For 15 years, Siemens Gigaset (SHC) has been a specialist and the market leader for cordless DECT phones. Siemens manufactures most of its Gigaset products at its factory in Bocholt, Germany, from which a total of over 110 million units have been shipped to customers around the world. Siemens has a presence with its Gigaset products in 69 countries. An average of half of all households in Germany and one in five in Europe now make their phone calls with a Siemens Gigaset.

Milestones in DECT telephony

1993 DECT was established as the standard for cordless telephony in fixed networks. In 1996 Siemens presented the Gigaset 1015, the first DECT phone to feature an integrated answering machine, and in 1999 the Gigaset 3010 Comfort, the first cordless phone with a hands-free function. The Gigaset 4010, the first device to offer SMS in fixed networks followed in 2001, while 2004 saw the launch of the Gigaset SL740, the first DECT phone with an integrated camera and MMS function.

In 2006, Siemens launched the Gigaset C450 IP a VoIP phone: This hybrid phone for fixed-network and IP calls can be configured without having to use a PC, and users can switch between fixed-network and IP telephony. In addition, the C450 IP made free IP services available for the first time, among them telephone number searches in an online directory and Gigaset.net, by way of which owners of Gigaset IP phones can call each other and talk free of charge. Siemens Gigaset IP phones now even offer services such as e-mail notification and weather services as standard features.

At the end of 2006, Siemens presented the first cordless phone with Bluetooth: the Siemens Gigaset SL560. Apart from the connection with a Bluetooth headset, the wireless interface also enables the exchange of data with other devices, such as PCs and mobile phones. The Siemens Gigaset SL370, also with Bluetooth, and the new, free program Gigaset QuickSync for synchronizing addresses with a PC followed in May 2007.

The future of cordless telephony is CAT-iq

Based on the successor to the DECT standard – CAT-iq ( C ordless A dvanced T echnology – i nternet and q uality) – SHC developed HDSP (High Definition Sound Performance), a new technology in which voice is transported via broadband utilizing over double the frequency band as compared to traditional phones. This creates a completely new sound experience for Internet calls. SHC introduced the first CAT-iq-certified phone to the market with the Siemens Gigaset S675 IP at the end of 2007. All mid to high-range Gigaset IP phones in the current portfolio are now HDSP-ready and support broadband transport in interaction with the base station of the Gigaset S675 IP or – beginning in the second quarter of 2008 – with the Bluetooth model Gigaset S685 IP.