snom Technology AG is a German company which manufactures Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones, based on the IETF standard Session Initiation Protocol

Session Initiation Protocol

The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...

 (SIP). snom's products are targeted at the small- to medium-sized business sector, home office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

s, Internet service providers, carriers

Common carrier

A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...

, and original equipment manufacturer

Original Equipment Manufacturer

An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...

s.

snom phones can be operated with a large number of compatible IP-PBX that support the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), giving customers a great choice for enterprise communication systems.

Recognized for its high-quality, customizable and cost-effective business solutions, snom is also differentiated by the company's ten-year history in the VoIP industry, and its dedication to high security standards.

The devices are suitable for use in all business environments ranging from home offices to small- and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations. snom also works directly with carriers, Internet Service Providers, and OEM customers. The company is globally present through branch offices and a partner network.

History

snom was founded in 1996 in Berlin, Germany, and is one of the pioneers of the Voice-over-IP sector (VoIP). In 1999, snom commenced production of VoIP telephones with the introduction of the snom 100 model. It was initially based on the H.323

H.323

H.323 is a recommendation from the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector that defines the protocols to provide audio-visual communication sessions on any packet network...

 protocol, but gained SIP support the following year. In 2000, the company saw the opportunity to make interoperable components for enterprise communication systems. Instead of selling one telephony platform solution, the company would sell VoIP phones that are compatible across standards-based platforms from different vendors. This became possible with the introduction of the Session Initiation Protocol

Session Initiation Protocol

The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...

 (SIP). snom works directly with telephone companies, internet service providers and OEM partners. The Management of snom comprises Dr Christian Stredicke, founder and CEO; Alexander Khan, COO of snom; and Dr Michael Knieling, CFO and Head of Marketing and Sales.

In 2001, snom started a joint venture in Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

, India. After some attempts to develop parts of the product in India, this office today focus on sales. In order to address American markets, snom opened an office in North Andover, Massachusetts

North Andover, Massachusetts

North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. North Andover is the home of Merrimack College, a private, Catholic four-year institution ....

 in 2006.

IP Phones

• snom 300: Provides all relevant office functions such as choice of trunk line, status display, group lines, the engaged option or picking up calls. A server-independent CTI now also works with the snom 300.

• snom 320: An affordable yet powerful SIP business phone with built-in, full-duplex speakerphone and three-party conference bridging.

• snom 370: Highly suitable for SMEs, home offices, private users or ISP applications because of its high audio quality, ease of use, security and interoperability. The snom 370 offers an improved and extended presentation of call lists, address books and caller information. Caller information can be customized easily through XML to depict the information the user wants displayed.

• snom 720: Addresses office users that require excellent audio and a large number of programmable PBX-style keys. It combines a state-of-the-art hardware with the proven snom SIP software.

• snom 760: Addresses office users that require excellent audio, PBX-style keys, and rich visual information. It combines a state-of-the-art hardware with the proven snom SIP software.

• snom 821: Replaces the snom 820 as the entry model of a new generation of snom VoIP business phones with mature VoIP technology and a design in a class of its own.

• snom 870: Perfect for modern people with high demands for future-oriented technology combined with user friendliness. The snom 870 enables the user to easily handle even complex applications like swapping of calls, or establishment of conference calls for up to 5 participants via simple "drag and drop".

Phone features

snom VoIP telephones are characterized by a large number of functions which simplify business communication significantly, and offer a very high standard of security. The snom telephony devices are suitable for use in a wide variety of company models: from the individual home-office workstation to the large company with many networked locations. Whatever the application environment, snom's customers benefit from the interoperability and flexibility of the phones and from their compatibility with all SIP-based telephone systems. In addition to VoIP hardware, snom also develops VoIP telephony software: for example, the snom OCS edition which allows the simple integration of snom devices with the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, and the snom CTI for easy computer-telephony integration, particularly in the CRM environment. snom's product portfolio also includes hardware accessories such as, for example, the snom m3 Repeater for the wireless snom m3 VoIP telephone, the wideband handset snom klarVOICE for exceptional audio quality, as well as a variety of headsets and expansion modules.

All of snom's software exists in the firmware

Firmware

In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...

 of its phones, and VoIP telephones support all common standards, as well as the latest technologies for traversal

NAT traversal

NAT traversal is a general term for techniques that establish and maintain Internet protocol connections traversing network address translation gateways. Network address translation breaks end-to-end connectivity. Intercepting and modifying traffic can only be performed transparently in the...

 of network address translators (NAT), telephone number mapping

Telephone Number Mapping

Telephone number mapping is the process of unifying the telephone number system of the public switched telephone network with the Internet addressing and identification name spaces. Telephone numbers are systematically organized in the E.164 standard, while the Internet uses the Domain Name System...

 (ENUM), and virtual private network

Virtual private network

A virtual private network is a network that uses primarily public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or traveling users access to a central organizational network....

s (VPN).

All snom phones are compatible with SIP-based telephone systems and system components, including open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 platforms such as Asterisk

Asterisk (PBX)

Asterisk is a software implementation of a telephone private branch exchange ; it was created in 1999 by Mark Spencer of Digium. Like any PBX, it allows attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services including the public switched telephone network and...

, SER

SIP Express Router (SER)

SIP Express Router is a SIP server licensed under the GNU General Public License. It can be configured to act as SIP registrar, proxy or redirect server...

, sipXecs

SipX

sipXecs is an open source voice over IP telephony server. Its main feature is a software implementation of the Session Initiation Protocol , which makes it an IP based communications system . Featurewise, it is not unlike Asterisk, a very popular open source PBX, but the design of sipXecs deviates...

