Are You Ready for HD Voice?

Even though voice services are ubiquitous and have seemingly become as ho-hum a commodity as milk, voice quality is still a critical measure for carrier success. In many cases, minor improvements in voice quality have had significant impact. For example, Sprint’s famous “pin drop” ads, first aired in 1986, lauded the long-distance carrier’s improved voice service, occasioned by the launch of its coast-to-coast fiber-optic long-distance network. The ads created brand awareness and excited consumer interest while the improved voice service bolstered the corporate image and increased market share.

More recently, television, another “boring” commodity, took on new excitement (and benefitted from significantly increased revenue) with the introduction of digital transmission and HDTV. Consumer willingness to invest in expensive new HDTV equipment to enjoy more “life-like” viewing suggests that improved quality of experience is important.

Today, a similar revolution is gathering strength in the form of high-definition voice communications, or HD Voice. When consumers can finally experience this new technology firsthand, adoption is likely to move forward quickly. Because mobile users normally adopt new technology rapidly, replacing their mobile devices on an average of every 24 months, demand for HD Voice is expected to be high, and availability across mobile networks is expected to accelerate.

What Is HD Voice?

HD Voice uses wideband audio connections to more accurately reproduce the human voice. The result is significantly more natural speech, and some early users liken it to “being in the same room” with the person on the other end of the phone line. Early users also report an increased ability to recognize people by their voices and to understand highly accented speech more easily.

One reason new users experience such a marked improvement in quality with HD Voice is that traditional telephony is constrained by dated standards. Digital telephony standards (for example, ITU-T G.711) are based on 1960s digital circuit technology and 1930s microphone technology. Until the advent of HD Voice, G.711 was the standard of quality, with mobile telephony typically providing less than G.711 quality.

Regular Voice Quality            HD Voice Quality

Read Our HD Voice White Paper

We invite you to read our new white paper on HD Voice. It provides an introduction to HD Voice and discusses its current adoption rate and future potential. It also describes research trials and implementation issues, and sets HD Voice in its industry context.