Archive for April, 2009

Silk Voip Wideband Codec Is being released By Skype

Silk Voip Wideband Codec Is being released By Skype

Skype is one of the best voip providers. Skype uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows users to make voice calls for free to other Skype users on a computer or supported mobile phones, using the Wi-Fi hotspot. Also, landline numbers can be called, but at a charge that differs from country to country.

Skype VOIP has slowly started making its image stronger in the VOIP market. It has started opening up their propietary audio codecs to the entire VOIP industry.Skype has some great in house audio codecs which are capable of delivering greater sound quality at a much lower bandwidth usage but it was not readily available for third party integration.

Skype has finally released a new version named ‘ SILK ‘ which is a New Skype-designed and developed default audio codec for all Skype-to-Skype calls. SILK is currently being used in the latest version of Skype.

SILK is Skype’s signature super wideband audio codec which achieves super wideband audio quality using 50% less network bandwidth than previously required. Silk is the outcome of a three year long development process in the Skype labs .

It mainly focused on four things:
improving audio bandwidth ranging from 8 kHz to 12 kHz, which indicates that a SILK conversation sounds like if you and the person whom you speaking to are in the same room. Bandwidth of SILK can go upto 24 Khz.
providing real-time bandwidth scalability to enable them to deal with degraded and unfavourable network conditions.
balancing codec optimization between voice, music and background noise .An imbalance between any of these three can have really have an adverse impact on the overall user experience.
delivering a robust solution which would deliver a more consistent audio experience, irrespective of the network conditions and an individual user’s voice signature.
SILK version was notable as being capable of narrowband (8KHz), wide band (16KHz) and super-wideband (24KHz) sample rates. Skype claims that the codec dynamically adapts both sample rate and bitrate in response to the variable network quality. They have published a PDF with a very general overiew of codec performance expressed in terms of bitrates, CPU requirements and MOS scores.
According to Skype , Silk can run on x86 chipsets for Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems, and the software has been run on Arm and MIPS chip platforms.
In addition to Skype 4.0 for Windows, the high-quality codec is available on Macintosh beta version 2.8, with a final Mac version coming in April. Linux is on a similar timeline.
The company is making the codec freely available to the third-party developers so that they can use it in any device or application, with or without Skype.
Skype is now expecting that industry and third party application developers will adopt SILK as a standard in wideband audio.

Despite the fact that Silk represents “a very significant chunk” of Skype research and development investments, the company is releasing it in order to make its popular peer-to-peer voice application work with a wide range of hardware and software clients, those could include PC software, headsets, videoconferencing systems, cordless phones and mobile phones.

Making SILK available enables and encourages to open the door to its adoption as the standard across a huge range of platforms, applications and devices by web developers and chip manufacturers, as well as consumer electronics and mobile device manufacturers. By offering it for free, one of the main and the biggest hurdles to adoption of wideband audio: i.e the cost is being removed.The aim is to establish a new industry-wide standard in speech processing: clearer, richer, and warmer audio.

GrandCentral Voip Is Now Google Voice

GrandCentral Voip Is Now Google Voice

GrandCentral, a phone management service which was first launched in 2006 and was
acquired by Google in year 2007 hasn’t been in the news much lately.

Google has finally rebranded GrandCentral into Google Voice after a very long time. GrandCentral is a powerful VOIP integration service . It is a service integrating flexible Internet-based voice calling and routing features, voice mail, text messaging and other applications.

This move of Rebranding GrandCentral into Google Voice would really open up multiple avenues for google in the coming years mainly in the integration space. It would rather be interesting to see if they would integrate Google Talk into Google voice or they would add Google voice to Google talk.

Unlike other VoIP and Internet-based voice applications, Google Voice is mainly based on a centralized voice calling and messaging system which enables users to use any phone to call into a system that allows them to initiate other calls and functions. The offering is being seen as a challenge to Skype, though it also ups the competitive ante for telcos and other voice service providers that have been exploring new ways to offer voice or to integrate it with other applications.

Below listed are few of the salient features of Google Voice.

Google number – One number for all your calls and SMS

It has a distinguishing feature of announcing and screening callers
It has the feature of Listening before taking a call
It Keeps unwanted callers at bay
It sends, receives, and stores SMS
It Calls US numbers for free
It Answer on any of your phones and add phones and decide which ring

Google voicemail – Voicemail as easy as email, with transcripts

It reads what your voicemail says
It checks online or from your phone
It Receives voicemails via email or SMS and Forwards or downloads voicemails

Voice features – More cool things you can do with Google Voice

Enables to Join people into a single call
It Records calls and store them online
It helps to view your inbox from your mobile and check directory assistance
It sets preferences by group

One of the important feature of Google Voice is obviously allowing totally free calls any USA number including mobile.

Also the quality of the calls doesn’t change with Google Voice. Getting your calls through Google Voice won’t affect call quality or reception, since you’ll still be taking calls from your existing phones.

