http://www.siemensjobcam.com/global-mobile-voip/
VoIP is pushing the industry to voice HD
VoIP is pushing the industry to voice HD
VoIP players are setting new standards in voice quality with HD codecs. Cellco have had their own rules of HD voice of years, but challenges abound, and the simplest solution could be the embrace of VoIP for themselves
TV networks are not the only things that will "high-definition (HD) these days. Even voice calls – the traditional revenue source for the telecommunications sector – move in an area of high definition, especially in the mobile sector. HD Voice promises to make calls sound like they're almost in the same room. And it has been generating considerable rumors in the past six months.
Several HD Voice solutions are exhibited at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. And Cellco in the United Kingdom have expressed high definition voice, including 3 UK and Orange, the latter of which launched HD voice tests in several cities with plans for a nationwide deployment. Orange also has evidence of voice high definition in ongoing Eastern and Western Europe.
However, for the most part is not the traditional Cellco are becoming voice users high definition, but upstart VoIP players – which is ironic, especially because the quality of VoIP calls is usually presented as a matter of low latency. Any who has used Skype or similar VoIP applications know when the call is having latency problems. However, we also know that in terms of fidelity real voice, VoIP codecs are far ahead of the game.
Skype executives also know and have to go out of their way to tout the value of HD Voice. The Communication Emerging America Conference earlier this year, Skype technology strategist Jonathan Rosenberg includes a slide showing that, as its codec SEDA company has improved in audio quality, frequency and duration of voice calls increases.
Rosenberg said that high definition quality of voice may increase the duration of a voice call 45% (see chart on page 20). No wonder that the latest iPhone Skype client, which allows Skype calls over 3G networks and Wi-Fi not only for the first time with "CD quality" voice capabilities.
Meanwhile, Google clearly sees the value in the voice of HD. In May this year, it paid $ 68.2 million in cash for the Norwegian company Solutions Global IP (GIPS), which specializes in VoIP and video processing platforms. Observer the industry have speculated that Google could put HD engines GIPS voice to work for a voice HD version for your operating system Google Android.
What is even more ironic about the lead voice in VoIP HD is that the switching circuit HD codec standards have existed for years. The mobile version, Broadband Adaptive Multi Rate (AMR-WB) has been an ITU standard (G.722.2) for about a decade, as fixed-line version (G.722), and solutions has been commercially available since at least 2006. However, the deployment has been hampered by a number of factors, cost of implementation of the total lack of incentives. After all, customers have been using the standard voice codecs for ages – they're used to it, and while they can understand the person the other end, why fix what is not broken?
But that is becoming less and less the case as VoIP – which claims more than 900 million users, according to ABI Research – increasingly sets the expectations of what voice calls should sound. The trick is that the challenges have delayed HD voice forever and for operators to remain in place – so much so (and this may be the greatest irony of all) the answer may be to embrace VoIP for themselves.
Free expense coverage
The main factors that support high definition voice for operators is reduced to a few key issues: costs and coverage terminals.
The problem with the headset, Ericsson says CTO Michael Lee, is simple: mobile phones have to support AMR-WB HD voice work, and so far, few do.
"We have not seen a lot of support from the mobile phone market to accommodate AMR-WB," says Lee. "But to be fair, it is also a problem of the chicken and the egg. If there are few operators interested in AMR-WB, why phone providers support it? "
Another issue is the investment in the network, says Lee. "Today operators to deploy transcoders at each site of the switching network so that 16 kbps codec I can use between mobile and the base station may be converted into a 64 kbps connection to adjust the traditional circuit-switched PCM voice codec based on "he says." If you want to AMR-WB, you have to take away transcoders and introduce new features in the portal architecture that handles the transcoder free operation. All this means you have to make some investment in the network. "
This factor has given VoIP players ahead of the incumbents in the voice of HD, says Alexander Kravchenko, director of marketing engine video / voice DSP specialists Spirit.
