The present invention provides an adaptable codec for use in a communication system. The adaptable codec is capable of encoding a digital stream to be transmitted according to any one of a number of encoding schemes. A particular encoding scheme may be selected based on information received from a network entity that is separate from the communication system, a user associated with the communication system, a remote communication system with which communications are established, or a combination thereof. Once a particular encoding scheme is selected, an encoder will encode the digital stream to be transmitted, and a packet processor will create packets from the encoded digital stream. The selection of an encoding scheme will generally correspond to a desired quality of experience level.