HiPath – Total Business Communications A White Paper by Siemens Communications (Com)

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Table of contents

Introduction 2

1. Controlling convergence 7

2. Accelerating business processes 18

3. Optimizing customer relationships 27

4. Minimizing risk 344.1. Guarding against attacks with comprehensive security

strategies 344.2. Minimizing business risk with HiPath Managed Services 38

5. Siemens One: Industry solutions from a single source 45

6. Conclusion 46

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Introduction

Today’s global competitive arena poses sizeable challenges for businesses’

communication and information systems: Intelligent communication

systems need to help raise productivity, reduce costs, and optimize

customer service. The growing mobility of the workforce and constant

organizational restructuring also make it essential that information and

communication systems are able to adapt flexibly. Surveys conducted by

Siemens among companies of all sizes and across all sectors of industry

have revealed that the primary challenges in communications at present

are concentrated in four main areas:

1. Controlling convergence

Voice communication over the Internet protocol (voice over IP) is now a

mature technology. For many businesses, the question is no longer

whether, but how they should best proceed with convergence to suit

their particular needs. Structures that have gradually grown up over time

are being superseded by a number of innovative technologies like voice

over WLAN (VoWLAN) that open up promising new perspectives.

At the same time, businesses need to protect previous investments. As a

result many decision-makers in companies feel under considerable

pressure, particularly when required to choose now what the best path

towards a converged solution will be. Clearly, the potential negative

impact of a poor decision is considerable. And if the decision comes to

soon or too late, it can lead to a bad investment or the loss of crucial

competitive advantages.

This means that there’s considerable demand for solutions that not only

offer a high degree of flexibility but also allow businesses to continue

using existing components and equipment. In addition, these solutions

need to provide the means to easily integrate new elements and support

communication across all kinds of networks, both wired and wireless.

This is the only way of creating a truly solid foundation for new business

applications.

2. Accelerating business processes

Today’s communications society has become a society on the fast track.

Time pressure is high, deadlines are getting tighter all the time, and

businesses are expected to react and respond faster than ever. Speed

today is a critical competitive factor, and to keep pace with the globalized

business environment and to gain maximum leverage from information

and data sharing, businesses need to deploy innovative communication

models. The ability to act without delay is a prerequisite for being able to

work more productively and more cost-effectively.

Ideally, it should be possible to reach business contacts immediately,

whenever needed and wherever they happen to be, and to provide teams

with the optimum support to collaborate effectively. Second-generation

Flexibility and legacy

support are crucial

Reaching the people you

need when you need

them

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IP convergence applications enable businesses to make the most of the

advantages to be gained from uniting data and voice traffic to optimize

business processes and achieve a sustained increase in productivity. This

puts the “real-time enterprise” – in which processes are executed without

delay – well within reach. And the professional integration of voice

communication with enterprise IT applications opens up additional

potential for productivity gains.

3. Optimizing customer relationships

In business today, it’s no longer sufficient simply to take a customer’s call

or to be present in store or on site at a customer’s location: To provide an

optimum service, companies need to put their customers in touch with

the right employees and the right information. This doesn’t just apply to

private enterprises; these are challenges that public authorities and other

organizations also need to address. And when it comes to implementing

effective customer relationship management strategies, contact centers

that provide customer support – by phone, fax, e-mail or the Web – play a

critical role. The goal is always to improve customer satisfaction, foster

greater customer loyalty, capture more revenue per customer, and open

up new and efficient communication channels.

4. Minimizing risk

Keeping pace with tomorrow inevitably harbors risks, both from a

business and an IT security standpoint. Such risks include flawed capital

spending decisions, technological blind alleys, and failed projects.

Increasing convergence also places even higher demands on security

strategies because, provided no security precautions are in place, dangers

from the realm of infotech – viruses, hackers and spam – now also pose a

threat to voice over IP communication.

This is why a comprehensive security strategy has to be designed and

implemented for communication over IP (CoIP) in a convergent network,

a strategy capable of meeting the distinct needs issuing from real-time

communications. Here in particular, third-party service providers can

often provide a level of expertise that would hardly be feasible to develop

in-house.

In addition, many companies need to focus more on sustaining and

developing their core competencies, and these rarely encompass IT and

communications infrastructures. Purchasing managed services –

outsourcing specific areas of information and communications

technology to specialist service operators – can give businesses the

latitude they need. The service operator provides the infrastructure and

operates it reliably on the basis of previously defined service levels and at

agreed rates.

The advantage to this approach is that, even in periods of rapid

technological change, a company can concentrate on its core business

and still keep up with the latest advances. At the same time, the company

Connecting customers

with the right

employees and

information

Controlling IT security

and economic risks

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can hand off the related technical risks to the service operator: It merely

purchases those capabilities it needs to support its business processes.

Creating greater value by integrating real-time communication

Integrating real-time communication with IT applications can greatly

improve the speed and productivity of business processes. Merging the

two universes of data processing and communications transforms voice

communication into an IT application.

Second-generation IP (2gIP) enables business process and

communication tasks to interlock more tightly, raising employee

productivity everywhere – in the office, home office, or on the road.

More than anything, though, 2gIP creates the right conditions for fully

integrating suppliers, customers and business partners into a company’s

electronic business processes. Besides creating greater value, this gives a

business an important lead on its marketplace competitors. The biggest

benefits are to be gained from the improved support for mobile

employees and for project-based collaboration between teams.

But even first-generation IP (1gIP) – voice and data convergence at the

infrastructure level – can help to substantially reduce operating costs and

make more efficient use of the available network infrastructure, because

uniting voice and data communication on convergent networks running

the Internet Protocol opens up plenty of new ways to master business

challenges.

Second-generation IP

communication

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HiPath – Total Business Communications

With its HiPath portfolio, Siemens offers companies of all sizes – from

small and medium sized contractors to multinational groups – a truly

comprehensive range of communications and security products and

services. HiPath solutions, services and security offerings enable business

to improve and optimize their communication and information

processing, to bring down costs, boost employee productivity, and

improve communication with customers and business partners. And

security solutions like role-based access management and the use of

smart card technology reduce the risks.

HiPath makes it possible to deploy end-to-end, real-time communication

solutions – on all kinds of networks and end-user devices, between

geographically distributed locations, and across borders. Integrating

communication over IP accelerates company processes and closes gaps in

process chains. Total Business Communications is the most

comprehensive and innovative product and service offering available in

the marketplace today.

Siemens has an entire suite of systems and equipment created with the

goal of delivering future-proof communication solutions. Besides the

HiPath real-time IP systems at the core of the portfolio, Siemens also

offers a wide array of end-user devices, wireless mobility, unified

A comprehensive

product and service

offering

Figure 1: Comprehensive

integration of presence-

based communication

and IT solutions delivers

valuable productivity

gains.

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communications and customer relationship management solutions, and

security systems. All of these are backed by a rich HiPath services

offering.

The HiPath architecture is designed specifically to give businesses the

latitude they need to choose what they feel is the right path toward a

converged infrastructure and to create both opportunities for future

growth and value from their capital investment. Open, standards-based

interfaces ensure that business applications such as SAP NetWeaver,

Microsoft Outlook, and IBM Lotus Notes can interlock tightly with the

communication features and capabilities provided by HiPath.

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1. Controlling convergence

Computers and telephony, voice and data networks, wireless

infrastructures, and fixed-line and mobile communications – all these

things are the perfect match for one another and are now gradually

growing together. New communication channels such as instant

messaging, SMS text messaging, internet telephony, and web

conferencing – along with technologies like wireless LAN, Bluetooth,

UMTS/3G mobile, voice over IP (VoIP), and voice over wireless LAN

(VoWLAN) – are opening up additional ways to exchange information

alongside conventional fixed-line and mobile phones, fax and e-mail.

Dozens of new tools are now available to help streamline communication

within companies and between business partners.

But which solutions will really equip companies best to face the future

and which will help drive costs down and productivity higher? And how

can companies protect their past investments? Only communication

solutions that allow businesses to integrate existing infrastructures into

convergent networks and still make the most of the new possibilities

afforded by communication over IP can truly deliver the maximum

advantage to be gained from the technological transformation.

Paths to a converged infrastructure

There are, however, different paths to converged infrastructures. For

some companies, starting completely from scratch with voice over IP is

the right decision, whereas for others a gradual transition is the

preferable route. In the latter case, existing components can commonly

continue to be used and current investments can be protected. The

company’s current circumstances need to be analyzed before deciding on

which path to take, and what’s important here is that the company has to

have the room to make a choice.

According to analysts at Forrester Research, scalable convergence

platforms like Siemens’ HiPath Real Time IP systems can successfully

reduce both call charges and administrative effort in just a short space of

time. This is borne out by numerous successful rollouts of IP solutions in

businesses in recent years. At the same time, the existing

communications infrastructure can continue to be used within the IP

environment. Thanks to open interfaces and compliance with common

standards like the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), HiPath communication

solutions – in contrast to proprietary systems – afford the openness

needed for step-by-step migration.

In addition, many components can be used in multiple modes. A server,

for instance, can be configured to operate both as a stand-alone system

and as a network node or media gateway; end-user devices can be used

with different technologies and transmission protocols; and the majority

of Siemens’ software applications can also be used in heterogeneous

networks with systems from a number of different vendors. This not only

New communication

channels complement

conventional means of

information exchange

Greenfield setup or

gradual migration?

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means that businesses are free to focus capital spending specifically on

those components that they need most, but also that new applications

are quick to integrate and that existing end-user equipment can be

adapted to new requirements simply by installing software updates.

SIP is playing an important role on the way to converged communication.

