Choppy audio, delays, echoes and dropped calls can frustrate employees and customers alike. The challenge is determining what's causing the problem. In this article, we'll explore the most common causes of poor VoIP call quality and when it's time to call for help.
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VoIP call quality refers to how clearly and consistently voice conversations are transmitted over an internet connection. High-quality calls sound natural and uninterrupted, while poor VoIP call quality may cause calls to cut out, sound robotic or be hard to hear. Because VoIP relies on your internet connection and network infrastructure, voice quality can be affected by several factors. Understanding them is the first step in diagnosing problems and improving the reliability of your business communications.
If your business calls are not coming through clearly, the problem often comes down to one of a handful of underlying issues. Identifying the root cause is the first step toward restoring reliable communication.
VoIP calls require a stable internet connection with enough available bandwidth to carry voice traffic. When employees are simultaneously using bandwidth-intensive applications such as video conferencing, cloud backups or large file transfers, call quality can suffer.
Even when bandwidth is adequate, network congestion can create problems. If voice traffic competes with other types of data on the network, calls may experience delays, poor audio quality or dropped connections. This is especially common during peak business hours.
Latency refers to the time it takes for voice data to travel from one caller to another. Excessive latency can create noticeable delays, causing callers to talk over each other and making conversations feel unnatural.
Jitter occurs when voice data packets arrive at inconsistent intervals. The result can be choppy audio, missing words or conversations that sound distorted. Jitter is often caused by network instability or congestion.
VoIP calls are broken into small packets of data that travel across a network. When some of those packets never reach their destination, audio may sound robotic, clipped or incomplete. Even small amounts of packet loss can noticeably affect call quality.
Outdated phones, faulty headsets, aging network equipment or configuration errors can all impact call performance. In some cases, the issue may lie outside your organization, such as an internet service disruption or a problem with your business phone provider's infrastructure.
The good news is that most VoIP call quality issues can be identified and corrected once the underlying cause is understood.
If you're experiencing recurring call quality issues, the key is to look beyond the symptoms and identify what is happening within your networked environment. This can take some investigative work by your internal IT team. If the issue is complex, it may take a significant amount of time to diagnose the problem and implement a solution—taking your team away from focusing on other organizational goals.
Today, businesses are turning toward Managed Voice Services providers for VoIP phone and other business communication services. These providers will not only install and service your system, but they will also partner with your IT team to work through complex communication issues involving your network and internet connection.
Gordon Flesch Company’s Managed Voice Services are backed by responsive, local support from technicians who understand the needs of Midwestern businesses. We help organizations construct communication systems that best fit their needs, install the systems with minimal business disruption and are available in case any problems arise. Our Elevate Managed Voice Services platform even includes advanced reporting and analytics as well as a 99.999% uptime guarantee with cloud-based reliability.
GFC CASE STUDY: Peace of Mind with Seamless VoIP Phone Transition & Superior Support
Poor VoIP call quality can be difficult and time-consuming for internal IT teams to diagnose and resolve.
That’s why enlisting the help of an expert Managed Voice Services partner such as Gordon Flesch Company can help organizations ensure clear communications right from the start.
Contact us to learn more about how Gordon Flesch Company’s Managed Voice Services can keep your employees connected and your business running smoothly.
