ShoreTel Tackles BYOD With ShoreTel Dock and Mobility

ShoreTel has announced its new ShoreTel Dock, which is a docking station that allows the iPhone and iPad to be used as a business desk phone. This move seeks to transform Apple’s iPad and iPhone into enterprise-grade communication devices.

The iPhones and iPads used with the ShoreTel Dock will run ShoreTel Mobility, which is an application suite that can arm mobile devices with ShoreTel conferencing, UC, instant messaging, extension dialling and other features which have previously only been offered by business phone systems.

Additionally, users will now also be able to leverage their ShoreTel Mobility-enabled iPhone or iPad like any other desk phone. A handset is included, and this has a full dialling pad that can automatically charge an iPhone and iPad when the device is connected. The quality of calls is also optimized.

The vice president of product management at ShoreTel, Pejman Roshan, the new ShoreTel Dock and ShoreTel Mobility are intended to meet the growing demands of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend. Roshan said that as the iPhone and iPad are becoming the preferred method of communication for enterprise users, BYOD demands are becoming more apparent. However, these devices have some software and design limitations, which mean that they cannot truly be a business-grad solution.

Roshan stated: “The reality is that most knowledge workers ... have these devices and want to use them, but there are some challenges around making them the primary device.”

Battery life, spotty cellular coverage and “ergonomics” are the key challenges of using iPhones and iPads as work devices; the new solutions from ShoreTel seek to eradicate those problems.

Roshan added: “Mobile devices are designed for size and portability. So for two- to five-minute calls, which is, what we as users, typically average on a mobile device, they're perfect. But for an hour-long call ... they don't really hold up.”

ShoreTel Mobility accompanies the ShoreTel Dock, and provides devices with ShoreTel’s PBX features, which allows users to dial colleagues’ extensions, transfer calls and access visual voice mails, similar to how they would use a desk phone. Enterprise VoIP over Wi-Fi is also included, and this means that business lines can be extended to employees’ devices.

The ShoreTel Dock will be made available for $349 this summer, and is currently on display at the 2013 Interop event in Las Vegas. A second-generation dock supporting Android tablets and smartphones, as well as other features, is currently in development.

The president at Burlingame, California-based Xtelesis Corporation, Scott Strochak, noted that the benefit of the new ShoreTel Dock is that it can serve as an add-on to larger ShoreTel Mobility sales.

Strochak said: “This is an opportunity for us to complement a ShoreTel Mobility opportunity with a replacement of the desk phone. As soon as the dock hits the street, we will be down there in front of [clients] saying ‘this is another option for you.’”

Furthermore, the new ShoreTel Dock is also suitable for smaller or home offices, and has strong “prosumer” play, according to Strochak. (CY) Link