Shore Tel Vs Avaya

WHITE PAPER

Unified Communications: Comparing Avaya and ShoreTel Solutions side-by-side comparison is conclusive: shoretel unified

communications offers a complete, integrated solution

with lower tco than avaya aura or avaya ip office

Competitive Analysis: ShoreTel versus Avaya PAGE 2

table of contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2. Selecting a unified solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3. Accelerating deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4. Simplifying management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

5. Avoiding downtime through redundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

6. Facilitating easyscalability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

7. Streamlining upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

8. Adopting UC applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

9. Reducing TCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

10. Achieving high customer satisfaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

11. Capitalizing on Unified Communications today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 1. ShoreTel Unified Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Figure 2. The ShoreTel single-image architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Figure 3. The ShoreTel TCO advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10


1. introduction

Organizations of all sizes are implementing unified communications (UC) solutions to increase worker productivity, facilitate increased mobility, and reduce the costs of business communications. But selecting the right solution can determine whether companies realize those benefits or needlessly add cost and complexity.

The ShoreTel UC system provides a comprehensive, integrated solution that is easy to use, simple to manage and cost effective to operate. Compared with Avaya products, ShoreTel’s UC solution offers numerous advantages, including streamlined deployment and management, easier scalability, and a significantly lower total cost of ownership (TCO). Conducting a thorough, side-by-side comparison of ShoreTel and Avaya offerings can help organizations make informed decisions, whether they need to build a business case for a UC system or are ready to select a new solution.

2. selecting a unified solution

A UC solution should be truly unified—not a loose collection of distinct products, but a single platform with integrated capabilities. It should offer an integrated user interface that allows workers to move seamlessly among multiple modes of communication and provide a straightforward architecture with an easy-to-use management console to streamline administration. A UC solution should also be easy to scale so organizations can expand the solution as business grows without having to “rip and replace” existing systems.

Avaya offers two UC platforms: Avaya IP Office for small businesses and Avaya Aura Communication Manager for large enterprises. Moving from one platform to the other can be difficult and costly so organizations need to gauge wisely both their current and future needs when setting out to select a platform.

The Avaya platforms have been adapted from legacy technology and assembled piecemeal. Avaya IP Office was created by adding IP technology on top of existing Avaya digital and analog systems. The flagship Avaya Aura solution is a series of up to nine products assembled in part with technology accumulated through corporate acquisitions. The result is a complex solution that can require extensive time and resources to manage.


By contrast, the ShoreTel UC system was designed from the ground up to provide a single, all-in-one solution that integrates a full range of communications capabilities including voice, video, and instant messaging, plus advanced tools for mobility, presence detection, and collaboration. The ShoreTel UC system is a single platform that can scale easily from 10 to 10,000 users to accommodate employee growth, the addition of new sites and expansion to new geographic regions, all within the same environment. It provides a seamless, integrated environment for users and a unified, easy-to-manage solution for IT administrators.

3. accelerating deployment

A UC solution should be designed for rapid implementation so organizations can reduce deployment costs and accelerate the time to value. Administrators should be able to install and configure the solution without months of planning, in-depth technical expertise, or excessive training.

Avaya products require more time and a higher skill level to deploy than the ShoreTel UC system. Administrators must conduct more extensive hardware installation than with the ShoreTel UC system, including multiple PC clients that are unnecessary with ShoreTel. Furthermore, a multisite Avaya environment requires administrators to install and independently configure the system at each site.

Learning to deploy and manage Avaya products is no easy feat. For example, administrators implementing an Avaya Aura solution must follow 52 pages of steps to configure Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking. Collectively, the manuals for Avaya IP Office administrators have more than 1,700 pages, requiring significantly more reading than the single 600-page administrator guide for the ShoreTel UC system.

The ShoreTel UC system can be deployed much more quickly. ShoreTel UC requires only a single headquarters server and can be deployed through a simple, browser-based console. Furthermore, drop-in switches are easy to configure from the headquarters location.

Single user interface simplifies administration and reduces TCO

The less there is to learn, the easier the solution is to use and to manage. ShoreTel’s UC system has only one, easy-to-use interface, ShoreTel Director, which makes for easy administration and fewer training expenses.

In contrast, Avaya IP Office is difficult to master. This offering requires that users operate separate interfaces for four critical features: IP Office Manager, IP Office System Status, a one-X portal application, and Voicemail Pro.


4. simplifying management

Solution complexity can easily offset the cost benefits of UC. If an organization needs to assign high-level IT staff to UC management, hire additional staff with in-depth technical expertise, or provide extensive training to existing personnel, the added management expenses will substantially offset savings.

