ShoreTel has launched a stripped down version of its hosted unified comms platform in Australia, as it tries to gauge local demand for UC in the cloud.
Last year the company launched a full-hosted UC service in the US following its $US146 million acquisition of cloud specialists M5 Networks, subsequently rebranded as ShoreTel Sky.
However, local managing director Jamie Romanin told CRN Shoretel’s Australian resellers and customers would have to make their own arrangements in terms of where to host the service, either within their own data centres or with cloud service providers.
He gave no timetable for when the fully hosted solution would launch in Australia, but stressed he was confident the idea of paying for UC using an annuity model alone would prove popular amongst local organisations.
While the service was initially targeted at companies with 50-100 seats, Romanin said interest was growing further up the food chain.
“We have received lots of interest,” he said, adding that Shoretel would soon announce a significant customer in New Zealand which was part of the trial process.
A key component of ShoreTel’s hosted UC offering Romanin added, is its partner program which he said offered a flexible licensing model making it easier for partners to offer their customers choice.
Meanwhile, ShoreTel has launched the first version of its UC Mobility software (Mobility 6) for the iPad, with support for Android tablets expected to come soon.
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