MiCloud Connect vs. PanTerra Networks

If your company has relied only on an on-premises system in the past, Mitel is a fantastic alternative. Mitel provides an excellent hosted option for businesses looking for scalability as they expand as well as ease of deployment for use by branch offices and remote employees. However, I would recommend caution if the company plans to utilize Mitel as its only communications platform because its conferencing solutions are not ready for prime time.

Incentivized

One of the main draws of PanTerra Networks Streams is the unlimited calling, which was very enticing. We chose the platform over other models (per-call for example) because they simplified billing. While the video conferencing and messaging feel bare-bones or underdeveloped in comparison to other players in the market, the fact that the messaging is seamlessly integrated into the PBX makes it easy to use. The call routing systems are especially robust, which in the collections world is very important to be able to segment calls to different users.

Incentivized

• The system up-time has been 100% over 3 years.
• With separate systems and two locations we used to have to fake the system into 4 digit dialing by forwarding all remote extensions to DIDs. Now with Shortel extended to the remote location we have true 4 digit dialing.
• The Shortel desktop application makes managing calls and call routing a breeze for even our most novice users.

Incentivized

• Attended or un-attended answering of incoming calls
• Transfer calls to appropriate person
• Integrates with cell phones for always available
• Keeps a log of phone calls
• Allows me to use messaging on my phone system and desktop
• Allows me to manage user accounts

Incentivized

• The Shoretel Mobility app for iPhone does not work very well and is not very intuitive in my experience.
• We have had many intermittent instances of employees reporting that call quality is bad, sounds like the caller is garbled and underwater.
• I deployed Shoretel Sky to eleven branches in four states over a 6 month period and experiences were not very consistent. Had issues with not enough power bricks being sent with the phones, some phones not having the the face sticker showing messages, directories, etc., user guides (quick start guides) not getting shipped with the phones at some branches, and phones being programmed incorrectly. This made it very difficult to plan my trips to train employees and install these at the various locations.

• Billing support is not easy to reach.
• Being online and on app is a bit confusing. You have to set each to ring or not.
• We would love if you could change the outbound caller ID faster than in settings. Like when you dial out.

Incentivized

Although the price is higher than some of the other Hosted systems out there, the value is definitely worth a renewal. Everything is relative: there are some companies out there who need phones, but don't necessarily care how they work, the functionality/features available/durability etc., they just care that they have phones that make and receive calls. There are other companies that are completely reliant on phones and certain functionality that is provided by the system. There are even some companies who are straight up dependent on the phone system and are losing tons of money anytime they are down, ShoreTel is the perfect fit for theSMB client who sees value in a solid,robust, reliable and high functioning phone system

Incentivized

In all likelihood, we will remain Panterra customers for many years. VoIP phone and messaging is a rapidly expanding and evolving market, however, and its possible a better solution will come along, but for now, Panterra Streams offers a compelling solution combining leading features, great customer service, and affordable pricing.

Incentivized

I have not used a wide array of communication software, but this far ShoreTel/MiCloud has been the simplest and easiest to get into. My work employs several temps at certain points throughout the year, and they use this piece of software frequently, and new hires seem to have little to no issue using this software. Additionally, this is our primary telephone communication infrastructure, and I have yet to encounter any issues when signed in and regularly using it handling external calls to our department.

Incentivized

PanTerra Networks needs to make the interface more user friendly and make it easier for the users. Like saving message templates or saving phone numbers for the fax directory.

Incentivized

The system has gone down on us MULTIPLE times. We asked them to move us to a different cluster. Shoretel declined. Basically we had problems or outages every month of the year from June 2012 to date. Our old phone system was just that: OLD, no bells or whistles. But it was up every day and I never had to think about it much until it was time for an upgrade. That's how I want Shoretel to be. I want it so reliable that I never have to think about it.

We have not experienced any outages or issues during business hours

Incentivized

Even though the system uses a lower bandwidth connection we have experienced a higher call quality than our previous system which required a T1 line and back up broadband connection.

Fantastic. Very happy!!! We love it and haven't had any issues.

Incentivized

ShoreTel Sky's support is amazing. The only reason why I didn't give it a 10 is that we still need to contact them for stuff that we should be able to do, for ourselves, within the management portal. I know their portal is being worked on, so hopefully they will get the "little things" included for self-management.

The support team is fantastic, probably the best I have experienced with any company. If I have a question, I can quickly chat with support and they resolve the problem nearly immediately. I don't have to call a phone number and wait on the line for hours for a response. Overall, the support team is one of the main reasons we continue to utilize PanTerra Streams.

Incentivized

I attended the first ShoreTel installer class in Austin,TX. It was a week of intensive study with a live lab and having hands on experience made the class worthwhile. I have taken all of the sales courses and remaining technical courses either online or self study to keep costs down. I send my techs to the first installer course in Austin as I feel it gives them a solid foundation and most of teh other courses they have taken have been online.

Incentivized

The training identified some things M5 (ShoreTel's cloud division) could provide, however it was only using it every day and asking the Shoretel support several questions that I got the hang of it. The training was able to highlight functions but I did not learn how to use the phone from the training.

Everything was fantastic. Training was sufficient and everything was easy to use. It was provided on our schedule and was very clear. I did the training myself. Training person was very knowledgeable. We are very happy. Only two users. very happy very happy very happy very happy very happy very happy

Incentivized

I feel that the current features that ShoreTel provides are pretty solid, but in future I would love to see it expand into more features to assist inter team communication if possible. Considering that there was not a single issue with ShoreTel in my whole work period of 6months I think it is safe to say that the implementation is pretty standardized.

Incentivized

The implementation was fast. Things were explained quite well on the onboarding call. All that was left to do was to map the extensions(they did this for us) and port over the numbers. The porting process went pretty smoothly! No complaints at all.

Incentivized

Costs are lower with Mitel's offering than was the case with SureTel's offering. Switching from SureTel to MiTel was simple and painless. A software update was pushed by IT, and users migrated with relative ease. The vast majority of users did not need any involvement from IT during and after the switch over

Incentivized

We've used Net2Phone and Segra prior to using PanTerra Networks. PanTerra Networks has been our best overall system. For Net2Phone, call quality was an issue at times and it was not easy to update the system for holidays at the time of use as well as limited data analytics. Segra had good call quality and ease of system but did not have good data analytics at the time of use. PanTerra Networks had all: Call quality, ease of customization and good data analytics.

Incentivized

Shoretel has been very scalable for our organization. We first installed Shoretel in 2003 to standardize three sites on one phone system. As our needs have changed, our Shoretel system has adapted with our growing needs and added locations. Initially, we were using analog phones and have been rolling out VoIP as our budgeting has allowed.

Incentivized

We only have three phones and two users

Incentivized

• We've definitely seen a business impact on our company in a positive manner. We've been able to provide the best possible service that suits our needs, while not being gouged by ISP's or Telco providers.
• We can better serve our customer service reps and tech support people by managing our own system, creating our own ring groups and control use.

• Very reliable. We make hundreds of calls outbound and there has never been a connectivity issue or otherwise
• We decreased our monthly expense for reliable service by several hundred dollars
• The onboarding support was the best we've ever experienced. They were on the phone while we hooked up every phone, tested, and got it all set up with ease.
• Any changes needed after onboarding were difficult to accomplish without a call to customer service. Some of those calls to customer service made things more confusing

Incentivized