Wideband Audio Codecs Gaining Steam
By Matthew Nickasch on Mon, 12/01/08 - 11:23am.Wideband audio codecs have become nearly standardized in the IP communications field in the last few years. With the "more for less" quality vs. bandwidth needs, high-definition and low-bandwidth codecs are in high demand.
Garrett Smith, on his blog, "Smith on VoIP", posted an interesting interview with Polycom Co-Founder, Jeff Rodman. In this interview, Rodman discusses the importance of high-definition codec development, and also outlines Polycom's HD Voice strategy.
Rodman states:
The benefit of wideband audio is obvious, especially once you hear it. Remember that everything we hear today, from satellite and FM radio, to records and CD’s, to television, and even our oven timers, is already wideband audio. When we have a drink with friends or sit around a table with our co-workers, our voices are HD Voice, our ears are accustomed to hearing the whole speech spectrum. It’s only the phone, which is one of the most critical tools in business, which has become the last holdout of poor audio.
Polycom is not the only telephony endpoint company to develop and market high-definition-codec-capable phones. Snom's recently-released 820 features wideband audio support as well.
Look for more companies to provide high-definition audio support in the future. As always, there will be some questions about interoperability between vendors and platforms, but for homogeneous environments, rolling out wideband audio support on an existing platform can be as simple as a software update, provided that hardware support is available.
- About Considering Convergence
- Matthew Nickasch is an independent consultant and analyst in the IP communication and convergence fields. His current and previous consulting experience includes systems architecture, virtualization, telecommunications, and converged networks for the financial, education, and healthcare industries. In addition to his consulting responsibilities, he has been active in the research realm, recently publishing and presenting on topics including routing protocol security and ERP and transactional database auditing. While his interests include directory services and corporate compliance, Nickasch's focus is on converged networks and IP communications.
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