Discussion over concerns of high definition voice services available through IP networks is nothing new; it's been going on for years. A Skype (News - Alert) study from 2010 noted that HD Voice calls last 45 percent longer than calls with standard quality, generating a welcome increase in revenue for providers.

A traditional landline conversation uses the public switched telephone network (PSTN), a collection of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks. This system samples voice audio at 8,000 times per second, eliminating a large part of the full spectrum of conversational sounds.

Using fewer requirements than PSTN, HD Voice is able to double that number of samplings to 16,000, making the conversation feel richer and more detailed. However, if any leg of an HD Voice call touches the PSTN, the quality is drastically reduced.

To better monitor this issue, companies such as TransNexus offer complete Call Detail Record reporting, which provides color coded Quality of Service reports in near real time so that clients can anticipate and prevent virtually any problem. The records can be emailed and alarms can be triggered for call completions and quality of service statistics.

Up to 40 percent of all U.S telephone calls are made to ported telephone numbers. Routing a call based on the dialed number can lead to the call being misrouted, degrading quality. A solution by TransNexus (News - Alert) offers a software platform for providers to host the U.S. number portability database locally, so that the server automatically stays in near real time with the Number Portability Administration Center.

Efforts are being made to implement HD Voice as a service offering compatible with any IP phone. By enabling end-to-end IP interconnection between different networks so that HD Voice quality can be transmitted, a single interconnect solution for all HD Voice calls can be presented.

Global HD voice service requires a centralized party to provide routing and discovery amongst HD Voice networks. Some believe that this could never be fulfilled by a telecom operator. In the early 1970s, the banking industry solved this problem by creating the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). Any profits earned by SWIFT are paid dividends back to its members. According to some industry experts, this model may be the solution the telecom business is looking for to embrace full HD voice.