Avaya solutions can be significantly more complex to manage and maintain than the ShoreTel UC system. Once the Avaya solution is up and running, administrators must navigate numerous interfaces to provision and manage all of the distinct applications. In many cases, administrators will need to take multiple expensive training courses to fully understand how to operate and manage the solution.

Figure 1. ShoreTel Unified Communications provides an easy-to-use management interface.

The ShoreTel integrated administrator user interface


Figure 2. ShoreTel Unified Communications simplifies management with a single-image architecture.

The ShoreTel UC solution uses a single-image architecture that encompasses all functions. As a result, organizations have fewer servers to buy and maintain and administrators can take advantage of seamlessly integrated management functions. Administrators can use the browser-based ShoreTel Director to manage multiple sites within a single interface. ShoreTel Director runs on the headquarters server—no additional management systems are required. To help administrators make the most of the ShoreTel UC system, ShoreTel offers simple, inexpensive training courses.

PSTN/ITSP

PSTN

SINGLE-IMAGE ARCHITECTURE

PSTN/ITSP

IP WAN

ShoreTel VPN Phone

Legacy PBX

ShoreTel Voice Switch

Legacy Voicemail

Legacy Phones

ShoreTel Voice Switches

ShoreTel Communicator

ShoreTel IP Phone

Distributed Voice Server (voicemail & auto attendant)[Physical or Virtual]

Contact Center



Analog Device

ShoreTel Voice Switches

ShoreTel IP Phone

ShoreTel Appliances (Collaboration,

VPN Concentrator,& Mobility Router)

ShoreTel Director

Headquarters Server(System Adminstration, voicemail,

auto attendant, work groups)[Physical or Virtual]

Contact Center

INTERNATIONAL BRANCH

OFFICE ANYWHERE

REGIONAL OFFICE

HEADQUARTERS

ShoreTel Communicator &RoamAnywhere




The ShoreTel single-image architecture


5. avoiding downtime through redundancy

A UC solution should deliver high availability to support mission-critical business communications. Downtime can significantly damage a company’s reputation and have a direct impact on revenue. The loss of a dial tone can mean a missed opportunity or the loss of a customer.

Avaya products can struggle to provide the availability many organizations require. With Avaya IP Office, for example, the failure of a control unit at a remote site can render phones inoperable. Meanwhile, Avaya Aura’s centralized architecture relies heavily on the WAN, which typically delivers only three-nines (99.9 percent) availability. As a result, a connectivity failure could easily result in outages. Additionally, implementing Avaya redundancy options could be costly and add to architectural complexity.

The ShoreTel UC solution offers cost-effective, n+1 redundancy with only one additional switch needed to provide redundancy for the entire system. If a switch fails, its load is automatically distributed to the other switches, protecting the system from an outage. In the event of a network outage, the phone system can continue to place and receive calls on the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The system’s distributed architecture and applications, and its n+1 redundancy, help deliver mission-critical business communications with five-nines availability.

6. facilitating easy scalability

A UC solution should provide the scalability to accommodate growth resulting from the addition of new employees, opening of new office locations, expansion into new geographic territories and acquisition of other businesses. Rapid and cost-effective scaling can help an organization stay agile while controlling costs.

With Avaya products, organizations must upgrade to a new platform when they reach the capacity limit of their existing one. For example, if a single Avaya IP Office deployment exceeds 1,000 users, administrators must upgrade to Avaya Aura Communication Manager.

By comparison, the ShoreTel UC system provides scalability for up to 10,000 users and 500 sites, all within the same, single solution. A modular architecture enables organizations to simply add switches where needed.

Built-in reliability ensures continuous communication

In addition to n+1 redundancy—where only one additional switch can provide redundant failover for the entire system—ShoreTel has eliminated many of the components notorious for causing system and communications failures.

Unlike Avaya servers, ShoreTel systems have no disc drives, data connectors, or multiple boards that can turn into points of failure. With its single-image system, ShoreTel’s distributed architecture is less vulnerable to the kind of glitches that sometimes occur in centralized architectures such as Avaya’s—the kind that cause costly outages, such as lack of access to voicemail, or worse, lost messages.

These features add up to “five-nines” reliability for 99.999 percent uptime for ShoreTel—or less than a few minutes of outage in a year. Industry estimates for Avaya downtime suggest annual-per-server outages of up to several hours.


