Halite - Hyperterminal
Both stem from the same producer, Hilgraeve. Hyper Access existed also for W$. Both didn't work for many connections. But is should work well with standard connections and fonts.
Zoc is 'the' ultimate terminal application for OS/2 - ArcaOS
.. and still for Windows, while PuTTY is nowadays the better option, at least it was for Telnet. I don't have experience with it over serial connections. BTW: I use the same ZOC version on W$ at work that exists as last version for OS/2, just because it has less bugs. I have included key conversion and many REXX macros for automation. But I agree, that should be overkill for a simple connection with a appropriate cable.
With ZOC I can see the serial output from the switch but can't type anything.
So your cable and baud rate is okay. I suggest you deselect all the handshake options in the Zoc dialog to test.
Good point. May be. The standard is: 9600/8/N/1/- (9600 Baud, 8 Bit, no parity, 1 stop bit, no Xon/Xoff hand shake AKA flow control.)