Unified comms vendor ShoreTel is aiming to ease concerns about a lack of credit in the channel with a new company, ShoreTel Financial Services, a joint venture between ShoreTel and Wyse Leasing.

Although it will directly address the issues of the current financial climate, says ShoreTel, it is the result of two years of planning.
"The credit crunch has pushed us to have a final set of products on the market," explains ShoreTel Financial Services' Paul Ley-Pollard. "And we've been honing and refining the tools we're making available to resellers over the last six months."

The key propositions for the channel are zero per cent financing over two or three years, and a three month initial payment deferral scheme for end users.

The latter, says Ley-Pollard, should help resellers to close deals before the end of the financial year. He also said that there are more initiatives in the works.

"Over the next two or three months we'll be releasing more products that we've been working on that will have a real impact on the industry," stated Ley-Pollard.

Channel Development Man-ager at ShoreTel distributor Avnet, Simon Welch, praised the move by Shoretel. "Right through the system everyone is struggling to get the credit required to make business flourish," he said.
"It's encouraging when you see vendors like ShoreTel recognising this program and help resellers find creative ways to attract new business in the marketplace."