HD VoIP: The Partner Advantage

By Doug Allen

If youre wondering what the next big thing is in VoIP, wonder no more; its high definition. As with HD TV, the difference between a typical VoIP call and an HD call is a quantum leap in quality, or in this case, call clarity, audibility and an overall better user experience on the phone. Not exactly the kind of thing VoIP, long the butt of user scorn for its walkie-talkie-like, best-effort sound quality, is known for. But even skeptics say the sound quality of a proper HD VoIP sounds richer than traditional TDM calls.

The business case for HD VoIP is simple: with higher-resolution sound, users enjoy a richer service experience, making it easier for the parties on either end of the call to clearly discern and understand each other. This leads to easier and faster communication, which in turn speeds up the overall pace of business. For example, early adopters have reported less difficulty in making out speakers with thick international accents or being able to understand people who dont speak directly into the microphone during phone conferences through the speakerphone. Internet telephony service provider and major HD VoIP booster IP5280 Communications also cites customer testimonials from callers with hearing impairments who had trouble with their existing phones, but could hear clearly using HD phones without having to adjust their hearing aids.

Measuring the callers HD VoIP experience is difficult to quantify, but there clearly is a business impact. You could certainly measure the improvement in audio quality, but that doesnt really translate into a payback [or ROI], said Jon Arnold, principal at consultancy J Arnold & Associates. I think the gains are purely qualitative it simply improves the experience. Sure, this will translate into more accurate information sharing and more efficiently completed calls, but I dont see yet how that is quantified in a meaningful way. [But] HD makes talking on the phone more effective, and that might make customers more inclined to call, which could lead to better customer service.

HD Is Taking Off. Why all the buzz about HD VoIP just now, when Polycom introduced the technology in 2006? While there has been growing awareness of the technology over the last few years, HD VoIP is really just starting to get off the ground now, for a variety of reasons.

For starters, the widespread adoption of VoIP throughout most of the industry, as well as the upsurge in hosted VoIP solutions and the growing role of SIP trunking for SMBs as well as the enterprise, have all laid the groundwork for high-end VoIP services. Since VoIPs Achilles heel always has been QoS, it makes sense that as the overall market grows, so too does the need for higher-quality VoIP solutions.

Almost as important is the emergence of several codecs that can capture a wider sonic range with a reasonable amount of capacity. The availability of pre-packaged codecs gives service providers a number of encoding options for voice and/or music for the desk or cell phone. Of these, the most important is the royalty-free G.722, which has been widely accepted as the default codec for IP desk phones. Most IP phone manufacturers support it for the wired market; for mobile, AMR-WB appears to be the winner, since it was specifically designed to operate at lower bit rates for cell phones.

Finally, HD VoIP peering is starting to emerge, allowing VoIP calls to traverse provider network boundaries while still maintaining full QoS. IP peering provider XConnect has established an HD voice federation that interconnects the networks of the nine providers participating in early trials. While the alliance was announced formally in just late April, theres no doubt peering will be crucial to widespread deployment of HD VoIP. Thats because HD VoIPs QoS is only as good as the weakest link in the network; that is, full sonic quality cant be achieved without support for the technology across the entire network infrastructure. Upgrading all the relevant equipment from the IP PBX to the various edge devices, including IVRs, conference bridges and even voice mail systems is no small task and probably the biggest barrier to mass deployment of HD VoIP. Without the necessary network support and ITSP peering, HD VoIP will remain limited to islands that dont extend past a customers or providers network.

This means each network element must be capable of decoding, mixing and re-encoding calls using a variety of codecs that are supported across the board. In addition, some units, such as IVRs and voice mail servers, need to support both HD and non-HD calls; for example, voice mail messages recorded in HD must be retrievable in a non-HD format.

HD VoIP also requires greater bandwidth to carry calls. Network engineers should budget, conservatively, about 100kbps of symmetric bandwidth per call using G.711 for uncompressed transport, which yields the highest fidelity. Other codecs will demand more or less capacity, depending on the application for mobile phones and more for music-enriched calls, for example.

