ShoreTel Releases Enterprise Contact Center Version 8

ShoreTel announces a new edition of its Enterprise Contact Center (ECC) platform. The California-based company dubs the latest release as version 8.

The upgraded version of ECC is available for free to licensed users. ShoreTel partners would have no straightforward opportunity to earn more revenue with the latest release. However, ShoreTel pointed out that any chance to earn more would stem from using ECC 8 to connect with existing customers to ask them what else they may need.

The latest edition of ShoreTel's contact center platform for enterprises has several differences from its prior versions. One, ECC 8 is now on top of the unified communications (UC) infrastructure of ShoreTel, meaning the contact center is now basically an app. Two, ECC 8 comes with improved web and email chat capabilities. Consumers can turn to their smartphones and tablets to communicate via other non-voice means. And three, the reporting function has been touted by ShoreTel as an improvement from previous ECC editions.

Steve McElderry, director of product management for contact center portfolio at ShoreTel, described how "significantly enhanced" the email support and web chat capabilities are in ECC release 8. He said that the new agent interface makes emailing easier than before, with agents being able to email back with one click. In addition, the task of email routing to the appropriate agent is also accomplished more easily with the new release.

Another key difference is the enhanced reporting function which offers supervisors more insight into the degree of back log and the speed by which emails on queue are being answered.

When it comes to web chat, ECC 8 enables supervisors to simultaneously manage several agent conversations, so they can offer coaching to an agent when needed. Steve McElderry likens it "to the ability to silent-monitor a voice phone call."

Other new features include callback (to prevent customers from enduring long hold times) and simplified ECC 8 installation for ShoreTel partners. Before, resellers were forced to deactivate parts of the ECC system in order to augment the capacity. With release 8, resellers can upgrade online without putting out of service any part of the ECC system.

"ShoreTel is being selected by more large enterprises than ever before, for which the multi-channel contact center is a key part of their evaluation for their overall communications strategy," said Pejman Roshan, vice president of Product Management at ShoreTel, in a prepared statement. "We're realizing the significant investments we've made in channel programs and certifications, and integrated innovation partner solutions to bring a sophisticated yet brilliantly simple contact center solution to market. We will continue to focus on this strategic communication segment driven by the adoption of mobile users demanding multiple ways to communicate, and in parallel evolve our solutions to incorporate more unique hybrid cloud solutions over time." (KOM) Link. Link.