Cedar Point Communications is pitching an upgrade to Safari C3 voice-over-IP switch designed to speed up adoption of high-definition voice for service providers.
HD voice calls traditionally have required both the endpoints and the network to be HD-capable. Cedar Point's Enhanced HD Voice software upgrade enhances standard voice transmission to HD -- or near-HD -- quality, to let customers with HD endpoints experience high quality on any call, the company said.
Currently, according to Cedar Point estimates, less than 20% and sometimes as little as 1% of calls are actually experienced in the high-definition voice format. HD voice delivers higher-quality voice transmissions by more than doubling the frequency of range of traditional narrowband voice calls to "wideband audio" ranges (50 Hertz to 7 Kilohertz).
"Businesses and call centers for which clarity and detail are paramount have expressed tremendous interest in HD voice as a way of expediting communication with customers," Cedar Point vice president of marketing Jeff Walker said in a statement. "By enabling the highest levels of quality, regardless of the source of the incoming call, Enhanced HD gives providers a key differentiator as they sell into the business services market."
Cedar Point says its customers have deployed more than 7.5 million voice lines in the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe. The Derry, N.H.-based company cable operator customers include Comcast, Charter Communications, Insight Communications, Liberty Global and Mexico's Cablemás.
Separately, Cedar Point is being eyed as a potential takeover target by voice-equipment vendor Genband, according to industry sources.
