Compare Avaya and ShoreTel UC Solutions

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

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

Competitive Analysis: ShoreTel versus Avaya PAGE 2

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 user interface simplifies
administration and reduces TCO 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
The less there is to learn, the
easier the solution is to use and detection, and collaboration. The ShoreTel UC system is a single platform that can scale
to manage. ShoreTel’s UC system easily from 10 to 10,000 users to accommodate employee growth, the addition of new
has only one, easy-to-use interface, sites and expansion to new geographic regions, all within the same environment. It
ShoreTel Director, which makes provides a seamless, integrated environment for users and a unified, easy-to-manage
for easy administration and fewer
solution for IT administrators.
training expenses.
In contrast, Avaya IP Office is
difficult to master. This offering
requires that users operate 3. Accelerating deployment
separate interfaces for four critical
features: IP Office Manager, IP A UC solution should be designed for rapid implementation so organizations can reduce
Office System Status, a one-X portal deployment costs and accelerate the time to value. Administrators should be able
application, and Voicemail Pro.
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.


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.

The ShoreTel integrated administrator user interface

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


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.

The ShoreTel single-image architecture

ShoreTel Director

PSTN
/ITSP
HEADQUARTERS
INTERNATIONAL
Headquarters Server BRANCH
(System Adminstration, voicemail, ShoreTel
auto attendant, work groups) ShoreTel ShoreTel
Communicator & Voice Switches
[Physical or Virtual] Communicator &
Analog RoamAnywhere
RoamAnywhere
Device

Contact ShoreTel Distributed Voice
Center Communicator Server (voicemail
& auto attendant)
[Physical or Virtual]
ShoreTel Appliances ShoreTel
(Collaboration, Communicator
VPN Concentrator, Contact Center
ShoreTel
& Mobility Router)
IP Phone
ShoreTel
ShoreTel IP Phone
Voice Switches

IP WAN

ShoreTel
Communicator & ShoreTel
ShoreTel RoamAnywhere Communicator
Voice Switch
ShoreTel
ShoreTel
VPN Phone
Communicator & Legacy
RoamAnywhere Voicemail

OFFICE
Legacy ANYWHERE
Phones

Legacy PBX

PSTN
/ITSP
REGIONAL OFFICE

E
PSTN
SINGLE TU R
-IMAGE ARCHITEC

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


5. Avoiding downtime through redundancy
Built-in reliability ensures
continuous communication
A UC solution should deliver high availability to support mission-critical business
In addition to n+1 redundancy— communications. Downtime can significantly damage a company’s reputation and have a
where only one additional direct impact on revenue. The loss of a dial tone can mean a missed opportunity or the
switch can provide redundant
loss of a customer.
failover for the entire system—
ShoreTel has eliminated many
Avaya products can struggle to provide the availability many organizations require. With
of the components notorious
for causing system and
Avaya IP Office, for example, the failure of a control unit at a remote site can render
communications failures. 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,
Unlike Avaya servers, ShoreTel
systems have no disc drives, data a connectivity failure could easily result in outages. Additionally, implementing Avaya
connectors, or multiple boards that redundancy options could be costly and add to architectural complexity.
can turn into points of failure. With
its single-image system, ShoreTel’s The ShoreTel UC solution offers cost-effective, n+1 redundancy with only one additional
distributed architecture is less switch needed to provide redundancy for the entire system. If a switch fails, its load is
vulnerable to the kind of glitches automatically distributed to the other switches, protecting the system from an outage. In
that sometimes occur in centralized the event of a network outage, the phone system can continue to place and receive calls
architectures such as Avaya’s—the
on the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The system’s distributed architecture
kind that cause costly outages,
such as lack of access to voicemail,
and applications, and its n+1 redundancy, help deliver mission-critical business
or worse, lost messages. communications with five-nines availability.
These features add up to “five-
nines” reliability for 99.999
percent uptime for ShoreTel—or
less than a few minutes of outage
6. Facilitating easy scalability
in a year. Industry estimates for
A UC solution should provide the scalability to accommodate growth resulting from
Avaya downtime suggest annual-
per-server outages of up to the addition of new employees, opening of new office locations, expansion into new
several hours. 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.


