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| VoIP is great for business. |
A lot of businesses are making the VoIP
switch mainly because of the cost-savings that the technology has
become synonymous with. This is well and good for the business and
the industry, in general. VoIP does present real and significant
opportunities to cut costs and make other business functions run more
efficiently.
However, it is of utmost importance to
also understand the technical requirements of digital
telecommunications, as well the possible problems that come with it.
Some of these problems can be dealt with from your end, without
resorting to tech support help. While there is nothing wrong in
relying on outside help, this could take time and disrupt your
business' day-to-day functions. It is always ideal to know which
problems you can deal with and how.
VoIP Problem 1: No Dial Tone or No
Audio
The lack of dial tone and/or the lack
of audio is probably the most alarming issue you can experience. This
usually happens at the start, when you've just made the switch. The
setup – done by your IT team or your service provider's – may be
misconfigured, resulting in zero dial tone and/or zero audio.
What could be the problem then?
If you don't hear a dial tone, your
problem could be rooted to your phone system's provisioning. Your
tech people should have provisioned your phones automatically. Your
phone needs to be recognized by the system. Likewise, make sure that
your router port forwarding is set up correctly. Typical ports used
are 5060-5090 and 16384-16482.
The lack of audio is also rooted to
misconfigured router port forwarding. Voice uses ports 16384-16482.
Check to make sure you forward to the correct ports.
VoIP Problem 2: Choppy Voice
In actuality, lack of audio or dial
tone is not that much of a problem. The root cause and solution for
this is pretty much clear-cut. This is not the case when it comes to
choppy voice.
Choppy voice or audio is an annoying
problem that may recur every now and then. You need to get to the
root cause and implement fixes, albeit temporary. Otherwise, it will
compromise your digital telecommunications system and make it less
effective.
For most cases, choppy voice is caused
by insufficient bandwidth. VoIP is necessarily bandwidth-heavy since
voice and video data packets are transmitted wirelessly using
internet protocol. When your business relies on VoIP, it is important
that your internet connection is reliable and robust. You should have
ample broadband allotment, as well as proper cabling and hardware.
When choppy voice occurs, your
broadband performance is the first place you check. You can stay on
top of this through third party services, such as VoIP Spear, which
test your MOS, latency, jitter and packet loss, among other
performance parameters. When you have this set up, you can make
everyday assessments about your VoIP's performance, particularly if
your network can take the demands of digital communications.
If your network falls below par, the
best solution is to find a more reliable service provider. Ask your
peers and colleagues for recommendations.
Of course, switching providers takes
some time – with the paperwork and all. You might also be held back
by contracts and all. If this is the case, you can implement
temporary solutions that can ease the problem a bit.
First thing to do is to reconfigure
your QoS. VoIP makes use of voice and video applications so you
should prioritize these. These are bandwidth-heavy and you would need
to lower the priority allotted to other bandwidth-heavy applications,
such as gaming.
Another solution is to tweak your
codecs and use compression that does not require much bandwidth. Use
the G.729 codec, which use minimal bandwidth while retaining good
audio quality. Another thing you can do is to reconfigure your jitter
buffer to increase its depth.
VoIP Problem 3: Echo
Echo is another annoying problem.
However, this one can easily be solved.
Most of the time, your equipment is the
cause of echo problems. It may be a matter of just lowering the
volume of your speakers so your headset does not amplify the audio.
If this does not solve the problem, have a technician check your
phone unit. You might need to have it replaced.
Other VoIP Problems
There may be other issues that you'd
encounter every now and then. For the most part, these may be latency
related issues that can be resolved through careful assessment and
selection of service providers.
Always stay on top of your business
VoIP through 24/7/365 persistent and consistent call monitoring. This
is your first line of security and ensures that, should there be
crucial dips and issues with your service, you can do something about
it before it affects your day-to-day operation.
