VOIP sounds better than regular phones
The rap on VOIP has been that the sound quality is not great, but merely good enough -- like a cell phone, defenders say, an audio experience to which millions of consumers are accustomed.
So here's a surprise: In a new series of tests by Keynote Systems, VOIP-over-cable-modem service actually scored better than regular phones, Ars Technica reports. For a technology whose chief selling point has been cost savings, not quality and reliability, the test will provide more marketing fodder. It's great news for the likes of Comcast, which has been heavily marketing its triple-play offering of television, Internet, and phone service, and bad news for AT&T and Verizon, which have been trying to persuade customers to keep their regular copper phone lines and add on DSL service. The news is mixed for Vonage and other independent VOIP providers: While the study is a victory for VOIP in general, only cable VOIP outscored regular phone lines, apparently because of cable companies' use of PacketCable-compatible software which optimizes their networks for phone-call transmission, a Keynote analyst said in the report. This test only measured two extremely large metropolitan areas, meaning cable VOIP is reliable in New York and San Fran. It is ridiculous to assume that the rest of the nation shares this level of quality.
I adamently disagree with the VOIP is better statement. It's by far the worse system known to mankind. I get it as a retiree from the telephony industry; otherwise, I wouldn't use it. It's great for computer stuff, etc, but just like in the early days of the cell phone biz... it's bad news bears... And as in the early cell phone days, I just want to be able to make a call, not loose the caller, and be able to speak and be heard... is that too much to ask?
Nearly 1 in 5 phone calls made from New York to the west coast has an echo effect that makes cooresponding impossible. The technology still needs work.
I have Vonage and it is MUCH better than a cell phone but still a little less quality than a regular land line, it is really noticeable when you use Vonage to call another VOIP phone. All in all for the price difference (1/2 of Bellsouth) it is great!!
I feel the study make sense. I have VOIP phone for almost year now. I use it primarily for International calling and I felt that the quality of sound was better than that from AT and T long distance service I had before.
Nothing beats a land line. I hate cell phones. I had Cingular and have Verizon. Same results. Cutting out. Calls dropped. I guess that's why you see so many people talking on cells;they're all saying, "what, what...I can't hear you...what..you're breaking up..." which prolongs the calls...$$$ for the service providers.
VOIP is definately NOT better than plain old phone lines. In fact, analog cell phones are better than digital ones, it's just no one remembers. The distance was better too. We are on the fast track to poorer services. Just because it's new doesn't make it better. Just because it can play music, make toast and wake you up in the morning people forget the original purpose for a phone was to make a phone call to someone. I hope the engineers of the future think before they invent or realize OK is not good enough. What ever happened to "Pin Drop" sound perfection?
I would just comment that I have used cable (RoadRunner) VOIP in Houston for the last 5-6 months, and couldn't be happier. The quality is every bit as good as the POTS I had before.
no way, it may be better than cell phones. Here is the real answer, cell phones and digital recordings have lowered our acceptance standards so much that anything sounds better. Packetized, compressed digital voice is never better that POTS quality service. The problems is, you get so little of it you don't miss it.
Hi!
I have Sunrocket and i m very happy wthe price i paid $199/year, now some time they have promotion for 2yrs for $199.00, some time i get problem but then i think about price then i dont feel any regret beacaus this is very cheap compare to verizon. I disagree 100% with the study. I have VOIP from SunRocket and its just a major mess. Dropped calls happen rarely but the worse is the quality. A major echo effect on 40% of the calls i make and another 40% of the calls have a robot static sound. I have DSL which usually performs around mid to upper 6Mbps which is a higher rate then most cable and is dedicated. I am so tired of it but in limbo over paying $28+ dollars or more for a regular phone line.
I am a Vonage Customer Using VOIP/Cable, and while I can say the the quality is very good and that for the most part it is reliable, I don't think the quality is better than a regular phone. In my experience, the quality could be better.
I strongly disagree with the "findings" of this study. My company has used VOIP for the past year and it has provided us with nothing but problems. Constant echoing, dropped calls, words fading in and out, customers being told that "extensions are not valid" because they've dialed too quickly - you name it, we've had the problem. The one bonus is that it does allow us to connect to our company branches across the country by dialing a 4-digit extension. Nonetheless, this is not enough to sell us on the technology - it needs a lot more work. We are currently looking into other options.
Packetcable is a standard not a company. When running voice over cable as offered by cable companies, cable companies can deliver a specific Quality of Service over their networks using DOCSIS and Packetcable. This can make the voice experience as good as, or even better than, standard telco service. Vonage and other providers who do not control the network do not have the ability to do this. Service with them may be good, it may be bad, but mostly its beyond their control.
CNNMoney.com Comment Policy: CNNMoney.com encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNNMoney.com makes reasonable efforts to review all comments prior to posting and CNNMoney.com may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNNMoney.com the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNMoney.com Privacy Statement.
|
|
| 
