Siemens Enterprise Communications has announced three new versions of its OpenScape unified communications software ranging from a simple software client through to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) option.

According to Siemens' unified communications vice president, Andy Chew, the SaaS option of OpenScape, called OpenScape Enterprise Hosted, enables service providers (SPs) to offer a hosted version of OpenScape to their customers.” He added, “It's surrounded by a number of add-ons and interfaces to allow SPs to do mass-user provision, to interface to billing systems and to fit in with their service provision architecture".

Chew explained that Siemens had developed two solution accelerators to demonstrate the system. "One is based on Salesforce.com and we've developed a system where OpenScape capabilities are accessed from inside the CRM application. [For example] a financial services salesperson could reach out to team mates from inside that application,” he said. Chew added that the firm had also ensured integration with Siebel and SAP.

For firms seeking an entry-level solution Siemens has developed OpenScape VoiceLink, a simple SIP-enabled software client, which Chew said would enable the Windows desktop Microsoft Communicator Client to be telephony-enabled through Siemens HiPath 8000 Enterprise Softswitch.

Chew said that OpenScape Enterprise had been upgraded from version 2.0 to 2.3, allowing for more simplified web-services integration with enterprise applications, and including a new toolbar desktop client for Windows. The new toolbar client allows users multimedia presence, instant messaging, voice and web conferencing access while still allowing, "full desktop ‘real-estate’ to be allocated to line of business applications" said Chew.

Pricing for OpenScape Enterprise Hosted starts from £40 per user per month.