Common Business VoIP Problems and How to Troubleshoot Them

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.

Why Choose Cloud VoIP

We've come to a point when one of the best things that you can do for your business is to make that VoIP switch. There's absolutely no reason now to not take advantage of the cost benefits and productivity improvements that come with VoIP – especially with the increasing popularity of cloud VoIP.

No Hardware Required

On-premises VoIP requires a huge investment in hardware. You need to purchase an IP-PBX or at least a gateway device to work with your old PBX. You'd want SIP phones to replace your analog phones or ATA devices for them. Plus, there's your network cabling to think about. You should at least have Cat5e cables.

This can amount to a lot – which is why it has taken time for business to make a massive shift to VoIP, even with all its benefits.

Fortunately, this is no longer the case today. You can enjoy the benefits of VoIP without needing to make as much hardware investment. You can make do with a basic setup, wherein you use softphones via desktops and BYODs (Bring Your Own Devices).

For the most part, you will just need to invest in upgrading your network cables. Other than that, you won't need anything else. You can switch to VoIP within a month, and without the usual hardware investment.

Expert Managed Telecommunications, At No Additional Cost

You also need expert manpower when you switch to on-premises VoIP. Your service provider will help you out a bit at the start. But eventually, the maintenance and management of your system would fall on you. You then need to hire or train at least one staff member to focus on this. The health of your VoIP system is then also dependent on the quality of help that you hire.

This is now a non-issue with cloud VoIP. With your IP-PBX, switches and the rest on a cloud, your system is now managed by industry experts who are focused on VoIP. This is definitely a level up from being dependent on a person or two who you can afford.

Scalable VoIP

With cloud VoIP also comes incomparable scalability. You no longer have to plan and spend five years into the future. You don't have to project your capacities five years ahead, and invest in being able to fulfill these capacities.

Cloud VoIP allows you to add and deduct users, as needed. You can also add or deduct features, as needed. You only have to factor in changes in your monthly or yearly fees.

The implication here is that you can funnel your funds elsewhere. When your telecommunications costs just boil down to monthly or yearly fees, you can invest in growing your business. Put funds into marketing and production. There's no need to project and spend for your telecommunications too far ahead into the future.

Grow Your Business

One of the main targets of cloud VoIP are small- to medium-scale businesses, and they are buying. This is not surprising.

There are several means by which cloud VoIP can help a business grow. Telecommunications savings are just the start. Yes, you can do a lot more with the money you save through VoIP. You can invest in key areas, such as marketing and sales.

Your team's productivity will also likely increase with the different features and capabilities of VoIP. You can work and communicate from anywhere, and collaborate with team members. Communications convergences means that data is accessible across different platforms. The flow of information is faster.

All this is available to you at just a fraction of what it used to cost to get into VoIP. This is a great opportunity to build on the potential of you business.

VoIP Monitoring

When you want to guarantee that you get the most out of your cloud VoIP, make sure that you implement VoIP monitoring. Your cloud VoIP service is likely to have this running in the background too. As a customer, it is also important to stay on top of your VoIP's performance. So, run your own call performance tests 24/7/365. VoIP Spear offers consumer-scale and commercial-scale call monitoring, where key factors, such as MOS, latency, packet loss and jitter, are charted and analyzed. You get regular reports, as well as alerts when something goes wrong.

With VoIP Spear, you keep apace with your business' telecommunications.

VoIP in 2015: What to Watch Out For

As 2014 comes to a close, we look back to a great year in telecommunications and ask: can things be any better? The answer is a resounding yes!

By the looks of it, VoIP is hardly done with spearheading all the wonderful changes we have been enjoying, in terms of call quality, ease of installation and management, unified communications, and affordability. The industry is still on the cusp of really exploding and taking over telecommunications as we know it! Here are some of what we see happening in VoIP in 2015.

