IVR

Private branch exchange, or 'PBX (News - Alert),' a telephone exchange, is fast gaining a strong foothold in the market, and an increasing number of companies are switching over to PBX systems. They connect internal phones of a business as well as connect them to PSTN through trunk lines. In addition, PBX systems also integrate modems, telephones, fax machines, and more. Enterprise-level telephony and communication providers are trying to gain the attention of medium to large-sized businesses by claiming to offer more features and benefits than the competitor.

Cisco and ShoreTel (News - Alert)are considered the two most prominent enterprise telephony and communication providers. Focus Research thoroughly studied Shoretel 9 IP Phone System and Cisco Unified Call Manager/Media Convergence (News - Alert)Server 7800 Series, and provided a comprehensive comparison data. The two systems were checked for outlook integration; IVR; call center support; software platform; hardware platform; security; IP station capacity; ease of installation; pricing; ease of installation; reroute to PSTN; and more.

In both the systems, outlook integration and call center support are included. However, IVR is included in Cisco Unified Call Manager/Media Convergence Server 7800 Series, while in Shoretel 9 IP Phone (News - Alert)System, it's available. Cisco's 7800 Series' software platform features either Windows or Linux, and hard platform is Cisco CallManager. Shoretel 9 IP Phone System comes with VXWorks software platform, and Proprietary ShoreTel Shoregear switches. In comparison to Cisco's (News - Alert)solution, installation and configuration of Shoretel 9 IP Phone System is straightforward. Focus Research noted that Cisco Unified Call Manager/Media Convergence Server 7800 Series is a complex system that requires extensive analysis and testing before deployment. Focus Research also found that Cisco's offering costs more than ShoreTel.

The white paper, 'Cisco vs. ShoreTel: Who Really Delivers Value for Large Enterprise Companies?' also includes comparison data based on other factors such as analog phone support; management and administration; phone support; security; and more. Also, this white paper covers PBX systems offered by other prominent companies in the market today.

Anshu Shrivastava is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anshu's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Kelly McGuire