Now you might be wondering what ‘HD voice’, and that would be a fair question – after all, HD seems to appear in a lot of conversations, when really the term has strict definition. However, I think it’s use is reasonable here.
What we have at the link below, is a webinar that was held on transporting HD voice across networks. Current transiting of voice is typically done via a telco network, and is pretty low rate – we are talking sample rates that leave you with a mono signal, which is somewhat crackly.
The thinking behind why to use a low bitrate years ago was (apart from available tech and bandwidth) was that voice frequencies only occupy a small range, and a low bitrate is sufficient. Sort of true, but as many people know that have been subjected to the form of torture they call hold music, anything of a higher fidelity sounds terrible over a traditional phone (and in fact over many mobiles).
So HD Voice is about upping that bitrate, and making the carrier for it VoIP – let’s see what the webinar organisers have to say:
Sponsored by: Global IP Solutions Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 1pm ET The telephone has not changed since 1937. Yet, since then, FM radio launched, a man stood on the moon and television has evolved from black and white to color to high-definition. However, the tide is rising and the momentum is growing among businesses and consumers who experience high-definition (HD) voice using Voice over IP via mobile phone applications, PCs and enterprise telephones. Carriers could be caught unaware if they don’t rise with the tide and offer HD voice services, as it will be the first and second mover’s advantage that will really impact the market. HD voice has an opportunity to radically change telecommunication – something that has not been done for 72 years. The HD codec landscape contains everything from open source to proprietary codecs – many with very complex licensing situations. The reality is that even a codec that is labeled free is rarely free. In addition, providing the best HD communication experience extends beyond just the codec to acoustic hardware, echo cancellation, and other signal processing. This webinar will discuss the issues standing in the way to end the Codec War, and the pros and cons to the leading and most widely deployed codecs today on fixed line, cellular and packet networks. Additionally, the webinar will provide valuable information on all the necessary factors to transport HD voice successfully.
Looks pretty interesting, and if you are a bit on the techy side and working audio, I’d imagine a perfect fit! Check it out if you want to know the future of voice….
… if you want to know more about Global IP Solutions, you can click here.