Friday, 8 June 2007

New Series of Siemens IP Phones Aimed at Non-PC Literate and SMB Market

The market for Internet telephony is booming. Using Voice over IP is already part of everyday life for millions of people all over the world – and hundreds of thousands of users are joining them every day....

The market for Internet telephony is booming. Using Voice over IP is already part of everyday life for millions of people all over the world – and hundreds of thousands of users are joining them every day.

Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices (SHC) is aggressively entering this lucrative area, tapping into the home users and small and medium businesses (SMBs) market along the way with its new offerings, the Siemens Gigaset C450 IP and Gigaset S450 IP.

“Voice over IP (VoIP) is currently on the rise in the home, and many more households are expected to use the Internet to make calls,” said Martin Kinne, Chief Marketing Officer of SHC in a release.

“We should see a great many homes making use of it by 2010.”

According to the Digital Home Survey, an Asia APEJ (Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan) report from IDC, which was done in Q1 2007, Korea has an estimated 95 percent of broadband users, Taiwan reported 90.5 percent , Hong Kong had 89.6 percent followed by Singapore with 78.2 percent, and Thailand and China with 63.6 percent and 52.6 percent respectively.

Siemens’s C450 IP cordless phone is a hybrid model that has a connection for both fixed and LAN networks which means the device works just as well as a conventional phone with the flexibility of using its Internet telephony capability as and when needed.

The “cool factor” about this device is that a PC is not required in order to make VoIP calls. It is a “plug and play” device so, all consumers have to do once they get their handset is to is to configure it. Once the phone has been connected to a home router via the LAN connection, users simply select their Internet provider from the menu in the Gigaset handset and the right settings are automatically loaded. According to SHC, the one time downloading requirement is so easy that one does not have to be a network expert to configure it successfully.

Siemens Gigaset C450 IP is ideal for home use mainly because of its simplicity and ease of use. In operation it is no different from a traditional phone which makes it easy for children and the older generation, who are less PC literate, to adept to. The phone allows users to send SMS’s of up to 160 characters and has a built in phone book that can hold up to 100 contact details. The separation of the base station from the battery charging station means the handset can be placed anywhere in the home. The base station can be used with up to six handsets, perfect for a modern family who each want their own set.

The Siemens Gigaset S450 IP has similar offerings as the C450 but stands out in many ways such as its capability to allow two people to talk via the Internet simultaneously, something that was only previously possible using an ISDN connection.

It also boasts other features including call forwarding redial and call back as well the ability to set-up three way conference calls-- perfect for an SMB environment- and it stores up to 150 contact entries in its phone book.

The S450 and C450 have freed users from activities that traditionally require them to be desk bound; It is capable of connecting to users’ email inbox and receive updates on incoming emails making reading and keeping an eye on new messages without having to constantly refer to the PC. It also comes with advanced messaging functionality which means users can access contact lists and send and receive instant messages via the handset.

The Gigaset S450 IP is available in 19 different languages including Spanish and German and there are talks of it rolling out in Chinese in the future to cater to its Asian customers.

Both S450 and C450 have been in the Europe market for some 12 months but have only managed to capture a market share of about 30 percent so far.

Vice President of Sales for SHC in Middle East & Asia Pacific, Hasan Palandцken told SDA Asia the main obstacle preventing IP telephony from taking off is the fact that operators are preventing internet service providers from getting involved in this business for fear that it may lead to a decline in traditional call services.

SHC revealed to reporters that it has future plans to enhance VoIP with an online phonebook search capability to link local phonebook services to retrieve phone number contact listings via the IP phones.

Both Gigasets are available in Asia immediately. The S450 is priced at SGD 298 (with base) and the C450 is priced at SGD 238 (with base).