HD Voice: Revolutionize voice calls

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › HD Voice: Revolutionize voice calls

tombrownzz

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#76039 27-Jan-2011 21:53

OMG HD Voice is so much clearer than a normal cellphone call:

http://mashable.com/2011/01/26/hd-voice/

So Vodafone, when are you going to apply the software patch?

ajobbins

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#431982 27-Jan-2011 21:59

Vodafone force calls back from 3G to GSM where possible, so most of the time you are talking to a GSM coded rather than an AMR codec on 3G, let along a Wideband AMR codec aka HD Voice.

For best use of bandwidth, I can't see this happening any time soon.

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sbiddle

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#432046 28-Jan-2011 06:25

tombrownzz: OMG HD Voice is so much clearer than a normal cellphone call:

http://mashable.com/2011/01/26/hd-voice/

So Vodafone, when are you going to apply the software patch?

There is very little point when only a small handful of customers have AMR-WB capable handsets.

ajw

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#432062 28-Jan-2011 08:25

I note Wind mobile in Canada intend to install this technology on their 3G UMTS network.

sbiddle

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#432077 28-Jan-2011 09:30

The biggest problem is that until there are more handsets with support there is very little point in it. All calls to landlines can't use it, off network mobiles can't use it, and on-net calls to phones that don't support AMR-WB can't use it.

Depending on exactly how calls are carried across various parts of a mobile network it's not just a simple matter of a software upgrade, there could be places were voice is carried over TDM circuit and the benefits would be lost.

I love G.722 in VoIP deployments, but one of the common complaints is that people get so used to the crisp sound of G.722 on internal calls that they complain about fixed line or mobile calls that are of far lower quality and can't understand why all calls can't be the same.

SteveON

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#432212 28-Jan-2011 14:13

I love it how Viber provides 2x better call quality, (when the data connectivity is good)

Felicks

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#435801 6-Feb-2011 09:04

Can someone please answer this question and I'm sure there'll be others out there wondering too.

It's great that the service provides what appear to be free calls and texts(?). I want to know who is paying for the Viber service/data charges.

Presumably data going through WiFi will be included as part of the users account data and they'll end up paying for it. Thats straight forward. However with 3G, that data will be going through cellphone towers. I strongly suspect cellphone tower owners, don't like to receive/transmit data for free and will be billing someone.

With data charges that aren't exactly cheap in New Zealand yet, I remain somewhat skeptical. Can someone please put my mind at rest.

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#435803 6-Feb-2011 09:11

Felicks: Can someone please answer this question and I'm sure there'll be others out there wondering too.

It's great that the service provides what appear to be free calls and texts(?). I want to know who is paying for the Viber service/data charges.

Presumably data going through WiFi will be included as part of the users account data and they'll end up paying for it. Thats straight forward. However with 3G, that data will be going through cellphone towers. I strongly suspect cellphone tower owners, don't like to receive/transmit data for free and will be billing someone.

With data charges that aren't exactly cheap in New Zealand yet, I remain somewhat skeptical. Can someone please put my mind at rest.

I'm not sure I fully understand the point you're trying to make. If you use any application that uses data you're billed at your normal mobile data rate. There is no free mobile data.

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freitasm

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#435819 6-Feb-2011 10:05

Felicks: Presumably data going through WiFi will be included as part of the users account data and they'll end up paying for it. Thats straight forward. However with 3G, that data will be going through cellphone towers. I strongly suspect cellphone tower owners, don't like to receive/transmit data for free and will be billing someone.

With data charges that aren't exactly cheap in New Zealand yet, I remain somewhat skeptical. Can someone please put my mind at rest.

It's all marketing speak... When an application developers says "free voice calls over Internet" it actually means the calls themselves are not charged. But you are still supposed to pay for your Internet access to your provider.

The same applies when using mobile data. The voice call over IP or SMS over a third party service may be free (or ad-supported), but you still have to pay for your mobile data traffic to the operator anyway.

Felicks

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#435828 6-Feb-2011 10:26

Thanks - thats what I thought. Yes, I know there is no such thing as a free mobile service. However, I suspect there are some who will probably still believe the service is 'free' - i.e. no charge to them which isn't quite right.

All the Internet talk of an application providing free phone calls, I think, is a little misleading and likely to lead some into thinking they aren't paying for the service - in any form i.e. data.

The service won't be a problem for users with reasonable sized data plans (I don't know what the bandwidth requirements/usage are for VoIP calls), but we know that when those plans are exhausted, the pricing generally becomes pretty shocking.