David Frith, Marketing Manager at VoIPon Solutions, spoke to Alison Tetlow, UK Sales Channel Manager at snom. They discuss snom DECT Phones, snom Conference Phones, the new snom D765, the snom D375 plus much more.
VoIPon: Broadcasting from various countries around the world using Voice over IP Technology, this is VoIP Uncovered, a VoIPon Solutions UK podcast. I’m David Frith and joining us today is Alison Tetlow, UK Sales Channel Manager at snom. Thanks for joining us today Alison.
snom: Thank you, thanks David.
VoIPon: snom continue to produce leading VoIP Solutions like the snom 300, snom 710 and snom 720. Could you tell us a little more about the newly released snom D715 and snom D725?
snom: Yes sure I can, thanks David. The 700 series and the new D715 and D725 are perfect for a clear overview of the numerous extensions, conference calls and for those who consider their telephone to be a key tool in their daily work. The D715 provides high speed connectivity thanks to its gigabit ethernet switch (GbE 10/100/1000). The USB port on the D715 enables greater flexibility and functionality for the use of either USB headsets, the snom D7 expansion module or Wi-Fi. Four SIP identities make the D715 flexible to use and we maintain the snom standards of security and durability. The D725 is a great handset for maintaining an overview of a situation. It gives 18 freely programmable multi-colour function keys in 3 rows which means the D725 users have a complete overview of all calls at their fingertips. And of course both handsets are built to snom’s high standards for voice quality and durability plus the elegant design which is a key characteristic of snom handsets. We’re really expecting both these handsets to sell well into the UK businesses, particularly as our prices are highly competitive.
VoIPon: That’s great, thanks Alison. And how about the snom M65 DECT phone and the snom M700 Multicell Base Station. Are there any developments on these?
snom: Well, the snom M Series products were only launched last October and so it’s early days to talk about new developments. What I can say is the M65 IP DECT Phone, M700 Multicell Base Station and the snom M5 DECT Repeater were the first in the new wave of communication products that snom will bring to market in the coming months. The M65 handset combines business communications functionality with the intuitive features offered by mobile carriers. It’s ideal for businesses that require mobile coverage across several floors or throughout large buildings. This new generation of snom DECT phones integrate seamlessly with existing phone systems for presence, paging and other capabilities and is far less expensive and offers better quality than cellular phones. Using the M700 Multicell Base Station businesses can deliver expanded coverage over several floors or throughout large buildings. They can link multiple M700 Base Stations together to form a network enabling free movement and seamles handover between base stations. The numbers are really impressive.
The M700 in a Multicell configuration can support up to 200 handsets, 40 Base Stations and 100 repeaters all in the same installation. Whilst the M65 phone is lightweight and elegant it has a 2 inch backlit colour display and a backlit keypad for dialling in poor lighting conditions. Other features include wideband audio including speakerphone for the crispiest voice quality, 6 polyphonic ringtones and vibration settings for incoming calls. Dual internal antennas are applied for reception for talk time up to 17 hours between charges. When used with the new snom M700 Base Station the M65 features voicemail, call forwarding, call lists, Caller ID, direct search in a corporate directory, 3 way conferencing or to answer, 2 simultaneous calls and many other capabilities. The cordless DECT phone offers expanded range and is operational up to about 130ft beyond its base station. In a typical office environment you can expect a range of about 193 and about 300ft for production areas without obstacles. snom’s DECT line-up gives business users whether in an office building, conference hall or production facility, the flexibility to be more mobile which in todays environment is an absolute requirement.
VoIPon: Ok, thank you, they sound like some very feature rich products. So lets move onto our next question. Aside from traditional desk phones and wireless DECT phones the snom MeetingPoint has proven very popular. Why should buyers be looking at dedicated conference phones?
snom: Well the MeetingPoint is the first snom VoIP conference phone and we believe its a valuable addition to any business that requires frequent cross location conference calls. Meetingpoint provides the ideal mix of aesthetics and practicality and is well qualified for use in middle to large conference rooms. It’s extremely reliable suppression of disturbing background noise and excellent sound quality means that telephone conferences can be held in large groups without affecting the intelligibility of the call. 3 speakers equipped with Full Duplex broadband audio provide balanced and full sound. In addition Meetingpoint provides the voice quality to a conference with all the advantages of a snom VoIP phone. High security levels combined with features like snom’s CTI and support for 12 different SIP identities which provide customers with the flexibility they need. The design of the Meetingpoint integrates easily into the VoIP infrastructure of the business plus it makes a decent eye capture for the conference room.
VoIPon: Why should VoIPon customers purchase snom over phones such as Polycom, Gigaset and Yealink?
snom: What I’d like to say is it’s because we are the best but I don’t think I can get away with that one! Realistically customers buy on price and functionality and snom competes admirably in both these these areas, but basically I think you’re asking me to explain some of the things that differentiate snom. I’d like to say that this is specifically our history and our expertise within industry standards, commitments to interoperability and innovation in our firmware. When you buy a snom handset you are investing in a proven history of high quality, strong security and awareness in delivery of our customer needs. snom was developing end points based on SIP, the communication protocol for communication based VoIP calls as far back as 1996. Before SIP was even officially recognised as an industry standard in RFC3261 under the internet engineering task force. We design every snom phone on the premise that it must be compatible with the widest range of SIP based IP PBX providers, whether it be on premise or in the cloud. It’s a guiding principle of our design and development process. Our commitment to interoperability and breadth of our interoperability partner program is second to none. We work tirelessly with service providers, open source developers and SIP based platform developers to ensure that our phones are certified to work with the broadest range of IP services and equipment. Furthermore we work with open source developers, that offer resellers and end customers, flexibility, customisation and lower cost.
Another key differentiator is our firmware. It’s the firmware that drives advanced capabilities like music on hold, admin, call parking and forwarding, programmable buttons for presence. At snom we are regularly updating our unique firmware where the driving force behind our status as a first SIP based business phonemaker to have our phones deployed with SIP based IP PBXs. In the past year snom has announced certification partnerships with more than half a dozen leading SIP providers and we’re constantly expanding our roster. I’d also like to add in another first, in September 2011 the snom 300 and the snom 821 SIP phones became the first to achieve the qualified for Microsoft Lync status (now Skype for business), Microsoft’s top distinction for fully tested interoperability and compatibility with Microsoft Lync. So whats the upshot of all this? As it demonstrates not only snom’s forwarding thinking approach to development but also our commitment to quality, compatibility and interoperability which ultimately maximises choice and functionality for the small business, enterprise customers and service providers.
VoIPon: Ok, thank you very much for that thorough answer, and what does snom have planned for the next 12 months. Are there any new products we can expect to see?
snom: Well yes, with our latest investment of capital we expect to see a number of announcements over the next few months. Initially, it’s the handsets we have covered today. That will be of most interest to our customers, we believe. The D715 and the D725 for the desktop and the M Series of DECT products. The next quarter we are planning on a D765 and over time a D375 which will replace the present 370. We’re also planning on expanding the M series range consolidating our offering in the mobility area as well as reviewed handsets in the middle of this year.
VoIPon: That’s excellent. Thank you very much. So there’s some new products in the pipeline, so I’m sure our customers and listeners will be very interested to see them later in the year. So thanks for joining us today Alison.
snom: My pleasure, and thank you and thank you to all, I hope you’ve all enjoyed listening.
VoIPon: This has been a VoIP Uncovered podcast. For more information please visit wwww.voipon.co.uk
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