Darby Bank & Trust Lowers Communications Costs and Enhances Customer Service with ShoreTel Unified Communications

Easy-to-manage distributed unified communications solution reduces maintenance costs and long distance charges, and lets operators handle calls more efficiently

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 30 -- ShoreTel(R), Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOR) , a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions, today reported on the deployment of a ShoreTel distributed unified communications solution at Darby Bank & Trust Company headquartered in Vidalia, Georgia. With ShoreTel, Darby Bank is saving between $2,500 and $3,000 each month in long distance charges while eliminating costly truck rolls for moves, adds, and changes, which can now be done easily by a network administrator. With ShoreTel's UC solution, operators can handle incoming calls more quickly and efficiently, significantly enhancing customer service and the bank's employees are more productive, thanks to easy access to telephone numbers and desktop integration features.

In operation since 1927, Darby Bank serves Toombs and Chatham Counties and surrounding areas in Georgia through 10 locations -- seven branches and mortgage, loan administration and operations offices. Recognizing the bank's existing PBX telephone system was outdated and at maximum capacity, the bank looked at IP-based solutions from ShoreTel, Avaya and Cisco. Based on demonstrations and customer references, Darby Bank chose ShoreTel and its reseller partner CNP Technologies.

"With ShoreTel, we didn't need to overhaul the network, like with Cisco," said Shan Venable, vice president and technology manager at Darby Bank. "And managing the system is easy. We don't have engineers on staff to dedicate to a complex telephone system, but with other solutions, that's what you need. ShoreTel also blew away the rest when it came to features for both users and administrators."

Darby Bank has deployed more than 160 ShorePhone(R) IP 530 telephones and 13 ShoreGear(R) voice switches. Three of the switches are ShoreGear T1 voice switches, which provide a T1 interface for high-density trunking to support Primary Rate Interface (PRI) signaling. Today, Darby Bank employees at all the branches are on the same phone and voicemail system, using 4-digit dialing to reach employees at any branch and dialing co-workers by name. The least-cost routing capabilities allow the bank to minimize costs by avoiding toll charges.

ShoreTel's rich features, including Microsoft Outlook(R) integration, desktop dialing from online directories, and contact screen pops, are so easy to use, the system has created raving fans. Said Venable, "Everybody has learned it quickly and effortlessly, and you'd never be able to pry the ShorePhone IP telephones out of their hands now." ShoreTel's ShoreWare(R) Operator Call Manager has also improved customer service. Before answering a call, operators can see a call-routing log and employee availability, allowing them to provide far more personalized service.

"In the current economic climate, we believe that financial institutions are particularly interested in leveraging their investments in technology to improve employee productivity and drive further cost savings," said Steve Timmerman, vice president of marketing at ShoreTel. "As Darby Bank has discovered, ShoreTel's distributed unified communications solution is a cost-effective way to use the data network for voice communications, reducing long distance charges and maintenance costs, while providing unmatched features for helping employees be more productive and collaborate more effectively with their colleagues."

About ShoreTel, Inc.

ShoreTel, Inc., (NASDAQ:SHOR) is a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions. ShoreTel enables companies of any size to seamlessly integrate all communications -- voice, video, messaging and data -- with their business processes. Independent of device or location, ShoreTel's distributed software architecture eliminates the traditional costs, complexity and reliability issues typically associated with other solutions. ShoreTel continues to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction, ease of use and manageability while driving down the overall total cost of ownership. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices in the United Kingdom, Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. For more information, visit http://www.shoretel.com/ or call 1-877-80SHORE.