VoIP on the Cloud

There will be a massive move to the clouds. Cloud hosted VoIP is the more affordable option, especially for small- and medium-sized that have just decided to give VoIP a try. There are a lot of benefits in switching to VoIP. However, installation and technology management are the immediate issues for companies that do not have huge budgets for telecommunications.

Cloud-hosted VoIP is not just about affordability. Companies also benefit from the ease and speed of transition. Maintenance and technology management are also handled by the service provider, which takes off the burden and cost of premises-based telecommunications that requires expensive hardware and a dedicated team managing them.

At the same time, you benefit from scalability, integration with other communications platforms (unified communication) through your data network, and reliability.

So, in 2015, don't be surprised when more businesses make the switch. As the services and driving technologies of cloud-hosted VoIP improve, moving toward this is the best choice for VoIP newcomers and old-time VoIP users.

Cloud Platform Integration

The VoIP trend toward the cloud will also lead to increased integration with other applications on the cloud. This is a natural course in business VoIP. There are many possibilities in the integration of other data-centric technologies with digital communications. We are now seeing this in cloud-hosted CRM and productivity software.

Mobile VoIP

Mobile VoIP has also made headway in 2014, and will continue to be a major force in the industry. The driving force here seems to be the rising use of mobile gadgets (corporate property or BYOD aka bring your own device) within the work setting. With increased mobility through mobile devices, it is a productivity ideal to have essential members of the organization reachable even when not within the office premises.

Through mobile VoIP, this is made possible through VoIP applications. As the rest of the apps on your phone, coordinating between team members and partners then becomes a function done within your data network, separate from mobile voice.

With increasing availability of Wi-Fi and the decreasing cost of data services, this will be utilized more by organizations in 2015

VoIP Security Threats

And as with any online technology that is becoming increasingly popular, VoIP is now a target of malicious attacks. This ranges from the usual theft of service and the more vicious denial of service to malware and call interception.

There are vulnerabilities within the technology that require diligent monitoring from third party services, such as VoIP Spear. You need to monitor the different performance parameters in order to pinpoint lags in quality that might be from attacks.

VoIP Spear

The trend toward hosted VoIP pinpoints an increasing need for third party services that provide back-end analytics. The advantage of VoIP Spear is the ease and cost of implementation, management and maintenance. It is reliable service that provides regular reports and alerts when something is off. The service is perfect for businesses, regardless of size, that require consistent quality performance from their phone system.

In 2015, there's a lot more in store for VoIP Spear users. They can look forward to a new year of excellent VoIP testing and monitoring. Check out their website: http://voipspear.com

Telecommuting Basics

Are you thinking about working from home, part-time or full-time? Here are some basics that you need to have. Telecommuting can change your life positively, and give you more work-life balance. But, before this happens, you have to have the proper setup. Here are a few things to start with.

1. Make sure you've got reliable network connection: One of the foremost requirements of working from home is that you are able to stay connected with your office and your partners. This has to do with your accessibility and basically your ability to do work like you would in an office. You need to access databases, shared work space, as well as your voice calls (via VoIP). You cannot make do with intermittently "OK" connections. Remember that people need to get in touch with you too. It is not just about connections that you can make do with.

2. Implement checks / monitors: Like a real office, you need to stay on top of systems you rely on, such as your network and VoIP. There are a good number of monitoring companies out there. Your best bet is VoIP Spear, which offers trial accounts and affordable service packages depending on the size of your organization. 

With 24/7/365 monitoring, you ensure that your system's performance is at par with your goal of always being available/accessible even when you work from home. If it's not, you can do something about it immediately.

3. Go to the cloud: Cloud computing has made working from anywhere easier and more efficient. Applications and files can be centrally located in the cloud servers. You can access this from anywhere, as long as you have secure internet access.

Having your files on cloud servers also makes collaboration with your co-workers and partners easier. You can conduct meetings, view, share, and revise files using the same platform, as well as access files, databases and such.

