Today at the VoiceCon San Francisco 2007 Conference, Microsoft Corp. outlined how its software-based approach to voice communications is creating new benefits for partners and customers and gaining industry recognition in unified communications. Intel Corporation., Texas Instruments Inc., AudioCodes Ltd., Dialogic Corp., LG-Nortel Co. Ltd. and Polycom Inc. will license Microsoft�s voice codec software, RT Audio Codec, which has been shown to deliver superior sound quality, according to Psytechnics Ltd., a company specializing in voice and video quality monitoring.

Used to compress digital speech samples into a digital media bitstream, RT Audio Codec provides partners with the flexibility to build customized solutions for customers. By converting analog sound into secure digital packets for transmission and then restoring the data into audible sound, RT Audio Codec can be used in an array of solutions, such as audio conferencing, video, wireless over Internet Protocol and games. For example, Intel plans to deliver the codec in an upcoming Intel Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP) software library release optimized for the PC platform to further accelerate industry adoption and reduce implementation barriers. Information on how the other companies will use the technology is in the attached quote sheet.