Currently at this stage, Google voice is restricted to existing GrandCentral users only. However, if they open up the doors to this existing VOIP service to anyone anywhere in the world , one can leverage the benefit of having one number for call management.

Skype’s Version 4 Beta 3 To make unlimited Calls Worldwide!!!!

Skype’s Version 4 Beta 3 To make unlimited Calls Worldwide!!!!

Skype is the most popular VOIP Service in the world. It was founded in the year 2003. Skype is revolutionizing the way people communicate around the world. People are taking full advantage this facility. Millions of people everyday use Skype to communicate for free through voice and video calls as well as instant messages. Many of them also use Skype to call landline and mobiles with pay as you go Skype Credit or a monthly subscription.

Skype, the Voice over IP has released another version (Skype version 4 Beta 3) of Skype client for your Windows Mobile® phone which works just like Skype on your computer.It works seamlessly with your internet connection . One can make local calls, long distance calls and international calls to phones and mobiles at great rates too. One can also chat away with free Skype-to-Skype calls and without worrying about cost, time or distance.

This new released version has also brought back the Call Quality feedback area and Outlook Contacts. They’ve also added the full History features, as promised when Beta 2 version was launched. One can browse and search past conversations by event type (instant messages, incoming calls, outgoing calls, and so on), making it easy to retrieve information about who was involved and what was said. You’ll find the History button at the bottom of the Conversation tab. There’s also a new download manager for file transfers .They have customized Windows Chrome to give a spiffy new look.

Some of the distinguishing features this version are .
• It enables to Chat with up to 100 people in group chats
• It has Improved Video Conferencing
• It has a Superior sound quality
• It also has a Superior video quality with a new Bandwidth Manager

Below are the few Requirements of his VOIP:

• • It requires Windows XP required for video calls
• • It requires Internet connection (broadband is best)
• • It requires Speakers and microphone – built-in or separate.and a webcam, if you want to make video calls.
• It is also recommend that you have at least 400 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM and 15 MB free disk space on your hard drive.

One of the best features of Skype is their Skype Country Plans which are convincing and extremely tempting to signup . They give 10000 minutes each month for only 4.5 Euros. In addition to it they also have unlimited world plan worth checking out.

Skype certifies and sells about hundreds of hardware products from more than 50 partners.It works with third-party developers to create software to improve and extend Skype’s functionality. Conversations over Skype can take place on computers, mobile devices and other Skype Certified™ hardware.

Skype has some good plans for different Countries which is called country Plans, and which are extremely tempting to signup. Many have a skype US & Canada plan and it works good. They give 10000 minutes each month for only 4.5 Euros. They also have unlimited world plan worth checking out.

Skype is used in almost every country on Earth. Get It now….

Voip Business And Voip Service In 2009

Voip Business And Voip Service In 2009

Voip is an abbreviation used for Voice over Internet Protocol .It is a general term for a family of transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications over IP networks such as the Internet or other packet switched networks.

Several VOIP blogs around the world are claiming that VOIP usage mainly in the SMB sector will surge due to bad economy and cost cutting measures taken by businesses.

A huge number of businesses worldwide still do not understand how VOIP is going to save any cost for them.

VoIP systems usually interface with the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) to allow for transparent phone communications worldwide.

VoIP benefits are many. The top dog of all of the VoIP benefits is cost. All of the other VoIP benefits combined may not add up to the savings most consumers and companies alike experience when switching to VoIP. Those who switch to VoIP may expect savings of between 30 and 50-percent off of their traditional phone bills and sometimes more.

A second VoIP benefit is clarity. A few years ago, talking through VoIP was like talking through a tin can with a string attached to another tin can. Calls were distorted, lagging and many time dropped. Well, times have changed and with new VoIP technologies the call clarity is better than ever
.
Portability is also another feature of VoIP. With a VoIP hard-phone or a regular phone with a VoIP adapter, users can make calls from around the world from anyplace where there is high-speed Internet access. And these calls will be relatively cheap, too.

Because of the bandwidth efficiency and low costs that VoIP technology can provide, businesses are gradually beginning to migrate from traditional copper-wire telephone systems to VoIP systems to reduce their monthly phone costs

VoIP can be a benefit for reducing communication and infrastructure costs.

VoIP can facilitate tasks and provide services that may be more difficult to implement using the PSTN.

As the popularity of VoIP grows, and also as the PSTN users switch to VoIP in increasing numbers, governments are becoming more and more interested in regulating VoIP in a manner similar to PSTN services, especially with the encouragement of the state-mandated telephone monopolies/oligopolies in a given country, which see this as a way to stifle the new competition.

If the businesses do think over it and switch over to VOIP after making a thorough research of the positive and negative aspects and also considering that the above facts may deliver upto the mark, then there will be no stop to Voip. It will definitely rock.