VOIP Phone System Telephone: Shoretel ShorePhone IP 480

The ShorePhone IP 480

ShoreTel has been in the business of making telephone systems now for almost 20 years, and in that time has really only had one family of telephones. However, beginning in mid 2013, they released the all SIP family comprised of the ShorePhone IP420, IP480, IP480g, and the IP485g. This review will focus on the ShorePhone IP480, the mid-range telephone designed for a broad set of users.

To begin with, let’s start at the back of the telephone. Unlike its predecessors, the new family does not have a detachable base, which is a nice improvement. During setup, the cable can be plugged directly into the back of the telephone. During installation, this is a great time saver for the IT professional. There is a spot for a network cable and also for a patch cord to run to a computer.

There is, of course, a switch in the rear of the telephone which is strictly a 10/100 version. Gigabit is not available on the IP480, that feature is reserved for any telephone with a “g” after its name such as the IP485g. However, this rarely seems to be a problem as general users are fine with a 10/100, or if gigabit speeds are necessary a seperate data cable can always be run.
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The Front of the IP480

Immediately, the user will notice the large screen. The screen displays such information as caller ID, button labels, access to the soft keys, and directory information, among other functions such as time and date. However, the really great feature of the screen is Visual Voice Mail! When accessing voice mail through the telephone, users can fast forward, rewind, as well as save and delete messages by pressing the appropriate soft key at the bottom of the screen! I love this feature and think that this alone makes the upgrade from the base IP420 model worth every penny.

The front of the telephone also has buttons for:

• dial pad
• microphone
• large, rich sounding speaker
• Mute
• Speaker activation key
• Intercom key
• Volume adjustment keys
• Headset activation key
• 8 programmable keys along the screen
• 4 soft keys which are context sensitive
• Directional pad for interacting with the screen

Comments on the IP480

Among the new family of ShoreTel ShorePhone telephones, it is clear that the IP480 is designed to serve abroad market. The price point is in line with other VoIP telephones from Cisco or Avaya. Functionally, it easily surpasses the IP420, but lacks the color screen of the IP485g. It does come in a gigabit version, the IP480g, which is nice if you are running tandem of data and voice mixed on the same physical network. The speaker is a real HD voice machine, which i personally love, plus the Visual Voice Mail puts this phone above the rest of the others in its class.
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