G.729 Codec



Voice Compression

The G.729 codec is an industry standard which allows for placing more calls in limited bandwidth to utilize IP voice in more cost effective ways. A typical call consumes 64Kbps of voice bandwidth. G.729 reduces the call to 8Kbps (normal IP overhead adds to this number). Many people are using Asterisk with G.729 to replace expensive gateways. Asterisk currently supports G.729 Annex A only.

Concerning performance, the G.729 codec translations are performed in software, and the overhead should be considered when sizing the server for an Asterisk system. Internal testing with dual Intel? Xeon 1.8GHz processors allowed 60 concurrent G.729 calls. Dual Xeon 2.8GHz processors allowed 80 concurrent G.729 calls.

The G.729 codec works with all Digium hardware cards and on any processor.