New to Shoretel

[tkilmer]

Good Afternoon Folks,

Just wanted to say 'hello' to all you Shoretel users, admins, engineers, etc. I'm brand new to the Shoretel world. We just recently gave our AT&T rep authorization to draw up a contract for our first Shoretel system. I have 10+ years under my belt with the Avaya Definity G3Si. We considered sticking with Avaya after months of research, however we've been nothing but impressed by Shoretel. A Shoretel rep visited our office last week with a demo kit. That pretty much sealed the deal. I will be attending the 'Implementing the ShoreTel IP System' class in Sunnyvale at the end of the month. I was wondering if you friendly folks had any feedback on what I should expect when attending the class? I really look forward to chatting with all of you. Have a great day everyone!!

By the way......this website is wonderful Charles. Keep up the good work.

Travis

[cburgy]

One of our new engineers just attended class so perhaps he can share what the most current cirriculum is like.

[Forum]

The implemention class is pretty good. I came from Data, and learned alot. With this, you will ahve a good understanding how to install, and handle the basics. Of course, the "Good Stuff' is in the Systems Engineering class

Charles

[VJ]

I & M class

Personally, I think you will find the class a disappointment. I am from the telephone side of the world also.
There is very little emphasis on how to deal with "a single switch in a single location".
We were part of the AVAYA world until last year. Do not expect the training or the methods to train you to in any wise resemble what AVAYA does. It is assumed you are a data techie.
The class is attacking the universe and not meat and potatoes of how the stuff works. I think if your seller does a good job on the install you'd do better to take the admin class on line (four hours) I have refreshed using this class and have learned more in four hours than in 4 days at I&M. And, this forum will be a very good learning place and source of help when you need it.
All MHO.

[tsison]

Shoretel implementation class

Hi Travis,

I just finished the Shoretel implementation class. The class has a full line of servers, software, Shortel switches and ip phones. It's everything you need to implement the phone system.

The only thing missing in my opinion is the DHCP, VLAN, inter-VLAN routing required to get your IP phones working.

I look forward in doing my first LIVE installation. If you have any questions about my experience feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Theo

[tkilmer]

Hey Vance, how's it going?? I'm sorry to hear that the class disappointed you. I guess from my point of view....training is training, and I'd like to get as much of it as possible, especially when it's on my company's dollar!! Although I have worked with the Definity for quite some time, most of my background consists of more data experience than voice. That 'one' Shoretel system I mentioned buying is actualy the first of about twelve that we're going to buy over the next couple of years. Eventually, we'll be using Shoretel all across our MPLS WAN.

Theo - Thanks for the feedback. I'm looking forward to hearing about your first live installation. Mine is going to take place in the middle of March. This location is a small location of about 30+ people. We bought this company a couple of years ago. They currently have an outdated Panasonic key system. And get this.......they have 19 POTS lines coming into their system. That immediatly threw up a red flag that they need to be upgraded to a PRI. We ordered them a ShoreGear50, a ShoreGear T1, 6 IP115's, and 30 IP 230's. Best of luck to you and your project.

Charles - Is Shoretel really adamant about having to have at least six months experience before you can take the Systems Engineering class?

[cburgy]

Hey Vance, how's it going?? I'm sorry to hear that the class disappointed you. I guess from my point of view....training is training, and I'd like to get as much of it as possible, especially when it's on my company's dollar!! Although I have worked with the Definity for quite some time, most of my background consists of more data experience than voice. That 'one' Shoretel system I mentioned buying is actualy the first of about twelve that we're going to buy over the next couple of years. Eventually, we'll be using Shoretel all across our MPLS WAN.

Theo - Thanks for the feedback. I'm looking forward to hearing about your first live installation. Mine is going to take place in the middle of March. This location is a small location of about 30+ people. We bought this company a couple of years ago. They currently have an outdated Panasonic key system. And get this.......they have 19 POTS lines coming into their system. That immediatly threw up a red flag that they need to be upgraded to a PRI. We ordered them a ShoreGear50, a ShoreGear T1, 6 IP115's, and 30 IP 230's. Best of luck to you and your project.

Charles - Is Shoretel really adamant about having to have at least six months experience before you can take the Systems Engineering class?

If you try hard enough, I am sure they will waive the 6 month requirement on the engineering class (they will probably want at least a couple months of use though). That being said, I think that experience is very valuable in understanding how to deal with Shoretel on a daily basis, the types of issues (bugs usually) you will have to deal with, and attempting different configuration settings.

[Forum]

Charles - Is Shoretel really adamant about having to have at least six months experience before you can take the Systems Engineering class?

I did my first install before I even took the implementation class (Our own install) and I did it myself. Then I took Implementation class, then I installed my 2nd system, then I took the system engineer class. It was only about 3-4 months after we became dealers.

Anybody who can study and test well should be able to pass the installers test, but for the systems engineer' test, you have a hands-on portion you have to pass as well.

If I can install a Shoretel in less than a week (3 site, 50 users) with nothing more than the manuals and 2-3 calls to tech support, and with no previous PHONE experience at all (I didn't even know what DNIS or DID's were), then you probably can. Our first install was our own internal system

[cburgy]

We did our very first install ( a few years ago now) by ourself with no knowledge of phone systems. We came from a data background. Like Charles, we just referenced the manuals.

That being said, I would defintely rely on an experienced partner to accomplish the installation and planning for you. This is especially critical as you migrate more complex environments. There is much to be said about having someone very experienced handle implementations for you.