Reader Forum: Why HD voice sounds good today

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but maintain some editorial control so as to keep it free of commercials or attacks. Please send along submissions for this section to our editors at: dmeyer@ardenmediaco.com or tford@ardenmediaco.com.
The growing popularity of smartphones and multimedia-rich services has bombarded subscribers with new devices and applications. However, there is a simpler opportunity to improve the user experience that doesn’t require any downloads, installations or user training.
The home phone that has been providing the same voice quality since 1937, is now ready for an upgrade to provide the same high-definition audio experience consumers enjoy with other electronic devices.
HD Voice in a nutshell
High Definition Voice (HD Voice) samples almost all human frequencies resulting in audio that sounds closer to the natural voice. HD Voice enables callers to speak more quietly, and makes accents and long-distance calls easier to understand, reducing ear strain and listener fatigue.
What does the improved audio “sound” like? The difference between wideband and narrowband HD Voice is like the difference between listening to FM stereo and an AM radio broadcast.
Narrowband voice limits the range of audio frequencies resulting in “telephone speech” that sounds harsh and unnatural with the following listening challenges:
–Difficulty recognizing “fricative” sounds like “s” and “f”;
–Problems distinguishing “m” from “n” and “p” from “t”;
–Inability to hear the fundamental resonances in spoken vowels.
In contrast, with HD Voice, the limitations of a narrow range are removed, and the sound is as clear as if the speakers were in the same room. It enables business users to tell the difference between $50 million and $15 million, and enables people to speak more quickly when calling 911, while increasing the odds they will be understood the first time.
In 2006, Ericsson and T-Mobile conducted a joint trial of high-definition mobile services where 71% of respondents reported a distinct improvement in voice quality and clarity. Users commented that it was easier to place and conduct calls in noisy environments and felt a greater sense of privacy, discretion, and comfort.
Benefits and challenges for operators
Operators are interested in HD Voice because in addition to providing market differentiation by introducing a superior user experience, it can result in more calls as well as longer calls, and can also be the trigger for subscribers to switch to more advanced handsets, thereby increasing revenues.
However, despite the obvious benefits there are some hurdles to overcome. Moving to HD Voice requires an IP core, and supporting network equipment upgrades, which can be a time-consuming and costly process. It also requires more overhead for additional bandwidth required to support HD Voice.
Furthermore, to make the traffic run in a multi-carrier environment on wireless networks requires some consensus as to which codecs are to be used in the network and endpoints — right now there is no clear industry standard.
And since HD Voice only works where 3G coverage is good, and where the user is calling someone else with a compatible phone, it may take time before subscribers are willing to pay extra for the HD quality service.
A similar list of challenges did not, however, prevent the introduction of FM radio, color TV, CDs, DVDs or HDTV. And so, people are very likely to embrace HD Voice on both wireless and fixed line networks once they experience the benefits of the improved voice quality.
Operators too must be betting on winning over subscribers, because despite all these challenges they are coming on board.
Operators moving over to HD Voice
Orange is the first operator in the world to launch HD Voice over a 3G mobile network in Moldava last September. At the HD Communications Summit in New York, FT-Orange announced additional plans to launch HD Voice in the U.K., France and Belgium next year.
France Telecom already has over a half-million HD Voice users, and is actively promoting its triple-play service for its increased clarity and sense of intimacy. British Telecom has been actively marketing high-definition voice as part of its broadband services and a Verizon Business director recently predicted early adoption of HD Voice next year, with widespread use in 2011.
Further adoption has also been spearheaded by leading industry organizations. Vonage co-founder Jeff Pulver has announced plans to lobby Washington for widespread rollout of the technology. The effort, called HD Connect is already underway and has gained hardware manufacturers’ support. The organization held an HD Voice Summit this year at the 2010 CES, discussing the promise of moving from 1930s-era to 21st Century sound quality.
In addition, a major enabler for HD Voice, CAT-iq (Cordless Advances Technology – internet and quality), is currently embedded in leading manufacturers’ DECT handsets easing the move over to HD Voice.
Other long-term benefits could push for widespread acceptance of HD Voice. The enhanced sampling and fidelity of HD codecs will lead to improved accuracy of voice-recognition applications, which, in turn, will lead to a “universal voice interface” for computers, appliances, and other systems.
These new applications providing additional operator revenues, could be the final force driving carriers to enable the home phone to stand side-by-side with other high-definition consumer devices.