ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a study of up-to-date speech quality assessment algorithms and methods, aiming to enable communication engineers to use them effectively. It introduces the E-model as it captures the major conversation impairment factors and has wider usage than planning. E-model updates that track emerging technology trends are being developed, and the model has even served as a paradigm for quantifying the quality of other communication modalities such as audio-visual conferencing. The chapter shows that in order to estimate the conversational quality of a telephone connection, a number of connection parameters have to be measured, such as delay, noise level, echo attenuation, and so on. It examines the International Telecommunications Union-T P.862 Perceptual evaluation of speech quality algorithm. Speech communication does not require the user to be literate that is, having the ability to read and write. With relatively low bandwidth requirement, speech communication can have greater geographical reach and can be supported even when resources are scarce.