, and IP-PBX systems offered by companies such as Broadsoft, Epygi (Quadro IP PBX), MetaSwitch

Metaswitch

Metaswitch Networks is the trading name of Data Connection Ltd and Data Connection Corp, a private UK-based company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets telecommunications hardware and software solutions to communication service providers, equipment manufacturers and large...

, Pandora

Pandora

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts...

 (Worksmart), Objectworld

Objectworld Communications

Objectworld Communications Corp., formerly ObjectWorld Inc, was a privately held company, provides unified communications software to small- and medium-sized businesses. Objectworld was acquired by Huntsville, Alabama based ADTRAN Inc...

 (UC Server), pbxnsip

Pbxnsip

Pbxnsip is a software implementation of a telephone private branch exchange produced by a company of the same name. Like any PBX, it allows attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services including the public switched telephone network and Voice over...

, Sylantro, and many more.

snom's phones include security features based on the two VoIP security standards sips

Sips

SIPS or Sips may refer to any of the following:*Structural insulated panel*Side Impact Protection System*, a command line interface to Apple's Core Image framework.*Systemically Important Payment Systems...

 (RFC 5246) and SRTP

SRTP

In Communications:* Secure Real-time Transport Protocol, security profile for Real-time Transport Protocol* Service Request Transport Protocol GE-Fanuc Automation Protocol for Programmable logic controller use.* Student Research Training Program...

 (RFC 3711). Some devices also support virtual private networking and wireless encryption (WEP

Wired Equivalent Privacy

Wired Equivalent Privacy is a weak security algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Introduced as part of the original 802.11 standard ratified in September 1999, its intention was to provide data confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network...

/WPA

Wi-Fi Protected Access

Wi-Fi Protected Access and Wi-Fi Protected Access II are two security protocols and security certification programs developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to secure wireless computer networks...

).

Other snom Products

• snom m9: The next generation DECT handheld that empowers users with the convenience of wireless communication along with the widely accepted benefits and feature richness of Voice-over-IP telephony.
• snom MeetingPoint: snom's first VoIP conference telephone, the snom MeetingPoint is the perfect addition for everybody who must make frequent cross-location consultations. It is the only SIP conference phone that allows you to use Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 R2 and Standard SIP accounts in one conference phone in parallel!
• snom PA1: The audio control system snom PA1 augments your existing SIP PBX with another component of modern communication. The snom PA1 unites the functions of a telephone with a high-performance digital amplifier for broadcasting announcements and supplying background music to assigned rooms, hallways, and office floors. An announcement via snom PA1 is effected simply by initiating a call from a snom telephone with its handset, headset, or via handsfree mode. An efficient 4 Watt amplifier provides sufficient coverage for the entire room or floor space.

Milestones

During the company's twelve years of activity, snom has established itself as one of the leading independent developers and providers of VoIP telephones. In this time, snom has repeatedly proven its innovative strength by constantly developing new VoIP products and technologies. With the snom 100, the company in 1999 presented the world's first SIP telephone, followed one year later by the implementation of the first SIP stack and the definition of the plug-and-play mechanism for snom phones. In the two years that followed, snom introduced the 4S SIP Proxy and the snom 4S Media Server, developed the snom 200 business telephone, and was the first company to implement Universal-Plug-and-Play (UPnP) on a VoIP telephone set. With the launch of TLS (Transport Layer Security) in 2003 and SRTP (Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol) in 2004, snom then set new standards in security for VoIP telephony. In 2005, snom released the first two models of the successful 300 series: the business-class VoIP telephones snom 320 and 360. One year later came the snom 300, the basic model conceived especially for SMEs and private users. 2007 saw the market launch of the snom 370, the newest model of the 300 series, while that same year the Berlin-based VoIP specialists also presented the next big innovation, the wireless snom m3: the first mobile business SIP-DECT telephone. snom most recently introduced, in autumn 2008, the snom 820, the first model of a new product line which combines sophisticated VoIP technology with exclusive, innovative design. snom telephones are prepared for the future, too. They already support the new internet standard IPv6. At CeBIT 2009, the Berlin company showed the snom 870, its first VoIP phone with touchscreen display, and the VoIP conference telephone snom MeetingPoint.

snom UC Edition

In 2011, the snom 300 and snom 821 were optimized for Microsoft ® Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Microsoft Lync™ 2010. The snom UC600, a traditional IP desk phone especially designed for use with Microsoft Lync, was also introduced.

• snom 300 UC Edition: The first open-SIP-based IP desktop phone to natively register to the Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Microsoft Lync. It has the best cost-performance ratio compared to all other compatible devices for Microsoft® Lync Server 2010.
• snom 821 UC Edition: The first qualified device on Microsoft®’s UC platform with extended feature support for even greater performance. Compared to other compatible devices, it is the only IP phone in the market that has a dual SIP stack and color screen combined with advanced presence features
• snom UC600: A traditional desk phone designed to make PC calls. The snom UC600 connects traditional phone functionality and PC communications and provides easy plug and play via an integrated USB cable. The snom UC600 is fully optimized for Microsoft® Lync and immediately adopts the registration information of the Microsoft® Lync Communicator.

Awards

• TMC Labs 2003 Innovation Awards
• Internet Telephony 2006 Excellence Award
• Internet Telephony's 2006 Top 100 Voices in IP Communication- Dr. Christian Stredicke
• Pulver 100, 2007
• snom recognized by the “Deloitte Technology Fast 50” as One of the Fastest Growing Technology Enterprises
• snom receives the 2007 Product of the Year Award from Communications Solutions for the snom m3
• snom gets Deloitte Award for strong sales growth
• snom receives TMC product of the year award 2008
• snom OCS edition receives Unified Communications Magazine's 2008 Product of the Year Award