CHICAGO, Ill., July 31, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Converged Technology Professionals, Inc. announced today its recognition by ShoreTel, a leading provider of brilliantly simple unified communications (UC) solutions, for delivering a reduced total cost of ownership for the Daily Herald's telecommunication needs. Prompted by the unavailability of replacement parts and maintenance support, the Daily Herald began evaluating phone systems after 25 years of using an NEC phone system. The Daily Herald used consultants and a cross-functional committee comprised of operators, agents, and front-line end-users to research options to replace the aging system. Three manufacturers were vetted by the committee; ShoreTel, Mitel, and MaVI.
After several consultations with Converged Technology Professionals, Inc., the committee selected ShoreTel. Several factors influenced their decision but it was the total cost of ownership (TCO) that served as the principal reason. Irwin Lazar, VP and Service Director for Nemeretes Research states that "Among all providers for all roll-out sizes, the median cost per endpoint to deploy IP telephony was $935. Broken down to individual vendors ShoreTel ranked lowest in first-year costs at $669 per-endpoint" (Lazar 3).
The integration with their existing analog devices, best in class sound quality, and investment protection offered from ShoreTel were contributing factors for the Daily Herald. Additionally, the previous system required a dedicated member of their team to administer the phone system. The ShoreTel phone system they operate now is easy enough for anyone to manage. The tremendous project work, customized architecture, and customer service provided by Converged made the transition to their new ShoreTel system smooth and kept their employees happy. The Daily Herald now has faster response times, can track calls historically, and has increased its overall customer service experience. The decision to use ShoreTel has given the Daily Herald the flexibility to grow and evolve as technology changes.
"The Daily Herald's TCO reduction was news that we were pleased to hear. Through our consultative approach we understood their requirements and proposed a unified communications system that would serve their needs today and evolve with their business for decades to come. ShoreTel allowed us to leverage the latest in UC technology, while enabling future expansion and upgrades; essentially future proofing the Daily Herald's investment," said Joe Rittenhouse, President of Business Development at Converged Technology Professionals, Inc.
The Nemertes Research report, "Minimizing Costs, Maximizing Value of IP Telephony" includes 189 organizations and seven leading IPT and UC vendors: Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft, Mitel, NEC, and ShoreTel.
About Converged Technology Professionals
Converged Technology Professionals, with offices in Chicago, Crystal Lake, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis, is a nationally-recognized, award-winning unified communications and mobility solutions provider for ShoreTel, based in the Midwest and serving a wide range of organizations from medium-sized businesses to multi-site large enterprises for their mobility, voice, and data needs. CT-Pros also offers cloud-communication VoIP services with ShoreTel Sky. CT-Pros' best-in-class customer service combined with ShoreTel's UC and mobility solutions assist companies within a multitude of vital industries including healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and the public sector meet their constantly-evolving technology needs. The company has a customer base spread over six continents and is one of the fastest growing VARs in the United States with last year's annual sales growth of over 200%. For more information, visit http://www.ct-pros.com/media .
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Works Cited: Lazar, Irwin, (2014). Minimizing Costs, Maximizing Value of IP Telephony.
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Converged Technology Professionals Inc Gary Fuller +1 312-447-8913
