Siemens Pitches Unified Communications to Cost-Conscious Businesses

Studies show adopting unified communications technology can help save money, and Siemens OpenScape Office UC Application suite is designed to do just that for midmarket businesses.

Siemens Enterprise Communications Group announced July 13 that the OpenScape Office Unified Communications Application suite is now available on its HiPath 3000 converged voice system, "complete with fully integrated, presence-enabled contact center functionality." The suite is targeted at small and midsize businesses looking to use UC to help improve customer service levels. According to Siemens' news release:

The OpenScape Office UC Application scales so that organizations of up to 384 users can access easy-to-use voice and conferencing services, presence, mobility, voicemail, messaging, and contact center capabilities. Because OpenScape Office now operates on Siemens' HiPath 3000 platform, UC can now be deployed through a simple software upgrade across Internet Protocol (IP), TDM [time-division multiplexing] and analog environments, giving Siemens' customers more flexibility in migrating to UC.

The company said OpenScape Office on the HiPath 3000 is now available in North America through direct and indirect channels.

According to the release, "Key features include: integrated presence designed to tackle problems associated with inefficient coordination and waiting for information by enabling individuals to easily view co-worker availability for a phone call or an ad hoc teleconference ... contact center functionality, including call routing capability, designed to allow SMBs to deliver accelerated levels of customer service ... AutoAttendant and Call Journal functions designed to significantly decrease unwanted calls ... and mobility features" to keep clients and contacts connected while on the move.

Click here to read more about Siemens' unified communications offerings.

Jim McCaskill, director of operations for Base21, said, "With built-in unified communications functionality, OpenScape Office extends the value of a call to meet the company's needs. ... Siemens has provided us with the communications tools that produced both high-tech functionality and cost-saving platforms. These tools are critical to our executive briefing center's infrastructure, which hosts the latest in today's advanced communication technologies."

According to the Siemens release, "OpenScape Office is designed to help SMBs address hidden communications costs, which were recently highlighted in a global report by SIS International Research on SMB adoption of UC. The study showed companies of 100 employees could be wasting more than $500,000 ... each year by not addressing these hidden costs and estimated that up to 20 percent of these costs can be eliminated through UC." The release also said:

"OpenScape Office truly democratizes UC by bringing enterprise-class functionality to a broader range of customers. UC is no longer just for SMBs with IP environments," said Michael Garland, Senior Vice President for Channels and Alliances at Siemens Enterprise Communications. "For our existing installed base of approximately 500,000 HiPath 3000 customers, we can now offer a simple and more affordable software upgrade to UC with little or no CAPEX required. For prospective customers wishing to improve their existing communications infrastructure, we can provide an open, standards-based and more cost-effective path to UC."