UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT

                       PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF
                       THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


        Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): April 21, 2003


                             INTER-TEL, INCORPORATED
               (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)


                         Commission File Number 0-10211


                Arizona                                         86-0220994
      (State or Other Jurisdiction                            I.R.S. Employer
            of Incorporation)                              Identification Number


          1615 S. 52ND Street
            Tempe, Arizona                                        85281
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)                        (Zip Code)


       Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (480) 449-8900

ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS

     (c)  EXHIBITS

          Exhibit
          Number                          Description
          ------                          -----------
          99.1      Press  release  dated  April 21, 2003  announcing  pro-forma
                    results for the fiscal  quarter  ended March 31,  2003,  and
                    comparing  such  results  with the  results  for the quarter
                    ended March 31, 2002.

ITEM 9. REGULATION FD DISCLOSURE (INFORMATION PROVIDED UNDER ITEM 12 -
        DISCLOSURE OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND FINANCIAL CONDITION)

The  following  information  required  to be  disclosed  pursuant  to  Item 12 -
"Disclosure of Results of Operations and Financial Condition" is being furnished
under Item 9 - "Regulation FD Disclosure" in accordance  with the Securities and
Exchange Commission's Final Rule Release No. 33-8216:

On April  21,  2003,  Inter-Tel,  Incorporated  (the  "Company")  issued a press
release  announcing  pro-forma  results for the fiscal  quarter  ended March 31,
2003,  and  comparing  such results with the results for the quarter ended March
31, 2002. In this release,  the Company also indicated that it currently expects
second  quarter  2003  operating  results  to be an  improvement  over the first
quarter of 2003,  given that the first  quarter is  historically  the  Company's
weakest  quarter of any fiscal year.  This press release is furnished as Exhibit
99.1 hereto.

In  May  2001,  Inter-Tel  entered  into  an  agreement  to  submit  to  binding
arbitration a lawsuit we filed in 1996. The arbitration was completed in January
2002 and, as a result of the  arbitration,  Inter-Tel  received a one-time gross
cash award of $20 million in February 2002.  Direct costs for  attorney's  fees,
expert witness costs,  arbitration  costs and additional  payments and expenses,
totaled  approximately  $4.5 million in 2002,  excluding income taxes, for a net
award of  approximately  $15.5  million.  The  estimated  net proceeds from this
arbitration settlement were approximately $9.5 million after taxes, or $0.37 per
diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2002.

USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION

This one-time  litigation  settlement was a  non-recurring,  non-operating  item
included in our GAAP results.  Our management  believes that the presentation of
our  results  on a non-GAAP  basis to  exclude  proceeds  we  received  from the
litigation  settlement  provides investors a more meaningful basis of evaluating
our  performance  for the first fiscal  quarter of 2003,  and for  comparing our
results with prior and subsequent periods.

                                       -2-

                                   SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.


                                        INTER-TEL, INCORPORATED


Dated: April 21, 2003                   By: /s/ Kurt R. Kneip
                                            ------------------------------------
                                            Kurt R. Kneip
                                            Chief Financial Officer

                                       -3-

                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

     Exhibit
     Number
     ------

     99.1      Press  release  dated April 21,  2003  announcing  the  Company's
               pro-forma  results for the fiscal  quarter  ended March 31, 2003,
               and comparing such results with the results for the quarter ended
               March 31, 2002.

                                       -4-