Siemens will be relying heavily on its channel partners for the success of the OpenScape Office MX in the SMB market space.

Siemens Enterprise Communications has just announced OpenScape Office MX, the successor to its HiPath OpenOffice ME offering. Customers with an installed HiPath OpenOffice ME can upgrade to the enhanced offering with a simple software upgrade requiring no changes to the hardware platform.Among the major enhancements to the MX version are a new integrated multimedia contact center, numerous usability enhancements and tighter Microsoft integration. There are over 50 new features and numerous enhancements to make installation & service easier for Siemens partners, including a Smart Services Delivery Platform (SSDP) that provides improved remote technical support via a secure remote link between Siemens services personnel, channel partners, and customers. Siemens was wise to take the needs of both its customers and channel partners into account for the new improved OpenScape Office MX offering.

Aimed at 10-150 station users, OpenScape Office MX comes pre-installed with the following:

* UC Application * Multimedia Contact Center * Voice, fax, conferencing, voicemail * Mobility--WLAN and cellular * Security--VPN and firewall * Carrier connectivity via broadband, digital, and analog lines

The new presence-enabled multi-channel (voice, fax, email) contact center allows businesses to accelerate response time and improve first contact resolution, helping to improve overall customer satisfaction. The package includes skill-based routing and VIP support, and live call recording for all agents. A single license supports all agents, groups, and supervisors

System integration enhancements to the MX version include: support of Windows 7, IE 8, and MS Exchange 2007; seamless myPortal-MS Outlook integration; Exchange calendar synchronization; Citrix & Windows Terminal Server environment support; and customizable LDAP field mapping.

OpenScape Office MX is designed to work from within Microsoft Outlook, which lets users access features such as drag and drop conferencing for up to 16 participants, call recording, and click to call from within their Outlook window. Specific user interface enhancements include: a newly designed, more user friendly myPortal UC client screen with pop ups for more functionality; scheduled callback for unsuccessful calls; individual Hotkeys for easy access to often used functions; a conference invitation that generates Outlook calendar entry; a quick search function with Directory access via myPortal for Outlook.

Siemens will be relying heavily on its channel partners for the success of the OpenScape Office MX in the SMB market space. This motivated the manufacturer to design a product that was easy and cost effective to install, initialize, and service while also satisfying the high performance needs of its customers. Service and administration capabilities such as Web-based management, intuitive wizards to simplify setup and configuration, one-step configuration, integrated phone deployment software, and remote access/updates via the Internet strongly address the issue.Siemens will be relying heavily on its channel partners for the success of the OpenScape Office MX in the SMB market space.