NCTA: Siemens adds caller ID feature to cable VoIP

SAN FRANCISCO--Siemens has teamed up with Integra5 Communications to offer on-screen caller ID and voice mail notification services for cable companies offering voice over IP.

Siemens is the VoIP supplier to Cablevision, which is the largest U.S. cable player with 350,000 subscribers as of March 15, and is targeting cable companies going forward, said Harald Braun, president of Siemens Carrier Networks.

"The cable industry is one of our main focus customers," said Braun, from the show floor of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association show. "Besides Cablevision, which has 40% market share in deployed subscribers in the U.S., we are very close with a couple of others in the top six, with our scaleable switch, our systems integration capabilities and our end-to-end, one-neck-to-grab solution."

The new service capabilities use Integra5's UniTV Quad-Play application server to enable cable VoIP customers to see the numbers of incoming phone calls displayed on their TV screens, along with voice mail notification, and to be able to handle the call using a TV remote control. The Integra5 solution also allows an incoming cellphone call to be displayed and handled through the television, once mobile services become part of the service bundle.

"The banner [displaying the incoming caller number and name] appears before the first ring, which was very popular in our trial," said Meredith Flynn-Ripley, executive consultant, marketing and sales, for Integra5.

The applications server handles the real-time processing of all call-related signaling and delivers the information to the TV screen. It can also create personalized applications, such as delivering specific calls with specific colored banners.

In a network trial of the service, 78% of users said they would spend $1 to $2 a month to get caller ID and the one-screen display, Flynn-Ripley said. Sixty percent showed the service to their friends and neighbors.

Siemens is also capitalizing on the Federal Communications Commission's recent acceptance of Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephony (DECT) phones for use in the U.S. to link VoIP with new cordless phones and create a more natural in-home experience for VoIP users. By the third quarter, the company plans to sell DECT phones and provide DECT modules that can be incorporated into appliances, heating and air-conditioning and security services to improve home automation.

A dual-mode cellphone/DECT phone would then become the remote control device for turning security systems on and off and controlling other home appliances.