Once again it is time to introduce you a new series of posts: The Siemens Gigaset Story. Like the Audience Special (see e.g. Audience special 5 - Siemens Gigaset 675 IP user review) all posts share a common feature. All Audience Special share the fact of beeing created by the readers of the blog. All posts of the Siemens Gigaset Story Special offer you backround information of the company that operates behind the Siemens Gigaset products.

So let's get started with our first part of the Siemens Gigaset Story:

The information society is characterized by its ever accelerating pace of developments and innovations. Siemens has helped shape developments in telecommunications for more than 150 years now – and for the last 15 years with its Siemens Gigaset cordless phones. In October 2005, the former CPE unit of Siemens Communications was carved out to create Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices (SHC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG that develops and manufactures Siemens Gigaset phones as well as broadband and Home Media products and markets them in 69 countries. As the world market leader in DECT phones, SHC is committed to high standards of quality and environmental protection and produces the vast majority of its products at its plant in Bocholt, Germany. Then as now, Siemens Gigaset products set important trends and are driving evolution from cordless phoning to today's Internet telephony and the Connected Home.

How it all began

Back in the 1980s, Siemens launched its first cordless phones for private households: the Megasets, which were based on the CT1 and CT1+ standards. These devices can no longer be used, since the frequencies expired in 1997. The successor standard DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephony) was introduced in 1992, and 1993 saw the birth of the Gigaset family with the launch of the Gigaset 951. It was the first cordless phone based on the DECT standard, which offered digital voice quality, protection against eavesdropping and, for the first time, the ability to register more than one handset and conduct internal calls. The Gigaset 952 also allowed the connection of a fax or answering machine.

In 1994 Siemens developed the Gigaset 900 and 910, with the base station and charging cradle forming a single unit for the first time. The most successful cordless phones on the market in 1994 and 1995, they came in various designs and colors.

1996 saw the launch of what was the largest Gigaset series to date: the 1000 models. The portfolio ranged from a cordless DECT phone to a corded desktop phone and an ISDN system. In that year, the Gigaset 1010 – the successor to the Gigaset 910 – was the best-selling phone in Germany . Further developments in corded desktop phones were handsfree speaking (the Gigaset 1020) and, for the first time, an integrated answering machine (the Gigaset 1030).

A cordless ISDN device was also offered: the Gigaset 1054 isdn. For the first time, additional handsets could be connected to the corded base station. At the same time, the convenience of the Gigaset handsets increased: The Gigaset 1000 C now offered an illuminated display, intuitive menu guidance and a phonebook with space for up to 100 entries. Of particular interest was the Gigaset 1015, the first compact cordless phone with an integrated digital answering machine.

The Gigaset 2000 series followed in 1997, offering improvements in convenience and design. The portfolio included the Gigaset 2015 with an answering machine and a “pocket line” – handsets that were designed to fit into any pocket. These models were also the first to have a base station suitable for mounting on the wall.

In 1999, the Gigaset 3010 Classic achieved great popularity in Germany with its enhanced appearance and a handset that stood upright in the base station. The Gigaset 3010 Comfort was the first to have a handsfree function on the handset. Once again, there was a version with an integrated answering machine, the Gigaset 3015. The ISDN line was expanded to include the Gigaset 3035 isdn. It had an answering machine and also acted as the base station for additional cordless handsets.

In the next episode of the Siemens Gigaset Story you will read what happend from the new millennium onwards...