Expand communications as
7. Streamlining upgrades
business grows
A UC solution should help streamline component upgrades so organizations can take
Growing companies cannot afford advantage of new capabilities and lengthen the solution’s lifespan, without having to
to “hit the wall” when adding
invest excessive time and effort in administration. When UC solutions have multiple
more users to their UC systems.
upgrade cycles and processes for different solution elements, administrators must
To understand how to avoid
disruption, compare capacity and manage upgrades almost continuously.
expansion capabilities in ShoreTel
and Avaya solutions: With Avaya products, upgrading is time consuming and costly. Each server and
• ShoreTel solutions support gateway must be upgraded, and there is a different process for each product. For
up to 10,000 users; Avaya IP some systems, upgrades can require new hardware due to compatibility issues.
Office 6.0 deployments can
support just 384 users at a ShoreTel upgrades are faster, simpler, and less expensive. Because there is a single,
single site—and only 1,000 in scalable ShoreTel UC system, there is only one process for upgrades. Administrators
the multisite configuration, upgrade the headquarters server and reboot gateways and phones. Upgrades are
severely limiting growth.
distributed automatically throughout the entire system and are free through the
• ShoreTel Unified Communications
ShoreTel support program.
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 8. Adopting UC applications
Communications users, only a
single, appropriately sized switch To maximize the benefits of unified communications, a solution must make it easy
is required—but each additional for employees to adopt UC applications. Employees should be able to learn how to
Avaya site requires an additional use applications quickly and have access to capabilities without juggling numerous
control unit and several cards, interfaces. New applications should offer integration with existing communications
adding extra costs and more solutions to reduce the learning curve.
components to manage.
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.


Better productivity through
9. Reducing TCO
accessible-anywhere tools
UC solutions have tremendous potential for reducing the cost of business
Productivity in distributed communications. But maximizing savings requires a solution designed to address all
organizations depends on rapid
aspects of total cost of ownership (TCO). Organizations must consider not only upfront
accessibility—to messages,
productivity applications, and
capital costs but also the costs of deployment, management, upgrades, support, and
system management tools. energy consumption.
For end users, ShoreTel The complexity of the Avaya platforms adds to the TCO of these solutions. First, they
Communicator enhances
are more difficult and more costly to deploy. Because these platforms require the use
productivity with a interface that
integrates voicemail, Outlook of more hardware than the ShoreTel UC system, they also incur significantly higher
calendar, and contacts. The operating expenses, including the costs of powering, cooling, and managing multiple
same ShoreTel Communicator servers and applications. Furthermore, all Avaya UC products require extensive,
functionality can be accessed costly training.
either through a browser, mobile
device, or PC client. It can be The ShoreTel UC system has the industry’s lowest TCO.1 In addition to significantly
configured so voicemail appears reducing communication costs, ShoreTel UC keeps hardware acquisition, software
within a user’s Outlook inbox so
licensing, and management costs low. Compared with the multiple-server requirements
workers can quickly prioritize and
of Avaya platforms, the ShoreTel UC system requires only one headquarters server and
respond to incoming messages.
one converged conferencing appliance—so organizations have fewer servers to buy
In contrast, Avaya IP Office is
and operate. Streamlined management also means that administrators can spend less
available only on PCs where it has
already been installed—limiting its time and money deploying the solution and keeping it running.
usefulness. Remote access requires
a separate product, and Avaya
Taking into account the full range of costs associated with unified communications
users must remotely access three solutions—from capital costs and implementation to training costs and electricity—
different clients for phone and the ShoreTel solution can deliver a TCO that is up to 60 percent lower than the Avaya
Web access. Aura solution. 2
ShoreTel UC’s browser-based
management applications are ShoreTel provides businesses seeking a UC solution an easy-to-use online TCO tool so
also accessible anytime, from organizations can gain a clear and accurate understanding of costs before making an
anywhere. That means that IT investment. ShoreTel guarantees that its solution will provide a lower TCO than any other
personnel can fine-tune and adjust solution. If the ShoreTel TCO tool or independent data determines that the ShoreTel TCO is
performance remotely, whenever higher than a competing solution, ShoreTel will lower its price to beat the competition.
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

$26.37
25
25 25 10-year analysis based on
$19.60
1,500 users across 3 sites
$19.60
20 20 20 $19.17 $19.17 $19.17
Long distance charges
$15.01
$14.20 Network costs
$M 15 $15.01 $15.01
$14.20 $14.20 Electricity consumption
$M 15 $M 15
System management, MACs, downtime
10
Support services
$6.72
Implementation and training
5 10 10 Capital costs for telephony system
$6.72 $6.72 Capital costs for network upgrade
0
ShoreTel Mitel Avaya Microsoft Cisco TDM Source Data: Ferris Research, Inc.,
5 5 Wainhouse Research, Nemertes Research,
Alinean Research, The Tolly Group

0 0
ShoreTel ShoreTel
Mitel Avaya
Mitel Microsoft
Avaya Cisco
Microsoft

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

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.


1
For 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.”

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.

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

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