Siemens unveils voice and data kit

Alliance with 3Com aims at smaller firms.

Siemens has unveiled the first results of its joint venture with 3Com, write Peter Branton and Andrew Craig.

HiNet Office is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, and allows voice and data traffic to be carried one network.

It combines Ethernet switch and hub technology from 3Com with private branch exchange (PBX) technology from Siemens Communications.

PBXs are in-house telephone exchange systems which can carry voice transmissions. They are also increasingly used to carry data.

Siemens stressed that it will still use other vendors' kit if the venture does not produce equipment to a sufficiently high standard.

So while most of the technology for HiNet has been developed by the two companies or by the joint venture itself, the gateway component which combines data and voice traffic from rival vendor Radware.

The joint venture is developing its own gateway, but Mark Trought, product manager for IP telephony at Siemens Communications, said Siemens will only sell HiNet if it proves superior to other products.

'If someone has a better router than 3Com, we will use it, or the joint venture will improve it,' he said.

HiNet is part of the Siemens family of voice/data convergence products, and combines a stackable rack-mounted PBX with an integrated router, and workgroup hubs and switches.

Users can access sophisticated telephony functions, such as remote access, ISDN, faxmail, Internet access and email, either by using a normal phone or through a PC.

Computer telephony integration (CTI), and teleprocessing are also supported within HiNet environments.