This standard is not confined to IP telephony, it also supports multimedia

applications and audio and video conferencing.

SIP provides a foundation on which to build not just purely IP-based

networks but also heterogeneous networks that operate seamlessly. The

same standard also enables the transmission of presence information.

SIP-based solutions portfolios like Siemens HiPath make it possible to

deliver voice and multimedia services as well as innovative applications –

company-wide and in real time on an existing IP infrastructure. SIP-

enabled end-user equipment of the kind marketed by Siemens and

numerous other manufacturers can be integrated into systems easily.

The Session Initiation

Protocol (SIP) is an

important building block

Figure 2: Traditional

corporate networks with

fixed lines between

locations are gradually

being superseded by

convergent

infrastructures running

the Internet Protocol.

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A range of real-time IP platforms for businesses

The HiPath convergent architecture for corporate networks provides

location-independent support for all kinds of end-user devices and

delivers all of the functionality typically provided by a classic office

phone. What’s more, HiPath can do this in any network environment – on

IP, Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) or wireless infrastructures.

It also takes into account security issues, providing encrypted voice

communication, as well as the need to support an increasingly mobile

workforce. After all, if a business needs its mobile users everywhere to be

able to connect to the company network via notebook PC and to be

immediately reachable on their regular phone number, an IP-based

communication infrastructure has to be in place. This capability also

ensures that people can even be reached while at other company

locations, without the need to forward their calls.

The HiPath 2000, 3000 and 5000 real-time platforms are intended for

small and medium sized businesses, whereas the HiPath 4000 is aimed at

large, networked corporations. The HiPath platforms and matching suites

of software enable businesses to deploy unified solutions – everything

from stand-alone systems all the way up to complex, multisite

configurations. Cost savings are achieved through the use of central

application servers, common user management, and network

management.

The HiPath 8000 real-time IP system, an SIP-based IP softswitch, was

designed for large and very large companies and for service providers

operating their own IP network infrastructure. It is the ideal fit not just for

HiPath 4000, HiPath

3000 (HiPath 2000)

Cross-linkage overview

No ties to specific

network types

Solutions for small,

medium sized and large

enterprises

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multinational companies but also large companies with extensive

campuses or numerous geographically dispersed locations that need a

single communication system and wish to manage it centrally

themselves. A HiPath 8000 is also the optimum communication solution

for service integrators or for businesses whose systems are hosted in data

centers. This kind of system can be used to deliver centralized

communication services for individual companies on dedicated servers

out of data centers or to make these services publicly available for

multiple companies on carrier networks. The hosted services can be

managed by the customers themselves, by a service provider, or by

Siemens, if required.

HiPath 8000 provides an SIP-based real-time IP overlay network, uniting

for the first time the reliability of a carrier solution with the performance

features and functionalities typical for an enterprise communication

system. This ensures maximum reliability, availability and fault tolerance,

in combination with a rich set of capabilities. The HiPath 8000 softswitch

is an important part of Siemens’ Life Works vision – of integrating

communication technologies used by businesses, network operators,

employees and private individuals, regardless of location, the type of

network, and the applications used. The underlying idea is to eliminate

those barriers to communication between fixed-line and mobile networks

and between corporate and public networks that users commonly face.

High security with SRTP encryption

In pure voice over IP environments – and in converged networks carrying

voice and data – voice calls are transported entirely or partially in data

packets running on Ethernet. Unauthorized individuals who have

succeeded in gaining access to a corporate network can monitor this data

using tools known as packet sniffers. To ensure the greatest possible

security, Siemens has developed a solution based on international

security standards to provide tap-proof communication on HiPath. This

method, which works seamlessly between end-user devices, uses the

Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) to encrypt the voice data.

Figure 3: With HiPath

8000, voice applications

can be deployed

worldwide on an

existing IP network.

End-to-end encryption

prevents eavesdropping

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SRTP’s algorithm is regarded as immune to eavesdropping and, unlike

virtual private network (VPN) systems, needs no additional software or

hardware to handle encryption and decryption. Instead, encryption is

decentralized and is carried out at each end of the physical connection,

regardless of whether the end-user equipment is wireless or wireline; it is

also built into the operating software. This means that there are no

additional delays in the transmission that might otherwise impact on

voice quality.

Wireless real-time communication on a HiPath WLAN infrastructure

At locations where installing cable runs would be too costly or where the

majority of workers are mobile, voice over WLAN today represents a cost-

effective alternative. With its HiPath WLAN infrastructure, Siemens offers

customers the means to run voice communication parallel to data traffic

on a standards-based wireless network.

This solution offers innovative mobility management capabilities for

every wireless voice or data connection, plus maximum availability and

scalability. In addition, it provides universal, priority-driven access for

voice and data.

The HiPath WLAN infrastructure consists of a HiPath Wireless Controller,

access points, and HiPath Wireless Convergence Software. Together,

these create an IP overlay solution that can be incorporated into an

existing IP network and can be used without HiPath communication

systems, clients, or end-user devices if required.

Thanks to the seamless handovers supported by second-generation

HiPath WLAN components, users can move freely between cells in the

An infrastructure

solution for voice over

WLAN

Figure 4: A HiPath WLAN

infrastructure integrates

wireless networks

seamlessly with existing

IP infrastructures to

support mobile voice

communication.

Second-generation

WLAN infrastructure

components

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wireless network while communicating in real time. The optiPoint WL2

professional handset rounds out Siemens’ WLAN portfolio perfectly. It’s a

VoWLAN terminal but is similar in design and menu structure to Gigaset

cordless phones, the market leaders in DECT.

Supporting third-party systems with HiPath CAP

With the HiPath CAP (Common Application Platform), Siemens offers

middleware that allows telephony functionality to mesh with computer

applications – across platforms and even with systems from other

vendors, including Nortel, Alcatel, Avaya and Cisco. The software

supports a range of standard protocols, and Siemens partners and

customers are given access to these interfaces. This means that

applications no longer need to be adapted to a range of different

telephone systems but can build uniformly on a single, harmonized

interface.

This greatly reduces the amount of effort that needs to go into

application development and adaptation. Another advantage is that XML

phone services are available that can deliver web services to every phone

extension, company-wide. These services may include current stock

prices, rail schedules, weather information, and even facility

management applications. XML phone services for the HiPath 4000

platform are pooled in a special “on a button” suite for the HiPath

ComScendo software package; this package contains the communication

platform’s entire “intelligence” and provides users with a raft of features

and functionalities.

For example, the EasySee function on phones lets users take part in a

phone call or a conference on the screen of their PC at the push of a

button. EasyLookup lets them view, pick and dial names in their

company’s corporate directory on the phone without the aid of a PC. At

the press of a button on the phone, another function, EasyMail, launches

Microsoft Outlook on a workstation PC, automatically filling in the

address fields with the e-mail addresses of the people taking part in the

phone call or conference.

Maximizing the potential benefits with comprehensive consulting

The potential of IP-based real-time communication today is no longer

merely about lowering capital spending and operating costs. Increasingly,

the focus is on achieving synergy benefits and on using integrated real-

time communication to interlock communication and business processes

more tightly. Integrating business communication on a single network

and with corporate software currently in the field – Microsoft Outlook,

IBM WebSphere, Lotus Notes and SAP NetWeaver, for example – greatly

accelerates processes and boosts employee productivity.

IP networks provide a common basis for a large number of new

applications that would be impossible to implement were it not for the

convergence of voice and data communication. Voice over IP’s underlying

Web services at every

phone extension

Uniting real-time

communication with

business processes

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technology is now so mature that VoIP solutions are easily incorporated

into existing networks and, importantly, can be operated reliably. The

quality of voice transmission is on a par with that of traditional telephony,

and switching to VoIP does not mean having to forgo the sophisticated

features available on today’s private branch exchanges. In addition,

advanced encryption technology is available that prevents eavesdrops

and spoofing on connections, end to end, even on public IP networks like

the Internet or on wireless networks.

Siemens’ HiPath services include comprehensive consulting designed to

help companies manage the convergence process. In an initial step, the

HiPath Business Case Builder is used to identify the overarching goals of a

VoIP project. This is a tool that melds professional business expertise

with more than ten years of experience in consulting for customers. With

its support, consultants can compute the cost-effectiveness of an

investment project based on neutral parameters faster and with greater

precision than ever before. The Business Case Builder describes the

advantages of a solution in terms of cost reductions, higher earnings and

productivity gains. Working with templates, it computes the economic

effects of investing either in a stand-alone solution or in a comprehensive

solution package.

By and large, before the first applications are rolled out onto the network,

the performance of the existing IP network has to be tested. The new

VoIP convergence infrastructure is then designed on the basis of the

results of the test. In preparation for the implementation phase, a

requirements specification is prepared for the solution. This sets out in

detail the time frame, individual responsibilities, documentation rules,

the budget, and the design. Siemens can act as a single-source supplier,

offering not just these initial services but also all subsequent services

needed by businesses deploying converged infrastructures.

The benefits for businesses

Siemens offers a comprehensive portfolio of platforms, end-user devices,

components, software solutions, and services for controlling

convergence. The benefits are clear:

• Freedom to choose the preferred route to a converged infrastructure

• Open interfaces and compliance with common standards

• Scalable platforms for companies of all sizes

• Strong security based on end-to-end encryption

• Easy integration of wireless components

• Ability to integrate other vendors’ systems

• Comprehensive consulting on the integration of communication and

business processes

Comprehensive

consulting helps manage

the convergence process

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Case study

Finland’s labor ministry saves EUR1.8 million a year

The customer:

Headquartered in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, Finland’s labor ministry has

around 250 branches around the country. These also include 15 labor

market departments in employment and economic development centers,

as well as 176 local job centers. Some of these offices are staffed by just a

single employee and are not open every day; nonetheless, they need a

phone connection. In Kemijärvi, the country’s northernmost town, the

ministry operates a contact center located in a former factory building. All

of the calls running through the ministry’s central exchange are initially

taken here, in Lapland.

