Open Communications Solution Delivers New Features, Cost Savings
BOCA RATON, Fla., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The City of Gulfport,
Florida, strives to foster a positive quality of life for its nearly 13,000
residents, but the aging communications system in city buildings was
negatively impacting the service it provided to citizens. Knowing that it
needed to upgrade its 10-year old Centrex system, the City of Gulfport decided
to work with Siemens Communications, Inc. and Communications System Management
(CSM) to deploy a new IP-based unified communications system across all of the
city offices.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO )
The City of Gulfport needed a more reliable and flexible communications
solution, but also hoped to realize some cost savings with a new solution. "In
addition to the considerable expense we were facing to upgrade our legacy
Centrex system, we were unhappy with the ongoing costs associated with the
system," said Sam Rivera, IT Director for the City of Gulfport. "Once we
started looking at VoIP solutions, we realized we could get a lot more for our
money."
After exploring solutions from a number of vendors, the City of Gulfport
decided to deploy a Siemens(R) HiPath(R) 3800 IP solution with support from
CSM. The solution provided the city with the cost savings it wanted --
projected at about $100,000 over 10 years -- but also offered a rich feature
set in an easy to use package.
"Our previous solution was just not working anymore -- even simple changes
or moves took weeks to make; for years, the message waiting lights on all of
our phones hadn't worked; and simple things like programming frequently called
numbers was just not possible," said Rivera. "With our new Siemens system,
we're able to do a lot more and even the sound quality of our calls has
improved."
Even more important, the city's main city hall and five outlying buildings
that house city workers, police, fire department and recreation departments
are connected by a single, unified solution with reliable communications
between buildings. With the previous system, calls within the City of Gulfport
were routed via Tampa, impacting call quality. Now, city employees are all on
the same phone and voice mail system so are able to use four-digit dialing to
reach co-workers at any location. Employees also have greater control over how
their calls are handled, improving responsiveness among employees and with
citizens.
Because its new communications system would be used by the City of
Gulfport's public safety departments, reliability and high-quality service
were also key concerns. CSM was able to deploy the Siemens solution in the
timeframe required with minimal impact on city workers. Ongoing maintenance is
also provided by CSM, at a lower cost than the city was paying just for its
phone lines previously.
"The City of Gulfport just needed a reliable, easy-to-use communications
system," said David Littrell, Vice President for CSM. "The Siemens HiPath
solution provides all of the features they need and we at CSM are providing
the ongoing service they need, all well within their budget."
"Siemens Open Communications architecture will enable the City of Gulfport
to enjoy the collaborative, productivity and efficiency benefits of second-
generation, IP-based communications, while still using its legacy
infrastructure," said Mark Henley, Senior Vice President, Channel Management
and Development, Siemens Communications, Inc. "With CSM's expert integration
assistance, the city is charting a course for its future that holds endless
possibilities for enriching the communications experience for citizens, city
officials and staff."
About Communications Systems Management, Inc.
Communications Systems Management, Inc. (CSM) is a leading provider of
enterprise communications solutions with expertise in Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) and data network technologies. CSM's converged business
solutions help customers enhance communications, accelerate business processes
and improve operational efficiencies through IP-based unified communications.
CSM was established in 1984 and is privately-held with headquarters in Tampa,
Fla. For more information, visit www.csmflorida.com.
About Siemens
Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is one of the largest global electronics and
engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $107.4 billion in 2006.
Founded 160 years ago, the company is a leader in the areas of Medical, Power,
Automation and Control, Transportation, Information and Communications,
Lighting, Building Technologies, Water Technologies and Services and Home
Appliances. With its U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City, Siemens in
the USA has sales of $21.4 billion and employs approximately 70,000 people
throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Eleven of Siemens' worldwide
businesses are based in the United States. With its global headquarters in
Munich, Siemens AG and its subsidiaries employ 480,000 people in 190
countries. For more information on Siemens in the United States:
www.usa.siemens.com.
About Siemens Communications, Inc.
Siemens Communications, Inc. is an affiliate of Siemens Enterprise
Communications GmbH & Co. KG, one of the world's leading vendors of Open
Communications solutions for enterprises of all sizes, enabling business
processes to be more productive, faster and more secure -- with any device,
network or information technology infrastructure. Siemens Communications
Inc., and Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG are wholly owned
subsidiaries of Siemens AG with about 15,000 employees globally and
headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. For more info, visit
http://enterprise.usa.siemens.com/home.html .
Note: Siemens and HiPath are registered trademarks of Siemens AG or its
subsidiaries and affiliates. All other company, brand, product and service
names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
This release contains forward-looking statements based on beliefs of
Siemens 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. Siemens does not intend or assume any obligation to
update these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Siemens Communications, Inc.
Amy Martin of Siemens Communications, Inc., +1-408-492-2785,
amy.martin@siemens.com
