SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ShoreTel® (NASDAQ:SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications (UC), today announced the evolution of the Technology Partner and Developer Network programs into the single ShoreTel Innovation Network. The creation of a single, holistic program simplifies participation for technology partners and developers to deliver advanced integrated solutions to customers.
ShoreTel’s IP phone system with integrated Unified Communications is based on an open architecture, enabling interoperability and integration with third-party solutions to deliver extended value to mutual customers. Open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) offer customers flexibility to integrate leading business process applications with the ShoreTel individual business communications system, providing greater capabilities for system administrators and end users.
“Today's organizations increasingly rely on best-of-breed business process solutions to remain competitive and to ensure efficient operations,” said Brian Spencer, president of OAISYS, a leading provider of call recording and contact center management solutions and long-time participant in both the ShoreTel Technology Partner Program and Developer Network. “ShoreTel's support of open standards gives customers the ability to easily incorporate business critical applications within their communications systems.”
“People often undervalue open API capabilities. But for us, ShoreTel’s open API platform was a big deal because we have so many custom-built applications and need to ensure flawless integration,” said Dan Lyddy, Vice President of Information Systems for DART Transit Company, one of hundreds of ShoreTel customers leveraging the open platform. “Now we have 322 people using ShoreTel Communicator with Workgroup Agent access. My team built a widget on the back of ShoreTel Workgroups to eliminate the wait time for drivers to talk to staff, instead initiating a call-back request. That means the ShoreTel system will automatically send our agents a prompt to call the driver back once that agent completes the current phone call.”
Enhancements underlying the Innovation Network bring together developers and technology partners, reinforcing ShoreTel’s commitment to an open architecture, as well as capitalizing on ShoreTel’s Brilliantly Simple solution. Through this new, unified program, ShoreTel technical experts support customers, systems integrators, technology providers and software developers in building advanced integrated applications on ShoreTel's open platform using commonly known and widely accepted techniques. Application developers and member partners collaborate freely, then offer hardware, software and services that together greatly enhance and enrich communications across the enterprise and deliver on the promise of Voice over IP.
“As a Strategic ShoreTel Innovation Network partner, we are able to deliver complete business solutions to our end customers and provide maximum value to joint customers,” said Patric Chang, director of Strategic Alliances at Brocade. “In this growing community of innovators, network members benefit from co-marketing activities that drive exposure of value-added software, hardware and service solutions. Customers enjoy productivity-enhancing solutions developed by best-in-class technology providers who share ShoreTel's commitment to customer satisfaction.”
The ShoreTel Innovation Network is structured into three primary levels: Foundation, Alliance and Strategic. Prospective members will apply to be Foundation Members, where they will gain access to ShoreTel’s growing collection of software development kits (SDKs) and other tools to help integrate products. Once members have completed their development and self-tested their solutions with ShoreTel, they will be eligible to apply to the Alliance Membership level. Strategic members are identified via mutually defined relationships driven by successes and enhanced joint business cases.
Foundation Membership level:
- Access to published ShoreTel software interfaces and SDKs.
- Access to ShoreTel Innovation Network forums.
- Opportunities for access to direct development consulting support.
Alliance Membership level:
- Exposure within the ShoreTel Innovation Network Catalog.
- Jointly-created technical and marketing materials.
- Exposure to ShoreTel's varied network of reseller partners and distributors through press activity, case studies, webinars and promotional events.
Strategic Membership level:
- Dedicated Business Development sponsor.
- Formal go-to-market planning activities.
- Initial and revalidation test events.
Visit to learn more about the ShoreTel Innovation Network and to download the Innovation Network Program Guide for detailed information on the requirements and benefits of membership.
About ShoreTel
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.