For providers, upgrading to HD VoIP is largely a matter of downloading the necessary software and codecs to the necessary network equipment or systems. But theres the knottier issue of end-user devices. Wireless carriers will have to get HD-capable handsets into their users hands and make some modest upgrades to their networks, said Robert Poe, contributing analyst for Heavy Reading. Cable operators will have to upgrade their networks as well, and deploy HD-capable modems in their users homes and offices. The most practical way to do the latter is to deploy cordless DECT (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications) base stations and handsets with CAT-iq (cordless advanced technology Internet and quality) technology, which is cheaper and easier than trying to run HD over internal wiring in homes. Wireless operators can get HD handsets out quickest because of high handset replacement/turnover rates.

After the ITSPs, Poe expects the cable and mobile operators to be the first adopters of HD VoIP, because HD voice will give them a way to compete better against traditional landline telcos, which cant deploy HD on their legacy infrastructure [although their fiber plant would support HD]. In addition, VoIP providers of all types will be early adopters, but their user numbers are small in comparison to cable and mobile operators, so they will not by themselves have the clout to drive voice market to HD.

Sales Opportunity. For ITSPs and their channel partners (agents and VARs), the sales opportunity for HD VoIP lies in offering a consistently better service experience that dramatically improves the quality of communication through superior call clarity. HD VoIP makes it possible to emphasize better-than-TDM sound quality, not price or an enhanced feature set, as a reason to go VoIP. Strategically, at IP5280, we consciously made the decision that HD would be our differentiator and proof of how VoIP is about more than just cheap long-distance, but rather VoIP is about quality, features, and oh yeah, cost savings! said Jon Scarborough, managing partner, IP5280.

When it comes to sales, channel partners should realize that HD VoIP quickly will become a must-have feature, but wont drive revenues alone. Think of it as a competitive differentiator, especially while provider adoption is slow and sporadic. Even ensuring clear, lifelike sound is not likely to sell more phones. Its the apps or a lower price that sells, according to Dave Gilbert, CEO of SimpleSignal, another ITSP championing HD VoIP. But HD VoIP certainly makes the sale easier, since most providers offer it at no extra charge and bundle in the cost with the product and/or service.

ITSPs and their channel partners will play a crucial role in implementing HD VoIP for their customers. First, they must work with clients to set expectations and make sure the customer understands that all calls demanding higher sound quality remain on the HD network, and that only less critical communications, at typical VoIP QoS levels, be allowed off-net. Intracompany phone calls and those between the same hosted VoIP provider should be no problem to connect, but customers must understand that any off-net calls are best effort. This is no small task since most endpoints will not be HD-compliant anytime soon. Coordinating network design so that all the infrastructure is completely HD-compliant end-to-end is crucial and will require serious project management, consulting, installation and engineering skills across hardware, software and the network itself.

Channel partners will play a key role in educating the customer in more ways than one.  HD is really a value-added feature, and thats exactly what VARs do, said consultant Arnold. HD may sound gimmicky to a business if a carrier pitches it to them. However, a VAR can sell it more strategically, since theyre more of a trusted adviser. Theyre also in the best position to recommend which phones and SIP providers will be best for the customers existing network environment. Building on that, they can use HD as the basis to upsell more unified communications services, since these apps will gain more adoption this way.

Arnold said channel partners will be asked to perform the full gamut of professional services when it comes to HD VoIP, including  maintenance and management (a view with which the ITSPs tend to somewhat disagree), but also looks to their sales force to offer meaningful QoS benchmarks that customers can use to evaluate HD VoIP vs. TDM. And in cases where the ITSP isnt prioritizing voice over data, a channel partner could potentially offer remote QoS or CoS control that dynamically allocates bandwidth to ensure dedicated bandwidth for HD is reserved, regardless of the other demands on the customer network.

And analyst Poe said he sees the greatest opportunity for channel partners that sell HD as a tool to enable their customers employees to better communicate among themselves. That way, they can offer a controlled experience, he said. The possibility of being able to make HD connections between different companies or networks is unpredictable, because that requires all the networks and phones involved end-to-end to support not only HD but the same HD codec.

Ultimately, the channel partner is still a customers best bet when it comes to deploying enterprise-class VoIP, because the sales cycle likely will require a fairly drawn-out, detailed consultation to properly upgrade the network for HD VoIP. The need for a trusted adviser to deliver a well-thought-out, careful plan is greater than most VARs realize, explained Scarborough. VoIP is essentially about minimizing the weakest link in how all of the key components [of the service] work together: QoS implementation, network design, LAN integration, the PBX functionality. The love em and leave em tendencies of the traditional telco mentality are no longer acceptable in a world where everything counts.