Community Bank & Trust Enhances Customer Service, Lowers Toll Charges, Eases System Management With ShoreTel’s Unified Communications Solutions

Community Bank & Trust Replaces Disparate Phone Systems and Standardizes on ShoreTel

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — ShoreTel(R), Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOR) , a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions, today reported the successful implementation of a ShoreTel Unified Communications (UC) solution at Community Bank & Trust in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. With ShoreTel, the bank has reduced monthly toll charges using the system’s least-cost routing feature and is now able to manage the system in-house, further reducing costs. Customer service and employee productivity have also been enhanced with the robust feature set of the ShoreTel UC system.

Founded in 1989, Community Bank & Trust has grown to more than $530 million in assets, 11 branch offices and one operations facility, and more than 200 employees. In early 2004, having grown its branches in several new locations, the bank was faced with several disparate phone systems from various vendors. Planning to unify communications and standardize on a single system for all branches, the bank reviewed solutions from 3Com, NEC, Nortel and ShoreTel. After an extensive evaluation, Community Bank & Trust chose ShoreTel based on cost-effectiveness, ease of use and management, and reporting functionality.

Savings

The ability to manage the ShoreTel UC system in-house has enabled Community Bank & Trust to eliminate the costs associated with having a service provider perform moves, adds, and changes (MACs), which used to take days or even weeks.

“We are constantly shifting personnel around, and the old phone systems made this very difficult and expensive,” said Sheila Genske, IT trainer and telecommunications specialist with Community Bank & Trust. “An outside vendor would have to come in, and the whole process could take days depending on their availability. With the ShoreTel system, I can make changes immediately, even from home. The ShoreWare(R) Director management interface is very intuitive.”

ShoreTel provided Community Bank & Trust with 16 ShoreGear(R) voice switches for its corporate office and branches, including a mix of ShoreGear 120, ShoreGear 60, ShoreGear 40, and ShoreGear T1 voice switches. The bank has deployed more than 300 ShorePhone(R) IP telephones, including the 530, and 560 models. Today, all Community Bank & Trust branch employees are on the same phone and voicemail system, dialing co-workers by name or using 4-digit dialing to reach or transfer calls to employees at any branch across the state.

Reducing operating expenses is also key to success in today’s banking industry. The least-cost routing capabilities of the ShoreTel UC system allow the bank to minimize costs by avoiding toll charges. For instance, if an employee at the Sheboygan location calls a customer in Glendale, Wisconsin, the call is routed through the company’s data network, through the Glendale branch, and out to the customer, bypassing toll charges. This feature has significantly cut the bank’s long distance charges, Genske says.

Enhanced Employee Productivity and Customer Service

ShoreTel’s UC system provides sophisticated features like directory dialing, contact screen pop, and calendar integration, which enables bank employees to spend less time navigating complex telephone systems and more time performing mission-critical tasks.

Community Bank & Trust receptionists use ShoreWare Operator Call Manager, which provides them with critical information necessary for exceptional customer service. For example, when the phone rings, a call-routing log displays the caller’s entire experience within the system. Before transferring callers, the call-transfer screen displays information about who is available, who is already on the phone, and who is at their desk but not available. With this unprecedented level of “presence” information, operators not only connect callers faster than ever with an available bank representative, but also give them the highest level of professional service.

“Operator Call Manager makes it easy to locate users who move around a lot,” said Genske. “So you’re not just blindly transferring to people — you can see if they’re there or if they’re already on the phone, and proceed accordingly. These capabilities have really enhanced our customer service.”

“Banks continue to face increased competition in a dynamic financial services market, so customer responsiveness and the ability to offer competitively priced services are major differentiators,” said Steve Timmerman, vice president of marketing at ShoreTel. “As Community Bank & Trust has discovered, ShoreTel’s Unified Communications solution can help lower system administration costs and reduce toll charges, while improving customer responsiveness and employee productivity.”

About ShoreTel, Inc.

ShoreTel, Inc., (NASDAQ:SHOR) is a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions. ShoreTel enables companies of any size to seamlessly integrate all communications — voice, video, messaging and data — with their business processes. Independent of device or location, ShoreTel’s distributed software architecture eliminates the traditional costs, complexity and reliability issues typically associated with other solutions. ShoreTel continues to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction, ease of use and manageability while driving down the overall total cost of ownership. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices in the United Kingdom, Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. For more information, visit http://www.shoretel.com/ or call 1-877-80SHORE.

Press Contacts:
Kim Rose
ShoreTel, Inc.
408-331-3357
krose@shoretel.com

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Source: ShoreTel, Inc.

CONTACT: Kim Rose of ShoreTel, Inc., +1-408-331-3357,
krose@shoretel.com

Web site: http://www.shoretel.com/