Following our blog post about the gradual phasing out of ISDN in favor of IP Audio transmission for remote broadcasts, we received a variety of comments and questions regarding the pros and cons of this transition. We'd like to answer those questions – not just because we create IP Audio technologies, but so you can better determine if and when IP Audio might be right for you.

With that in mind, our Cam Eicher answers some great questions posed following last week’s blog post.

Voice Actor Barry Zate writes: “I am a user of the Telos Xstream. I love it. But [my ISP] is working hard at ditching ISDN [and] I am paying $360 a month. I am wondering if Telos has talked with [ISPs] about ISDN… I am wondering if they could offer ISDN to save the service.

Are you working on promoting the Z/IP product? It sounds like a solid alternative. ISDN is just dying here. HELP!”

The AES67 standard published in September is the first audio engineering standard to address interoperability. But why is it important? And what does it say?

AES67 is important because for years, the industry wanted a standard to address interoperability, and now, it has one. The emphasis on interoperability is important as it’s been a longstanding concern of audio engineering professionals as new technologies continue to develop.

Willem Hoekstra of Media Utilities in the Netherlands writes: "I've got a Z/IP ONE client who wants to connect Z/IP ONE codecs on a private network completely autonomously, without the Directory and NAT Traversal services provided by the Telos ZIP Server. Is that possible?"

Sacramento's K-LOVE loves Axia xNodes

Sometimes, a leaky roof can set a surprising chain of events in motion. Just ask Alan Guthrie, Engineering advisor for K-Love, 99.5-107.3. “The landlord informed us that the roof of our building needed to be replaced. That, in turn, meant our satellite receiving dish had to come down, and we had to find a temporary location for a new one.”

Telos' Kirk Harnack helps open the information stream

The broadcast community has been abuzz the past few weeks with the news of a major Telco's decision to stop installing ISDN lines. And no wonder: ISDN has been the broadcaster's medium of choice for long-distance, CD-quality remote broadcasts since the original Zephyr made the scene in 1994.

Kris Karb of Clear Channel writes, "Will our two Zephyr XStreams with v.3.7.9p and v.3.7.3p firmware talk over IP?"

Telos Tech support replies, "Yes, the Xstreams will talk over IP. You need to set the INTERFACE in the TEL menu to either RTP or SIP mode, depending on which method you want to use. Then when you press the DIAL button, you will see a field to enter the IP address of the box with which you want to connect. For two way audio, you would need to use the SIP mode.

IP-Audio, VoIP and International broadcasting

Radio Free Asia (RFA) was an early adopter of Axia technology. Starting in 2005 with its Asia bureau facility located in Bangkok, and then later in Seoul and Hong Kong, RFA has essentially become an All-Axia house, eventually completing the upgrade with its Washington, DC headquarters, which has 35 studios.

From the Tech Tip grab bag: "My Zephyr appears to connect to the Zephyr at the other end, but the codec doesn't lock.  Whats happening? How do I fix this?"