Siemens Announces Industry's First Volume Shipments Of IP-Based Phones and Analog Terminal Adapters - Siemens Information and Communications' Siemens HiNet LP5100 and HiNet TA 1100 - Product Announcement

Cambridge Telcom Report, Dec 20, 1999

Siemens Information and Communication Networks Inc. Friday announced it is the first manufacturer to achieve mass volume production of IP-based digital phones that interoperate with the vast majority of IP-based PBXs that are available on the market today from Siemens and other manufacturers.

The company also announced it is shipping volume quantities of its HiNet TA 1100 analog adapter that enables facsimile machines and analog phones to connect to the HiNet RC 3000 IP-based PBX system.

"The HiNet LP 5100 is the most advanced standards-based IP telephone on the market today and is also the first to interoperate with almost all available IP-based PBX systems," said Bernd Kuhlin, senior vice president of Siemens' Networks LAN Division. "With this level of functionality and interoperability, we expect that the HiNet LP 5100 will be a popular component not only for our IP-based communication server, but also for those who want to enhance the functionality of other H.323 compliant IP communication products."

Affordable Functionality

The HiNet LP 5100 is a high-featured business telephone with a built-in Ethernet network adapter for direct connection to a company's local area network (LAN). As a companion product to the HiNet RC 3000 communications server software, it enables IP-based telephony over traditional data networks. The phone also integrates flawlessly with standards-based H.323 compliant hardware and software from other vendors.

The HiNet LP 5100 is the most robust phone in its class and brings many of the desired digital business telephone features to the IP environment. These features and functionality significantly enhance communication, permitting calls between the HiNet LP 5100 and other IP telephones, classic PSTN phones and H.323 standard-compatible PC clients.

The HiNet LP 5100 offers many compelling features, including Siemens' highly-acclaimed OptiGuide interface that allows users to access and set up phone features by simply scrolling through a menu and selecting the desired option from the phone's 24-character LCD display. Other features include automatic redial, on-hook dialing, hands-free operation, 16 programmable speed dial numbers and date/time display. The phone also stores details on the last 20 un-answered calls, enabling the user to retrieve contact and time called information (whenever available) for these callers. Finally, the IP phone enables simple upgrades for administrators to download software via TFTP directly in to the phone.

Standards-Based Automated Management

The HiNet LP 5100 IP supports the H.323, H.225 and H.245 standards, as well as TCP/IP, FTP, DHCP and SNTP protocols. ITU standard G.711 (64 kbit/s) and G.723.1 (6.3 kbit/s) speech encoding algorithms are supported. High speech quality is enhanced through active echo suppression.

The implementation of SNMP and the provision of an HTTP server ensure that the HiNet LP 5100 IP telephone fits perfectly into management environments. The status, user name and address can therefore be validated from any workstation, local or remote. The optional use of DHCP protocol simplifies configuration of an IP telephone, as IP addresses are assigned automatically.

IP Analog Connections

The HiNet TA 1100 "plug-and-play" analog adapter connects fax machines (Group 3), modems (up to 33.6 kbps) and analog or wireless telephones to an Ethernet LAN, enabling these devices to communicate with like devices and other H.323-compliant IP terminals.

The HiNet TA 1100 provides an RJ-11 interface for attachment to analog devices. The unit supports industry-leading H.323 standard to ensure seamless integration with other Internet telephony products. Additionally other protocols are supported, including: H.225 (signaling), H.245 (media control), TCP/IP (Internet protocol), TFTP (file transfer for remote configuration), DHCP (dynamic IP address assignment) and SNMP (remote network management). The TA 1100 also supports ITU's G.711 and G.723.1 speech encoding algorithms. Support for the T.38 standard (real-time fax over IP) is targeted for mid-next year.

Availability, Pricing

The HiNet LP 5100 and HiNet TA 1100 products are available today direct from Siemens Information and Communication Networks, priced at $425 and $475, respectively.

The Information and Communications business unit is part of Siemens AG, a global powerhouse in electrical engineering and electronics with more than $75 billion in sales. Information and Communications consists of the three groups Information and Communication Networks (59,000 employees, $13 billion sales), Information and Communication Products (33,000 employees, $11 billion sales) and Siemens Business Services (21,000 employees, $4 billion sales).

Information and Communication Networks is an integral part of Information and Communications. As a solution provider of voice, data, and mobile radio networks, Information and Communication Networks has a comprehensive product portfolio -- producing and supplying complete systems, enterprise products, switching and transmission equipment -- and many years of consulting experience in planning, setting up, and operating networks.