G.711 is also known as Pulse Code Modulation (PCM). It is the ITU-T international standard for encoding telephone audio on a 64 kbps channel. PCM samples the signal 8000 times a second; each sample is represented by 8 bits for a total of 64 kbit/s. There are two versions of the this standard codec. The µ-law (pronounced as mew law) is generally used in North America and Japan digital communications. The A-law is used in European digital communications. The difference between the two standards is the method in which the analog signal is sampled. (See also PCM).

See G.7xx for more information on how these standards are used in telephony networks.

Enterprise VoIP Planet
The IT Manager's Guide to Voice over IP

ITU Recommendation G.711
Pulse code modulation (PCM) of voice frequencies

Six Steps to Getting Your Network Ready for Voice over IP
Using low bandwidth CODECs helps reduce bandwidth requirements however due to the overhead of IP, UDP and RTP protocols, such reduction is limited.

The International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is an international organization within which governments and the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services. This home page offers numerous links to highlights and current topics, standardization, radiocommunication, telecommunication, and general secretariat sectors.

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