We all talk on the phone. We all watch movies or television. We all listen to music. Obviously, the thing all of these activities have in common is they each include an audio component, including what is called “fidelity.”

 

Essentially, fidelity refers to the sound quality of an event compared to its original source. In other words, low fidelity experiences—like radio and TV—provide audio quality that is acceptable, but not nearly as good as, say, a movie or a concert, which, in fact is the original and should offer the best sound.

 

To answer the question, “Who wants fidelity?” AudioCodes’ director of business development started his keynote address at INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO in San Diego last week by explaining that, as fidelity is improved, so is the experience. (Quality of experience, or QoE.)

 

But, the experience itself is not always enough of a draw, especially in today’s fast paced world. Percy explained that there tends to be an inverse relationship between the number of interactions and the cost of the interaction; it is considerably more expensive to see a movie or got to the theater than watch a TV program.

 

But today, perhaps the more important factor is mobility. Radio and mobile TV are portable, whereas movies and theaters are static.

 

As Percy pointed out, the same situation can be found in the world of business telephony. IM, e-mail, mobile networks, landlines, video conferencing, and live meetings all provide significantly different levels of fidelity (or likeness to a face-to-face encounter). The same curve also applies, in that the number of interactions increases as the cost per interaction drops. The bulk of our daily interactions are consummated via IM or email and video conferencing is, relatively speaking, largely unused.

 

Of course, the higher-cost interactions also offer higher fidelity and a better overall QoE, which creates a balance people have to consider. Users typically choose the highest fidelity based on cost and location and timing. Indeed, many of us are content to switch from between media mid-conversation: “Do you mid if I hand up my mobile and call you right back on my landline?”

 

We are, however, at a critical juncture, where consumers and businesses alike are beginning to break free from the PSTN. What that means is there is tremendous potential for a substantial increase in QoE, since the potential for increase fidelity across IP networks is higher than across the PSTN.

 

To support the divergence of telephony from the PSTN, a new range of wideband codecs and algorithms has been developed, which take advantage of the higher sampling rates available with IP communications. Percy asserts that these new coding technologies will create a difference great enough to ensure that customers will have no desire to return to the PSTN.

 

Incidentally, Percy also noted that a similar situation has encompassed the video market, where—with HDTV, place and time shifting, and mobility—there is not one unique format any longer. There are now ten or fifteen formats (or more), and manufacturers and developers are finding they need to account for that. But, in the end, it is producing the same effect as higher-quality voice communications—the end user experience has been dramatically improved, to the point where they have no desire to give it up.

 

According to Percy, while developers continue to advance their technologies—enhancing the user experience in the process—we will still have to make choices between higher and lower fidelity on a daily basis, and that choice will not always result in the higher fidelity option since other factors, like mobility and ease of use, will continue to play a vital role.

 

Of course, he also points out that these advanced technologies present a dilemma, which is: How can carriers and service providers handle the conversion from older to new technologies without causing service disruptions or other inconveniences for their customers? This is precisely what companies like AudioCodes (News - Alert) have now focused on. They have taken on the challenge of ensuring the voice quality war will be won on delivering outstanding quality, not on an inability to keep up with emerging technology.

 

One thing is for certain, though: although we will still have to make choices between higher and lower sound quality interactions, the lower quality alternatives will be of considerably quality than to which we have grown accustomed.