Thanks Matthew, sounds like we need to be mindful of anything we may want to do in the future on the licensing side.
When I asked about switches, we may be at cross-purposes, I meant ethernet switches as that's one area where we're looking to bring a vendor in - obviously anyone decent should work just fine with Shoretel but again, any first-hand experiences are useful to know about. ________________________________________ From: Matthew W. Ross [[email protected]] Sent: 09 November 2011 6:54 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: ShoreTel > I would be interested in hearing of any licensing gotchas or things to be > aware of. One license "gotcha" we just recently experienced: We have a user who uses their "Personal" license. This gives the users an extension, mailbox, etc... But this user wanted a feature which was only available to the "Workgroup Agent" license. (What the user wanted to do was to sign in/out of the workgroup remotely, which apparently a "personal" license can't do.) What we found out is that we can't upgrade the license, nor can we get a refund. If we choose to do this, we just have to purchase the additional license (at over $200). > Which vendors switches are you using? Shoretel makes you choose and stick to a vendor. I am unable to purchase additional licenses/phones/switches from a different vendor without completely transferring my vendor. We are using NCA (http://www.ncanet.com/) and we have had "good to excellent" support from them for over 10 years. We briefly looked into other vendors in our area. If your question is more of a "which hardware switches do you use": A mix of the Shoretel 120s (IP phone capable or 24 analog lines) and the Shoretel 24As (Cheaper, 24 analog extension only switch). Oh, and a Shoretel T1 for our PRI. > I'm not as involved in the financial side of this, I'm coming at this more > from the technical side (I currently have zero knowledge of phone systems > but obvious once you move from a monolithic analogue system to an IP system > it starts to merge with network/server stuff). I'm not really a phone guy. My predecessor was a phone guy. He is the one who got the school to move to Shoretel, and I thank him for it every time I use it. While now there are good, useable alternatives, it's worth looking into other solutions. But I have been extremely happy with this product. --Matt Ross Ephrata School District ----- Original Message ----- From: Paul Hutchings [mailto:[email protected]] To: NT System Admin Issues [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:51:16 -0800 Subject: RE: ShoreTel > Thanks Matt that helps and awful lot as it's the nitty gritty that tends to > get overlooked. > > I would be interested in hearing of any licensing gotchas or things to be > aware of. > > Which vendors switches are you using? > > I'm not as involved in the financial side of this, I'm coming at this more > from the technical side (I currently have zero knowledge of phone systems > but obvious once you move from a monolithic analogue system to an IP system > it starts to merge with network/server stuff). > > Thanks again, > Paul > ________________________________________ > From: Matthew W. Ross [[email protected]] > Sent: 09 November 2011 4:48 PM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: ShoreTel > > Shoretel is the the phone system we're using. > > Pros: > > * Very easy to use. > * Works great for windows environments. > * Has good support for mass deployment of analog phones (which some do not, > and we use a lot of). > * Can be used as your intercom (Using IP phones). > * Support has been good for us. > * Outlook integration (We don't use this, but it's there.) > > Cons: > > * Windows Centric (There is now a web based client which is a big > improvement in this front). > * Serious product lock-in: > ** Their switches will only work with Shoretel. > ** Their IP phones will only work with Shoretel. > ** They license you per extension, and those licenses cannot be > refunded/transferred. > ** SIP phones do work, for an additional fee. > * "Optional" support is not so optional. It is also primarily through your > vendor, not Shoretel. > * Not cheap. > > I hope this helps. > > > --Matt Ross > Ephrata School District > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Paul Hutchings > [mailto:[email protected]] > To: NT System Admin Issues > [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wed, 09 Nov 2011 > 07:14:01 -0800 > Subject: ShoreTel > > > > Anyone here using Shoretel for their phone system? > > > > From what we've seen so far we're confident they're a good fit both in > terms > > of features and architecture, and (most importantly IMO) the client > software > > appears to be pretty good to use. > > > > Any tales (on or off list) of how they have performed would be > appreciated. > > > > Thanks, > > Paul > > > > -- > > MIRA Ltd > > > > Watling Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV10 0TU, England > > Registered in England and Wales No. 402570 > > VAT Registration GB 100 1464 84 > > > > The contents of this e-mail are confidential and are solely for the use of > > the intended recipient. 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