UK ISP Powernet has unveiled new VoIP technology that it claims will dramatically increase the number of calls it is possible to make over a standard broadband connection.
ViBE – standing for Voice over Internet protocol Bandwidth Enhancer – uses bandwidth optimisation technology and treats voice data as priority traffic. The firm reckons this means at least 60 simultaneous calls will be possible over an average ADSL line, compared to just three conventionally offered.
The technology uses G.729 compression to ensure voice takes up less bandwidth, running at 8Kbit/s over ADSL rather than the usual 42Kbit/s, Powernet said. The service will have no negative impact of data traffic, the firm said.
Traditional VoIP offerings can suffer from latency of up to 100ms, causing delays and interruptions. ViBE offers latency of around 5ms, Powernet said. The technology also offers redundancy, so if one line drops off calls should not be affected. An analytic feature monitors the connection and offers reports on network performance and uptime, the company said.
"VoIP often gets a bad press in the business community as too many providers are offering a service that is unreliable, absurdly limited in concurrent users or prohibitively expensive," said Tony Tugulu, CEO at Powernet. "ViBE is a real game changer because it resolves these issues in a single stroke, leading to dramatic cost savings, increased convenience and reliability."
ViBE is available for £299.
Powernet is headquartered in Milton Keynes, UK. It was founded in 1995 and its clients include Aston Martin, Sheffield County Council, Travis Perkins and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
