Comments on: For Whom The Bells Toll, They toll for Thee… ISDN

By: Taji’S Voice Emporium » For Whom the Bells, They Toll For Thee… Isdn

Taji’S Voice Emporium » For Whom the Bells, They Toll For Thee… Isdn — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:03:27 +0000

[...] These two applications (Audio TX also has hardware dongles that are required) are based on the VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) techonology… just like Skype. Both deliver high quality audio over an internet connection, provided that …Continue [...]

By: mstaji

mstaji — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:50:15 +0000

Broadband has been around now for 10 to 12 years… ISDN preceded it by 5 or so years… and before that it was dialup. And dialup lasted for 15 years before broadband came on the scene…

Dialup hasnt died yet… alot of people still use it… but its kind of like the cassette tape… it will eventually get discontinued. (They stopped making them in the US but in Egypt were I live right now … the industry is going strong)

ISDN as an actual internet based service was still available in Australia till a few years back (my friend who lived in perth lived in an area where the 8 megabit connections was available a few block away from him … but his block had only 128 ISDN service)

In England (and correct me if i’m wrong) British Telecom no longer provides ISDN services… so even if it is the defacto standard if you cant purchase the service you’ll need to find an alternative. In Egypt the broadband infrastructure doesnt include ISDN… they went straight to DSL.

Yes the source-connect as well as the Audio-TX servies require that the studio your client is working with has the same software so that you can communicate…. but like I said even outside of the expensive calls… you still have the huge expense of the Codec… with a one time fee of $300 or $400 its really not that bad an investment… I mean the premium membership in one of the casting sites is around $299 and thats only valid for a year!

But you are right in that it will take the studios years to migrate to the new standard… much like it is taking people years to move from DVDs to Blu-Rays.

I was just trying to bring focus to the alternatives which some people might not be aware of. And maybe speed the process along

By: myu87

myu87 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:11:21 +0000

While it’s true that ISDN preceded broadband, and is something of a technological dinosaur, it is still industry standard in the professional vo world, and if you want to play, that’s what you have to have. There are other technologies that are coming up, but none has achieved the global acceptance of ISDN. I’m sure that it will be replaced eventually, but not this week. Or next. Audio TX requires that the parties on both ends of the line have the same hardware/software, same with Source Connect. Fortunately, most of the better ISDN codecs are compatible with all the other better ISDN codecs, so it’s still the most common, flexible tool in the shed. And while it’s true that the call costs can mount up, what vo talent in their right mind pays for the call? Client ALWAYS pays.