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Strategic Advisory Committee Formed to Review Strategic AlternativesSUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple unified communications (UC) solutions and phone systems, today announced that as a part of the Board of Directors ongoing efforts to maximize shareholder value, the Board formed a Strategic Advisory Committee of independent directors (the "Strategic Advisory Committee") to advise the Board in evaluating a range of strategic alternatives.  "ShoreTel has shown solid growth in our cloud business as part of our strategic transformation," said Don Joos, president and CEO of ShoreTel. "As global demand for cloud communications increases and the world shifts towards cloud services, we are seeing more and larger opportunities. To continue to ensure we are well positioned to maximize the opportunity ahead of us, we believe this is the right time to review the options for the next phase of the company's growth." Mr. Joos added, "As part of our ongoing strategic process, the Strategic Advisory Committee intends to evaluate all options thoughtfully and thoroughly. I can assure our shareholders, employees, customers and partners that we will only embark on a new course if it offers superior value for shareholders, but we remain fully committed to continuing to deliver innovative solutions and an excellent experience to our customers as we scale and grow our hosted business." The alternatives to be evaluated will include, but not be limited to: a company sale, the divestiture or acquisition of assets, licensing agreements, a realignment of our operations, joint ventures and partnerships and a continuation of our current strategic plan. There is no assurance that the review of strategic alternatives will result in any transaction or other strategic alternative. ShoreTel does not intend to comment further regarding this review until the review process is completed. The Company has retained J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as its financial advisor and Fenwick & West LLP as its legal counsel to assist in this review process. ShoreTel Appoints New Board Member Marjorie Bowen has been appointed to the board of directors and will serve as a member of the previously formed Strategic Advisory Committee. ShoreTel has an ongoing outreach to shareholders to discuss a range of business topics and through thee discussions with two shareholders, Ancora Advisors, LLC and Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC, Marjorie Bowen was identified as a potential candidate. With this appointment, ShoreTel's Board has increased to nine members, eight of whom are independent. "We welcome Marjorie to the ShoreTel board. She is recognized as a financial expert and brings broad corporate governance expertise in implementing strategic and operational change," said Chuck Kissner, chairperson of the ShoreTel board. Bowen acted as an investment banker with Houlihan Lokey from 1989 until 2007, serving as Managing Director since 1997. In this capacity Bowen advised corporate boards on transactional, strategic and other shareholder matters. Bowen also serves as Special Independent Director on the board of Illinois Power Generating Company (a subsidiary of Dynegy) and also serves as a director for two privately held companies. Recently, Bowen served as the Audit Committee Chair on the board of Hansen Medical, Inc. and previously served on the boards of six other public and private companies. Bowen holds a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. Forward Looking Statements ShoreTel assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this release. This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the federal securities laws, including, without limitation, statements by Don Joos, and statements regarding potential strategic alternatives. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. The risks and uncertainties include the intense competition in our industry, our reliance on third parties to sell and support our products, our ability to continue to grow our cloud-based solutions and to sell products of acquired companies, our ability to grow or maintain our premise products, supply and manufacturing risks, the impact of service disruptions or security breaches, uncertainties related to global operations, our ability to control costs as we expand our business, unforeseen difficulties in integrating acquired employees, products and technologies, inability to retain acquired customers, difficulties in managing more dispersed business operations, our ability to attract, retain and ramp new personnel, potentially longer sales cycles, uncertainties inherent in the product development cycle, our ability to identify and execute on strategic opportunities, uncertainty as to market acceptance of new products and services, the potential for litigation in our industry, the impact of mergers and consolidations in our industry, the uncertain impact of global economic conditions and foreign exchange rates, including impact on customers' purchasing decisions, and other risk factors set forth in ShoreTel's Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2015 and most recently filed Form 10-Q. About ShoreTel, Inc. ShoreTel, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOR) is a leading provider of brilliantly simple unified communications (UC) products, cloud services and IP phone systems powering today's always-on workforce. Its flexible communications solutions for contact centers and cloud, onsite and hybrid UC environments eliminate complexity, reduce cost and improve productivity. Recognized for its industry-leading customer experience and support, ShoreTel's innovative contact center solutions, application integration, collaboration tools, mobility, SIP trunking and business phones enable users to communicate and collaborate no matter the time, place or device, with minimal demand on IT resources. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and has regional offices and partners worldwide. For more information, visit shoretel.com. ShoreTel and the ShoreTel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ShoreTel, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. 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