All of the architecture “geek speak”  aside, CISCO and ShoreTel have fundamental “cultural” differences that defines their approach to the entities of  a “phone” and  a “user”.    Simply stated in the ShoreTel world a phone can not exist without a user, but the CISCO world a phone can exist without a user.  Now this is  not a bad thing or a good thing, it is a just the way it is thing! Cisco vs ShoreTel  What does that cultural distinction mean to you .. For CISCO Support or ShoreTel Support...
Read the entire article including a video on DrVoIP Blog
All telephone systems have to deal with the same key architectural  issues regardless of who manufactured the equipment.   All phone systems like ShoeTel Phone or CISCO Wireless SIP Phone have to provide for the definition of a system “dial plan”; trunk groups, call flow options, phone devices, gateways and user profiles.   CISCO vs ShoreTel. The dial plan, for example,  not only has to identify the patterns used to route callers between system extensions, but as is often the case in a VoIP deployment, between geographically distributed corporate locations or “sites”.
Read the entire article including a video on DrVoIP ShoreTel Blog

Shoretel Deployment

May 21, 2012 3:09 PM
Having deployed literally thousands of phone systems of all sizes and levels of complexity, we have distilled a set of rules and check lists that work.   (see our “network readiness check list” and our “VoIP planning guide”) When phone systems were analog or traditional TDM based solutions,  deployments were challenging enough!  You always had the User group, Call flow and “K plans” to hammer out along with the usual Telephone carrier challenges.  With VoIP solutions however, the level of complexity.. For CISCO Training or ShoreTel Training... Read the entire article on DrVoIP Blog

Since we published the blog on the ShoreTel SIP implementation using Ingate, we have been deluged with requests for more detail.   Specifically, people want to know if there is a more economical  solution for bringing  SIP dial tone into the ShoreTel architecture when you are trying to add just a few local lines to a branch office.    Historically, given the feature depreciation that users might experience with a ShoreTel SIP trunk, we had discouraged the adoption of SIP dial tone entirely!    In fact, if you already have a ShoreTel T1/PRI supporting your deployment  there is little economic benefit to be gained by replacing the PRI with SIP.  

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iPhone 4S Battery Drain Mystery!

January 31, 2012 12:01 PM
For the Christmas holidays I traveled to New York from San Diego. During the first day, I noticed that phone had shut off because the batter had gone dead. Never having experienced that before and, owing to the fact that I have my iPhone 4S wrapped in a case that has an expansion battery pack built in, I concluded that I must have forgotten to charge it over night.

To unravel the mystery, visit our ShoreTel Phone ShoreTel Blog and read more about the iPhone 4S battery mystery!

ShoreTel SIP Trunks!

December 13, 2011 8:59 PM
What is a ShoreTel SIP trunk?  If you mention a T1 to a telephone guy,  he will think you are looking for a channelized voice path to the telephone company.  Ask an IT guy the same question and he will think you are talking about a 1.5MB connection to the internet!   Now bring an integrated T1 into the conversation and things get a bit more interesting. Read more on ShoreTel SIP trunks or ShoreTel Training on our ShoreTel Blog.
I don’t think your average business professional wakes up in the morning and says “Gee, I need some SIP”!   They do however ask questions like how do we get an Area Code from New York to appear on our System in San Diego?  Do I really have to buy 23 channels of voice on a PRI when I only use about 12 channels max?  Can’t we just “burst” up to 23 or 50 channels when we need them?  Continue Reading...

ShoreTel Chat

September 23, 2011 5:50 PM
When someone is on your website, it is like they entered your store.  Clearly, they have an interest in what you are about or they would not be there.  It is at this moment that they are most receptive to learning about your product and services.  Would you not like to know when someone hits your website?  Continue Reading...
As both a ShoreTel Certified VoIP Engineer and a CISCO CCVP I  have been working exclusively in VoIP since 1998.   For this reason,  one of the questions that is most asked of me is which is a better solution: ShoreTel and CISCO? CISCO vs ShoreTel.  Since I have the sales skills of Attila the Hun, I assume that the question is being asked because someone is truly interested in understanding the architecture of the two systems.   Continue Reading...

Adding Users in ShoreTel is among the most common tasks a system administrator will be expected to perform.  We suspect once the ShoreTel solution is fully deployed, you will generally not have to tweak Trunks, Switches and Application Servers, but you will always be handling requests from USERS to make changes.  These changes will run from adding New Users to changing the feature access of existing Users.    Most User options can actually be changed by the Users themselves but often they will call System Administration or the “help desk” and expect your  assistance.  

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Sip Extension and iPAd

July 4, 2011 10:53 AM
Recently, I discovered a new SIP softphone by CouterPath Corporation the company that brought you X-Lite, one of the most popular free phones on the net.    The new offering is named Bria and is ideally suited for your iPad.   Bria is a more of a “carrier grade” softphone enabling both voice and video calls over IP, the ability to send IM messages and transfer files to your contacts. For ShoreTel Support or CISCO Support, visit DrVoIP. Read the entire post on ShoreTel Sip Extension
System configuration is relatively straight forward, but very specific. Without getting into the infrastructure requirements, there are steps in the configuration that must be accomplished to bring up a useable platform. The SMR will connect to your PBX using both SIP Extensions and SIP trunks. Licenses, Authentication SSL Certifications, Time Servers, DID numbers and Network Interfaces are all necessary components to a successful deployment. The ShoreTel Roam Anywhere Client or RAC, can be downloaded from the Mobility Router itself for Crackberry and Nokia, or from the Apple AP store if you are installing on an iphone. For CISCO Training or ShoreTel Training, visit DrVoIP... Read more on ShoreTel Mobility Router
ShoreTel Recently announced the availability of Version 7 of the Enterprise Contact Center.  It is not secret that I am a big fan of this product, so I was anxious to see what the new version had to offer.The product has a number of new features and capabilities that are both feature specific and impact the infrastructure of the product. For CISCO Support or ShoreTel Support, visit DrVoIP... Read the entire post on ShoreTel ECC 7
Version 12 of ShoreTel is all about Web Collaboration and enhanced Unified Communications functionality! For Example, ShoreTel has had an IM capability since Version 8, but historically you required a Microsoft OCS server to enjoy this feature. Not that Microsoft OCS is a bad solution, but it is really over kill for a functionality as read more ShoreTel 12 [ ... ]

For CISCO Training or ShoreTel Training, visit DrVoIP...

Read the entire article including other videos on many other VoIP articles like Cisco Prime Collaboration Deployment on drvoip blog 

WATCH VIDEO ON SHORETEL 12 FROM DRVOIP NOW

Mobility Options for VoIP

May 9, 2011 10:54 AM
We have been steadily moving through a range of mobility options on our way to achieving true fixed mobile convergence. We want to take our Office Extension away on our Cell phones and have the same functionality away from the office as we do in the office! Originally, people forwarded their office extensions to their Cell phones. Not the best solution, but clearly the easiest to set up. The problem however, is that the caller to your office extension might end up anywhere including your cell phone voice mail. So much for a [...]

For CISCO Support or CISCO Training, visit DrVoIP.

Read the entire article including a video on: drvoip blog
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