The problem:

Since the ministry’s communication network was installed seven years

ago, the volume of data it carries has increased dramatically. “That’s why

we had no choice but to expand the available capacity,” recalls senior

consultant Matti Ilonen. As plans progressed to expand the network, it

became evident that it would not just be viable to run voice

communication over the data network, it would also, more importantly,

save costs.

The solution:

Once the ministry’s IT department had conducted a nationwide survey of

the phone systems in operation throughout its offices and locations and

had reviewed the contracts in place with different carriers, the ministry

put out a public call for tenders. The contract was awarded to Elisa

Communications Corporation, Finland’s largest private

telecommunications company, with around 6,000 employees. One factor

working very much in the company’s favor was the considerable

experience it had gathered in working with Siemens communication

systems over a number of years.

The solution was implemented using three HiPath 4000 platforms and

around 350 API1120 adapters to support fax services, enabling all

internal voice and fax traffic to run over the current (and upgraded) data

network. More than 1,200 smaller telephone systems installed in local

ministry offices had to be integrated into the HiPath network, and

optiPoint 410 phones were installed as end-user devices. Prior to the

initial rollout, engineers had to make sure that individual locations’ LANs

had sufficient capacity to carry voice over IP, because the narrow time

frame left no room for installing new runs of cabling.

Following the successful completion of a number of pilot projects,

installing 4,700 IP phones at desks and workpoints all over the country

plus all the other work took just four-and-a-half months to complete.

Equipping the labor ministry’s headquarters proved to be the biggest task,

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where 400 phone connections were switched over to the new system in

just one night.

The benefits:

An initial comparison of phone bills prior to and after the migration

revealed a potential annual cost saving on call charges of around EUR1.8

million. All of the ministry’s internal and long-distance calls within the

network are free, and long-distance calls to any city in Finland now cost

the same as a local call. Only international calls are charged at the old

rate. As Ilonen is quick to emphasize, “If the figures are correct, the

investment will pay for itself in next to no time.”

Ministry staff noticed little or no difference following the change: There

was neither a loss of quality nor had anything changed in terms of the

features. Thanks to the success of this project, Finland’s ministry of trade

and industry, ministry of justice, and ministry of the interior are now also

planning to switch to voice over IP. Says Matti Ilonen, looking ahead,

“Sooner or later, the entire government will be using this technology,

enabling us to place calls between all our government offices free of

charge.”

Case study

LTU cuts capital spending and maintenance costs

The customer:

Since it was formed in 1955, LTU Lufttransport-Unternehmen GmbH,

headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, has grown into one of Germany’s

largest vacation airlines and has one of the most modern and cost-

efficient aircraft fleets in the world. Under contract from tour operators,

the company’s 24 red and white jets carry more than 5.7 million

passengers annually to over 70 destinations around the world, including

vacation resorts on the Canary Islands, along the Mediterranean, in North

Africa, in the Caribbean, and in Africa and Asia. With a workforce of some

2,610 employees working on the ground and in the air, LTU generates

sales of around EUR855 million annually.

The problem:

In recent years, the travel and tourism industry has faced particularly

difficult problems – not just slower growth, but also politically related

international crises that have caused the public’s interest in international

air travel to wane. This forced LTU to review and adjust its capacity

requirements in the buildings it occupied and to restructure internally.

Initiatives included the sale of its tourism division and relocation of the

company to a new building at Düsseldorf Airport. It was at this time that

the company’s cable infrastructure also came under scrutiny.

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The new telecommunication infrastructure at LTU’s corporate

headquarters in Düsseldorf had to incorporate the existing administrative

building as well as the new facilities. To reduce its capital spending

substantially, LTU opted to install an integrated voice and data network

with structured cabling. The company also aimed to exploit potential cost

savings in connection with maintenance overheads, deciding in advance

of the project to merge its IT and telecommunications people to form a

single unit.

Other goals included improving employee reachability through a unified

messaging solution and shifting from location-based customer service call

centers to a location-independent solution. Here, too, changes in the

company’s business fortunes called for capacity restructuring because the

system already in service, a HiPath 300, was too large for the company’s

current needs. The same was true of the call center solution in use, which

was based on technology from Aspect Communications.

The solution:

Working closely with project managers at LTU, Siemens consultants

mapped out a phased strategy for gradually migrating company units to

voice over IP. Provisions had to be made at all times to safeguard business

continuity and telephony service availability.

The old and new systems were therefore operated concurrently while all

four company locations in the North Rhine-Westphalian capital were

moved over to voice over IP, department by department. Today’s

infrastructure is based on a voice over IP-capable data network. The

communication solution consists of a HiPath 4000 system with multiple

separate access points, all linked to a HiPath system using the Internet

Protocol. Some 800 IP terminals of various types were installed, including

a few software-based optiClients, a large number of optiPoint 410 IP

phones, and several optiPoint 600 feature phones.

LTU’s call center, where around 60 agents take inquiries from customers,

uses HiPath ProCenter, an IP-based contact center solution. Siemens held

training courses for call center supervisors to ensure that agents would be

able to make optimum use of the system’s extensive features and

capabilities. The HiPath Xpressions unified messaging solution supplied

integrates voice mail, fax, e-mail and SMS text messaging in a single user

interface on desktop PCs. SimplyPhone enables agents to place calls with

a simple mouse-click in Outlook. As part of the unified messaging rollout,

Siemens consultants also assisted with the migration of LTU’s messaging

systems to Microsoft Exchange 2003.

The benefits:

Running voice and data over one network played a substantial role in

lowering not just LTU’s infrastructure expense but also, significantly, the

carrier’s maintenance overheads, thanks in part to the merging of the IT

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and telecommunications units. The airline company’s call charges are also

down around 80 percent since the transition.

The HiPath ProCenter contact center solution has improved reachability

for LTU customers, enhancing the level of service. Skills-based routing

enables more carefully tailored service delivery for callers, boosting

customer loyalty, while sophisticated reporting tools optimize the

allocation of HR capacity and help to lower costs. The effort required to

maintain the call center is now far lower than in the past – something

that has had a further positive effect on savings.

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2. Accelerating business processes

Speed is crucial in today’s globalized economy. Companies need to get

innovations and ideas out into the marketplace faster than ever before. In

business, time pressure comes from external factors – increasingly tight

supply deadlines, and customers demanding rapid, more responsive

service, for example. Seamless integration of real-time communication

with the business processes, however, creates a vast potential for

boosting business productivity and speed of response. Managers and the

people they lead have instant access to all the information they need in

order to make the right decisions quickly and efficiently. Being reachable

– anywhere, at any time and by any channel – has become the crucial

factor in process efficiency. And combining communication channels

plays a central role in achieving that.

This is especially true in situations where a growing number of employees

are no longer working exclusively at one fixed location. Several studies

have shown that one in every five employees in western Europe is now

mobile. Forecasts also indicate that by 2006 only around 45 percent of

work will likely be completed at a permanently assigned workpoint,

whereas, on average, 55 percent of work will be accomplished on

business trips, by telecommuting, at shared desks in offices, or on site at

customer locations. A few years ago, the split was 75 percent to 25

percent. According to market researchers Analysys Mason Group (AMG),

mobile business data services will expand into a billion-euro global

market by the year 2009.

Keeping mobile workers connected presents conventional

communication infrastructures with a special challenge. Even without the

anticipated increase in the workforce mobility, the very best systems are

soon stretched to their absolute limits. The following emerged in a survey

of 1,700 businesses commissioned by Siemens:

• Sixty-seven percent of mobile workers have to leave messages in

several different places to actually reach the intended recipient

• Sixty-five percent often defer important decisions because their co-

workers are unable to respond to their inquiries fast enough

• Fifty-nine percent are often not able to reach co-workers when they

need to speak with them directly on urgent matters

• Forty-eight percent have difficulties answering customer inquiries

promptly

A survey by industry analysts Gartner came to similar conclusions: Four

out of five efforts to contact someone in business do not succeed at the

first attempt. In spite of the immense breadth of communication media –

fixed-line and mobile phones, e-mail, fax, SMS text messaging, presence-

based services like instant messaging, and even the internet telephony

solution Skype – people are no easier to reach now than they were

before. The communication universe remains fragmented, and

communication itself remains largely divorced and distinct from other

Integrating real-time

communication with

business processes

Keeping mobile workers

connected is a challenge

19

business processes. The outcome is delayed decision-making and stalled

business processes.

Presence-based communication with HiPath OpenScape

One possible way out of this dilemma is to use new software that

supports presence-based communication. The HiPath OpenScape

software suite, for instance, enables users to be reachable at all times and

to see at a glance when and how associates and business partners can be

contacted. Achieved by tracking presence information and combining all

available communication channels, this capability is key to process

efficiency.

Unified messaging, shared document functionality and multimedia

conferencing are all available at the click of a mouse through a single

user interface. HiPath OpenScape features buddy lists, familiar from

instant messaging, showing individuals contacted most frequently, but

with the difference that the list includes a range of communication

options, including phone numbers and e-mail.

