XConnect unveils feature to offer HD voice between fixed and mobile networks

 

XConnect announced a new transcoding technology designed
to promote wider adoption and utilization of high-definition (HD) voice
services.

 

The new feature for members of XConnect’s HD Alliance
delivers clearer, higher-quality and more effective voice communications by
enabling fixed-line and mobile operators to seamlessly exchange HD voice
traffic through an IP-peering federation for the first time.

 

We are solving the key challenge to widespread adoption
of high-definition voice services: the need to deliver traffic across disparate
networks,” said Eli Katz, CEO, XConnect.  

 

The enhancement to XConnect’s HD Alliance extends the
benefits of cross-network HD voice service to mobile operators via cloud-based
transcoding, thereby enabling fixed operators to connect HD voice calls with
mobile endpoints and vice versa.

 

The new transcoding feature will be increasingly useful
as HD voice gains traction across all networks – fixed, mobile and over the top
offerings for consumer and enterprise markets.

 

To date, technology barriers have stood in the way of HD
voice communication between fixed-line and mobile operators, which deploy
different codecs.

 

The new feature bridges the disparate HD
“islands” by enabling transcoding in the XConnect multimedia
interconnection hub. The resulting interconnection offers new revenue
opportunities for fixed and mobile service providers, as well as improved call
quality for more users.  

 

The transcoding capability expands the benefits of
XConnect’s HD Alliance the world’s original peering federation dedicated to HD
voice. Since its launch in April 2010, the HD Alliance has supported service
providers using the G.722 wideband audio codec, the ITU standard for HD-enabled
fixed communications networks.

 

Now, using the new transcoding technology, HD voice
traffic can be delivered with tonal and audio quality preserved between fixed
operators using the G.722 codec and mobile operators using the AMR-WB codec,
which is most popular for wireless networks.

 

The HD Alliance, which operates within XConnect’s Global
Alliance worldwide peering federation, currently has 11 participating service
providers.

 

After launching the HD federation for U.S. operators,
XConnect in September 2010 expanded membership to include U.K. participants as
part of an initiative with Polycom, BroadSoft and Dialogic to promote HD voice
uptake in the U.K.

 

Earlier this year XConnect launches Video Interconnection
Exchange (VIE) to accelerate adoption of global video calling

 

Recently, XConnect announced
it launched the global Video Interconnection Exchange (VIE), the world’s first
neutral federation for exchanging video calls across networks, operators,
service providers, B2B exchanges and vendors.

 

With multiple applications, services and platforms, video
communications is a thriving but fragmented community. VIE will resolve
interoperability and  interconnection challenges by enabling secure,
scalable and multi-protocol interworking between disparate video communities,
exchanges, networks and devices. VIE will make video calling as easy as making
a voice call whether using a laptop, desktop, tablet or mobile phone  from
anywhere in the world.

 

By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]