ShoreTel's New AppFuse Goes 'Cloud-To-Cloud' With Salesforce

The product, dubbed AppFuse, leverages Salesforce's CTI adapter technology to tightly integrate Salesforce CRM capabilities with ShoreTel's cloud-based UC and contact center offerings. Among its key features are what ShoreTel describes as a "20/20 Activity View" -- in which the phone system's call records are captured whether a user is logged into Salesforce or not -- as well as voice-mail transcription and the use of Salesforce intelligent routing to move customer callers around to sales reps and contact center agents.

Because AppFuse is "cloud-to-cloud," meaning no desktop clients are required, more and varied mobile devices can be supported, said Keith Nealon, ShoreTel's divisional vice president, revenue. That's a big difference in the depth of the integration between the communications and CRM systems.

"Not every vendor has true cloud-to-cloud," Nealon said. "If you have to install a desktop widget to integrate with Salesforce, from a technical perspective [that's not] cloud-to-cloud."

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Nealon said that more business customers are buying with that level of integration in mind -- that being able to tie CRM systems to UC functions isn't just a luxury.

"It's the question of selling to line-of-business owners vs. just IT," he said. "For the channel it opens up a chance to make their services more sticky."

ShoreTel will be demonstrating AppFuse at Dreamforce in San Francisco this week.

ShoreTel closed its $146 million acquisition of hosted VoIP specialist M5 Networks in May, after which M5 began doing business as ShoreTel's Cloud Division.

The Sky rebranding, unveiled Sept. 5, kicks off a number of developments specific to the cloud portfolio over the next few months, Nealon said, leading up through ShoreTel's annual Champion Partner Conference in Orlando, Nov. 7-9.

PUBLISHED SEPT. 18, 2012