A glance at the “My Contacts” list on screen is sufficient to see who can

currently be contacted through which channels. This puts an end to

having to try different phone numbers or e-mail addresses and leaving a

string of messages in different places. Through a unified, web-based front

end, users can control, manage and coordinate all the available

communication channels with mouse or voice commands. Filter

functions are available to change your individual reachability, because

the idea is not to be constantly available, 24/7, but to achieve an

Figure 5.

HiPath OpenScape

includes a personal

portal which allows

users to configure the

channels through which

they can be contacted.

The goal is not to be on

call around the clock but

to strike the right work-

life balance

20

appropriate work-life balance. Every employee should be able to decide

when and on what channels he or she can be contacted.

HiPath OpenScape can also incorporate all these communication options,

including multimedia conferencing, into existing applications. There is no

need to copy phone numbers into other software, and communication

processes can be initiated automatically, if need be. This expedites

project team collaboration from within business applications, in other

words in the immediate context of a business task or transaction. This is

why HiPath OpenScape can be integrated into e-mail and document

management systems, electronic calendars, and software solutions for

controlling workflow.

With just a single mouse click, users can contact team members they

work with frequently or put together ad hoc teams on the fly. Anyone

involved can always see who else is taking part in a conference or joins it

at a later time, and documents can be viewed on screen and discussed at

every workstation.

Integrating mobile workers with HiPath Field Force Mobility

A cornerstone of customer satisfaction is a company’s ability to respond

to customers’ needs and deal with orders as swiftly as possible. Making

this work, though, calls for requirements-driven, rapid control of the

workflow, plus complete mobile access to all key information.

The HiPath Field Force Mobility solution was created specially for

employees – field engineers, for example – who spend most of their work

time off campus but who still need to be tied into clearly structured

workflows. With this solution, they can receive assignments, complete

with all the requisite background data, wirelessly on their personal digital

Figure 6: Desktop video

conferences optimize

team collaboration and

eliminate the need for

costly and time-

consuming face-to-face

meetings.

Complete integration

into the corporate

network – anywhere and

at any time

21

assistants (PDAs), and can make inquiries whenever necessary via a GSM

mobile phone or wireless LAN.

On completion of an assignment, they can transmit data back to the

central system and pick up the details of their next assignment. This

means that field staff are connected seamlessly with the company –

anywhere and at any time. Customer inquiries are sent in real time to the

relevant employee’s end-user device, and tasks can be assigned based on

the capabilities recorded in the employee’s skills profile, his or her current

location (to optimize routing), or on the customer’s service level

agreement.

Mobile workers can also have constant access to the company’s back-

office applications, enabling them to order spare parts, view assignment

rosters, forward assignments to co-workers, and immediately initiate

billing processes on completion of a task for a customer. Also, software

updates for client applications running, say, on PDAs can be delivered

automatically over the air.

Confidential data being transmitted back and forth is reliably protected at

all times. A combination of firewall-based solutions and encryption

technology means telecommuters and mobile field staff can connect to

the company’s network without risk, no matter where they happen to be.

With virtual private networks (VPNs), businesses can create a secured

corporate network accessible for authorized users on public

communication channels like the Internet.

Figure 7: With a HiPath

Field Force Mobility

solution, field staff can

be contacted in real time

and assignment data

transmitted back to the

company’s offices

instantly.

22

Cutting through the chaos with unified communications

The HiPath application portfolio offers unified communications and

mobility solutions designed to meet a variety of employees’ needs and

requirements. Unified communications combines and consolidates all

kinds of communication, independently of time, place and the end-user

equipment. The applications in the HiPath portfolio make it possible to

manage information flow efficiently without having to take an

employee’s current location into account. They include solutions for

unified messaging, telecommuting, desk sharing, reachability

management, and phone-based access to web content.

Today, it’s common for people to have several phone numbers. Besides

office and mobile phone numbers, they often give their hotel and home

phone numbers so that fellow employees, business partners, and

important customers can reach them when the situation requires. But

these contact details tend to develop a life of their own, and when

numbers are no longer current, confusion and a breakdown in

communication are the outcome.

With a one number service, this cannot happen, because only one

number is in circulation, and all calls can be forwarded as necessary

through a voice portal or software, depending on the caller, the day of

the week, the time and the availability of alternative channels of

communication.

A presence management system, harnessed with the convenience of a

computer telephony integration (CTI) application, enables users to

forward communications on different media (fixed-line and mobile

phones or e-mail, for example) to the best available end-user device.

Different message types and contacts can be sorted and prioritized by

setting filters.

With Siemens’ unified messaging solution, every employee has a

multimedia mailbox that combines all channels – voice messages, faxes,

e-mail and SMS text messages – so that they can be managed easily on a

PC or phone. Messages can be retrieved from any source using a range of

devices, including fixed and mobile phones or laptop PCs. E-mail can be

read out over the phone, a fax can be sent to a PC or a fax machine, and

so on. Users are free to choose how they wish to receive the messages

and how they prefer to respond.

In combination with the one number service, the unified messaging

system offers a highly practical real-time communication solution for

mobile workers. And in conjunction with a CTI solution, it not only eases

dialing, it also helps to handle messages efficiently. Overall, Siemens’

unified messaging solutions deliver the right tools to take the chaos out

of communication in companies, substantially enhance productivity, and

accelerate processes.

A one number service

ensures calls are

forwarded efficiently

Unified messaging

provides a clearer

overview of all

communication channels

23

Optimizing business processes with end-to-end consulting services

from a single source

Achieving a sustained improvement in business processes and exploiting

potential productivity gains and savings calls for more than just isolated

and incremental improvements. This is why Siemens has developed a

comprehensive consulting program that addresses the full breadth of

communications throughout the enterprise.

This program of HiPath Professional Services consists of several

interlocking modules. Ideally, consulting should begin with a shared

vision and strategy-finding process with the customer, either in the form

of an intensive expert discussion or a more comprehensive consulting

workshop attended by Siemens experts and the customer’s own

specialists in such areas as sales, service and manufacturing. Together,

they analyze existing shortcomings in the communication processes and

achieve a baseline understanding on the future communication strategy.

The next step consists of examining the extensive range of possibilities

for optimization to identify those solutions that promise to deliver the

greatest benefits within the limits set by the available budget. The

consultants then prepare a road map, cost-effectiveness analyses, and

project action and implementation plans. Unlike business process

consultants, whose work often ends at this point, Siemens can also offer

to supervise the implementation of the proposed solutions. Besides the

deployment of the requisite hardware and software, this may also include

integrating systems into the current information and communication

environment, customizing standard solutions, and programming custom

interfaces, depending on the customer’s needs.

To ensure that the projected productivity gains and cost savings are

actually achieved, Siemens also offers a range of oversight and change-

management services in the closing phase of the project. These include

delivering employee training programs, authoring customer-specific

instruction manuals, and remodeling and updating existing workflows to

match the possibilities afforded by the new applications.

The benefits for businesses

Siemens has a rich portfolio of applications and hardware components

designed to accelerate business processes. These enable businesses to

win a competitive edge and to tap into potential productivity gains:

• Presence-based communication improves reachability

• Easy organization of virtual team meetings

• Seamless integration of mobile workers

• Unified communications across all channels

• One number service for easy call forwarding

• Comprehensive consulting services for process optimization

HiPath Professional

Services comprise a

range of service modules

24

Case study

The New York Power Authority speeds up its processes

The customer:

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is the largest state-run power

utility in the United States. The authority, which has annual sales of

around US$2 billion, operates 17 power plants throughout the state of

New York, including major hydroelectric installations on the St. Lawrence

river and at Niagara Falls. Its customers in the deregulated U.S. energy

market include government agencies, municipal administrations, and

businesses of all sizes.

The problem:

To remain competitive and to improve its cost structure, the NYPA

wanted to deploy a unified and optimized communication system. Of the

12 phone systems in service – connecting 20 locations and supplied by a

number of different vendors – several were decades old and

correspondingly trouble-prone. The authority was also eager to speed up

communication processes by introducing new technologies like unified

communications, largely because in crisis situations – power outages, for

instance – every second counts.

Says Gary Schmid, the manager responsible for NYPA’s network services:

“The time was ripe for a thorough overhaul of our outdated

communication infrastructure.” So he began looking for a solution

capable of being controlled centrally that would reliably take the

authority forward into the 21st century.

The solution:

Following a call for tenders in which Avaya and Nortel took part, Siemens

was ultimately awarded the contract. The hub of the solution is a HiPath

4000 platform located at the NYPA’s center in White Plains, where around

900 employees work; there are nine more HiPath systems sited at points

chosen strategically to provide outbound connectivity and full voice

network redundancy. In addition, the NYPA has set up a unified

communications solution, HiPath Xpressions, deployed to accelerate

processes and ensure optimum reachability for employees through a

variety of media.

“The solution Siemens proposed was not just competitively priced, it also

covered the right combination of IP capabilities that we needed,” says

Schmid. The HiPath platform’s reliability and high availability were also a

crucial factor in the decision. Even if individual components fail or there’s

a power outage, communication still has to be possible. Thanks to

uninterruptible power supplies, emergency power generators, and a

redundant network design, calls can still be made between power plants,

even in a major blackout.

25

The benefits:

By unifying its communication infrastructure and by centralizing the

management of its HiPath network, the New York Power Authority has

achieved considerable savings in the area of maintenance costs. At the

same time, the road ahead is open for complete voice and data network

convergence, and the authority is planning a phased rollout of IP phones

and softphones in its offices. At the vast St. Lawrence-Franklin D.

Roosevelt hydroelectric plant (a monumental concrete structure with

fault-prone phone cabling in the walls), the transition to communication

over IP is imminent: Rather than open up the concrete to repair the

existing lines, the NYPA plans to run voice communication entirely over

the much more recent data network.

