Don’t let the names confuse you. Operators are beginning to tout HD voice as the next big thing. We’re already seeing carriers such as AT&T offering it as a service in selected regions.
Some seem to think it’s the same as Wi-Fi calling, which requires a router in order to work…but it’s not. HD voice can be deployed over several different formats, one of which is VoLTE (voice over LTE). However, that doesn’t mean all VoLTE deployments would support HD Voice. Nor can all handsets that support VoLTE support HD voice.
It all depends on whether the service (3G, LTE or landline) can carry calls broad enough to be considered HD voice. Simply put, the human voice produces tones from 80 Hz to 14 KHz. Standard voice calls can only cover between 200 Hz to 3.4 KHz. HD Voice can transmit at a range of 50 Hz to 3.4 KHz.
Think of HD Voice as a feature that can be deployed over VoLTE, just as video chat is also a feature that can be deployed over VoLTE. Whether or not an operator chooses to implement it is up to them.
So if you have your eye on HD voice and you want to take advantage of those features, chances are you’ll need rock solid signal strength throughout your home. And as we all know, that’s not always easy to get indoors.