Siemens Rolm Delivers Complete CTI Desktop for Under $300; CTI Productivity Now Affordable for Business Desktops

Business Wire, July 24, 1995

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 1995--Siemens Rolm, the leading provider of voice-data solutions for the enterprise, today announced its latest offering, ComManager Pro, the first complete desktop CTI (computer-telephony integration) solution priced at less than $300. This CTI solution streamlines business operations and increases efficiency by bringing the power of telephony to everyday PC applications.

The offering, available immediately, makes the integrated CTI desktop affordable for every business user. The Siemens Rolm package includes a richer feature set, greater flexibility and better integration than any other CTI desktop solution. ComManager Pro bundles a complete TAPI (Telephony Application Program Interface) driver, ComManager client software and connecting hardware to provide everything necessary for full voice/data communications.

"Siemens Rolm has done more than drop the price of CTI client software -- they've made the integrated desktop universally affordable for business and available for every applications developer," said Paul Callahan, Director, Forrester Research. "This is a major advance into the next generation of business systems."

Bernard Elliot of Vanguard Communications Inc. said, "Siemens Rolm's introduction of a standards-based CTI desktop as its premier offering is a real breakthrough in business systems. Great desktop software, coupled with a reliable telephone, is state-of-the-art today and an ideal platform for future enhancement."

"This is not about our plans for the future. We are making a fully-featured, open, integrated CTI desktop available today for less than the cost of a programmable display phone," said Siemens Rolm Senior Vice President of Marketing, Richard H. Mattern, Jr. "ComManager Pro delivers the best value for information workers -- more telephony functionality, plus the efficiency of integrated applications and the reliability of the digital ROLMphone, all in one affordable package."

The Desktop

ComManager, a Windows-based software program that uses pull-down menus and point-and-click action, is the only program available from a major PBX supplier that gives users visible access to all the features of their telephone and voice messaging systems. The fully programmable telephone with its "soft keys" makes it easy to use the special features that facilitate call routing and enable collection of call statistics.

ComManager provides both TAPI and DDE (Dynamic Data Interchange) capabilities to integrate voice functions with any Windows application on the desktop. All Siemens Rolm switch features are user-accessible through the Siemens Rolm TAPI driver and ComManager.

The modular telephones used with ComManager Pro are fitted with a CTI Data Communications Option (DCO) snap-in module that interfaces between the PC and the user's telephone. This module requires no additional desktop space.

"Siemens Rolm has created a function-rich implementation for the open TAPI standard," said Microsoft's Charles Fitzgerald, product manager, Personal Systems Division. "TAPI provides the standard mechanism to incorporate telephony into everyday PC applications, streamlining operations and creating powerful links between information and communications."

"Siemens Rolm is a pioneer in desktop CTI," said Allan Sulkin, president of TEQConsult Group. "Starting in 1987 with the ROLMphone 244PC which offered a proprietary API, Siemens Rolm continues to stake out new ground as the first to imbed TAPI."

Summary

Available today for use with the Siemens Rolm 9751 models 30 and 80, the basic ComManager Pro includes the following for its $299 list price:

-- ComManager, the Siemens Rolm desktop software

-- The Siemens Rolm TAPI (Telephony Application Programming

Interface) driver

-- An Easy-Add snap-in DCO module for ROLMphone 600 telephones

-- A power supply

-- An RS232 cable to link the telephone and PC

Customers requiring ROLMphone series phones may purchase the ROLMphone 612 for just $165, completely outfitting a CTI station for just $464 list.

Siemens Rolm Communications

Siemens Rolm's leadership in CTI has been marked by a long list of technical innovations and product "firsts." Siemens Rolm shipped the industry's first CTI products in 1983 and the first PC-telephony API in 1987. Its CallBridge products that integrate the Siemens Rolm CBX with most computers -- whether mainframe or server -- have been available since 1990. Siemens Rolm is the leading PBX supplier of CTI links in the U.S.(a) Siemens Rolm's Windows-based PC application, ComManager, lets customers take advantage of a graphical interface for the telephony and PhoneMail functions. It was first available in 1991. Siemens Rolm continues in its commitment to furthering the standardization and development work that supports CTI because it offers Siemens Rolm an opportunity to bring greater communications efficiency and control to its customers. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: ROLM, PhoneMail and ROLMphone are registered trademarks of Siemens Rolm Communications Inc. ComManager, ComManager Pro, Easy-Add and CallBridge are trademarks of Siemens Rolm Communications Inc.