In the same way that HiPath Expressions and its messaging features help

to accelerate processes, the HiPath platform’s web-based network

management interface eases system administrators’ everyday tasks at the

NYPA’s locations. “At some of our larger power plants, the switch room is

five or ten minutes away from the administrators’ offices,” Schmid

explains. Being able to monitor and control the entire communication

solution from any desktop PC represents “a major productivity gain” for

company admins.

Case study

Unicer now offers better customer service in real time

The customer:

With more than 60,000 customers, Unicer is one of Portugal’s leading

beverage companies. Through a nationwide network of wholesalers and

retailers, the company sells soft drinks, beer, coffee and other beverages

in bars, restaurants, retail stores and supermarkets. Unicer has its own

field force, which is responsible for keeping the vending machines

installed at customers’ locations working properly.

The problem:

For some time, the company had been operating a call center located in

the city of Porto that customers could contact to report problems.

However, retailers’ and service technicians’ calls – on average, around

100,000 a year – all went to the same phone number. As a result,

reachability was poor. In addition, although Unicer had built up a

comprehensive database with detailed information on customers, call

center agents had no access to records of previous calls or service callouts

during conversations with customers.

It was also impossible to view individual service technician’s schedules or

set up appointments during customer calls. “The service we were offering

our customers was extremely inefficient, and the outcome was

26

widespread dissatisfaction,” recalls Fernando Leite, who manages Unicer’s

technical support services.

The solution:

The beverage company launched a project named SAT (Serviço de

Assistência Técnica) with the goal of setting up an improved technical

support hotline to enhance the level of service. Having won the contract

put out to tender and having held several workshops to define the project

schedule and design the application, partners Siemens and SAP embarked

on the implementation process.

A mySAP CRM field force module was added to the existing CRM system,

and the Unicer service technicians were issued mobile phones or PDAs.

Siemens installed a HiPath 4500 communication platform and a HiPath

ProCenter Advanced contact center solution. To gain maximum leverage

from the new real-time communication capabilities that the solution

afforded, it had to be incorporated seamlessly into the SAP desktop at the

interface and functional levels. With the aid of the CRM Ready Kit, an

integration package from Siemens, this succeeded rapidly and without

the need for any major programming work.

The benefits:

Thanks both to the close collaboration between SAP and Siemens and to

the CRM Ready Kit, it proved possible to implement a tailored solution for

Unicer in an exceptionally short space of time. And thanks to this

solution, the beverage company has greatly improved its service hotline’s

reachability.

If call center agents are unable to solve a problem for a customer

immediately by phone, they can now check the current location and

schedule of the service technician in the customer’s area and can

instantly arrange a visit. Access to the SAP back-office systems ensures

that the requisite logistical support is available, and once the

conversation with the customer is completed, all the information

collected during the call is transmitted to the technician’s PDA.

In addition, most of the callers are now identified automatically and their

calls are put through to employees with the requisite specialist

knowledge. These employees have direct access to all the customer data

they need, including records of prior calls and service requests. They now

also have access to a technical support database that enables them to

solve a large number of problems directly by phone. Alternatively, they

can immediately schedule a service technician callout. All this takes place

in real time during the call, and employees work with the familiar SAP

user interface, complete with integrated telephony features.

As Fernando Leite explains, this has dramatically accelerated processes:

“When a customer calls us with a technical problem today, we can

respond immediately, identify the fault, allocate the necessary resources,

and tell the customer when one of our service engineers will stop by – all

within literally minutes, and usually during the call itself.”

27

3. Optimizing customer relationships

Customers’ brand awareness and loyalty to particular companies are on

the wane. For this reason, efficient customer relationship management

(CRM) plays a vital role in the control of customer-related processes.

Phone-based support is the key here, because it offers customers the

fastest and most direct service. In the future, though, this on its own will

not be enough, because customers’ loyalty will depend largely on

whether companies can deliver the same quality of support on all

communication channels, including the Web, e-mail, and SMS text

messaging.

According to a study conducted by Call Centre Focus, a British industry

journal, consumers’ buying decisions are based to 70 percent on how

successful communication with the company is and to just 30 percent on

the actual product. This shows clearly the scale of the role played by the

way businesses interface with their customers. Tomorrow, call centers –

the initial point of contact today and, essentially, a business’s calling card

– will become multimedia contact centers and will play the lead role in

future CRM strategies.

The purpose of these centers is to improve customer satisfaction, build

greater customer loyalty, generate more revenue per customer, tap into

cross-selling potential, and utilize new, cost-saving communication

channels. The quality of a contact center is crucially important in that the

speed of response and agent competency are of direct bearing on

customers’ satisfaction. This applies in equal measure to phone-based

consultations, e-mail correspondence, and web chats.

Seamless integration with existing CRM solutions

If employees in contact centers are to be able to respond promptly and

competently to customers wishes or actively contact customers, they

need direct access to customer and expert databases, phone directories,

and CRM systems. Presence information can optimize processes in

contact centers because agents can see at a glance whether and by what

means experts are available. Rather than being connected repeatedly

without success, customers can be put straight through to the right

contact.

With skills-based routing, contact center software applies rules to

automatically route incoming calls to the employees best qualified to deal

with the issue in question from a virtual pool of specialists. Their

competency may consist of specific language skills, expertise in a

particular field, or the responsibility for a particular VIP customer. With

interactive voice response (IVR) systems, calls can be filtered by a voice

computer. Routine calls like inquiries regarding current bank balances can

also be processed cost-effectively on a purely self-service basis.

When contact center solutions are incorporated into existing CRM and

ERP systems, employees can call up current information through a single,

Customer relationship

management is

becoming increasingly

important

Presence information

optimizes processes in

contact centers

Integrating contact

centers into CRM

solutions boosts

productivity by 15

percent

28

familiar user interface, even on mobile devices. Field force workers, even,

can be reached through the contact center and consulted as experts

when issues are escalated. Monitoring functions enable supervisors and

management to obtain a rapid overview of the efficiency of customer

support services, and real-time reports on peak call loads, call queues and

thresholds are available whenever required. By incorporating contact

centers into electronic customer relationship management (eCRM)

systems, customer service productivity can be boosted by 15 percent on

average and spending cut by around 5 percent, according to a study

conducted by IDC. If a customer inquiry can be processed completely

when the initial contact occurs, customer care costs drop by around 30

percent.

A comprehensive contact center portfolio

With its rich solutions portfolio for contact centers, Siemens has created a

strong foundation for efficiently combining mobile applications, IP-based

platforms, and multimedia and e-business applications within an end-to-

end customer management strategy. HiPath’s open architecture is perfect

for creating an intelligent CRM portal that can scale in line with growing

requirements.

Depending on their scope, presence-based multimedia contact centers

provide advanced capabilities like skills-based routing, comprehensive

administration, reporting, monitoring, simulation, and HR planning tools,

and is able to incorporate mobility solutions. Even voice, e-mail, fax, IP

communication, and web-based contact capabilities can be fully

integrated, as can CRM software from Microsoft, SAP and Siebel on a

media-independent basis.

Figure 8: Sophisticated

contact centers with

presence management

can even tie in mobile

and home office

Making real-time

communication part of

an end-to-end customer

management strategy.

29

Powerful features like advanced e-mail management and scheduled call-

back as well as basic functionality for an interactive voice response

system offer businesses a turnkey solution that’s easy to deploy,

configure and operate. Presence and collaboration features that allow

agents in contact centers to visually track the availability of managers or

specialists in particular fields make work easier.

If need be, individuals can be contacted for assistance by means of

nothing more than a simple mouse click. Intelligent call routing and

sophisticated reporting, available through a well-designed graphical

interface, also ease everyday tasks for agents and supervisors. An

associate desktop allows call routing to be expanded to take onboard

additional human resources at peak periods.

These human resources need not be concentrated in a specific location,

because contact center workstations can be set up more or less anywhere

– in home offices, in telecommuting centers, and offshore. Regardless of

their actual location, workstations belong to the contact center, both

organizationally and in terms of the role they fulfill. With a simple mouse

click, agents can also call on experts to provide additional support,

contacting them by DECT phone, voice over WLAN, or mobile phone as

necessary if they happen to be on the move.

A clear overview of the entire value chain

Today’s contact centers should not merely provide a high-quality,

customer-centric service. They should also work as profit centers,

delivering billable and profitable services that contribute to the value

creation process. Intelligent service engineering helps to meet these

requirements as exactly as possible. Following are some of the areas

covered by Siemens’ consulting services for contact centers:

• Review of current communication processes with regard to

reachability and efficiency

• Definition of inbound processes to ensure an optimum response to

and processing of incoming calls

• Incorporation of the requisite media for customer communications

and adaptation of these media in line with the relevant company

processes

• Optimization of customer servicing by incorporating customer data

into the communication process

• Creation of options for managing customer contacts and for logging

and creating statistics

• Adaptation of internal communication processes to streamline access

to, utilization and sharing of customer data

With Siemens’ HiPath Professional Services for eCRM, consultants begin

by thoroughly examining how a company interacts with its customers

and then optimize customer management along the entire value chain,

Tying in external

workers is no problem

Intelligent service

engineering turns

contact centers into

profit centers

30

targeting everything from workstation configurations and process design

to innovative customer retention initiatives, and employee training.

Specialized solutions are available for a number of industry sectors,

including financial services, health care, hospitality and government. The

HiPath Hospitality Service Center for hotels, for example, provides a

central service hotline and supports the initiation and tracking of service

orders; it even provides features for a detailed analysis of service data. In

the financial services sector, contact center solutions from Siemens

support multi-channel sales, the cross-selling of banking and insurance

products, and the logging of insurance claims.