At the very least, you get the peace of mind knowing that all you latest files are secure in one location. In case of networking emergencies and you happen to lose connection, the office can continue to function with your data hosted in the cloud.

4. Create a conducive work space: While it is tempting to conjure images of you working from bed or the kitchen table as you telecommute, this is not really ideal. The bed is associated with sleep; while the kitchen table is associate with food and family time. These aren't space where you're supposed to be doing hard work. Plus, in all likelihood, you will run into distractions while in this space. It could be in the form of a family member, or cooking that needs to be done.

When you work from home, it is ideal to designate a space where you can have some privacy and place to work. Locate a corner or room where there's little "traffic." If this has a work desk and a comfortable chair, then great!

Once you've designated a space, meet with your family member or housemates. Tell them about the work that you need to do from home, and how you need a conducive environment. Ask that they respect your isolation when you spend time in your work space.

For your part, make sure to schedule ample time to spend working in your space. Be conscious of possible distractions and limit the "little extras" (such as indulging in an afternoon nap or playing online games) that have become so doable when you allow it.

5. Have a plan: Another must-have when you want to do effective telecommuting is a plan. This includes a daily to-do list, as well as weekly deliverables and work schedules. This may sound off tangent to the common idea of how it is to work from home -- freedom, free time and all that. The reality is that you need a plan more when you telecommute. You will be faced with too many distractions, such that you really need to decide on what you should be doing at each exact moment and sticking to this decision.

6. Have discipline: When you have everything set up, don't forget to add in some discipline. This goes a long way when you face the myriad of temptations typically faced by someone telecommuting. There is always room for distractions, of course. It is one of the fun things about working from home. But, after you allow yourself a little indulgence, always go back to your scheduled work. This is the only way you can get things done while telecommuting.

Why Businesses Need Mobile VoIP

There are several good reasons why your company should take advantage of mobile VoIP. This is not just a matter of keeping up with what's popular or current. Mobile VoIP is about enabling your partners and employees with what is perhaps the best telecommunications tool around.

What exactly are the benefits of mobile VoIP? Here's the short-list.

Connectivity: Probably the most important aspect of VoIP – mobile or otherwise – is the unparalleled connectivity you get to enjoy. Anywhere you are, in or out of your office, you can remain connected and collaborating with your co-workers and partners. You can be on a business trip somewhere and still make meetings at your home office through VoIP. You just need to make sure you have access to a Wi-Fi network so you can keep your costs low.

Cooperation: Mobile VoIP is a great way to keep your staff working together. Through mobile applications that integrate connectivity and function, you can attend meetings, share documents, chat and collaborate as needed. You can also gain access to data centers to manage databases and such.

Usage control: Mobile VoIP allows you to take control of all your communications. Your voice mail, data collaborations, emails and all else can be accessible through one interface while you're mobile. That's a lot of power in such a small convenient device.

Presence: While on the go, your workforce can stay connected and working together. This is crucial when you want to grow your business. By taking advantage of the perks of VoIP, people can stay connected wherever they are – all while spending pretty much the same for communications. There are no long distance or roaming costs to worry about.

Reduced Cost: Of course, you can't ignore the tremendously slashed down prices available via VoIP. When you equip yourself with mobile VoIP, you reduce communications costs that you'd otherwise incur from long distance calls and the like.

When you do use mobile VoIP, it is important to ensure that your VoIP works 99% of the time. It is useless to go mobile and not have your phone network deliver good service. You can't stay connected if your service provider is bad in the first place.

You can do this with services like VoIP Spear, which monitors your phone service 24/7. You get to know problem areas before they affect your day-to-day. The service monitors key factors in VoIP quality, such as jitter, packet loss and latency.

The Best Mobile VoIP Tools for Business

One of the perks of switching to VoIP is the viability of working efficiently outside your office. You can be on the go, and still be reachable and “fully-functional.” You have access to data and can integrate with the office work flow remotely.

