Coming Soon: improved voice quality over your phone.

For the first time in recent years the mobile telephone industry will be offering a feature that actually applies to speaking over the handset. Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T will begin rolling out HD Voice (better known as Wideband Audio) on their services. HD Voice provides a more ‘true life’ voice quality that is fuller and more natural sounding with a reduction in background noise. Here are some examples of how it will affect you:

• Background noise is dampened.

• It improves the ability to hear faint talkers.

• Clearly defines double talk (or when more than one person is speaking at the same time.)

• Speakerphone clarity is improved.

 The service companies will begin rolling out the feature this year but the handset makers (like Apple/Samsung) have already deployed the ability to use HD Voice on their newer handsets like iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S lll. Surprisingly HD Voice is not a new concept. Radio Broadcasters have been using high quality audio broadcasts (such as sporting events) for years.

The telecommunications hardware provider Polycom has already implemented these features into previous and current models. They have utilized wideband and patented their Acoustic Clarity Technology for use with their conferencing phones to cancel echo, reduce noise and process advanced voice quality. These advancements in Polycom models make you feel like you are in the same room with the other participants on the call.

HD Voice can only be used with another handset that is equipped to capture and transmit the higher quality sound. VoIP and Voice over LTE are the only technologies where this will matter. Initially you will have to be on the same network to notice the difference, but that will change if wideband audio becomes a standard.

Despite its reputation for poor audio, the mobile telephone industry is beginning to make progress in voice quality. So far this service is widely available in parts of Europe, but the United States is catching up. Implementing HD Voice is like switching from AM radio to CD quality audio and is a major benefit for telecom companies and consumers. Voice quality has been lacking as of late, and it is a about time we did something to actually advance the depth of speaking over the phone.