ShoreTel Acquires Agito Networks

ShoreTel has recently announced its acquisition of Agito Networks for $11.4 million, which is anticipated to be a vital investment for ShoreTel.

With Agito's solution, ShoreTel expands its goal of allowing communication through any device and network at any location. The technology provided by Agito gives users sophisticated voice and unified communications features such as voice over WLAN, and presence and location information. Furthermore, the solution gives the end user and IT staff gains in productivity, thanks to Agito's PBX and UC support for a variety of vendors.

With this acquisition, ShoreTel's proposition to save expenses by reducing mobile and long distance costs while using smartphones as PBX extensions has been enhanced and strengthened. ShoreTel can now offer native support for wide range of smartphones, thus reducing integration complexities.

However, not all view the acquisition as a particularly useful move. "At one time, this technology was really impressive," says Dave Michels of UCStrategies. "You could for example, route an incoming call into the phone system to a cellular phone via Wi-Fi or 3G. But I am confused exactly what ShoreTel intends to do with their new mobility play. I think Agito¹s success with non-ShoreTel brands will be compromised, and the company does not currently support Android or Microsoft Phone 7. Nor does the world seem particularly interested in FMC solutions."

Responding to Michels comments, Bernard Gutnick of Shoretel notes, "ShoreTel plans to functionally integrate Agito's solutions with our solutions, in a manner that will continue to be brilliantly simple for users and administrators. We will continue to offer Agito (aka ShoreTel Mobile) to Avaya, Cisco and other system customers." He points out that "The solutions will be even more appealing for the end customers, as they now can leverage ShoreTel's support and financial strength. Our competitors will certainly put up challenges, but they cannot get around the fact that the ShoreTel Mobile solution is superior to what they offer. We'll let the customers decide what is best for them."

UCStrategies UC Expert Michael Finneran notes, "Agito has been marketing its dual mode fixed-mobile convergence solution in conjunction with any PBX and had limited success. Now they have thrown in their lot with ShoreTel exclusively. I will be looking for some integration between these two product lines that will change the forecast line for this type of FMC solution."

For more information, visit www.shoretel.com.