The Luton-headquartered GPT Communications Systems Ltd arm of GEC Plessey Telecommunications Ltd, has launched what it claims is the world’s first fully ISDN-compatible trading system, the Hicom Trading 300. Based on the Siemens AG Hicom ISDN digital exchange, the system enables traders working in international financial institutions and stock exchanges to take advantage of stored speech. The system provides a number of LCD tradeboard terminals, with up to 60 LCD keys giving traders access to 400 functions, destinations or lines, and an eight-line display with 40 characters per line. All terminals feature a built-in loudspeaker and further connections for up top four handsets or five loudspeakers. Each trader can connect up to 20 parties simultaneously, using five monitor loudspeakers at any one time. Up to eight traders can talk on a line simultaneously, and users can determine access to each line at any time. The system also comes with a speech recording system which can be connected either to an individual handset or centrally within the system. Hicom Trading 300 connects to public telephone networks, international leased lines, PABX or private networks and internal communications systems without the need for individual hardwiring, says the company. Terminals are linked via a single optical fibre, reducing the space required for traditional cabling, and offering immunity from electromagnetic interference. Despite the mixed fortunes of financial institutions since the 1987 market crash, GEC Plessey is confident of finding a market for the product. According to a company spokesman, the average dealing system churn rate is five years, making pre-Bing Bang equipment ripe for replacement, and the Hicom Trading 300 will bring dealers their first access to ISDN, with the benefits of user calling line identification and instantaneous line connection. This extra functionality will appeal to many organisations, he continued, as systems purchased in the late 1980s tended to use tried and tested rather than leading edge technology and may now put some organisations at a competitive disadvantage. Other markets for Hicom include broadcasting authorities and emergency services.
