Fact finding thread for G.729

We would like to gauge the interest of all PBXes users, concerning the implementation of full support for the G.729 vocoder. This post is meant as a show of hands, since this undertaking presents several challenges.

The G.729 vocoder is a licensed vocoder and in order to use it, a fee must be paid to the license holders. The fee is based per channel and varies according to the amount of channels. It starts at $10 per channel, and the license is server based. So each of the five servers, will require its' own license for all the G.729 channels installed on it.

Keeping in mind the above considerations, we would like to gather your opinions on how many people would require this facility, what they are willing to pay for it independently from the Premium account fee, and how many G.729 channels to provision for initially, if we go ahead with it.

If this feature is important for you or your friends, vote and comment on this thread.

This request has been waiting for a positive response for quite a while now. The license fee for each G729 channel is a one-time cost of US$10. I am willing to pay the cost to use the number of channels I want. Please make it a paid feature so that pbxes does not have to incur extra cots for this feature.

It's strange there is only one reply to this Diafora poll.
From my side, I'll be more than happy to pay an extra fee for the G729 vocoder.

Update

This is the second and final round for the show of interest in fully supporting the G.729 vocoder in PBXes.

From the feedback we got on this thread, it seems this is not a feature users of PBXes really want or need. Since I believe full G.729 support is a worthwhile feature, I will take the time to explain why I think this important and started this thread.

The G.729 vocoder is one of the more robust and widely used vocoders in the industry. It saves on bandwidth, without sacrificing voice quality in a perceptible way. It is supported by almost all the soft-phones, ATAs, IP phones, and gateways.

It is currently supported in PBXes in pass-thru mode, so if a call does not need to interact with a service on the PBXes it is allowed to complete. Therein lie a number of issues:

• If you have voicemail activated on your extensions and the call is not answered, it will be dropped when the voicemail will try to answer it, if G.729 is the only vocoder available. Reason: There is no license for G.729 in the server.

• If you have setup an IVR (Digital Receptionist) on your PBXes, an incoming call having the G.729 vocoder only activated will fail. Reason: There is no license for G.729 in the server.

• If your extension has the GSM vocoder active, and another extension has the G.711 vocoder active, PBXes can perform a vocoder translation. If however the G.729 vocoder is involved, no transcoding can take place. Reason: There is no license for G.729 in the server.

Implementing this functionality, and properly integrating it to each account will take approximately two weeks. That includes both the implementation and the testing required to get it to work properly. If only 11 users are interested for it, justifying the allocation of resources becomes very difficult and expensive. To implement this change, we need a firm commitment from the users.

So please vote on the poll and comment on this thread. Indifference does not help us.

RE: Fact finding thread for G.729

Yes, there were some minor problems with our implementation of G.729 in passthru mode:

• With a few providers calls dropped when answering or being answered by voicemail.
  
• Putting calls on hold and call recording didn't work.
  

Yes, this sounds like a much needed feature through your explanation and related researching.

I understand that there seems to be a lack of interest, but could it be that we as users haven't heard the new features? I just saw this notice yesterday, voted and now replying.

The CRM announcement via e-mail was very helpful, otherwise these new features go un-noticed. Forum support and related is helpful, however we don't always go to the forum on a regular basis.

Would it be possible to offer new releases and updates via e-mail? Alerting us of new features, important items and such....

Recent updates are looking very promising, great work and I look forward to the new opportunties with this protocol.

Thank you,

Chad

g729

I would be willing to pay , not only the license fee, however some additional profit for PBXes.

I would however not want shared g729, I would need to KNOW that I have X number of channels available should I need them , not Erlang's law.

I also think that many users who need g729 do not use the PBX or are free users and can not post, thus g729 should be a pro feature for a fixed number of channels.

Let me ask... do any of you post on the forums at web sites you do not use? Why then if I NEEDED g729 would I ever be using the PBX?

I am also willing to pay for this feature. is there any approximate date when this feature will be available.
thanks

RE: Fact finding thread for G.729

Full G.729 support is ready. It's offered on our shop page.

G.729

Sorry, 29 euros for a $10US license is a bit too much of a markup for me. I'll just keep my g.729 licenses on my own asterisk box for my users that have to have it. Actually, I prefer G.726 when possible as a good compromise.

Re: G.729

The fee covers:

• Installation of the license.
  
• The higher CPU load for running the codec.
  
• The license itself.
  

Can you help me understand what you mean by "Your account will be limited to 2 simultaneous call(s) for any codec, not just G.729." MOst of my connections are on a T1 or a really good cable connection. I want a couple of licenses for use when we are on the road, using a mediocre hotel connection, etc. If I purchase two licenses, will this impact on the number of G711 connections my other lines can carry?

Re: G.729

Yes, you would be limited to two G.711 connections.

29 Euros are bit too much for a codec support. Since we are premium members we should be paying only 10 Euros for the G729 license and 5 eur for configuration. Please understand there are hundreds of SIP providers that only allow G729, we are looking forward for this feature long time.

Re: G.729

We have added more payment options. By monthly payment it is 3.25 Euros now.

Codec testimonials

If you are already using this codec, could you tell me if you see any major improvement?

I am considering adding codec 729 to my PBXES service.

Please post also the provider that benefited the most from this feature.

Thanks,

Pasquale

limitations

The G729 it is a great thing but the limitation on the usable channels is a point that is stopping me to buy it.

From what I read is the same for most users.

The solution will be a second pbxes account linked with the main account, on the second one are active JUST g729 connections (my use will be the same as dubaistu user).

Here I have a good commercial question for diafora, pascal and all you guys of pbxes.

It is in your interest to improve the g729 because you sell more and you have less band consumption so why don't you add in the online shop the possibility to buy an extra account, that will be active just in conjunction with the primary one? This account will be used JUST for g729 calls, so a user can decide how many g729 channels to buy without affecting the "standard service" (ivr, answering machine, dropped calls, limitations, etc etc). Calls can be transferred internaly from an account to another so the only difference from outside is a different username.

A good price will be 5 euros per month for the additional account + the regular g729 fee.

I'm sure this will be a very good an commercially profitable/convenient compromise both for you guys and the users. Think alsto to this: most users, like me, are not able to do such configuration so you will gain money also on support/configuration issues.

Re: G.729

Buying a second account is just 5.xx Euros per month. You login to your first account and - from there - buy the upgrade for a second at the discounted rate in the shop.

solution

so this solution is already tested?
Ok, let's suppose I want 1 channel in g729 i spend 60 euros a year for a second account + about 36 euros for a g729 channel a year and lets suppose other 15-25 euros for configuration?
Is it correct? thanks

Re: G.729

Yes. We recommend you to buy one hour of personal support to assist you with the configuration.