HANNOVER, Germany -- Communication has to fit organically into the relevant business applications if it is to make a real difference to business processes. Two scenarios on show from Siemens at CeBIT powerfully illustrate just how flexible HiPath OpenScape really is.

The Microsoft stand in hall 4 is hosting one demonstration in which, based on the Life Communication Server, HiPath OpenScape creates a link between traditional telephone infrastructures and IT systems. It makes no difference whether subscribers use SIP phones or conventional system phones. Numbers can be "dialed" at the click of a mouse button. Incoming calls are signaled by pop-up windows. And users are constantly kept up to date about the status of the person they are trying to reach. Even before a call is placed, it is possible to know whether the other person is available right now. In this constellation, HiPath OpenScape becomes an organic element of Microsoft's Live Communication Client, the successor to the Microsoft Messenger.

A much deeper level of integration is on display in the HiPath OpenScape scenario on the Siemens stand in hall 26. Here, an insurance company has modeled standard processes in the form of defined workflows. The employee groups responsible for each step in a given workflow are defined in the system. HiPath OpenScape makes all communication tools available at the click of a mouse button right in the workflow application, making it easy for staff to clarify issues, set up conferences, escalate situations, and communicate without all the usual detours. In this scenario too, presence information eliminates the time-consuming frustration of trial and error. The system automatically identifies which communication channel is best in each situation – the kind of flexibility makes workflows far more efficient.

Microsoft Corp.

Siemens AG