Voice activity detection and silence suppression in a packet network

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform steps comprising:

• receiving, via an access gateway, an input voice signal and a background noise signal;
• converting, via the access gateway, the input voice signal into a packetized voice signal and the background noise signal into a packetized noise signal;
• and
• receiving the packetized voice signal and the packetized noise signal via an egress gateway, outputting an output voice signal converted from the packetized voice signal and extracting and storing noise packets from the received packetized noise signal via the egress gateway,
• wherein when the access gateway ceases to receive the input voice signal while the call is still ongoing, the access gateway instructs the egress gateway to continually output an output noise signal generated from the stored noise packets.

An access gateway configured to provide noise processing for a call, the access gateway configured to interface with an egress gateway that converts an input voice signal into a packetized voice signal and converts a background noise signal into a packetized noise signal, the access gateway comprising:

• a processor;
• a first module controlling the processor to receive an input voice signal and a background noise signal;
• and
• a second module controlling the processor to instruct the egress gateway to continually output an output noise signal generated from the stored noise packets when the first module ceases to receive the input voice signal while the call is still ongoing.