The benefits for businesses

Designed to cover a wide spectrum of needs, Siemens’ contact center

solutions range from simple entry-level solutions for service hotlines in

medium sized businesses all the way up to sophisticated contact centers

for professional call center carriers. The benefits include:

• Seamless integration with CRM applications

• Improved customer support through skills-based routing

• Integration of presence management and collaboration applications

• Connectivity for home offices and mobile workers

• Unified communications combining all types of communication

• Comprehensive consulting focused on better service

• Specialized solutions for industry sectors

Case study

The Farmers Insurance Group improves customer service

The customer:

The Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, headquartered in Los

Angeles, has a client base of around 9 million households with over 16

million home, automobile, business and life insurance policies. It is part

of the Zurich Financial Services Group and has a dense distribution

network with 7,700 branch offices across the United States. The insurer’s

phone help desk serves more than 30,000 insurance agents, their office

staff, and district managers.

The problem:

On average, the central help desk takes between 1,100 and 1,500 calls a

day, with teams of IT specialists doing everything from solving problems

like printers that won’t print to guiding users through the ins and outs of

mainframe applications. Farmers has noticed that the quality of the

technical support is of direct bearing on employee productivity. Says Pete

Pappas, Farmers’ project supervisor: “If we can’t resolve problems fast,

31

countless people-hours can be wasted, and that means dissatisfied

insurance policy holders.”

In the past, calls were routed to four groups of technicians rather than to

individual specialists with advanced knowledge in a particular field – a

less than ideal setup, given the complexity of today’s IT systems and the

immense variety of hardware and software solutions in operation with

the insurance company. In addition, the call center agents’ workload

varied greatly: Experts in one field were completely snowed under with

calls while experts in another had very little to do. It was impossible to

overflow calls to outside locations, and there was no detailed reporting

system in place. Also, the insurer wanted to incorporate web-based self-

services into the help desk to ease the burden on hotline staff.

The solution:

Farmers decided to install a new call-routing and management system for

its help desk. The company chose a HiPath ProCenter Advanced solution

from Siemens, not least on account of its support for skills-based routing

for voice, e-mail and web chat. Other compelling capabilities included

real-time reporting, and the seamless integration with front-office

applications and back-office CRM applications.

The new solution today supports 57 help desk experts and seven

supervisors, and callers are now routed straight to the employee best

qualified to solve the problem in hand. A help desk certification program

has been launched to qualify personnel, and a catalog of 20 personal

skills has been set up. These skills are stored as rules in the HiPath

ProCenter software so that the right contact can be identified

automatically for any given problem.

The solution also generates extensive statistical reports that provide

Farmers’ management with an overview of the problems occurring in IT

systems whenever needed. Frequently recurring inquiries – concerning

trouble ticket status and password resets after lockouts following several

failed attempts to enter a password – are now handled by a voice

recognition system (IVR), available around the clock.

One of the biggest benefits for Farmers is that the current

telecommunication system didn’t need to be updated or replaced to

support the new multimedia contact center. The HiPath IPortal included

the necessary IP gateway to integrate the system. “Hooking up people

working in home offices went smoothly too,” reports Pappas. Because the

solution also features HiPath Teleworking, Farmers can handle call peaks

better than before. Twelve employees at locations in Pocatello, Phoenix

and Aurora are automatically called in when HiPath ProCenter’s real-time

reporting shows a sharp increase in the number of calls.

32

The benefits:

In its first year alone, the HiPath IPortal saved Farmers more than

US$300,000, because none of the components in the existing

telecommunication system had to be replaced. Farmers was able to

substantially increase its help desk capacity without hiring more people.

Overall, the hotline’s efficiency improved greatly. Pappas also reports that

waits for callers have been reduced dramatically and that 80 percent of

problems can be resolved during the first call. Client satisfaction is much

higher now as a result.

The new self-service options have reduced calls to help desk employees

by as many as 150 each day, and the company expects the rollout of

HiPath ProCenter E-Mail and HiPath ProCenter Web Chat to ease the

workload still further. Says Pappas: “That will enable us to offer our

people nationwide a choice of support channels through which they can

resolve IT problems even faster.”

Case study

Chery Automobile builds on quality

The customer:

Chery Automobile is currently China’s eighth-largest auto maker. Since it

was formed in 1997, the state-owned company has advanced to become

the country’s fastest-growing car manufacturer. Working in collaboration

with top partners like AVL List, Lotus Engineering, Mitsubishi Automotive

Engineering, Bertone and Pininfarina, Chery develops and manufactures

world-class automobiles, and in 2003 built 100,000 units. The company

currently exports engines and five models of car, all Chery-designed and

manufactured, to 29 countries.

The problem:

Chery Automobile wanted to set up a new customer service center, fully

integrated with its current mySAP CRM system, at its primary location in

Anhui Province in Central China. The first project of this kind in the

world’s most heavily populated country, it called for comprehensive

consulting and a considerable system integration effort. At the same

time, it became clear that in China, too, price is no longer everything and

that quality is in demand.

The solution:

During the planning process, Siemens consultants proposed deploying a

HiPath 4300 system platform in combination with a HiPath ProCenter

Advanced contact center solution serving as middleware between the

data network and the telecommunication system. In addition, there was

to be an IVR/IFR solution for voice navigation and phone-based self-

33

service, plus a voice recorder to tape calls and monitor the quality of

service. Call center agents were equipped with optiPoint headsets.

Thanks to the HiPath ProCenter Ready Kit, integration with the SAP

customer relationship management solution was completed quickly and

easily. Users now have instant access to all of HiPath’s features, including

comprehensive reports, from inside their applications. Because HiPath

ProCenter supports conventional circuit-switched telecommunication

systems as well as IP-based solutions, Chery’s system is largely platform-

independent and future-proof.

The benefits:

Chery Automobile now has a highly advanced CRM solution in place with

efficient business processes and extensive databases. This means that

customer inquiries can be processed rapidly, completely and with a high

quality of service. Says Yang Xianping, Chery’s customer service center

manager: “Our new customer service center is highly productive and has

put us in a position to take better care of the people who buy our cars.”

HiPath ProCenter’s powerful reporting and routing capabilities in

particular are easing everyday tasks for service center agents.

34

4. Minimizing risk

As information technology and telecommunications continue to merge,

they are not just creating rich new opportunities but also risks. There are

two focal issues here: the need to increase network and system security,

and the need to minimize business risk by farming out processes to

external service operators.

4.1. Guarding against attacks with comprehensive security strategies

With the advent of voice over IP, many threats familiar from the world of

the Internet – viruses, hackers, spam, denial of service attacks, phishing

and pharming – are now relevant for telecommunications too. These are

compounded by newer threats like spam over internet telephony (SPIT),

clipping (impairment of voice quality through a flood of data packets),

and voice bombing (the flooding of a VoIP connection with recorded

voice messages).

Classic risks associated with telecommunication – the tapping of calls by

unauthorized individuals or the placing of calls at another’s expense –

also play a role. Other risks lie in the confidentiality of the information

carried and in the security of network access. Regular software updates,

too, harbor risks that need to be addressed.

Besides implementing specialized measures such as the encryption of

voice data with the Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) – available

for the HiPath platform – businesses also need to adapt proven and

established safeguards from the IT world to protect converged voice and

data networks.

These include firewalls, content filters, virus scanners, intrusion detection

and intrusion protection systems, and secured data transmission on

virtual private networks (VPNs). In association with well-known partners,

Siemens offers an extensive range of hardware and software solutions as

well as related services.

Tailored security policies for every business

The HiPath SIcurity portfolio, which spans everything from security

consulting and network and system security to smart card-based

solutions and identity and access management, covers every area of risk

associated with IT security. What is particularly important here is to adopt

an individually tailored approach because every company has different

requirements and prerequisites. With careful calculation, especially with

regard to the return on security investment (ROSI), it is possible to decide

which security solution makes sense from a business and technical

standpoint in each specific case.

Special attention has to be paid to protecting mobile workers accessing

the company network from on the road, because the increase in

workforce mobility must not be allowed to open the gates to intruders.

Covering two areas of

risk

Threats from the realm

of the Internet are also

relevant for voice

communication

Mobile workers need

greater protection

35

The same applies to the protection of mobile equipment like notebook

PCs, which often carry highly sensitive data. Security loopholes that could

provide outsiders with access to confidential information such as research

findings or financial data have to be closed.

Siemens therefore recommends defining an end-to-end security strategy

that provides comprehensive safeguards to ensure the confidentiality,

integrity and authenticity of communications. Detailed security analyses

offering a precise appraisal of the situation within the company form the

basis for tailored security policies that can then be mapped to technical

solutions.

Smart cards: An important key to greater security

Smart card concepts offer a solution to several security issues at once

using just a single card. Intelligent, personalized chip cards are an ideal

and convenient way of managing not just passwords for applications,

servers and networks, but also access to rooms in buildings.

Multifunctional smart cards additionally support legally binding

transactions in e-business, online banking, health care, and e-

government. Putting all these capabilities on a single card affords

optimum protection against data loss, but also greater ease of use and a

reduction in costs.

36

This is why HiPath SIcurity smart card solutions provide features to

support building access control, electronic wallet functionality, IT

application access control, electronic encryption, electronic signatures,

and shared card and personalization management. As a global player,

Siemens works with hardware solutions based on Infineon chips and

equips its smart cards with CardOS, a specially developed operating

system compatible with major chip card standards worldwide that meets

the most exacting security requirements specified under Germany’s

Digital Signatures Act.

