ShoreTel Steals Home on Cisco

You’d think Cisco’s smaller competitors would be quaking in their boots even more after the communications behemoth replaced GM on the Dow. Not ShoreTel. The California company stole home, if you will, right out from under Cisco’s nose in its own backyard. ShoreTel last month beat Cisco out on a bid to install a $1 million Internet phone system at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The company says its switch-based architecture was a big selling point.

You might say ShoreTel is becoming quite the “sports franchise.” It has installed similar systems at basketball and hockey arenas in Washington, D.C. and Buffalo, respectively.

"We can't overtake Cisco, but we're aiming to be No. 2," CFO Mike Healy told the San Francisco Chronicle. ShoreTel is trying to gobble up some of bankrupt Nortel Networks’ former and potential customers as well.