Hello,

There is no standard answer to your question - it all depends on your situation. You are right that your ISDN provider does not know about the specific needs of a voice-over artist. It would not be the fist time that they sell an ordinary phone to a voice-over!   Yes, you can use a phone to do “voice” over ISDN – but it is not at all what you need… What you need is an ISDN audio codec.

A codec is something completely different then a router. A router is used on computer networks to direct the traffic on the network. An ISDN audio codec converts audio into a digital stream, compresses that stream, and sends it down an ISDN line and is also capable of receiving a compressed stream, decompressing it and converting it back into audio. So you get a bi-directional high quality link. An ISDN audio codec is actually not more then a very sophisticated telephone – a telephone with broadcast quality.

Until recently codecs came as 19” boxes that you could mount in a 19” rack. These boxes are not easy to operate – especially not when you are trying to make different brands of codec to work together. And these boxes cost quite an amount of money – beyond the budgets of most voice over artists.

This all has changed recently with the arrival of AudioTX Communicator. This is a cheap software only ISDN audio codec. It runs on a Windows PC with a very user-friendly user interface (you don’t need to know the backgrounds of audio compression and digital communication to be able to use it) and it uses the standard Windows audio cards and ISDN cards. It also automatically detects the brand and type of codec at the other end of the ISDN line to ensure compatibility – you do not need to fiddle around with buttons until it works. And as a bonus it is also capable of making connections over IP – over a local network, but also over the Internet. It uses the latest compression algorithms, the audio quality is astonishing – especially in combination with a professional audio card. And when installed on a laptop you’ll have a portable solution too!

AudioTX Communicator only needs a Pentium II processor of 400 MHz (or faster) to work – with current computer prices you do not need to spend huge amounts of money on the PC if you want to have a dedicated AudioTX computer. You’ll also need an ISDN card (also known as a TA) to make connections to studios with ISDN equipment – it is not possible to use IP to make a call to an ISDN codec.
Don’t use an ISDN modem connected to the serial port of your computer – these do not work well for real-time audio connections. USB versions do work well. In the United States you’ll need an NT1 – you can get these from your ISDN provider. You can find more info on the hardware and compatibility on the AudioTx website: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or .

Best regards,