Before the cards can be used, general data and user-specific information

(e.g., application permissions and secret keys) have to be loaded onto the

microprocessor. Here, Siemens offers tried-and-tested card management

systems that allow the assignment of keys during chip-card

personalization and the management of the card owner’s personal data

to be carried out centrally. This ensures that management of the

infrastructure is simple and inexpensive and that processes can adapt

flexibly as needs and requirements change.

Siemens works with a large number of trust centers and personalization

specialists who manage the variants of the electronic keys and who put

Figure 9: HiPath SIcurity

smart card solutions

support a wide range of

security applications.

Turnkey smart card

solutions from a single

source

37

individual employees’ data onto the cards. Siemens also offers card

management systems in association with partner companies.

Granting the right permissions to the right people at the right time

Business relationships between companies today are becoming more

complex. Distinctions between internal and external systems are

increasingly blurred, because not just company employees but also a

growing number of external users – partners and suppliers, for instance –

need access to company data if the company is to succeed in competing

effectively. This kind of heterogeneous business environment represents

a mounting challenge, in terms not just of user and access management

but also security.

Making sure that the right people have the right permissions to access

the right resources at the right time is crucial to a company’s success. The

expansion of e-business, the increasing demands of IT security,

compliance with statutory requirements, cost control, and the ability to

respond rapidly and flexibly to changes are all important additional

factors that need to be taken into account. The answer to all these

challenges lies in a comprehensive identity and access management

system of the kind offered by the HiPath SIcurity portfolio.

An identity management system (HiPath SIcurity DirX Identity)

synchronizes data from separate sources, manages the digital identities

that are created and keeps them up-to-date (in a metadirectory). Role-

based, cross-platform provisioning of the data ensures that identities and

permissions are passed automatically to applications and services in order

to automatically regulate access.

The allocation of all user permissions takes place in a single step. The

privileges are authorized dynamically, are monitored constantly, and, if

the need arises, can be revoked immediately and entirely. The identity

management solution also handles web resource management. Access

management (with HiPath SIcurity DirX Access) provides authentication,

authorization, single sign-on, and access control for web applications, as

well as delegating the administration of users and workflow functions.

Identity federation enables the integration of identity information across

company boundaries to build secure business relationships.

Master data on individual identities is stored and provisioned centrally on

the HiPath SIcurity DirX server. DirX Extranet Edition can support

hundreds of millions of users for all kinds of directory-based e-business

applications.

Tight control of access to

sensitive systems

38

4.2. Minimizing business risk with HiPath Managed Services When switching to the convergent world, businesses also face economic

risks and are in danger of making misdirected investments. If the decision

to deploy new technology comes too early, it can lead the company up a

blind alley. And if it comes too late, the company can forfeit a crucial

competitive advantage. Here, HiPath Managed Services offer an

alternative to earlier solutions. These services represent a special form of

selective and intelligent outsourcing in which certain tasks in the area of

information and communication technology are farmed out to an

external service partner.

Cost pressure is still a critical factor but, increasingly, a strategic

dimension is coming to the fore: Outsourcing and outtasking today are a

central foundation for securing a company’s future competitiveness over

the longer term. However, due to negative experiences in the past,

companies are often leery of farming out entire business units to external

service providers, and are now looking more and more towards flexible,

tailored managed-services contracts as an alternative.

With this specialized form of outsourcing, an external partner doesn’t

execute business processes in their entirety but provides and operates the

infrastructure. The overall responsibility and the strategic direction,

however, can remain in the hands of the customer if required. In this

case, the customer merely rents or leases the requisite functionality from

the outsourcing partner at guaranteed service levels. And the customer

protects his assets because the systems and equipment remain the

property of the outsourcing partner.

Figure 10: Identity and

access management

with HiPath SIcurity

increases security and

boosts productivity

through the automation

of processes.

Avoiding bad

investments through

selective and intelligent

outsourcing

39

Telecommunications and networking are ideal areas in which to purchase

managed services. In the majority of companies, the network

infrastructure may be highly important but it’s rarely part of a company’s

core competency. In addition, the technology is both highly complex and

subject to rapid change. This calls for a specialist service provider capable

of deploying and operating such systems who also has a solid

understanding of the complexities involved in voice and data

convergence. This kind of service provider, thanks to his specialization

and the large number of similar contracts handled, is more likely to be in

a position to ensure that the systems are used cost-effectively and that

the company can achieve the potential savings.

Siemens offers this form of outsourcing, primarily in those areas in which

Siemens itself has developed and produced solutions: communication

infrastructure (IP and TDM) and solutions, security infrastructure, and

multimedia contact centers. In each of these segments, the company has

a modular portfolio that provides a basis for customer-specific operator

models. Each of these models builds on internationally recognized best

practices defined in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). And to ensure cost

transparency and to enable customers to plan reliably, managed services

are generally invoiced on the basis of a flat monthly fee per port or per

user.

Scalable services and tailored solutions

HiPath Managed Services encompass a range of scalable services in the

areas of fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security

management that are designed to safeguard smooth business processes

at network and server level. These services can be used to build individual

solutions for each customer, and besides the operation and

administration of a company’s voice, data and security infrastructure,

they can also include the continuous monitoring of specified components

and the automatic monitoring of service level agreements.

The portfolio additionally includes monthly event reports, traffic statistics

(e.g., error, collision, load, and trend reports), regular recommendations

on how to eliminate bottlenecks and weak points, and the development

of topology plans. Outages and failures are rectified within the agreed

response times, either remotely or by an engineer on site. Thanks to

Telecommunications and

networking are perfect

candidates for managed

services

Figure 11: HiPath

Managed Services offer

tailored multi-location

outtasking services

based on a company’s

specific needs.

40

HiPath Managed Services, companies can focus their valuable resources

entirely on their core business. This enhances their competitiveness and

ensures that they align with their customers’ needs. Companies also

benefit from potential efficiency gains through technological

advancements – and at firmly calculable operation costs – while at the

same time minimizing their capital spending risk.

The benefits for businesses

Security threats and business risks along the road to converged

communications can be contained and controlled effectively with a

number of tailored product and service solutions. Following are some of

the benefits of Siemens’ offering:

• Detailed security analyses and consulting services create the basis for

comprehensive security strategies

• Network and system security provides protection against attacks

• Smart card-based security solutions control access to company

locations and systems

• Identity and access management ensure reliable control over users

and their privileges

• Managed services increase flexibility and reduce economic risk

• Scalable services enable individually agreed levels of service

Case study

The BMW Group manages its voice and data networks through a

single supplier

The customer:

The BMW Group is one of the world’s top ten auto makers today and

employs more than 104,000 employees worldwide. Group headquarters

in Munich is connected with around 200 locations around the world by

an extensive and widely ramified network. The BMW Group’s corporate

network in the greater Munich area has around 60,000 users. A wide area

network (WAN) connects this network via carrier services with BMW’s

other locations in Bavaria and the rest of the world. Parallel to this, the

Group has a network of Siemens HiPath platforms for voice

communication with fixed-line and cordless phones for around 70,000

employees.

The problem:

Siemens has managed the voice network around the clock with HiPath

Managed Services for a number of years now, whereas BMW’s data

networks have been managed by the Group’s own service department.

“In recent years, availability requirements have increased constantly but

the time frames available for data center and network maintenance are

constantly shrinking,” explains Gerhart Feissel, who is responsible for

41

operating the network infrastructure in the data and voice segment at the

BMW Group’s Munich location.

Smooth and efficient network management, he notes, calls for

substantial human and financial resources and could be handled more

cost-efficiently and with a better level of quality by a specialist service

provider. Executives at BMW AG therefore decided to outtask the

management of the company’s own data network to an outside operator.

Besides managing the network in the greater Munich area and its WAN

connectivity, the operator’s tasks included operating DNS and DHCP

servers and monitoring service providers’ internet access points and

suppliers’ extranet access.

Topmost on the list of priorities for the network management solution,

alongside high system availability, stood scalability and consistency. The

latter was important because the auto maker had reorganized internally

in an effort to introduce consistent processes worldwide. As a result,

considerable emphasis was placed on compliance with ITIL (IT

Infrastructure Library), the catalog of best practice standards established

worldwide for first-rate service management.

The solution:

As a professional service partner to the BMW Group, Siemens runs a

specialized network operation center (NOC) with a redundant structure

based on two locations in Cologne and Essen (Germany) to ensure

maximum availability and security. There is also a back level support

center in Munich which provides additional standby services on site as

required by the BMW Group. The Siemens professionals’ expertise, which

included extensive ITIL experience and strong skills in the field of

networking, was as crucial to BMW’s decision as the outtasking partner’s

international presence.

Monitoring, incident handling, and change management – the three

service processes – were gradually rolled out in BMW AG’s greater Munich

area network and in Siemens’ network operation center so that now the

same set of BMW and Siemens tools is available at both locations,

enabling the networks to be managed from the redundant NOC in North

Rhine-Westphalia as well as on site in Munich. Following a six-month

migration phase, the voice and data networks are now monitored

seamlessly, 24/7, by Siemens system specialists.

The benefits:

“With HiPath Manage Services, our service class has moved into a new

dimension,” says Gerhard Feissel, because continuous monitoring means

failures are identified immediately, and network and system operation

can be safeguarded and sustained around the clock. An additional

advantage is that engineers can fix network problems that occur at night

so that they don’t impact on production work the next day. Outages have

already been reduced substantially as a result.

42

A reporting system is in place to support continuous quality management

and provide an overview of all failures and subsequent repairs. The

outcome is that the operating costs for network management have been

reduced substantially even though BMW now has the high network

availability, scalability and consistency it wanted.

