As a leading provider of cloud, onsite and hybrid business telephony and unified communications, there is much to be expected of ShoreTel and the many innovative solutions they offer to help businesses minimise costs and improve the mobility and productivity of users.
In this article we shall be reviewing one of their flagship products, the ShoreTel IP655 phone, to analyse the benefits and disadvantages it brings to businesses and discuss who we feel would benefit most from this product.
What is the ShoreTel IP655?
As the most advanced telephone available in ShoreTel’s itinerary, the IP655 provides 12-line appearances with a lavish 640×480 backlit colour touch screen display and is also equipped with advanced microphone technology that delivers superb speakerphone capability – making this an ideal tool of choice for conference calling.
Offering a sleek and stylish design with an elegantly contoured handset that fits securely against the ear for maximum comfort during long calls, the ShoreTel IP655 is evidently a device built for executive-level luxury.
What can this business phone do?
Featuring crystal clear audio quality and a 6-way circular microphone system that will reach around the table during a conference call to pick up and focus on the voice that is speaking whilst simultaneously lowering the volume of the microphones pointing in other directions to enhance clarity and minimise feedback.
As well as this, the phone also has a 12 Lines feature which means up to 12 separate calls can be held at once, again reinforcing the idea that this phone is perfect for large meetings and/or conference calls.
Also, there is also a Visual Voicemail function gives users more control over their voicemail by creating a visual playback option that can be played back in a non-linear fashion as opposed to the sequential listening required using traditional voicemail. This way time is not wasted having to replay the message in full just to hear one relevant piece of information such as a phone number that was recorded near the end of the voicemail message.
What are our favourite bits?
As a phone that is designed specifically for conference calling, we were very impressed by the innovative 6-way circular microphone that combines both noise cancelling and sound quality enhancing technology to ensure each separate speaker is clearly heard by all members of the conference during a call. From experience we understand how difficult it can sometimes be to be heard clearly when in a room full of people talking separately – but this feature definitely helps to resolve this issue,
What didn’t we like about it?
Though this phone is perfect for conference calling, it’s lack of function buttons and Bluetooth compatibility mean that this phone may fall short if used for any purpose other than conference calling.
Who would benefit most from this phone?
As we have already mentioned, the world-class speaker system and microphone technology present in the ShoreTel IP655 means any businesses that participate regularly in conference calls or large scale telephone meetings would benefit hugely from this device.
How compatible is this phone?
The ShoreTel IP655 is compatible with both ShoreTel Connect ONSITE and Connect CLOUD platforms, making it quite a flexible solutions that suits both onsite and hosted phone systems.
Where to buy and for how much?
After a quick Google search, we can see that the ShoreTel IP655 is currently available for roughly $624.90/ £493.36. Probably best if you are currently using a ShoreTel phone system to contact your support company to ensure compatibility. I presume older versions system software might not support this phone? (if you know the answer please comment)
What do we think?
As we’ve mentioned previously, the price and design of this phone place it within the tier of executive use and conference calling – and for these purposes the phone is undoubtedly well designed and meets the criteria perfectly. However, if you are searching for a phone that can do more to help boost the productivity and mobility of a business and it’s employees, it may be worth searching for alternative devices.
Having said that, this is only our opinion and if you feel differently we would be very happy to hear what you have to say on the matter. All you have to do is submit your comments or review to the comments section at the bottom of the page and we’ll do out best to respond as soon as possible.
