ShoreTel ramps up focus on APAC region

ShoreTel has launched its cloud-based voice service in Australia, enabling the vendor's network of more than 100 partners to offer the new service.

ShoreTel Hosted Voice is a fully managed IP telephony hosted solution offering voicemail, unified messaging, click to dial, mobility and audio conferencing services, with optional services available such as contact centre, call recording and toll-free numbers. Customers can now also deploy ShoreTel 400 series phones for an end-to-end ShoreTel experience.

While ShoreTel has been offering a hosted solution under the M5 Networks Australia brand since November 2015, today's launch marks the completion of the integration of M5 into ShoreTel and the first phase of product enhancements.

The launch of ShoreTel Hosted Voice is part of the company's overall momentum and continued investment in the Australian market, according to the company. As part of that commitment, CEO Don Joos is opening a new ShoreTel office in Melbourne on the evening of Thursday, April 7.

"It is an exciting time in ShoreTel's history as we continue our momentum and expand our cloud offerings across the globe while investing more resources in the APAC region," he says.

"We see ShoreTel Hosted Voice as another great option for our customers who are looking for flexibility and choice in how they deploy their communications system - whether in the cloud or onsite," says Joos.

According to research from Telsyte, market demand for cloud communications in Australia is growing exponentially. Cloud communications will generate $650m in revenues in Australia by 2020 and adoption of cloud communications by Australian organisations is expected to climb to 32% by 2019, from a base of 12% in 2014.

"There is significant demand for cloud-based communications solutions in Australia," says Frederic Gillant, ShoreTel vice president of Asia Pacific.

"The completion of the integration of M5 Networks Australia into ShoreTel's Asia Pacific operations is marked by the launch of ShoreTel Hosted Voice to the Australian market. This offering provides businesses a cost-effective and reliable hosted voice service from a proven vendor in the region," he says.

ShoreTel Hosted Voice data centers are located in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, addressing enterprise IP telephony requirements for Australian organisations of all sizes. The offering includes IP telephony service on a per month per user subscription basis.

ShoreTel has two partner tiers within its Champion Partner Program to sell ShoreTel Hosted Voice, with partners required to complete training and certification to be eligible to join the program. ShoreTel partners generate commissions based on monthly recurring revenues within these two tiers.

• Approved: the partner manages the customer engagement up to discovery, before referring the opportunity to ShoreTel to complete the sale and sign-up the customer.
• Enabled: the partner manages the customer relationship entirely, with the partner delivering a signed ShoreTel Hosted Voice customer contract.