businessinfomag.uk magazine 18 IP TELEPHONY Heike Cantzler Gernot Sagl Changes to our working lives have accelerated rapidly over the last two years, but then change has been a constant throughout Berlin-based Snom Technology’s 25-year existence. Just consider that 1997 was also when the first Nokia smartphone – the Communicator, weighing almost 0.5 kg – hit the market and when the first clunky Nintendo console was considered the height of gaming technology. Snom founder Christian Stredicke set up the company to develop a competitive ‘scanning nearfield optical microscope’, Snom for short. However, it wasn’t long before his attention was diverted by the completely new medium of IP telephony. Snom quickly emerged as a pioneer in this area, developing SIPs (Session Initiation Protocols) and the first worldwide codec for voice transmission – all open source and freely available to everyone – before, in 2001, launching the world’s first commercially available IP phone, the snom 100. Challenging times “What followed was certainly wonderful, but also a very challenging time,” says Heike Cantzler, Head of Marketing and PR at Snom. “We were an internationally orientated, industryrecognised company with almost no money; perseverance was required from Snom celebrates its first 25 years all those involved.” Snom’s real success started in 2005. IP telephony was still considered exotic by many, but the technology and growing understanding of voiceover IP (VoIP) prevailed, paving the way for the establishment of Snom offices throughout Europe and the US. “From our own telephone system (a failure), to the connection of thirdparty systems for building management (very successful) and the development of high-quality DECT-over-IP phones (extremely successful), we have really tried out a lot of things right and left of the beaten track,” reveals Cantzler. “It was always important for us not to leave the actual path but to try out different possibilities. The fact that one direction was a success when another wasn’t is all part of the journey. I guess you could say we’ve learned from our mistakes!” Today, Snom has offices in the Benelux, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Spain and South Africa and has installed more than 10 million devices around the world. A period of stability Since 2016, Snom has been part of the VTech Group, one of the largest worldwide providers in the DECT sector. That same year, Gernot Sagl was appointed CEO, bringing a period of stability to the company after some turbulent times. “If anyone in 2016 had told me I’d still be happily managing Snom in 2022, I would have had my doubts," says Sagl. “But Snom is so agile and always pointing itself towards what’s new that before you know it six years have passed!” At VTech, Snom is regarded as the group’s IP specialist and has a free hand in research and development. This ensures that the company keeps innovating and also enabled it to react quickly to the sudden demand for headsets and conference solutions during the transition to remote working in 2020. As Cantzler says: “The size of the group doesn’t stop us being Snom from Berlin: the company that, together with partners and customers, anticipates the communication needs of the future and tries to bring the best solutions possible to the market – sometimes even customised. Even after 25 years, we are still curious about the future and what it will bring.” www.snom.com/en/ Snom, one of the co-founders of modern telecommunications, is still curious about the future Snom’s recently launched beacon technology extends applications of DECT technology to include live location (of people and things), asset tracking and theft prevention. Capable of being integrated into an organisation’s existing telecommunications infrastructure, beacon gateways detect devices with Bluetooth or special tags (illustrated) and send location information in real time to the nearest M900 base station via an encrypted DECT data connection. This information can be used to trigger an alarm or show where the tag is located on a phone display. Following a recent firmware release, Snom IP deskphones can now be used to operate and control smart devices, switches and sockets at the touch of a button, including window shutters, doors, parking barriers, video intercoms, light switches and more. Snom IP deskphones also support streaming from IP webcams and Raspberry Pi cameras and the integration of XML apps for video messages, automatic weather forecasts and news feeds. Snom’s D8xx series takes IP telephony to the next level with large, swivelling IPS displays; high-quality casing made of anti-bacterial coated plastic; HD audio quality (super wideband in some cases); and the option of detachable cameras depending on phone model.
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