Shoretel

• Call Control is the foundation of the platform and the flagship of the ShoreTel architecture. Embedded in the highly reliable ShoreTel Voice Switches, ShoreTel’s call control is provided as a true distributed application. Each voice switch hosts the application, services all of its associated users and network interfaces, and works with all other voice switches to create the complete solution.
• Applications including unified messaging, account codes, and others, are integrated into the core platform and deployed at either a central location or distributed to all sites.
• ShoreTel’s built-in distributed workgroups feature provides basic ACD functionality that is ideal for informal call centers. Simple call routing, overflows, announcements, historical reports and real time alerts are built into the core platform.
• Audio and web conferencing as well as Instant Messaging are services fully managed and deployed through the ShoreTel UC System. 

• Distributed voice applications. Voice applications, including voicemail, auto-attendant, and basic ACD are similarly distributed through the enterprise as integral components of the UC platform. The ShoreTel UC platform unified messaging features can be either centralized at the HQ location or distributed across a network on standard servers or inside ShoreTel Voice Switches. 
• As a stand-alone system, ShoreTel provides a feature-rich voicemail solution for all enterprises as well as advanced call routing rules that let workers customize how their callers are handled. When combined with ShoreTel desktop and mobile user interfaces, users can take advantage of easy-to-use visual voicemail, can integrate their voicemail inside their Microsoft Outlook inbox, and can easily direct their calls based on their calendar. The ShoreTel UC platform includes an embedded auto-attendant that provides 24-hour automated call answering and routing to improve service and brand image. Outgoing prompts can be customized and linked to the time of day and/or day of the week. Individual groups have their own menus with unique greetings and options. 
• Basic ACD is native to the ShoreTel UC platform. ShoreTel’s basic ACD or “workgroup” solution provides basic call center functionality to enhance customer experience and report on agent or customer behaviors. The integrated experience through the ShoreTel  Communicator boosts agent and supervisor productivity and allows them to monitor real-time queue or agent activity. 
• Distributed workgroup functionality further enhances the customer experience by ensuring that agents in remote sites or branches are available independent of any network outages. 
• The UC platform also includes an integrated call detail reporting (CDR) and call accounting system. With CDR, the system tracks the calls for users, trunks, and workgroups. The integrated call accounting system goes further in helping you manage communications costs by associating customer or project accounts to all calls or by enabling password access to advanced calling permissions.

Business-critical reliability

• N+1 redundancy that helps ensure that if a ShoreTel Voice Switch fails or is isolated by a network fault, the phones supported by that switch automatically fail over to another voice switch – either at that site or a shared resource at the HQ location. 
• Processors that do not require or use mechanical disk drives, eliminating the single most common point of system failure. An embedded, real-time operating system and unique call control architecture, enabling them to communicate with each other and distribute call processing in the network. 
• Additional reliability is proved by the following powerful capabilities: 
• PSTN failover: If the WAN is down or over-utilized for voice traffic or if bandwidth limits extension-to extension calls between sites, calls can automatically route over the PSTN, ensuring seamless communication. 
• Ethernet port failover: ShoreTel Voice Switches feature redundant network uplinks. If the upstream network device fails, voice switches automatically fail over to the redundant link, helping to ensure continuous operation. Power failover: Every ShoreTel Voice Switch features power fail transfer. If a complete power outage exceeds reserve power duration, one analog trunk on the ShoreTel Voice Switch automatically connects to one analog telephone, providing emergency dial tone.