Supported by recent poll numbers from JD Powers and Associates that said network quality is back en vogue, Ditech Communications announced the availability of its Voice Quality Evaluation Program for wireless operators.

Ditech’s program is driven by its BVP-Flex platform, which uses the company’s F400 and F600 voice processing platforms to continually monitor selected areas of a live mobile network to measure acoustic and hybrid echo.

“The essence of our work is really a measure of echo and distortion. And our report suggests that about 10% of all calls have significant acoustic echo,” said Chalan Aras, vice president of marketing of Ditech Communications.

Aras said that as handsets get smaller and people use more handsfree kits, the problem increases. “And its not only a quality issue but an efficiency issue, because the compression devices on handsets are not as efficient in terms of the bit rates they generate,” he said.

Ditech experts then work with an operator’s engineering team to assess voice quality problem areas and make recommendations for network improvement. JD Powers’ 2005 Wireless Call Quality Performance Study showed that the public’s patience with voice quality and network performance has worn thin. The group determined that operators can attract and retain more customers based on the quality of their network, a seemingly common sense determination but one that has lost out to price historically.

“There is a lot of wireline substitution going on and people are conducting more of their business while they are mobile so they expect more out of their wireless devices,” Aras said.

Ditech’s evaluation can help operators identify how existing voice processing equipment should be reconfigured or upgraded with better hybrid or acoustic echo cancellation capabilities. The results provide carriers with information that helps them assess calls coming from voice transport partners and review the quality of the voice calls from other providers. JD Powers determined improving network quality is a big financial incentive for wireless carriers, as customers experiencing at least one call quality problem are three times more likely to say they will definitely switch carriers in the future.

“When the JD Powers survey came out, regional directors started to panic because some of their job performance is based on such outside reports. So there is serious concern about the overall subscriber experience, which voice quality is part of,” Aras said. In addition to the F400 and F600 voice quality platforms, Ditech products include high-capacity voice enhancement and echo canceller solutions. The combination of software and hardware solutions allows Ditech to deliver Voice Quality Assurance, a robust and cost-effective solution for voice enhancement that includes both noise reduction and echo cancellation to provide improved sound quality on calls made over wireless networks.

They also include security capabilities to enable carriers to deploy end-to-end VoIP services across network security boundaries without requiring network re-architecting.