High Definition VoIP on the Move

For years, one of the promises of VoIP was the fact that the sound quality could be improved, and that we would one day be able to experience CD sound quality or better on our VoIP calls. One of the keys to keeping this promise was the proliferation and increased adoption of wide-band codecs such as g.722 or AMR-WB that would increase the audible range on a telephone call from the typical narrowband range (300–3300 Hz) to a more robust 50–7,000 Hz.

Today an ever increasing variety of solutions is available on the market. Skype (News - Alert) has been offering wideband, and Microsoft has embraced a proprietary wideband solution called RTAudio for use with its Office Communications Server, but this article will focus on several new phone models from the likes of Polycom who early on led the charge with their HD Voice branded products, to Siemens, snom, and now AudioCodes (News - Alert).

Siemens

Siemens offers a series of phones under the Gigaset brand. The most recent upgrades to the product line are the Gigaset A380 and A385 models. These devices feature a unique ergonomic shape, long standby and talk times, ECO DECT (News - Alert), brilliant voice quality and a convenient speaker phone function.

The ECO technology from Siemens comprises an energy-saving power supply that uses up to 60 percent less electricity than conventional phones. In addition, energy can be saved in the ECO mode, which cuts transmitting power by 80 percent during calls.

Siemens (News - Alert) Gigaset devices utilize the company’s HDSP (for High Definition Sound Performance) technology that in turn leverages a wireless technology called CAT-iq. CAT-iq, which stands for Cordless Advanced Technology – Internet quality, builds upon existing Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) technology for a higher quality voice experience.

snom

snom recently announced its snom 820, a new business VoIP phone for the North American enterprise and small and medium-sized business (SMB) markets. The new device features a high-resolution color display, an integrated XML browser and accessed directly by the user via the display screen, and a broad set of advanced business communications features including three-way and five-way conferencing, multiple ring tones and the capability to provision up to twelve different SIP identities per phone.

The snom 820 supports WiFi (News - Alert) and power over Ethernet as well.

AudioCodes

AudioCodes has entered the IP phone arena with a phone that supports wideband codecs. The AudioCodes 300HD Series includes three models: The 310 HD entry level phone with a basic display and interface; the 320HD premium endpoint with a larger screen, and the 350HD executive phone with a color LCD screen. All three models are based on AudioCodes newly announced VoIPerfect software. The phones are SIP-based so they should work on standards-based IP-PBXs such as Asterisk (News - Alert). The phones are also PoE (Power over Ethernet) compliant.

AudioCodes also has plans to HD-enable other products including its IPmedia 3000 Media Server, Mediant 3000 Media Gateway (News - Alert), Mediant 1000 MSBG and the Mediant family of Microsoft certified basic Hybrid Gateways. This will allow AudioCodes’ Media Servers and Gateways to enable transcoding between different wideband coders while retaining wideband quality.

Polycom (News - Alert)

Polycom also recently introduced a new entrant to its growing HD Voice enabled IP Phone port-folio. The SoundPoint IP 450 desktop phone is a mid-range standards-based SIP device featuring three lines, Polycom’s patented HD Voice and a high-resolution graphical backlit display that supports multiple languages. The 450 also comes with Polycom’s open API and XHTML microbrowser to enable productivity-enhancing applications and business processes

The device supports IEEE (News - Alert) 802.3af Power over Ethernet and features an integrated two-port 10/100 Ethernet Switch. Polycom announced the new phones in conjunction with the news that the University of Utah was deploying a Polycom-based solution in making the move to HD Voice.

If it appears that the HD phone market is getting a bit crowded, maybe that’s a good thing. The increasing choice of vendors offering high-definition voice enabled solutions will only serve to benefit enterprises looking for choice, and will force the phone makers to continue innovating. IT

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