"Using high definition voice with something like Skype does not imply no additional cost to the service provider because the software is free, "he says." For the carriers, the situation is very different because you have install a large amount of equipment. "
This is not necessarily the case for everyone, says ABI Research principal analyst Jordan Fritz. "New 3G networks – those made since around 2005 and 2006 – can now use the new format and require only a software update and a shift to high definition phones " Jordan said in a research note. "That's why HD voice, unlike most technologies, first pull is in developing markets, while markets in more 3G networks will have to upgrade their networks.
But that raises another key issue – voice high definition has to be supported at both ends of the call, otherwise we fall into default narrowband codec. And the islands support high definition voice inevitably means incompatible service, says Lee.
"What this means to the end user perspective is that sometimes you get high quality voice and sometimes is obtained from the standard, depending on whether you call someone on another network that does not support high definition voice, including a fixed line phone, or someone whose phone is not HD-enabled, "says Lee." It may even be a problem in cases where the operator has deployed high definition voice for its 3G network, but not of its 2G network to reduce costs. "
That is difficult for the operators, he adds, because once users try to high definition voice, lower narrowband quality becomes much more noticeable. "Once you try the high quality, they realize when it is of lower quality and I think that sounds bad, although it was what used in the past.
Codec Interoperability
An issue related to connecting the islands of high definition voice is interoperability between different codecs in the game, from G.722 and AMR-WB codec to VoIP such as Skype SEDA, said Jim Machi, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for Dialogic.
"Interoperability is an important issue in the case of the interoperability of voice and high-definition network capacity to non-HD voice activated, networks, or a single voice HD enabled network to another and, potentially, a voice codec high definition to another guy, "said Machi." There are elements of the infrastructure called gateways that need to be installed to allow this. Or to put it more appropriately, there are doors that are installed every day in networks around the world, and they would need HD Voice-enabled gateways. "
The interoperability issue also includes value-added services such as voice mail, Machi added. "If you are in a high-definition voice and network capacity to record a voice message, you would like to record in the form of high definition voice, right? So we have to be servers Media enabled HD voice. "
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to allow HD voice is the business case for him. In short, no one – at least not if operators see high-definition voice and a possible new source of premium income.
HD voice is difficult to sell, in part due to the inability to guarantee high-definition connections, regardless of destination of the call, but also because not everyone can tell the Unlike the first hearing, said Kravchenko Spirit of DSP.
"If you play narrowband and broadband voice samples for the customer, not everyone a perceptible difference between them immediately, "he says." It takes time for you to use and get used to it, and only when they return to the narrow band is what note the difference. So it's hard to sell HD instantly. That also means that you can not really charge more for high definition voice, even users of the company. "
The real value of high definition voice, Lee said Ericsson, is divided into two main areas: increased talk time (As advocated by Skype above) and customer retention. "If the question is whether that translates into higher ARPU, we see some operators doubt about it, and we have not been a success where the operator can generate greater ARPU directly from high definition voice. "
That does not mean that there will be opportunities to bring high definition voice for use in creative packages value-added services to differentiate themselves from competition, says Lee.
"Take partner for example – if you and your lover both subscribe to the mobile operator, you can enjoy HD intimate conversations with your partner over the phone " he says. "For the corporate segment, can offer voice and high definition to all in the company, which is useful for companies that really satisfied you need good voice quality, such as stockbrokers, for example. You can also use the services of DTMF voice recognition. "
If you can not with them …
Interestingly, despite all the talk about high definition voice and VoIP, there is some disagreement about how much operators are low pressure to high definition voice.
Lee, on the one hand, says Cellco feel more pressure from the players on things like VoIP call rates instead of a direct voice quality.
"I do not see it as urgent, because the value of mobile networks is still mobility, and as customers continue to enjoy mobility, mobile operators still have an advantage, "he says." In addition, they still face the same challenges now as they have done in the past. So when the competition comes from other mobile operators will move quickly to implement AMR-WB. "
Machi, Dialogic, however, credits the increased use of VoIP to reset customer expectations for quality of voice calls.
