Siemens Business Communications Introduces the Hicom 150 E Family of Telephony Communications Servers

Business Wire, March 3, 1998

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 1998--

Affordable ISDN Bandwidth, Networking and Messaging Capabilities

For the Small Business and Remote Office

Siemens Business Communications today introduced the Hicom(R) 150 E family of communications servers built for both the small and remote office.

Hicom 150 E sets a new standard for integrated voice and data communications for businesses that need to support from two to 250 users. With built-in support for ISDN, multimedia conferencing and video, the server suite is a worldwide communications platform and is offered with a comprehensive, complementary suite of applications, including Hicom Office PhoneMail(R).

"With the introduction of the Hicom 150 E product line, Siemens has positioned itself to deliver sophisticated communications solutions and applications, such as affordable messaging and networking capabilities to small and medium-sized growth-minded companies whose needs belie their size," said Nathan Mire, Automated Analyst Service Inc., New York.

To stay competitive, smaller businesses need an effective communications infrastructure for voice and data communications. The Hicom 150 E family of advanced communication servers is priced to enable smaller businesses to benefit from the networking, messaging and call center technologies already employed by large enterprises. Modular ISDN interfaces provide high-speed digital Internet and intranet access for workgroup and workpoint applications.

"The Hicom 150 E provides me with big PBX features in the small system environment," stated Mike Cyr, general manager of operations at Interworks Systems, North Haven, Conn. "I frequently connect to the Internet using my Optiset E phone and adapter, and get quick and reliable access even at the highest speeds."

The Hicom 150 E servers are competitively priced, easy to configure, simple to maintain, and have been engineered to support industry-standard computer/telephony (CT) interfaces such as Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI), Computer Application Programming Interface (CAPI), and Computer Supported Telephony Application (CSTA). The Hicom 150 E complements the Siemens Hicom 300 E family of enterprise communications servers by offering CorNet(R) digital networking, ISDN interfaces and a global desktop offering.

Growing businesses can protect their telecommunications investment with one telephone set family, the award winning Optiset E(R) telephone, and a single application software that is consistent across all three models of the Hicom 150 E.

While the Hicom 150 E is suited to the telephony needs of the growing business, larger multiple-site enterprises can also benefit from the flexible and advanced networking solutions provided by the system. Enterprises with branch offices can perform remote administration of their networks from a central location. Maintenance can be performed via an Optiset E phone station rather than a dedicated desktop computer. Electronic manuals and context-sensitive help prompts enable easy system installation, administration and upgrades.

Siemens provides one global service strategy consistent for sites anywhere in the world, reducing training and staffing expenditure for the multiple site organization. In four Datapro surveys, Siemens has been rated as the top vendor for service and technical support.

Optiset E Compatibility

The Optiset E telephone is completely compatible with all models of the Hicom 150 E product suite. The phones come with OptiGuide(TM), a point-and-click interface that guides users to many of the key phone features. Additionally, easy-add modular application adapters provide increased functionality and performance.

The Optiset E phones support applications from basic voice to fax and modem usage, desktop video conferencing, and advanced computer-telephony integration (CTI). The phones use an integrated services digital network (ISDN) Basic Rate Interface (BRI) to provide advanced voice and data features at low cost.

Hicom Office PhoneMail(R) and Office PhoneMail Entry(R)

Building on the success of Siemens flagship PhoneMail(R) voice messaging product, Siemens introduces two new members of the PhoneMail product family, specifically designed to extend the benefits of voice messaging to small enterprises with the Hicom 150 E communications server. Hicom Office PhoneMail Entry provides cost-effective yet powerful voice messaging and an automated attendant in a simple card that plugs into the Hicom 150 E.

Hicom Office PhoneMail is a fully scaleable voice and fax messaging system that provides comprehensive dual-media, bi-lingual messaging capabilities specifically designed to digitally integrate to any of the Hicom 150 E communications servers. Both systems are solid state, plug-and-play products, making for exceptional reliability and ease of maintenance.

Office PhoneMail Entry system features include: fully flexible voice messaging, offsite message notification, automated attendant, fax tone recognition, caller controlled routing, company directory/dial by name and a day and night company greeting. Office PhoneMail additionally offers multilingual capabilities, scalability, and increased storage, as well as fax store-and-forward and fax-on-demand as optional features.