To do this, you need the help of reliable mobile VoIP apps. There are several options when it comes to this, varying in terms of simplicity and features. When you select one for your “official” use, choose one based on the tasks that you need accomplished while on the go. If you think that you need to rely on your mobile VoIP tool for long periods of time and for a lot of tasks, get the feature-rich ones, even when you have to pay for it.

Here are some of the best mobile VoIP tools that you should try:

Skype: Of course, Skype is on this list. As one of the pioneers in free VoIP, Skype has endured the rapid growth of the industry. It still offers free VoIP, on mobile or for your desktop, which comes with chat. Plus, it offers business VoIP options for those who want more powerful and dedicated service.

Skype remains one of the more useful apps that you should download to your phone. Many users who have paid VoIP accounts elsewhere retain their Skype account because of the big number of users still on Skype. It is a guaranteed way of linking up with new partners and prospective clients.

Fring: The great thing about Fring is that it tries to be your mobile communication hub. It has features that allow you to integrate mobile calls, chats, social media and email, all in one place. That's a lot of power for a free app. Get Fring if you want convenience in your mobile communications.

Vopium: This is another free VoIP app that works well with an account with Vopium. The features are basic. You can make calls at slashed down rates. When there's wi-fi, calls and roaming are free. Apart from being a mobile app, you can also install the app on your desktop.

Truphone: Truphone is similar to Vopium such that its defining feature is the ability to make long distance calls at discounted rates. The call quality is better though. And it is rated more highly by its users.

Nimbuzz: This is a nimble little app that can be installed in different devices, from phones to desktops. It is also very powerful. It offers several VoIP options. Plus, you ca integrate the app with several chat services. It then becomes a one-stop mobile shop, where you can keep in touch with your clients and partners on the go.

Beejive: This is a paid service but can be worth it when you want a powerful tool to assist you as you work on the go. Through it, you can integrate several chat and VoIP accounts. When you've got a lot to deal with while on the move, get this app.

Remember that when go to the trouble to set this up on your phone or tablet, make sure you are on a VoIP network that works as hard as you do.

Ensure that your VoIP works 99% of the time by getting a VoIP monitoring account at VoIP Spear, the no-hassle provider of reliable 24/7/365 VoIP testing services.

How to Fix Common VoIP Problems

When you rely on your VoIP for business communications, it is important to be able to fix certain issues internally first, before calling for support. Reliance on tech support for some VoIP issues that you can handle yourself can make you lose hours, if not days.

Here's a quick guide to help you.

Echo. Echo is an easy-to-fix VoIP problem when you know what causes the echo that you're dealing with. It could be any of these three: acoustic, electromagnetic disruption and equipment.

If it's an acoustic problem, you would just need to reduce the volume of your speakers or earpiece. You can tell that it's an acoustic echo simply by covering the mouthpiece. If it reduces the echo, then you've found your problem.

Electromagnetic disruption, on the other hand, is caused by equipment that's too near to your phone. To see if this is the cause of your VoIP echo, try to move your phone away. Did the echo disappear? If so, to solve your problem, you just need to move your phone away from typical sources of interference, such as your computer and router.

If all else fails, there is likely a problem with your equipment. You can check by switching phones. If there's no echo when you use a different phone, then you should just replace the one you're currently using.

Bandwidth. Bandwidth is somehow a general problem in VoIP. Insufficient bandwidth can cause a number of problems – we will mention some of these later.

A way to diagnose bandwidth problems is to check out your setup. Do you experience call problems when you are running other programs that eat a lot of bandwidth, such as gaming? Are there other computers connected to your network when you experience problems?

The first thing to do is to turn off and disconnect everything else. You are testing for bandwidth problems here so you need to isolate the issue. Disconnect all connecting computers. Close all other applications that use up bandwidth. Does this make your calls sound better?