7. streamlining upgrades

A UC solution should help streamline component upgrades so organizations can take advantage of new capabilities and lengthen the solution’s lifespan, without having to invest excessive time and effort in administration. When UC solutions have multiple upgrade cycles and processes for different solution elements, administrators must manage upgrades almost continuously.

With Avaya products, upgrading is time consuming and costly. Each server and gateway must be upgraded, and there is a different process for each product. For some systems, upgrades can require new hardware due to compatibility issues.

ShoreTel upgrades are faster, simpler, and less expensive. Because there is a single, scalable ShoreTel UC system, there is only one process for upgrades. Administrators upgrade the headquarters server and reboot gateways and phones. Upgrades are distributed automatically throughout the entire system and are free through the ShoreTel support program.

8. adopting uc applications

To maximize the benefits of unified communications, a solution must make it easy for employees to adopt UC applications. Employees should be able to learn how to use applications quickly and have access to capabilities without juggling numerous interfaces. New applications should offer integration with existing communications solutions to reduce the learning curve.

Avaya IP Office has three different end-user clients, adding complexity and difficulty for users. The clients include the one-X Portal (which offers browser-based access although not all users can use this portal), the softphone client, and the phone manager.

The ShoreTel UC system has a single user interface—ShoreTel Communicator, which provides simple access to voice, video, and instant messaging. Employees can learn the interface quickly and avoid having to shuttle between interfaces for different tasks. The ShoreTel UC system also offers integration with Microsoft® Outlook® for a seamless user experience. Outlook contacts can be integrated with ShoreTel Communicator, voicemail can appear in the Outlook inbox and the Outlook calendar can be used for time-of-day and day-of-week call handling.

Expand communications as business grows

Growing companies cannot afford to “hit the wall” when adding more users to their UC systems. To understand how to avoid disruption, compare capacity and expansion capabilities in ShoreTel and Avaya solutions:• ShoreTel solutions support

up to 10,000 users; Avaya IP Office 6.0 deployments can support just 384 users at a single site—and only 1,000 in the multisite configuration, severely limiting growth.

• ShoreTel Unified Communications can support expanding businesses with up to 500 sites, more than 15 times Avaya IP Office’s maximum capacity of 32.

• To support ShoreTel Unified Communications users, only a single, appropriately sized switch is required—but each additional Avaya site requires an additional control unit and several cards, adding extra costs and more components to manage.


9. reducing tco

UC solutions have tremendous potential for reducing the cost of business communications. But maximizing savings requires a solution designed to address all aspects of total cost of ownership (TCO). Organizations must consider not only upfront capital costs but also the costs of deployment, management, upgrades, support, and energy consumption.

The complexity of the Avaya platforms adds to the TCO of these solutions. First, they are more difficult and more costly to deploy. Because these platforms require the use of more hardware than the ShoreTel UC system, they also incur significantly higher operating expenses, including the costs of powering, cooling, and managing multiple servers and applications. Furthermore, all Avaya UC products require extensive, costly training.

The ShoreTel UC system has the industry’s lowest TCO.1 In addition to significantly reducing communication costs, ShoreTel UC keeps hardware acquisition, software licensing, and management costs low. Compared with the multiple-server requirements of Avaya platforms, the ShoreTel UC system requires only one headquarters server and one converged conferencing appliance—so organizations have fewer servers to buy and operate. Streamlined management also means that administrators can spend less time and money deploying the solution and keeping it running.

Taking into account the full range of costs associated with unified communications solutions—from capital costs and implementation to training costs and electricity—the ShoreTel solution can deliver a TCO that is up to 60 percent lower than the Avaya Aura solution.2

ShoreTel provides businesses seeking a UC solution an easy-to-use online TCO tool so organizations can gain a clear and accurate understanding of costs before making an investment. ShoreTel guarantees that its solution will provide a lower TCO than any other solution. If the ShoreTel TCO tool or independent data determines that the ShoreTel TCO is higher than a competing solution, ShoreTel will lower its price to beat the competition.

Better productivity through accessible-anywhere tools

Productivity in distributed organizations depends on rapid accessibility—to messages, productivity applications, and system management tools.

For end users, ShoreTel Communicator enhances productivity with a interface that integrates voicemail, Outlook calendar, and contacts. The same ShoreTel Communicator functionality can be accessed either through a browser, mobile device, or PC client. It can be configured so voicemail appears within a user’s Outlook inbox so workers can quickly prioritize and respond to incoming messages.

In contrast, Avaya IP Office is available only on PCs where it has already been installed—limiting its usefulness. Remote access requires a separate product, and Avaya users must remotely access three different clients for phone and Web access.

