Monday, September 14, 2009

Skype and Shoretel

Alot of people have asked- Does Skype work with Shoretel? Can I make free calls with Shoretel? How does Shoretel integrate with SIP. This article below is a good explanation and helps answer some of these questions. I was emailed this interesting article about Shoretel and Skype. If you are interested read it- it is about a 10 minute read.

"ShoreTel has just entered into beta testing with Skype’s “Skype for SIP” offering (see below). One important thing to be aware of, this Skype for SIP offering requires and Ingate SIParator. On top of that you will still need to purchase the ShoreTel SIP Trunk License per trunk and have available ShoreGear Switch resources to terminate the trunks.

This still leaves Etherspeak as the only ShoreTel Certified ITSP that does not require and Ingate SIParator: http://www.shoretel.com/partners/technology/etherspeak.html"

This article can be found at here



SMBs and enterprises can now make voice calls via Skype with ShoreTel's UC system; Skype users can contact ShoreTel-based businesses for free with global click-to-call button on corporate Web sites
LUXEMBOURG and SUNNYVALE, CA, September 9, 2009 - Skype and ShoreTel, Inc., (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems with fully integrated Unified Communications (UC), today announced interoperability between ShoreTel's UC system and the beta version of Skype for SIP. ShoreTel is the world's first UC vendor to achieve interoperability with Skype for SIP. The nearly 11,000 ShoreTel enterprise customers can now register to try Skype for SIP in beta, giving them the opportunity to save money, save time and stay ahead by integrating Skype into their communications portfolios.
"By certifying ShoreTel's UC system as interoperable with Skype for SIP, we have made it possible for ShoreTel's business customers to reduce their costs even further, while also enhancing their own business experience through communications," said Stefan Oberg, VP and General Manager of Skype for Business. "Skype for SIP is easy for businesses to configure and manage using Skype's Web-based Business Control Panel (BCP), making it complementary to ShoreTel's UC system, which is renowned for its simplicity."
Skype for SIP allows ShoreTel's business customers and their employees to receive inbound calls through their ShoreTel SIP-enabled UC system from more than 400 million registered Skype users around the world at no cost to the Skype user. In addition, organizations using ShoreTel can reduce their costs further by directing outbound calls from devices connected to the ShoreTel UC system via Skype for SIP to landlines and mobile devices worldwide at low Skype rates. Organizations that use ShoreTel with Skype for SIP may also purchase and associate online Skype numbers, currently available in more than 25 countries, with their ShoreTel UC system to receive inbound calls from landline and mobile phones.
"As part of our ongoing commitment to a standards-based open ecosystem that offers flexibility and choice, we are delivering a significant competitive advantage to ShoreTel customers with the ability to leverage Skype's low-cost calling rates and to create an online presence with a click-to-call button that enables Skype users to call them for free," said John W. Combs, president and CEO at ShoreTel. "The simple-to-configure capabilities of Skype for SIP will further improve the flexibility and efficiency of our customers' operations, while lowering the total cost of ownership even further, and providing the boost in productivity they are used to seeing from ShoreTel's UC systems."
For more information on Skype for SIP and to sign up for the Skype for SIP beta, please visit www.skypeforsip.com.
For detailed information on ShoreTel products and features, please visit www.shoretel.com.