"In business, using the latest equipment from Avaya or Cisco or Microsoft, you can get high definition voice, and Skype also uses a voice codec high definition, "he says." So people have been exposed to HD voice and know how it sounds much better. "
Either way, it will take time high definition voice to capture Cellco world – but when it does, it will ramp up quickly, according to ABI Research. An April report says growth for mobile voice would not start HD at least until 2013, but the use of HD-capable phones will soar to 487 million subscribers by 2015.
That growth could be even Cellco faster for their willingness to accept VoIP for themselves, said Kravchenko.
"In the mobile space, which is probably easy to move to the voice of HD, enabling VoIP, "he says." Instead of allowing the broadband voice in the traditional circuit-switched network, can use a VoIP application software in the data network and provide in this way. It is a way to make people try to voice HD without the cost of changing the terminals or base stations. "
Spirit of VoIP experts Slava Asia Borilin adds that the use of VoIP as a facilitator HD also makes the problem easier to deal with the interoperability.
"There are about five or six software codecs that normally come through VoIP, and is not as difficult to achieve that interoperate, "he says.
The trick is not, of course, is to convince Cellco to embrace VoIP in the first place. Most operators have resisted VoIP Fears of cannibalizing existing voice or data capacity problems, and many still block the use of VoIP over their 3G networks (although the use of Wi-Fi usually still allowed). But the migration to all IP-LTE could mitigate the concerns of the building, said Kravchenko.
Meanwhile, Skype has been the maintenance Cellco his offensive, launching a case study of CCS Insight November 2009 by the association shows that 3 of the United Kingdom with Skype has not only reduced the rotation, but also increased traditional voice and SMS usage rather than cannibalize.
To date, only Verizon has Skype up on his offer to stay on 3 UK foodsteps. But the idea seems to be catching on elsewhere. In July, Korean operator SK Telecom announced that include mobile VoIP as part of a wider strategy Upgrade mobile broadband which includes unlimited data plans and an accelerated deployment schedule of LTE.
Of course, there are warnings in place – While mobile VoIP subscribers are free to use any VoIP client they wish on the data network, SK Telecom, the actual use of mobile VoIP will measured and a stop to prevent data congestion.
What is surprising is the public admission of SK Telecom's previous objections to VoIP operator – which "could act as a disincentive to investment companies and hamper industrial development, as president and CEO Jung-won man put him in the press conference – Have been replaced by the realization that the advantages of VoIP outweigh the cons.
"The introduction of m-VoIP is expected to have an effect negative impact on our revenues in the short term. However, expect greater positive effects in the medium and long term, "Namgung, manager of SK's pricing strategy team Telecom Asia Telecom Jaeeun said. "They deliver greater customer satisfaction and help us keep our customers so we will be offering a wider range of experiences and options. Furthermore, we expect growth in our revenues and ARPU and attract new high paying clients and our current users change plans at a higher price. "
Interestingly, Namgung not specifically mention the high-definition voice and a particular benefit of mobile VoIP, focusing instead on the inherent flexibility of VoIP in terms of creating new voice applications and business models that would be too difficult to do traditional voice.
"For example, VoIP-m features can be added to various applications including conferencing system in real time at a distance, remote service health care and real-time games, "he said.
That said, however, high-definition capabilities of voice certainly would not hurt in any applications or services.
Either way, analysts are tipping mobile VoIP as a significant growth opportunity. Frost & Sullivan says mobile VoIP will generate 29.57 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, despite ongoing resistance from Cellco. And a May report Cellco Ovum warned that those who choose to block or avoid doing VoIP at your own risk.
"The blocking of VoIP is like trying to control the tides. Most mobile operators today have tried various means to prevent the use of VoIP, or carefully monitor the use, "said Steven Hartley, Ovum principal analyst and co-author of the report." However, these methods can only obtain the negative publicity of the early adopters who request access vowels. "
Telecom Asia
For more information, please visit www.voipjungle.net
About the Author
FDI MOBILE VOIP PHONE UNLIMITED