BBM Voice - how does RIM do it so well?

Sounds like you had a bad experience with SIP trunks southlander. Bummer. They are such an awesome facility for features and disaster recovery.But as you unfortunately found out, it's not about bandwidth at all (although you need enough for your total simultaneous conversation count), it's about the QUALITY of the connection to the ISP. I've met hundreds of misguided IT guys that think you can throw more bandwidth at the problem only to find out that VOIP still sucks. DUH!!!
If you have a 200k (yes k) connection with two calls on it, and that connection is pristine (no delay/jitter/packet loss) it will be perfect compared to a 5meg (yes meg) connection with two calls on it but having over 3% packet loss. Quality.
It's worth another try southlander. With the right connection you'll be better off.
:>)

Now we're making sense lol

Skype seems to have A LOT of packets loss getting worse as the call progresses, BBMV has none, the more I think about it, it seems even better then a regular long distance cell call. It's louder and clearer, I have to turn my volume down a few clicks every time.

Could RIM be using any of it's UMA technology in this?

Originally Posted by belfastdispatcher

Skype seems to have A LOT of packets loss getting worse as the call progresses, BBMV has none, the more I think about it, it seems even better then a regular long distance cell call. It's louder and clearer, I have to turn my volume down a few clicks every time.

Could RIM be using any of it's UMA technology in this?

Packet loss is typically on last hop(the DSL connection to the ISP) but it can be anywhere on along the path.
This would suggest that the media packets are taking a different and better path for BBMV.
Or... It could be that PC or the iPhone is having connectivity issues.

Does BBMV work over cellular?
I think I recall reading that it does not(RIM appeasing carriers?)
One of the characteristics of UMA is seamless handover.
This means that you could start a call on you WiFi and walk out of range of your WiFi and switch to cellular with no noticeable impact on the call.

Not exactly a fair comparison since the tests are done on different hardware. Ideally we should do them on the same device, but we can't do that, can we, since there's no Skype on BB.

Distortion from Laptop mikes could be an issue, perhaps? You can try recording your voice via the laptop mike and seeing how good it sounds on playback.

Originally Posted by DrBoomBotz

Packet loss is typically on last hop(the DSL connection to the ISP) but it can be anywhere on along the path.
This would suggest that the media packets are taking a different and better path for BBMV.
Or... It could be that PC or the iPhone is having connectivity issues.

Does BBMV work over cellular?
I think I recall reading that it does not(RIM appeasing carriers?)
One of the characteristics of UMA is seamless handover.
This means that you could start a call on you WiFi and walk out of range of your WiFi and switch to cellular with no noticeable impact on the call.

If I'm not mistaken, BBMV is WIFI only right now. Not sure what RIM has planned though...

Originally Posted by texazzpete

Not exactly a fair comparison since the tests are done on different hardware. Ideally we should do them on the same device, but we can't do that, can we, since there's no Skype on BB.

Distortion from Laptop mikes could be an issue, perhaps? You can try recording your voice via the laptop mike and seeing how good it sounds on playback.

I was using the laptop with the same headset I use with my BB so exactly the same mic and speakers were used.

Originally Posted by DrBoomBotz

Packet loss is typically on last hop(the DSL connection to the ISP) but it can be anywhere on along the path.
This would suggest that the media packets are taking a different and better path for BBMV.
Or... It could be that PC or the iPhone is having connectivity issues.

Does BBMV work over cellular?
I think I recall reading that it does not(RIM appeasing carriers?)
One of the characteristics of UMA is seamless handover.
This means that you could start a call on you WiFi and walk out of range of your WiFi and switch to cellular with no noticeable impact on the call.

BBMV doesn't work over 3G yet but I'm 100% sure it will once BB10 comes out, or at least it will on BB10 handsets.

Originally Posted by belfastdispatcher

BBMV doesn't work over 3G yet but I'm 100% sure it will once BB10 comes out, or at least it will on BB10 handsets.

I am 100% certain it'll be a while before BBMV works over 3G, even on BB10 handsets.

Took years for FaceTime over 3G to be implemented. I expect similar carrier opposition to BBM voice over 3G. We'll see.

Originally Posted by texazzpete

I am 100% certain it'll be a while before BBMV works over 3G, even on BB10 handsets.

Took years for FaceTime over 3G to be implemented. I expect similar carrier opposition to BBM voice over 3G. We'll see.

I hear different, nuff said.

My girlfriend and I now predominantly use BBM Voice over a phone call. The quality is much clearer than a typical phone connection and it's free!

Originally Posted by texazzpete

I am 100% certain it'll be a while before BBMV works over 3G, even on BB10 handsets.

Took years for FaceTime over 3G to be implemented. I expect similar carrier opposition to BBM voice over 3G. We'll see.

But now that FaceTime set the precedence, the carriers would have a hard time refusing BBM voice.

Originally Posted by texazzpete

I am 100% certain it'll be a while before BBMV works over 3G, even on BB10 handsets.

Took years for FaceTime over 3G to be implemented. I expect similar carrier opposition to BBM voice over 3G. We'll see.

BBM Video WILL work on 3G.

Originally Posted by belfastdispatcher

In these conditions you literally can't tell the difference between BBMV and a normal call.

In my experience (daily BBM calls from USA to Italy) BBMV is MUCH BETTER than a normal call!!

Could be something as simple as the codec that RIM uses compared to the codec that Skype uses to packetize the voice. Some codecs are much better than others.

Wow. I really am learning a lot reading through the forums and yeah the missus and I are loving BBM voice! Had doubts about the update but RIM has pulled through. :)

I thought I would try out the BBM Voice yesterday on a buddies phone. I have to say the call quality was extremely impressive. I have also heard that if you are calling someone cell to cell, and both have BBM voice (and both are in WiFi range) , the system recognizes this and places you both on BBM voice. Very cool.