VoIP systems allow
businesses to communicate over the Internet, providing quick access to
information that has become essential to surviving in a global market. Using
the Internet creates a new set of audio quality challenges, however, and
failing to address these challenges can compromise customer relations and slow
your business down. To minimize VoIP call quality issues, adopt the following
steps:
Use a DECT Phone
Ethernet cords are preferable
to WiFi connections for VoIP, as WiFi is vulnerable to interference from other
devices and has trouble maintaining a consistent connection within concrete
buildings. Ethernet isn't an option if you're away from your computers, so
instead of using a smartphone to access your VoIP phone network, install a
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications, or DECT, phone. These phones have
their own spectrum, reducing the risk of interference from outside sources. You
can plug the DECT base station into your computer's USB port and gain
immediate, secure access to the network.
Calming the Jitters
VoIP delivers voice
information in packets, which to work properly must be evenly spaced and
delivered in a constant stream. Various configuration and network errors,
however, can cause voice packets to arrive out of order, scrambling the audio
and making it difficult to understand.
Dealing with jitter depends
on the severity of the problem. For minor jitter, replace your current Ethernet
cable with a Category 6 one, which transfers information more quickly and
reduces the likelihood that data will arrive out of order. For more serious
problems, consider installing a jitter buffer, which will briefly store and
organize voice packets to make sure it plays them in the proper order.
Considering Contention
A contention ratio measures
the difference between the bandwidth available and the maximum possible demand
for service. Like all services, VoIP communications have to compete with other
users on the network who are downloading photos, watching Netflix, or performing
other tasks that use up bandwidth. The more users your business competes with,
the lower your call quality.
The easiest way to free up
more bandwidth is to purchase an assured contention ratio from your provider.
This is expensive, but your business will more than make up for the cost
through fewer interruptions and reduced wait times.
Hunt Down a New Headset
When seeking to improve
VoIP call quality, businesses often overlook the simplest solutions. Assuming
you make most of your calls over the computer, your headset may be responsible
for many of your call quality issues. Cheap or obsolete headsets come with thin,
poorly-insulated cables, reducing audio clarity. To avoid these problems,
invest in headsets with short, insulated cords, and replace them whenever the
cords show signs of decay. This is particularly important if some of your
employees will be making VoIP calls from home, as their personal headset
choices may not be adequate for your business needs.
Bringing Down Bandwidth Use
Besides purchasing an
Internet connection with a higher contention ratio, you can also reduce
bandwidth use through simple changes to your day-to-day business operations.
Your company can free up bandwidth by cutting down on simultaneous calls,
pausing all downloads whenever someone has to use the VoIP, and reducing the
number of items on your company's computers that run when the computer's start
up. You can also instruct automatic backup programs and file transfers to occur
late at night, ensuring that they will only take up bandwidth when no one else
is using it.
To more comprehensively
reduce bandwidth use and increase VoIP speed, consider running regular network
speed tests on each of your computers. This will allow you to track changes in
Internet use and identify the parts of the day when your business uses the most
bandwidth. You can then devote the parts of the day when the contention ratio
is the lowest to outbound calls.
Calibrating Quality of
Service
Limiting VoIP calls to
times of low bandwidth use is not always possible, especially if your business
receives a large number of inbound calls. To ensure that enough bandwidth will
be available at all times of the day, you can adjust your network's Quality of
Service features to prioritize VoIP calls above other programs. Open your
router's setup application on your computer, click on the “applications”
option, and instruct the router to prioritize VoIP traffic. Your router will
then ensure that whatever other applications are being used at any given time,
VoIP will have enough bandwidth space.
Selecting Compression
Software
Like all systems that
involve digital signals, VoIP networks must compress your data before sending
it, meaning they must eliminate as many data bits as possible. There are two
types of compression services: lossless compression only eliminates redundant
bits, leaving all of the information essentially the same, while lossy
compression eliminates all information deemed to be unnecessary. Lossy
compression is usually ideal for audio conversations, since it reduces
bandwidth use and eliminates ambient noises unrelated to the VoIP conversation
you are having. If your compression software eliminates too much information,
however, it could end up making conversations unintelligible. If your calls
constantly drop too much information to be understood, you should buy new
compression software that preserves a larger portion of the original data.
Lossless compression is ideal if you want to send faxes over your VoIP network.
You should consult with your telephone provider prior to going this route, as
most business VoIP service providers already have this in place.
Fighting Against Feedback
Feedback occurs when your
voice plays on the receiver's speakers, is picked up by that person's
mouthpiece, and travels back to your speakers, creating an echoing sound. If
left unchecked, feedback builds up over time, drowning out your voice and
making the call difficult to understand.
Though you can reduce the
potential for feedback by lowering the volume of your speakers as much as
possible, a more comprehensive solution is to install a phone with a lower
frequency. High frequency phones pick up more ambient sounds, increasing the
potential for feedback. Lowering the frequency helps ensure that you and your
receiver's voices are the only sounds that will be transmitted, and will only
be transmitted once.
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