT complexity. ShoreTel continues to capture market share worldwide and in the U.S. for IP telephony systems and IP phones, according to the Synergy worldwide and U.S. market share report for June 2010. ShoreTel has received the highest overall score every year independent research firm, Nemertes Research, has evaluated IP Telephony. A recent survey of IT professionals conducted by ShoreTel revealed that nearly 81 percent of respondents expressed a desire to simplify their communications system. Many organizations now recognize that most major vendors have pieced unified communications systems together through acquisitions and add ons, and that this amalgamation increases complexity and drives up cost. ShoreTel offers the lowest TCO in the industry and guarantees it, in large part because the system is easy to manage and use. The brilliantly simple solution includes ShoreTel’s unique single-image, distributed software and embedded switch-based call routing architecture, all of which result in structurally lower product capital costs, network upgrade costs, and implementation and training costs. A ShoreTel system also has lower costs for maintenance, MACs (moves, adds and changes), system management, and energy consumption. All these benefits help free IT resources and let staff focus on the business, not IT. ShoreTel is upping the stakes in the battle for IP telephony mindshare and market share by building its advertising messaging around the call to beat complexity, and prompting businesses to ask, “When did complexity become the norm?” If other vendors take up this challenge, their customers will be the real beneficiaries. RESEARCHER & ANALYST QUOTES ObjectWatch: “IT simplicity is a key business asset. It enables efficiency, agility, and scalability. Complexity is an IT killer. It causes delivery delays, cost overruns, and is the single greatest source of business frustration with IT.” - Roger Sessions, CTO of ObjectWatch and author of “IT complexity: Danger or Opportunity” whitepaper Current Analysis: “Since its inception, the global unified communications marketplace has been burdened by a level of complexity that has confused potential customers and slowed the technology’s acceptance and implementation. The vendor(s) that is able to simplify the business case, as well as the actual implementation and ongoing operation of UC systems will stand to reap large rewards in the form of market penetration.” - Ken Landoline, Principal Analyst, Unified Communications and Contact Centers CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY QUOTES “The manager on the ship simply plugged in a ShoreTel phone, told me the MAC address, and I was able to activate the phone using ShoreTel Director in my Seattle office. We were able to activate the guest’s phone right away. In the past, the same operation required sending a technician to the ship and paying travel costs and hourly labor rates. Now it takes ten minutes and requires no one but our own on-board staff.” - Jonathan Lockwood, Technology Manager, Glacier Fish Company, Seattle “It’s so easy to drop or add a switch at a site that we were able to set up a nine-phone office with one switch in less than a day. The level of ease and flexibility of the ShoreTel system is driving us to look at ways to further enhance productivity by integrating communications features with our enterprise resource planning system. ShoreTel truly has proven to be the pick of the crop.” - Jim Lyle, Communications Administrator, Ready Pac “It costs about 25 percent less to install a ShoreTel UC system in a new office, compared with our previous vendor. ShoreTel pricing means that we can plan for growth and organizational changes with confidence. In our experience, when you say it will cost ‘x’ dollars to install the ShoreTel system, that’s what it will be. Plus, you don’t need a lot of expensive post-implementation support and professional services. ShoreTel just works.” - Claude Vezina, National Telecom Manager, BDO "Staying in touch with our 100,000+ members and key influencers is vital to the success of our initiatives. Not only is the ShoreTel system highly reliable, but because it's intuitive to learn and manage, we don't need to track down and hire highly qualified staff to run it like we would with other systems. Deployment costs were lower than competing products, licensing costs are less and we've been able to free up IT staff to work on other projects. Overall, ShoreTel's low TCO means we're saving money and operating more efficiently." - Chaim Yudkowsky, CIO, American Israel Public Affairs Committee “We compared the ROI of ShoreTel to the old system—the savings of time, support, maintenance and costs is 42 percent. And metrics from the new distributed call center show a 78 percent decrease on call wait times and call completions. We used to have trunking in one location, with a modem and POTS line at each site. The old PBX system limited our communications options and required us to factor in support and maintenance costs. With ShoreTel, deployment is easy and we have room to grow—we can add switches, extensions, entire branches, simply and quickly. And we’ve eliminated the POTS lines, which saves $11,000 annually.” - Colleen Jakes, Director of Information Services, TopLine Federal Credit Union SHORETEL QUOTE “ShoreTel focuses exclusively on IP-based unified communications, designing a system from the beginning that was specifically for IP networks. The result is a brilliantly simple all-in-one solution built on an open architecture that is appliance-based instead of server-based. This means the ShoreTel UC system is fundamentally more reliable than other kinds of systems, and easier and less costly to deploy, manage and scale. We challenge other vendors to join us in the Anti-Complexity Movement and offer customers simpler solutions that are less costly and more reliable, and we encourage customers to reject unnecessary complexity and demand simplicity from their vendors.” – Kevin Gavin, Vice President of Marketing, ShoreTel RELATED LINKS & CONVERSATION ShoreTel Anti-Complexity Movement ShoreTel Corporate Overview ShoreTel Customer Success Stories (videos and case studies) ShoreTel Features ShoreTel Awards About ShoreTel, Inc. ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR) is the provider of brilliantly simple Unified Communication (UC) solutions based on its award-winning IP business phone system. We offer organizations of all sizes integrated, voice, video, data, and mobile communications on an open, distributed IP architecture that helps significantly reduce the complexity and costs typically associated with other solutions. The feature-rich ShoreTel UC system offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) and the highest customer satisfaction in the industry, in part because it is easy to deploy, manage, scale and use. Increasingly, companies around the world are finding a competitive edge by replacing business-as-usual with new thinking, and choosing ShoreTel to handle their integrated business communication. ShoreTel is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices in Austin, Texas, United Kingdom, Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.shoretel.com.
Virtual Mitel Communications Director recognized for technology leadership in the enterprise telephony platform and endpoints market
June 02 2010
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Jun 2, 2010 (Marketwire via COMTEX News Network) -- Editor's note: A photo and a video are associated with this press release. Mitel® (NASDAQ:MITL - News) today announced that Virtual Mitel Communications Director (Virtual MCD) has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan as the recipient of the 2010 Global New Product Innovation of the Year Award in the World Enterprise Telephony Platform and Endpoints Market. Mitel received the award in recognition of its performance against key competitors in terms of product innovation, use of leading-edge technologies, delivery of value-added benefits and features, ability to deliver superior customer ROI, and customer penetration potential. Virtual MCD, the core call control of Mitel's Virtual Solutions software portfolio, is a software package download that leverages VMware® vSphere™4. The solution enables customers to consolidate Mitel's real-time voice applications alongside non-voice business applications in the datacenter. Virtual MCD customers can benefit from: capital savings through reduction of server hardware and real estate; operations savings with the decrease in power and server costs; productivity improvements and resource efficiencies in datacenter management; and simplified business continuity and disaster recovery plans. "As organizations work towards streamlining business processes through their IT and communications infrastructure, virtualization of both real-time and non-real-time applications is promising to drastically change the way communications networks will operate in the future," said Elka Popova, program director, Frost & Sullivan. "While other telephony vendors are making attempts to virtualize call control and applications, Mitel has leapfrogged the competition by becoming the first voice vendor to enable its call process server to run on an industry-standard virtualization platform. This addresses a major pain point of businesses - delivering communications solutions irrespective of location, device, and time." "We have worked in tandem with Mitel for more than two years to be able to run real-time voice applications in a virtualized environment," says Parag Patel, vice president, Global Strategic Alliances Organization, VMware. "Because of this combined effort, Mitel is a leader in the global market of virtual voice solutions and we will continue to work together to create innovative joint solutions." The report further states that by providing the ability to run real-time and non-real-time communications applications, Virtual MCD will address the need to deliver communications solutions irrespective of location, device, and time. Virtual MCD can also provide the ability for organizations to scale application deployment without incurring large-scale investments. Frost & Sullivan expects that these factors will drive accelerated adoption in the next few years. Furthermore, although traditionally considered as a solution for enterprise businesses, SMBs that have a growing need for affordable IP telephony and unified communications suites, may find communications virtualization a very attractive alternative to accelerate deployment without having to make excessive investments. "Our work with VMware has enabled voice solutions to run as another application in the data center. IT managers already running VMware technology can easily deploy Virtual MCD with little to no training," said Stephen Beamish, vice president of marketing and business development, Mitel. "Mitel Virtual Solutions can also relieve some major challenges for businesses by streamlining business continuity strategies, reducing hardware costs, and freeing up resources to focus on other strategic IT projects. This has been demonstrated through a number of virtualized solutions that Mitel customers have deployed globally." "Virtualization played a major role in simplifying and hardening our datacenter against service interruptions, however voice was still an issue. Now that we can virtualize telephony, we can extend all of the benefits of disaster recovery and cost savings to the phones," said James Strack, chief information officer, ALM Holding Company, a privately-held road construction and resources company with more than 2,000 employees and offices in five states. "Additionally our staff has seen a paradigm shift in their duties from putting out fires and working weekends to more strategic forward looking research. Morale is greatly improved and the IT staff is able to do visionary line-of-business research that helps the company grow." Click here for the full Frost & Sullivan report.