Case study

More efficient and cost-effective telecommunication for the Borealis

Group

The customer:

The Borealis Group is one of Europe’s largest makers of polyethylene and

polypropylene. Its products – made from refining oil – are sold on all of

the world’s major markets. These products serve as the base materials for

a large number of manufacturing products – everything from diapers and

packaging to home appliances and cushion materials for the automotive

industry to pipelines and electric cables. Headquartered in Lyngby,

Denmark, the Borealis Group has 5,100 employees and manufacturing

operations at locations in 30 countries.

The problem:

Given its highly international setup, the Borealis Group wanted to

centralize its heterogeneous telecommunication activities and optimize

costs. At the same time, it wanted to avoid impacting its bottom line with

capital spending on technology and installations that would soon be

outdated and could stand in the way of future cost savings. “So we began

looking for an outsourcing partner who was able to give us the

comprehensive support we needed to allow us to develop and expand

our core business,” explains Philippe Van Haren, IT&S Director with the

Borealis Group.

The solution:

Borealis has now contracted Siemens to manage all of its voice

communication systems in 12 key countries in Europe and the Americas –

in total, three-quarters of the Group’s entire infrastructure. As part of the

outsourcing agreement, Siemens not just optimized the infrastructure, it

also took care of negotiations with local telephone companies.

As part of the HiPath Managed Services concept for Borealis, Siemens is

also tasked with applying its knowledge of the global telecoms market to

constantly review and adapt communication channels as necessary in line

with local Borealis branch offices’ needs and the prices charged by the

local carriers.

The custom solution for Borealis includes comprehensive controls for

tracking the entire current infrastructure and the procedures and costs

involved, enabling the customer to assess the highly complex situation at

43

any time and to take action as appropriate. Van Haren is convinced that “a

long-term project like this can only be a complete success if the customer

and the contractor lay their cards on the table and build a strong

relationship of trust.”

The benefits:

With HiPath Managed Services, Borealis has a first-rate outsourcing

solution that meets its strict standards and requirements. At the same

time, Siemens experts have centralized and standardized the

infrastructure and services to an optimum. “The greatest benefit for the

Borealis Group to emerge from the outsourcing partnership with Siemens

is, without doubt, the drastic reduction in the total cost of ownership and

operating overheads,” Philippe Van Haren explains.

Case study

The Generali Group Switzerland plays it safe with identity and access

management

The customer:

Assicurazioni Generali, Italy’s leading insurer, is the third-largest life

assurer in Europe and controls 626 companies worldwide, including

Generali (Schweiz) Holding. The latter has a workforce of around 1,900

employees and four service companies, including units that manage

investment fund business in Switzerland and the Principality of

Liechtenstein, that complement its core operations.

The problem:

As part of a series of mergers and acquisitions, many formerly

independent Swiss insurance companies were united within a single

organization. This led to rapid growth in the number of IT users needing

access to a wide range of services. The data and applications they were

using were based on numerous different platforms operated by the

Generali Group Switzerland. In the past, manually assigning permissions

with the aid of paper forms appeared to work well, at least superficially,

but given the growing complexity of IT environments, the procedure was

not just costly and time-consuming but also exceptionally error-prone. To

increase the security of its IT systems, the company went in search of a

solution capable of automating the management of user privileges.

The solution:

Jürgen Lorek, IT professional and supervisor of the entire project,

designed a strategy around an upcoming standard known as Role-Based

Access Control (RBAC). The primary objective behind his strategy was to

eliminate the time-consuming, system-specific allocation of user

privileges and permissions and to introduce a strategic, centrally

managed directory service based on standards like X.500 and LDAP

44

(Lightweight Directory Access Protocol).

The HiPath SIcurity Meta Directory solution with its role-based system of

identity and access management corresponded exactly to the concept

mapped out by Lorek. “The descriptions, the structures, the semantics,

the language, the important role played by objects, the relationships – all

of this matched what I was looking for, one to one. I found nothing else

on the market that came anywhere close.”

The Generali Group Switzerland’s legal insurance department was chosen

for the initial rollout. Some 55 users needed differentiated access to a

variety of resources and services: sales administration, policy

management and claims estimation systems (all on Oracle) and Microsoft

ADS/Exchange. “We viewed the project as a business and organizational

challenge that we could overcome with the right IT tools,” says Lorek,

explaining his approach, which differs markedly from a purely

technology-oriented approach.

Accordingly, a large amount of time was spent on preparation, much of it

on describing specific job functions and defining them in terms of roles.

One key challenge was to put the human resources department in a

position to assign user roles for every single employee. As soon as the

name, address, salary, contract start date, effective start date, etc. are

recorded, the HR manager can assign a role specifically to suit the job. As

soon as this has been accomplished, a number of procedures are

triggered automatically: The entire user/role assignment is read out of the

human resources database and passed to HiPath SIcurity DirXmetaRole,

where the appropriate access privileges are assigned. “All of the

complexity of the paper-based, manual process that we used before this

project has been reduced to a single mouse click,” says Lorek, summing

up the outcome.

The following components of the HiPath SIcurity DirX product suite were

deployed: DirX V6.0, LDAPv3/X.500 Directory Server, DirXmetahub V6.5,

DirXmetaRole V2.0, Provisioning, and User and Access Management. The

identity master data is maintained consistently in the DirX Directory

Server and provisioned centrally. The Meta Directory Engine DirXmetahub

ensures automatic synchronization of the data across all of the connected

systems. HiPath SIcurity DirXmetaRole handles the provisioning. The

Generali Group Switzerland deployed three separate systems for

development, testing and production use of the DirX-based solution.

Siemens supplied the software components and the licenses, consulted

on the project, and provided a standard package of maintenance and

support services.

The benefits:

The HiPath SIcurity solution implemented by the Generali Group

Switzerland enables cross-platform resource provisioning. The roles, role

hierarchies, relationships and restrictions defined reflect the levels of

responsibility and tasks assigned to persons in specific jobs. This has

greatly increased the security of the Generali Group Switzerland’s systems

and reduced the risk of abuse and potential damage for the insurer.

45

5. Siemens One: Industry solutions from a single source

Siemens Communications (Com) is the world leader when it comes to

innovation in convergent technologies, products and services for mobile,

fixed-line and corporate networks. Com, Siemens’ largest operating

group, has around 60,000 employees, does business in more than 160

countries, and in fiscal 2004 reported sales of approximately EUR18

billion. Siemens Com is the only vendor in the industry to offer customers

a complete and comprehensive portfolio from consumer devices to

complex network infrastructures for the enterprise and network

operators, plus related services in areas like security.

At the same time, as part of the Siemens One strategy, Com works with

other Siemens operating units to create synergies and to offer customers

complete, turnkey solutions. These end-to-end vertical solutions are

designed to meet the distinct and unique needs of specific industries and

segments. And because every customer segment has its own rules,

Siemens Com extends its reach in the area of information and

communication technology by drawing on the breadth of industry-

specific expertise available throughout Siemens as a whole. Because,

increasingly, customers want complete, tailored solutions rather than just

components. Offerings designed to support industry-specific business

processes are available for a number of sectors, including health care,

hospitality, financial services, government, events and venues, and the

automobile industry.

In the automotive sector, for example, business processes today extend

well beyond company boundaries and interlock tightly across increasingly

complex supply chain networks that unite a growing number of suppliers

and service providers. With HiPath Automotive Solutions, Siemens offers

tailored solutions and services for auto makers and their suppliers,

spanning the entire value chain. These solutions and services accelerate

processes, promote leaner structures, tighten cost management, and

open up new customer care channels.

It’s much the same with the hotel industry: HiPath Hospitality Solutions

expedite hotels’ internal processes and help hotel operators to streamline

their human resources management. Siemens’ solutions not only help to

track and fulfill guests’ wishes, they also record and analyze important

data and information. Intelligent reports, available whenever needed,

offer hotel management an overview of the quality of service delivered,

plus statistics that help track and shape parameters such as customer

satisfaction scores and brand loyalty that are crucial to market value.

Thus, HiPath helps to achieve greater profitability and customer retention

in the hospitality sector.

46

6. Conclusion

Siemens HiPath stands for a broad spectrum of customer-focused,

innovative communication solutions. With HiPath, companies and

organizations of all sizes and structures and in any industry can gain

those crucial advantages and benefits that you can only get from IP-based

real-time communication and its integration with business processes. The

modular HiPath portfolio enables the creation of a secured and reliable

information and communication environment that promotes more

efficient business processes and better customer service. There are four

key aspects: control of convergence, acceleration of business processes,

optimization of customer relationships, and minimization of risk.

47

NT Network Termination

NTT Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

OAM Operation, Administration and Maintenance

OAM&P Operation, Administration, Maintenance and Provi-sioning

OPEX Operational EXPenditures

PBX Private Branch eXchange

POTS Plain Old Telephone Service

PWE3 Pseudo Wire Emulation End to End

QoS Quality of Service

RPR Resilient Packet Ring

SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

SHDSL Symmetric High bitrate Digital Subscriber Line

SIP Session Initiation Protocol

SLA Service Level Agreement

SOHO Small Office Home Office

SONET Synchronous Optical NETwork

SW Software

TV Television

VDSL Very high data rate Digital Subscriber Line

VLAN Virtual Local Area Network

VPN Virtual Private Network

WAN Wide Area Network

www.siemens.com/hipath

All rights reserved. All trademarks used are owned by Siemens or their respective owners.

© Siemens AG 2005

Siemens AG

Communications

Hofmannstraße 51

D-81359 München