Online StoreInterview with Mike Storella from snom
While snom brand may not be familiar to everyone, they have been around for a number of years and are making great inroads lately with some of their newer products. Today we got a chance to catch up with our good friend Mike Storella over at snom and find out what’s been going on over there and what we can expect to see from them in the near future.
888VS: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. First off, what is the right way to pronounce snom? We hear it as “snowm” the most.
MS: The right way is say sno-w with an m
888VS: The snom 3xx series has been around for some time, starting with the 300 and working up to the 370. Where have these had the most traction over the past few years?
MS: Our 3xx series has been a real work horse of a product line, working very well in many different environments but I would have to say it has it roots in being used in SMB space with many IPPBXs and open source solutions. I think it became a favorite for this group of early VoIP providers because of its ease of installation, quick sip identity set-up and tear down, plus a fast reboot times, affordable, comes with power supply, all can be wall mounted, POE, dual switch ports and headset jack. Makes it is for any type of install.
888VS: One big departure from other manufacturers was that you released a number of models available in white, how did that go over in the market?
MS: It actually came out as the snow addition at first to see how they would sell, I think colors or changes of colors run in cycles and we thought a change was due. Some people love them right off and it seems to be a choice for people looking to get a different look around the office. We have had some customers in the health industry really take to the white, or where all of the other desktop devices are light colored.
888VS: Last year snom was the first to market with an affordable multi-handset capable DECT product, the M3. Can you tell us a little about the M3 and why the “antenna” mysteriously disappeared shortly after product.
MS: In today’s work force people spend less time tied to their desks having a need to be mobile. Our M3 IP/Dect solution allows users to have the mobility they need plus a lot of features. This system ships with a base and 1 handset, and is expandable to 8 handsets. The system will support up to 3 concurrent calls. It will get about 150ft of wireless range and the system can be expanded to support more range via the use of repeaters. The system can support up to 6 repeaters and each repeater will supply approximately an additional 150ft of range. Plus the system includes many more great features and benefits.
As for the “antenna”, it was actually was not really an antenna just an antenna look alike, it was thought by designers that users of a handsets like our dect phone wanted to see an antenna, Quickly we decided that it was not needed and it was removed, I thought is was a great little handle for display.
888VS: This year, you released the snom 820 calling it the “next step in the evolution of VoIP phones”, what makes the 820 so different from other phones in the market?
MS: The snom 820 is our first model in our 4th generation VoIP phones and it has what we think the industry in VoIP phones is moving to, color display, wide band audio built in, USB port for wifi dongle ( could be with advances in wifi connections, running of cables disappears) multi-vendor and multi service connections, more processing power and memory for more UC type features, video streaming.
888VS: You have the snom 870 coming out soon, how is the 870 different from the 820? From the outside it looks pretty much the same but missing the 4 softkeys.
MS: The snom 870 will have a larger display and touch screen capabilities for standard telephony functions, in addition to transfer, conference calls, call swapping, etc. The 870 will have two USB ports one for wifi and the other for new connections and or features from a stick device. We have not figured them all out yet. Use your imagination.
888VS: Aside from desk phones, you have a new conference phone coming out soon, the MeetingPoint, why should someone look at a dedicated conference telephone versus a standard deskphone?
MS: As a full VoIP phone product line supplier, I think it was a natural for us to have a true conference room speakerphone in our line. VAR and customers have been asking for awhile. We have everything in our Meeting point anyone could ask for, POE, extra Mics, wide band audio and with all of the snom firmware that is in our 8xx series of VoIP phones, memory card for recording calls, LCD display, 12 SIP identities for many connections to different VoIP line suppliers.
888VS: One of the big things that snom has done lately is add OCS integration into your product line. How does the OCS integration work and what types of companies are looking for IP phones with OCS integration?
MS: snom phones are truly an ubiquitous IP device like a laptop or PC, we work with many IPPBXs, and anyone using SIP as their protocol. It was natural for us to build an OCS version based on start ands that protects the investment for the buyer that our device can connect thru the LAN to OCS and other VoIP services at the same time, again like a standard IP Ethernet appliance. I think one of the dreams or goals of VoIP and equipment that connected to VoIP was that it not be proprietary.
888VS: You also have another software product called Flexor CTI, what is this product for and what systems does it work with?
MS: Flexor CTI is the result of work integrating CRM product like Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce.com and Netsuite to our VoIP phone so the users gets increased productivity from the use of the snom phones and these applications together, with journaling, click to dial, caller id look up and other integrations.
888VS: Where do you see the market changing over the next 12 and 24 months?
MS: I think the market is moving towards more sophisticated use of VoIP business phones, customers seem to be interested in UC features which call for more info to the users and the need for larger display screen. Additionally, as customers understand that they buy a business phone for 7-10 years or longer, they want it to last and be relevant for future needs, so we see more discussion about wideband audio, wifi and compatibility with many platforms and integrations to applications.
For more information, please visit http://snom.com
snom is an Feature Solutions partner
888VoipStore: snom products page
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