SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple phone systems and unified communications (UC) solutions for the cloud and premises, today announced it has been awarded a 5-Star rating in The Channel Company's CRN 2015 Partner Program Guide. This annual directory is the definitive listing of technology vendors that service solution providers or provide products through the IT channel. The 5-Star Partner Program rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

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ShoreTel has grown its channel partner program to more than 1,000 partners around the world, and recently announced that over half of its U.S. partners now offer cloud solutions. The Champion Partner Program is designed to enable solution providers to offer ShoreTel's end-to-end UC communications products and services. The program includes mainstays such as opportunity registration, sales and technical training, MDF/marketing support and more. In addition, it offers tools and programs to increase solution provider success and profitability, such as workshops to facilitate cloud business planning and enablement, and sales professional recruiting assistance.

To determine the 2015 5-Star recipients, The Channel Company's Research team assessed each vendor's application based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support and communication.

"This recognition by CRN is further support that our channel program meets the needs of solution providers and enables them to offer a unique blend of premises, cloud and hybrid solutions to power today's always-on workforce. We'll be making even more exciting changes to our partner program later this year that map to these flexible delivery models," said David Petts, senior vice president of worldwide sales at ShoreTel. "ShoreTel and its partners share the same goals of delivering UC solutions that eliminate complexity, reduce costs and improve productivity."

"Solution providers have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting vendor partners. Identifying the right vendor, with the right technologies, and the right approach can make all the difference," said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. "Our annual Partner Program Guide and 5-Star rating recognizes the best channel programs available in the market today to help solution providers determine which vendors deliver the best partner elements for their individual business goals."

The 2015 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN, and online at www.CRN.com.

About The Channel Company
The Channel Company, with established brands including CRN, XChange Events, IPED and SharedVue, is the channel community's trusted authority for growth and innovation. For more than three decades, we have leveraged our proven and leading-edge platforms to deliver prescriptive sales and marketing solutions for the technology channel. The Channel Company provides Communication, Recruitment, Engagement, Enablement, Demand Generation and Intelligence services to drive technology partnerships. Learn more at www.thechannelcompany.com.

About ShoreTel, Inc.
ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR) is a leading provider of brilliantly simple IP phone systems and unified communications solutions. Its award-winning on-premises IP-PBX solution and cloud-based hosted phone system eliminate complexity and improve productivity. Recognized for its industry-leading customer experience and support, ShoreTel's innovative business phones, application integration, collaboration tools, mobility, and contact center applications enable users to communicate and collaborate no matter the time, place or device, with minimal demand on IT resources. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and has regional offices and partners worldwide. For more information, visit www.shoretel.com.

ShoreTel and the ShoreTel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ShoreTel, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks herein are the property of their respective owners.

Media contact:
Katie Maller
408-962-2786
kmaller@shoretel.com

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SOURCE ShoreTel