IP telephony vendor ShoreTel has claimed its UK VARs will be first to benefit from its European expansion drive and impending initial public offering (IPO).

The firm is preparing to enter a further five European territories after recently bagging its first customers in Scandinavia, Benelux, Portugal, Germany and Ireland.

Ken Bailey, head of EMEA marketing at ShoreTel, said the investment would allow the vendor’s 35 UK VARs to net more European accounts.

“ShoreTel is getting more customers with multi-country deployments, which is natural given the strength of our product around flexibility and scalability,” he claimed.

The firm, which works through UK distributors Horizon equIP, Selcoms and Cohort, filed for its IPO in February.

Steve Timmerman, vice president marketing at ShoreTel, revealed the decision to go public was more about raising its profile than boosting liquidity. “We’ve been profitable for eight quarters and cashflow-positive for six. The incentive was to increase brand recognition and demonstrate we are looking to compete long-term.”

Ron Brand, chief executive of VAR Link Connect, said. “ShoreTel isn’t well known so we must work harder to show what the system delivers.”

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