Asterisk G.729

The G.729 codec is an industry standard which allows for stuffing 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.

The G.729 codec incurs a cost for indemnification. Therefore, G.729 has a license fee of $10 per channel. In example, if you want to have 60 concurrent channels in a PC then you would purchase 60 x $10 = $600. If you have Asterisk on both ends then G.729 must be installed and licensed separately at both locations. Internal testing with dual Intel® Xeon 1.8GHz processors allowed 60 concurrent calls. Dual Xeon 2.8GHz processors resulted in 80 concurrent calls. The G.729 codec works with all Digium cards.