ShoreTel UC’s browser-based management applications are also accessible anytime, from anywhere. That means that IT personnel can fine-tune and adjust performance remotely, whenever necessary. System administrators who need immediate information or control to troubleshoot Avaya systems must first obtain access to a PC already running Avaya IP Office management applications, which could mean additional downtime and lost productivity during an outage.


The ShoreTel TCO advantage

Figure 3. ShoreTel Unified Communications can deliver a TCO that is approximately 60 percent lower than the Avaya Aura solution.

ShoreTel

$6.72

$M

25

20

15

10

5

0

Mitel

$14.20

Avaya

$15.01

Cisco

$19.60

Microsoft

$19.17

TDM

$26.37

Capital costs for telephony system

Capital costs for network upgrade

Implementation and training

Support services

System management, MACs, downtime

Electricity consumption

Network costs

Long distance charges

10-year analysis based on 1,500 users across 3 sites

Source Data: Ferris Research, Inc., Wainhouse Research, Nemertes Research, Alinean Research, The Tolly Group

ShoreTel

$6.72

$M

25

20

15

10

5

0

Mitel

$14.20

Avaya

$15.01

Cisco

$19.60

Microsoft

$19.17

TDM

$26.37




Support services



Network costs




ShoreTel

$6.72

$M

25

20

15

10

5

0

Mitel

$14.20

Avaya

$15.01

Cisco

$19.60

Microsoft

$19.17

TDM

$26.37




Support services



Network costs




10. achieving high customer satisfaction

Given the ease of use, simple management, and low TCO of the comprehensive ShoreTel solution, it is not surprising that customers have consistently rated it highly. ShoreTel measures every customer for satisfaction, engaging a third-party organization to administer a detailed survey that rates the customer experience. Results are compiled quarterly and, for more than 20 straight quarters, ShoreTel has earned customer satisfaction ratings higher than 90. Avaya, on the other hand, measures customer satisfaction only for maintenance and support. Posted results show that only 84% of respondents rated Avaya an eight out of ten, or better.


Independent research based on customer experiences has yielded similar results, showing higher customer satisfaction for ShoreTel than Avaya. The IT research and consulting firm Nemertes Research has rated ShoreTel the highest in overall customer satisfaction for the past seven years, based on feedback from 1,400 customers. ShoreTel scored higher than Avaya in all categories.

11. capitalizing on unified communications today

To realize the full benefits of UC, organizations must select complete, integrated solutions that are simple to use, easy to manage, and deliver a low TCO. The ShoreTel UC system meets those requirements, delivering a comprehensive solution with numerous advantages over Avaya UC products. By selecting ShoreTel UC, businesses can capitalize on the benefits of UC without adding costs or complexity.

Visit shoretel.com to learn more about ShoreTel UC, find a local sales contact or request a product demo.

WORLD HEADQUARTERS 960 Stewart Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94085 USA. shoretel.com

+1 (800) 425-9385 Toll Free +1 (408) 331-3300 Tel. +1 (408) 331-3333 Fax

EMEA +800 408 33133 Freephone +44 (1628) 826300 Tel.

ASIA PACIFIC +61 (0)2 9959 8000 Tel.

Copyright © 2011 ShoreTel. All rights reserved. The ShoreTel logo and ShoreTel are registered trademarks of ShoreTel, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other copyrights and trademarks herein are the property of their respective owners. Specifications are subject to change without notice. Part #850-1304-01

About ShoreTel

ShoreTel is the provider of brilliantly simple Unified Communication (UC) solutions based on its award-winning IP business phone system. We offer organizations of all sizes integrated, voice, video, data, and mobile communications on an open, distributed IP architecture that helps significantly reduce the complexity and costs typically associated with other solutions. The feature-rich ShoreTel UC system offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) and the highest customer satisfaction in the industry, in part because it is easy to deploy, manage, scale and use. Increasingly, companies around the world are finding a competitive edge by replacing business-as-usual with new thinking, and choosing ShoreTel to handle their integrated business communication. ShoreTel is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices and partners worldwide. For more information, visit shoretel.com.

1For additional information on comparative TCO, see “Assessing the Business and Financial Impact of IP

Unified Communications Systems” by visiting www.shoretel.com/resource_center/white_papers/Assessing_

the_Business_and_Financial_Impact_of_IP_Unified_Communications_Systems_.html.

2“Assessing the Business and Financial Impact of IP Unified Communications Systems.”

Documents

Shore Tel Vs Avaya