Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) vs MiCloud Connect (formerly ShoreTel)

• Device failover and fallback. Because all devices ( IP phones, gateways, trunks, etc.) are distributed across all active servers, they are able to register with other active servers in case the current becomes unavailable. In this way, you can reduce the impact of any server becoming unavailable.
• Virtualization. Call Manager appliance can run under virtualized environments.
• Several features such as Survivable Remote Site Telephony makes Call Manager the best IP telephony solution in the market.
• Wide quantity and variety of end-user devices, including the most newest and modern ones in the market that can fit any budget and need.
• Call Manager is intended to be integrated with the newest collaboration tools like Webex and Jabber for call processing purposes.
• Great customer support services from the Vendor. The Technical Assistance Center is fantastic, experienced engineers are ready to help quickly out with any request.

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• Call quality is very good. Dedicated circuit for QoS is helpful. Even leveraging the Mitel Cloud service over our own ISP has been problem free. The disadvantage to that is the owned and operated router from Mitel where they control more connectivity issues and troubleshoot them as well.
• Support is also very good. Receive US based support staff when calling in. Issues resolved quickly.
• They are continuously growing in support and service.

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• Remote working - CUCM really struggles when it comes to remote work. In order to access the system remotely, a VPN or DirectAccess must be used.
• Extreme complexity - While CUCM does have more settings for flexibility, this also means there's more chances to mess up a setting and render a phone or line unusable, and there's much, much more to know about the system.
• No cloud solution - CUCM requires on site servers. Currently, Cisco does not have a cloud solution for their call manager.

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• 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.

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• This stuff is pricey. CUCM has to be tied together with a whole other host of Cisco call servers in order for it to do everything you need it to do, so there is always some other expensive license to buy every time you want to add or change something, so it can be a serious money pit. But if your leaders want the very best, and they want to keep everything in-house, this is probably your solution.
• Goodwill from leadership is way up, thanks to CUCM. The feature set is enormous, so we can do almost anything you can imagine with our phone system, and our leadership loves the video features and the way it integrates with WebEx and other related components.

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• We save a lot of time not having to dial numbers, measure call volumes and metrics and spend a lot of time configuring new phone systems. Our ROI is high from ShoreTel just in the time we save using and administering the system.

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