Integrating with a Legacy PBX

In 1989 Hummer Winblad Venture Partners was created as the first venture capital firm focused exclusively on software. As the software industry has grown from PC software to enterprise computing to Internet applications, they have been at the forefront - funding the entrepreneurs and ideas that helped define these markets. Their portfolio companies include Napster, Netopia, Windriver, and Payplace, and they are considered one of the few elite VC firms.

As Hummer Winblad exploded in growth and expanded their enterprise into multiple offices, they wanted to connect their remote offices via VoIP. However, they had a huge capital investment in a legacy PBX (Nortel) in their headquarters, and they were unwilling and unable to simply make a forklift upgrade. What's more, they saw that the IP solutions provided by their legacy vendor were wanting, and many IP solutions couldn't integrate well with their legacy PBX.

The solution Hummer Winblad struck upon was Shoretel."Until we saw the Shoretel solution, we didn't think we had any other real options. It seemed we could add more legacy equipment, or move completely and immediately to IP. But we wanted to make a slow and methodical transition to IP, and we wanted to leverage our capital investments," explains Katie Hickox, Hummer Winblad's Director of IT.

Simply by adding a T1 card into their Option series PBX, they were able to create a virtual tie-line to the Shoretel system. From that point, they were able to seamlessly deploy Shoretel into their other locations, experiencing all the inherent VoIP benefits such as toll bypass, toll arbitrage, unified messaging, and web based administration. Three-digit dialing between the sites and seamless transfers were transparent to both end-users and customers. Even when additional users were added to their headquarters, Hummer Winblad was able to roll out Shoretel stations internally, allowing a smooth transition with minimum investment in their existing PBX. "It's not like a car," explains John Luevano, Ketchum's Director of Engineering, "With a car you have to decide when to invest in the car you have, and when to buy a new one - that's the mindset people have for their phone equipment. With a PBX, most companies don't realize that you can stop investing in your legacy equipment without throwing it out. A gradual transition is the one that makes the most sense"

Shoretel's scalability and adaptability proved a mighty asset, but even more powerful was the ease of use. The "switchboard" receptionist in the headquarters chose a Shoretel interface, opposed to a Nortel DSS/BLF, because she could not only see which users were on the phone, but she could also see how long they were on the phone and with whom they were speaking.

Hummer plans to roll out the Shoretel company-wide, eventually replacing their current PBX. Their goal has always been to have one phone system. It was only with the Shoretel solution that they were able to have the best of both worlds.

"We're very happy with the Shoretel solution, as well as the consulting from Ketchum Integration. They make a great team."