Does anybody out there know anything about the Siemens Gigaset series of VOIP enabled phones, in particular with respect to how these can integrate with Skype?

Now I don't know a great deal about these VOIP phones and am really confused now. As far as I understand matters, VOIP services like Skype have been around for a while now but generally everything worked thorugh your computer. Then there were others like Jajah that used your computer and your landline.

Recently I'm sure I read that Siemens had, in partnership with Skype, brought out a series of gigaset phones where you could use Skype through the phone and not even need to have a PC. Now that's what I want but I'm finding it a bit hard it figure out exactly what I need to buy.

Siemens seems to have voip phones and ISDN phones. I am led to believe though that not all of the VOIP phones will support Skype (is that true). So what about the ISDN phones? If I add Siemens M34 USB stick, does that mean I can turn their ISDN phone into a voip phone? I am presuming yes but then I guess I would still need the pc.

Help! I'm confused!
Last edited by jensmartin : 17-07-2009 at 12:40

Most of the Siemens phones work with SIP providers - This is an open VoIP standard not used by Skype.

If the models you're looking at show that they do work with Skype then they will. Which models have you looked at?

Skype is proprietary, unlike other standards which most the rest of the VoIP industry uses such as SIP or IAX2.

You need to make sure the phone states it works with Skype and is not one for proper VoIP.

So how about their top of the range Gigaset SX685 isdn?

If I were to buy one of those as well as this M34 USD stick, woulf it work with Skype and if so, could it do so independant of my PC?

OK, just had a quick browse of the Gigaset website, looks like you're barking up the wrong tree. The SX685 is an ISDN phone, and you need an ISDN line for it to work.

Now, I'm assuming you have a standard broadband connection and rather than use Skype on your PC, you'd want to be independent of it. The two main ways for that: either get a 3G Skype phone from the 3 network (on PAYG), or get a cordless Skype phone that plugs into your router, thereby bypassing the computer. If you browse Skype's Shop website, there's the RTX 3088 that retails for £120.

As others have pointed out (and it is worth stressing), Skype are proprietary, and do not use an open system such as SIP.

B