Unified Communications Featured Article

Mitel Rebrands ShoreTel Solutions

By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC

This week, Mitel revealed the new names of its ShoreTel (News - Alert) solutions. The company introduced the rebranding a quarter after buying its unified communications competitor.

From here on out, the ShoreTel Connect CLOUD shall be known as MiCloud Connect with Teamwork and Contact Center. And ShoreTel Connect ONSITE is now MiVoice Connect with Connect UC and Contact Center. Also, Mitel (News - Alert) MiCloud Enterprise has been renamed MiCloud Flex with MiCollab and MiCloud Contact Center.

In addition to these offerings, Mitel’s on-site solutions include the MiVoice Office 250 with Phone (News - Alert) Manager applications solution, and the MiVoice Business with MiCollab and MiContact Center Business. The company sells cloud-based solutions as well, as some of the names above suggest.

"North American businesses are rapidly moving to the cloud, but they are not all doing it at the same pace or with the same configuration,” said Bob Agnes, President and Executive Vice President of Products and Solutions at Mitel. “Our customers need choice and a clear technology path forward. Mitel's portfolio is purpose-built to provide maximum choice and flexibility to meet customers' immediate needs, solve their business problems, and move them ahead – where ever they are in their journey."

Mitel sells business phones and collaboration, contact center, and unified communications solutions. Its technology powers more than 2 billion business connections a day. Its solutions are used by 60 million end users in more than 100 countries. And the company has been a key consolidator in the UC arena.

Gartner’s (News - Alert) 2017 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications lists Mitel as a leader. (The other leaders were Cisco and Microsoft.) Mitel moved into the No. 2 UC-as-a-Service market spot with the acquisition of ShoreTel; that deal was announced in July.

Marty Parker of UCStrategies wrote: “It is reasonable to expect that Mitel will stick with the delivery of economic and reliable telephony through their broad and diverse channels. If Mitel can continue to manage successfully the integration of their many acquisitions, this will likely work for them. It’s pretty likely that a lot of enterprises will be more than happy to buy low-cost ‘dial tone’ whether on premises or in the Mitel cloud and put their innovative energies elsewhere.”