Unify Focuses on the SMB Segment with Enhanced OpenScape Business Portfolio

LONDON, March 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Connected Business Expo – In response to the growing demand among the below-30 user segment for powerful yet simple business solutions, Unify, formerly known as Siemens Enterprise Communications, today introduced the OpenScape Business X1 appliance — an all-in-one solution that brings the benefits of a professional voice and unified communications (UC) solution to small and medium businesses (SMBs), regardless of the company size or telephony infrastructure. Today's announcement was made at the Connected Business Expo, the UK's largest communications event.

Customers in the below-30 user segment increasingly recognize the value of UC to improve employee efficiency and enhance customer service. Today's business challenges demand support for the new way to work, with a more flexible, scalable and cost-effective solution than what has previously been available for anywhere workers. The OpenScape Business X1 is an affordable appliance suitable for this market segment, offering professional voice, UC and mobility for small offices, branches and the home.

Unify relies on a strong partner community to bring OpenScape Business to customers.  The introduction of the X1 will better enable partners to provide customers of any size with an easy to deploy, manage and use, all-in-one UC solution, and leverages their current training and investment in the complete OpenScape Business portfolio.

The OpenScape Business X1 appliance provides embedded UC features for up to 30 users, including key functions such as presence, visual voicemail, voicemail to e-mail, and ad hoc conferencing. To support anywhere workers and the new way to work, mobility is fully integrated with the new myPortal To Go app for Android and Apple iOS. It provides Unify's One Number Service and offers presence, favorites, voicemail, directories and journal functionality to users wherever they choose to work, improving collaboration among virtual teams. It also enables users to control their office phone remotely and allows dialing from smartphone contacts or a local UC smart directory when off-line. For non-Android smartphones, such as the Windows phone, OpenScape Business offers myPortal for mobile and myPortal for tablet as a web-based solution. 

The enhancements to OpenScape Business have been previewed to partners with positive results. "OpenScape Business is a very interesting product and is quite different from anything we have seen before," said Ian Allmark, managing director, Lloyds Business Communications, Ltd. in the UK. "It will fill a niche at the small end of the market but rather than being a 'me too' product it opens the door for smaller customers to benefit from features such as SIP trunking and unified communications and at an attractive price point. The introduction of the new mobility app is also a good step forward that will help users to communicate when they are on the move."

"Enhancements to OpenScape Business will continue as we answer the evolving needs of our SMB customers when it comes to optimizing UC to best serve their employees and customers," said Robert Ehses, senior vice president of product management at Unify.  "We are also excited that we now efficiently can bring this robust solution to the below-30 user segment as an easy-to-use appliance." 

Availability
OpenScape Business X1 appliance will be available in June 2014.

About Unify
Unify—formerly known as Siemens Enterprise Communications—is a premier communications software and services firm. Our solutions unify multiple networks, devices and applications into one easy-to-use platform that allows teams to engage in rich and meaningful conversations. The result is a transformation of how the enterprise communicates and collaborates that amplifies collective effort, energizes the business, and enhances business performance. Born out of the engineering DNA of Siemens AG, Unify builds on this heritage of product reliability, innovation, open standards and security to provide integrated communications solutions for approximately 75% of the Global 500. Unify is a joint venture of The Gores Group and Siemens AG.

This release contains forward-looking statements based on beliefs of Unify's management. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "forecast," "expect," "intend," "plan," "should," and "project" are used to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause the actual results to be materially different, including, among others, changes in general economic and business conditions, changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance of new products or services and changes in business strategy. Actual results may vary materially from those projected here. Unify does not intend or assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE Unify