Thursday, March 14, 2013

UCS Podcast - Surround Sound - Taking Voice up a Notch

It's Thursday, so this must be blog-post day. Apologies, but lately I seem to be posting only on Thursdays, but trust me, there's no big plan here. I really would like to be blogging more regularly, but projects and writing commitments are keeping my slate plenty full, and that's a good thing. For those of you who like my posts, I'll quickly reiterate that a lot of my work is publicly available. I share a lot of this via my tweets (@arnoldjon), but you can also follow my other posts from this page from my JAA website.

Enough about me - let's talk about this week's UCStrategies podcast, on which I was a participant. This one had a twist, as it was part product demo and part roundtable analysis. Joining us were representatives from Dolby Voice and BT Conferencing, and we got an advance look - or listen, really - at a conferencing solution they'll be showing off next week at Enterprise Connect in Orlando.

In short, Dolby is taking audio up a notch with Surround Sound spatial audio. It's a very cool experience that has its roots in the gaming world where these type of effects really matter. Dolby and BT have teamed up, believing this can really enhance the conferencing experience along with the quality of calls in the contact center. It's a bit abstract, but like seeing HD TV for the first time, you don't want to go back with spatial audio. We're all familiar with the shortcomings of audio conferencing, especially when everyone starts talking at once. So, there are definitely some problems that Surround Sound can address, but it's all about the experience, and to do that, you need a few things, including a headset that supports spatial audio.

You'll just have to take my word that it's good, and better than whatever you're using now. I did have some technical issues, but can vouch first hand for the experience. The next best thing you can do for now is to listen to the podcast, where I'm sure all your questions will be answered. We usually have a transcript to accompany the audio, but given the topic at hand, there really wasn't any point. If you're going to Enterprise Connect, this will be a great primer, and hopefully you'll get your own demo there next week. Until then, here's the link, and happy listening!

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