Siemens Standardizing HiPath IP Telephony Line

The move is a first step in SEN's strategy to transition its HiPath IP-PBX offerings to industry-standard operating systems and hardware, such as Windows- and Unix-based servers, instead of proprietary technology, said Kathy Heilmann, senior group marketing manager at SEN, Reston, Va.

With ComScendo, SEN will standardize the interface and feature sets of the call processing software across its HiPath 3000, 4000 and 5000 lines. Each product currently uses its own variation of call processing software, she said. (And only the HiPath 5000 Real-time Services Manager softswitch presently runs on Windows-based servers.)

For solution providers, a standardized approach will shorten the training and certification process and make HiPath systems easier to support, said Alina Urdaneta, channel marketing manager at SEN.

"We've had complaints that the authorization requirements are too lengthy because partners have to spend a lot of time on [each of the] products," Urdaneta said. Once the software is standardized, solution providers that receive training on one product will be able to pass over the ComScendo section of training if they get certified on a second product line because they will already understand the material, she said.

Urdaneta did not know how much time partners could expect to save in training.

"Anytime you can uniformly train people so they can migrate better from one [product] to another is a good thing," said Phil Medina, president of KeyCom Telecommunications, a solution provider in Orlando, Fla.

In addition to unveiling its ComScendo strategy, SEN also plans to introduce the latest version of its OptiClient 130 softphone, which is supported across all HiPath platforms. Previously, each HiPath product line required a separate softphone product, said Daniel Abernathy, industry marketing manager at SEN.

OptiClient 130 offers end users a choice between three graphical user interfaces and supports an optional USB handset.

Pricing for OptiClient 130, scheduled to ship in March, was not immediately available.