Voip phone systems save money and offer many benefits, but users may experience poor Voip call quality occasionally. Usually, it’s easy to diagnose and correct any problems with the proper knowledge.
1. Jitter
Jitter is one of the most common problems users experience with voip phone service, but most people aren’t don’t know what jitter is. If your calls sound choppy or you hear partial words, you are most likely experiencing jitter.
Information on an IP network is broken into data packets traveling from the sender to the recipient. Network congestion or other problems can cause some packets to take longer than others, arriving in a different order than they were sent, which degrades call quality.
The Most Common Fix: Jitter Buffering
They will temporarily store the arriving data packets, reducing the problem caused by timing variations. A jitter buffer steadily feeds out the packets, improving the quality of calls.
2. Latency
Latency, or delay, causes the listener to hear an echo. It’s dependent on how long it takes for speech to travel from the speaker to the listener.
There are three different latency issues.
- Propagation Delay is usually heard on calls traveling very long distances. It refers to the time it takes electrons to travel over fiber or copper.
- Handling Delays are caused by network devices that forward data.
- Queuing Delay occurs when an outbound interface is congested and packets are queued.
The Most Common Fix: A Business Class Router or Edge Device that can Handle Voip Traffic
A voip router designed for business use will prioritize network voip traffic, improving call issues caused by both jitter and latency. Techniques used to prioritize voip traffic include bandwidth reservation and multi-protocol label switching.
3. A Poor Internet Connection
Your internet connection may not meet the speed, bandwidth, or QOS shaping requirements to support high quality voip calls.
The Most Common Fix: Dedicated Business Class Internet Service
Most ISPs offer business-class Internet service that will provide clear voip call quality. Dedicated Internet Circuits like Fiber or Ethernet based connections are typically your best bet for consistent quality. Share services, such as cable can be acceptable as well, although you may have to make sure your provider has their equipment configured correctly for transporting the voip traffic.
4. Network Configuration Issues
If both data and voice are being sent over the same network, and that network has not been configured to prioritize voip traffic, there will most likely be call quality issues.
The Most Common Fix: Properly Configured Network with Voip Quality of Service and Prioritization
A business-quality voip router and properly configured network will cure many problems. A decent managed switch and voip router that will properly handle voip traffic will cost roughly $300 to $1,000+ each, depending on the size and needs of your network.
5. Outdated Equipment
Poor voip call quality may be traced to outdated firewalls, cable modems, and other network equipment.
The Fix: Update or Replace Old Software and Equipment
Check each network element between the Internet and each of your voip devices to identify older elements and update or replace them. Once again, a business-quality voip router that has been properly configured will normally cure most problems.
Knowing How to Fix Bad Voip Call Quality will relieve frustration caused by the most common voip quality problems. Usually, a one-time fix is all that’s needed.
Bitboyz hosted voip phone system, in Cleveland Ohio, can save your business money. If you are having voip trouble, or would like a free assessment, call us for a review of your business’s telecom services today at 877.777.6855.