VMware Partners from Around the World Take Home Top Honors for Delivering VMware Virtualization Solutions to Companies of All Sizes
February 19 2010
OTTAWA, Ontario – February 19, 2010 - Mitel®, the trusted provider of unified communications (UC) software solutions announced today that it has been recognized by VMware as a winner of a VMware Partner Network Award for Global Technology Innovator. The award was presented at VMware Partner Exchange 2010, VMware's annual partner event, on Feb. 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. "VMware's partners continue to be the bedrock of our business, and we are pleased to recognize the great work they have accomplished throughout the year," said Doug Smith, senior director, global partner sales, VMware. "VMware Partner Exchange brings partners together for four days filled with training, education and networking with peers – making this the premier event to help them strengthen their virtualization practices and distinguish themselves in the marketplace. We congratulate Mitel, and we look forward to continuing our work together to help deliver virtualization solutions for customers building private cloud infrastructures." Mitel and VMware recently announced Virtual Mitel Communications Director (Virtual MCD), part of the new Mitel Virtual Solutions software portfolio. As a virtual appliance, Virtual MCD leverages VMware vSphere™ 4 to enable customers to consolidate Mitel's leading voice applications alongside non-voice business applications in the datacenter. Mitel and VMware already have a number of joint customers that have deployed Virtual MCD. "For nearly two years, Mitel and VMware have been working together to solve the latency issues with virtualizing voice," said Stephen Beamish, Mitel vice-president of corporate marketing and business development. "This collaboration has led to the industry's first real-time voice communications applications running in a virtualized data center environment. We look forward to continuing to develop innovative solutions with VMware that have the potential to drive capital and operational savings, productivity improvements and resource efficiencies in datacenter management, and risk mitigation for business continuity and disaster recovery plans." For more information and customer testimonials, please visit: http://vmware.mitel.com VMware acknowledged key performances and outstanding achievements by the company's ecosystem partners during 2009. Winners from around the world were recognized in 15 categories: Solution Provider of the Year Education Partner of the Year Distributor of the Year Systems Integrator of the Year SMB Partner of the Year Desktop Virtualization Partner of the Year VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP) Partner of the Year Academic Partner of the Year Technology Innovator Vertical Trailblazer VMware Competency Partner of the Year Partner Executive MVP Corporate Reseller of the Year Federal Partner of the Year SpringSource Partner of the Year About VMware Partner Exchange VMware Partner Exchange is the marquis global event for virtualization partners, offering more than 150 sessions and an extensive exhibitor pavilion to demonstrate how partners can best accelerate their virtualization businesses. This year partner attendees received a preview into the next generation of products and programs coming from VMware and offered partners an exclusive opportunity to hear from VMware executives including Carl Eschenbach, executive vice president of worldwide field operations and Dr. Stephen Herrod, CTO and senior vice president of R&D.
Customers find LifeSize Answers to Current Travel Problems
March 06 2009
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.