ShoreTel and Alinean Power Unified Communications with TCO Tool

ShoreTel, provider of IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications, announced the ShoreTel (News - Alert) Online TCO Tool, which is powered by Alinean, developer of research, methodologies and software tools to measure and quantify the value of return on investment from business-to-business solutions.

The ShoreTel TCO Tool analyzes TCO, upfront acquisition, costs management and support, for ShoreTel, legacy TDM systems and various competing UC vendors.

Tom Pisello, chairman, Alinean, Inc. explains that most IP Telephony buyers continue to make new purchase decisions based on up-front costs which often exceed acquisition cost over the life of the system. He added that that ShoreTel TCO Tool helps customers model the complexities and comparisons of TCO categories, consider both near and long term costs across multiple UC solutions, and provide a vital tool for buyers to make well-informed value-based purchase decisions.

Mark Arman, vice president of business development, ShoreTel said that economic pressures and other corporate governance requirements lead to shared decision making between the CFO and other financial decision makers. Using ShoreTel TCO Tool, which is easily accessible through our Web site, he added that they were confident that more organizations would take advantage of the vital insight it provides to support the decision-making process.

The ShoreTel TCO Tool can reduce TCO by up to 40 percent or more. Additionally, the Tool combines upfront capital costs, annual recurring operating expenses and annual tax savings into a single TCO comparison.

Another feature is pay-back period, return on investment, internal rate of return and net present value. Results from the ShoreTel TCO Tool are supported by ShoreTel's Lowest TCO Guarantee program, which ensures lowering of prices to beat competition.