ShoreTel Dock Turns iPads, iPhones into Desk Phones
ShoreTel Dock Turns iPads, iPhones into Desk Phones by UCStrategies Staff
ShoreTel, Inc. announces the release of ShoreTel Dock, a device docking station that can transform an iPad or an iPhone into a desk phone complete with a handset, keypad, and a speakerphone. List price for the new accessory is set at $349 and will be sold through channel partners. It will be made available for both cloud and premises-based platforms in the third quarter of this year.
The iPad can be oriented in landscape or portrait orientation in the ShoreTel Dock. The docking station uses a single-power adaptor and automatically charges Apple handhelds. And when the “docked” Apple devices run ShoreTel Mobility and conferencing applications, they can serve as both business desk phones and enterprise collaboration tools.
The docking station hardware works in conjunction with the ShoreTel Mobility unified communications software. Users can simply pick up the handset, dial a number using either the dial pad on the ShoreTel dock or the device’s keypad interface, then make or receive calls.
Third-party VoIP applications, including Google Voice and Skype, also work with the ShoreTel Dock.
When interviewed by Channel Partners, Christian Gilby, manager of ShoreTel’s endpoints product management, said that the ShoreTel Dock is designed to deal with the three main challenges that users have with their mobile phones as primary or only communications device. According to Gilby, the challenges include the presence of a different user interface, short battery life, and inferior audio quality, especially when the speaker is being used.
“ShoreTel is the only unified communications provider delivering an intuitive and easy-to-use solution that truly optimizes how end users communicate for work,” said Pejman Roshan, vice president of product management at ShoreTel. “We didn't try to change or replace devices users already love, but instead enabled those same devices with enterprise UC to give end users a dynamic productivity tool that supports their own work rhythm. The ShoreTel Dock is the desk phone for the mobile generation.” (KOM) Link. Link.