Just over a year ago Telstra became the first operator outside of Europe to switch on High Definition Voice (HD Voice) on our Next G® network while at the same time delivering the largest HD voice footprint in the world. There are now 45 networks in 35 countries offering HD Voice.  With the growth of HD Voice networks there has been an explosion in the number of compatible phones.  In September alone we’ve announced that we’ll be adding three new 4G handsets and they’re all HD Voice enabled.

HD Voice was the first major advance in mobile voice quality and delivers crystal clear voice while suppressing background noise on calls made between compatible HD Voice phones.

When we switched it on we enabled this technology across the entire 2.2 Million Sq kms of network footprint covering 99% of the Australian population, no wonder it’s the largest HD Voice enabled network in the world. When we launched HD Voice in June 2011 we had five compatible handsets in our range. I said at that time:

As it’s a new service, there are currently limited HD-compatible devices available in Australia. However as the demand increases for HD Voice, the number of compatible devices is sure to grow and we expect a large percentage of new devices to support this feature in the coming year.

Well, my prediction has come true and today we have 20 handsets that are HD Voice capable on our network. What this means is that as more HD Voice devices are bought, more and more customers will start to experience the difference of calls made over HD Voice. Many of these handsets are also 4G LTE compatible, which means users will be getting our best mobile broadband speeds from their device as well as an improved quality of voice when making a call to another HD Voice handset.

Also known as Wideband AMR, HD Voice approximately doubles the audio frequency that is delivered between phones, meaning that the quality of the voice heard sounds much more like talking face to face, than the quality of voice normally heard over a phone. HD Voice also provides background noise suppression which means it is ideal for when you are in a noisy environment.

For a demonstration of the difference of HD Voice and a standard call, watch this short video.

One way to watch out for HD Voice enabled devices will be to look for this symbol;

Do you use HD Voice? Has this made a difference to your calling habits? Share your experience in the comments here.

Related links:

• HD voice provides crystal clear audio quality phone calls – only on Telstra
• Telstra introduces the World’s largest coverage footprint of HD Voice calling