“Can you hear me now?” Key tips to improve VoIP call quality

“Can you hear me now?” Key tips to improve VoIP call quality

By the start of next year, you’ll likely receive a large volume of phone calls and conduct several business meetings via your Voice over IP (VoIP) system. And to set the tone for successful business relationships, a good phone call without the jitter, white noise, and audio interruptions is a good first step. The problem is, if your VoIP systems aren’t configured properly or if you simply don’t have the right equipment, these problems are literally just a phone call away. But before you hang up on the idea that your VoIP system will always have problems, here are some things you can do to prevent a phone call disaster.

Reduce the jitters

Much like how data is sent over a network, VoIP transmits voice data in packets until it reaches the target destination. To reproduce the intended message at the receiver's end, these packets should arrive in order. Jitter, however, can delay these packets and even cause them to reach the recipient in the wrong order, breaking the flow of the call.

To alleviate this issue, use a Category 6 (CAT6) Ethernet cable. Your previous telephony provider might have installed older CAT5 cables, which are often slow and prone to network congestion. If you do have a CAT6 cord and are still experiencing problems, ask your IT support provider to implement a jitter buffer -- an area where voice packets are temporarily stored, processed, and eventually sent in the correct sequence.

Watch your bandwidth

The quality of your VoIP calls depend on the amount of bandwidth being used on your network. If you have an important VoIP call with a client, try minimizing the bandwidth used across your network by getting out of video streaming websites, closing down tabs, pausing large downloads, and performing major system updates outside of office hours.

URL filtering solutions also allow you to control the use of intensive web applications and limit access to dangerous, bandwidth-consuming websites. Of course, if none of these remedies are effective, contact your internet service provider and ask them to increase your bandwidth capacity.

Set VoIP call priorities

Specialized business routers give you more options to determine how bandwidth will be used. One of these options is Quality of Service, a feature that lets you set bandwidth limits and priorities for non-essential websites and cloud-based applications that may be hogging the network. This means you can configure your router to automatically set aside enough bandwidth to maintain high-quality VoIP calls. As a general rule, remember to allocate at least 100kbps download and upload speeds for one-on-one VoIP conversations, and at least 1Mbps for bigger conference calls.

Get the right phone frequency

Higher frequency phones may cause interference with other networking equipment. In fact, users have complained that 5.8GHz cordless phones slow wireless connections down to almost dial-up speeds. If you have a 5.8GHz phone, replace it immediately with a lower frequency handset. You can’t go wrong with phones that run at the 2.4GHz band or lower.

Purchase better VoIP hardware

No matter how many network optimizations you deploy, it’s often difficult to improve sound quality on clunky hardware. Although handsets can go for as little as $10, and a router as cheap as $100, we advise you to look beyond the price of hardware when it comes to installing a VoIP solution. Sure, there’s no guarantee that going for the expensive option is always better, but you’re more likely to find IP devices, USB headsets, and business routers that can dramatically improve call quality at slightly higher price points.

These steps are more than enough to improve your VoIP experience. But if you’re not confident with bandwidth management, VoIP hardware procurement, and IP telephony optimization, we have but one simple suggestion: contact the IT support team at www.intelligis.com. Our VoIP and unified communications services ensure that your calls are always crisp and clear.