Avaya recently released a total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis prepared by Tolly Group that found Avaya IP Office to have a lower TCO than ShoreTel solutions. Avaya sponsored the report.

This came as a surprise to us, as ShoreTel has long been regarded as having the lowest TCO of any IP communications solution. And we don’t have to take any expert’s word for it — our customers report to us that ShoreTel delivers dramatic capital and operational cost savings over competitive products.

So what gives?

it’s simple: Statistics depend upon the structure of the analysis. ShoreTel’s Bernard Gutnick explains that the Tolly Group report depended upon laboratory testing rather than real-world scenarios and left out several key costs. And he promises to reduce ShoreTel’s pricing if Avaya can come up with accurate TCO data from customers.

That’s ShoreTel’s lowest TCO commitment.