Why Wideband?

For most of the telephone’s history, voice transmission has been in what’s now called the narrowband range. The limits of traditional telephone technology meant only a narrow slice of frequencies could be transmitted, from about 300 Hz to 3.4 kHz.  But the range of the human voice extends from 80 Hz to 14 kHz.  So what you got over the phone was a thin, unnatural sound quality, that often made voices hard to understand. And when either party was in a noisy environment, and was using a speakerphone or maybe spoke with a bit of an accent, forget about it.

Wideband audio transmits a much fuller range of frequencies, in the range of 50 Hz to 7 kHz or higher. That means a wideband transmission is much closer to the actual sound of a human voice. It sounds clearer, more natural. So wideband audio is easier to understand. And that’s the most obvious benefit of wideband audio: fewer misunderstandings. Fewer excuse me‘s and could you repeat that‘s. In a business context, that means shorter calls. It can also mean happier customers.

But that’s not all. Wideband audio makes employees happier, too. Because you can more easily understand, you’re not straining to decipher unclear words. So you can just concentrate on what’s being said—and not just understand the words, but the intent. Ultimately, that means less listener fatigue (because you’re working so hard just trying to understand) and increased productivity.

That’s why VXi makes headsets that feature wideband audio, like our new TalkPro line. And why when we say we’re “The Sound Choice,” we mean it.