If so, then, the problem really does have something to do with your bandwidth. You can implement a stopgap solution at the start. Here, you need to configure your router's QoS so that you prioritize voice and video applications. Voice apps, of course, pertain to programs that you use for VoIP. Video, on the other, is for when you use video conferencing. This may be optional if you don't really use that feature.

Eventually, especially if you use VoIP for business, you will need to upgrade your bandwidth allotment or dedicate a separate network service for your VoIP. It is problematic to have to contend with bandwidth issues. As a technology, VoIP will really eat up bandwidth. You have to be prepared for this from the get-go.

Choppy Voice. Choppy voice is one of the bandwidth issues that we mentioned earlier. You need to deal with this similarly as the above mentioned. If reconfiguring the QoS does not work, then you will need to check with your network administrator. There might be incompatibilities in how you're set up.

Jitter and Jitter Buffer. Jitter and jitter buffer are VoIP staples. Regardless of the quality of your network and VoIP service provider, jitter and jitter buffer will always be a factor in how your VoIP works.

Jitter is the different pacing of how packets arrive to the receiver. This is a natural occurrence. To make up for it and ensure that conversations can be understood, the jitter buffer gets to work. The buffer holds the voice packets before releasing them at a controlled pace. This is where problems might occur.

It could be that your jitter buffer is configured incorrectly. This will cause poor call quality and packet loss. If your buffer is too small, there's not enough to retain packets up until they can be released at an even pace. So, packets may be dropped. If it is too big, packet delivery may be delayed.

You can address these problems by configuring your dynamic jitter buffer. There is a static jitter buffer built into your router – you cannot change this. But you can configure the dynamic one via the software control panel. Ideally, the buffer depth should be at 30 to 50 milliseconds.

Monitor Your VoIP. If there's one major takeaway here, it's that you need to monitor your VoIP 24/7. For businesses that rely on VoIP communications, this is an imperative. Services of companies, like VoIP Spear, will test your VoIP quality round-the-clock. This means that you are on top of issues right away. You can do something about it, or you can decide to forward the matter to tech support.

How To Optimize VoIP for Your Business

There was a time when managers and administrators doubted the relevance of VoIP technology when it came to forging ahead with their business. It was relatively fresh back then; not a lot of people were aware of or had experienced its benefits.

Now, there's a huge shift. There is no longer any doubt that VoIP is good for business.

But, there is work to be done. You need to know how to leverage VoIP technology so you can make the most of it.

Spend Less on Telecommunications and Use Your Funds Elsewhere

VoIP calls cost drastically less than traditional telephony. You can expect to increase savings through cut phone bills, on top of other things that you can do to keep telecommunications expenditures low.

For instance, you can use softphones at the start. You can also retain the use of your old analog phones and just buy ATAs (analog telephone adapters) for them. This allows you to allot funds to more crucial projects, such as those in marketing, which is especially important for startups.

Another savings avenue through VoIP is mobile communications. Through VoIP apps, you can take your office extension everywhere. Talk is practically free as long as there's wi-fi.

VoIP lets you reapportion your budget to consider priorities and crucial business undertakings. Through this technology, you can infuse money where necessary and still have an optimally functioning communications system working for you.

Your Office Extension, Anywhere

With VoIP, you can take your office extension anywhere. Your office goes with you to where you need to be. This keeps you accessible to partners, clients and prospective customers. You are on call, wherever you are. You are on top of your business' day-to-day.

VoIP comes with features like “Find Me Anywhere,” the usual call forwarding and the like. These give you accessibility when you need it. For your partners and clients, it gives them the assurance that you will always be available to them.

Leverage VoIP Features

VoIP also comes with other features that you can use to give your business a boost.

Videoconferencing can be a great tool to establish connections across satellite offices and branches, as well as with partners and clients. It adds a level of trustworthiness to your business relationship.

Likewise, information is streamlined, and readily available across your business' different venues. This gives you many opportunities to make your processes and workflow more efficient and updated.

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To ensure that your VoIP service really does work 24/7 for your business, it should also be monitored 24/7. Through VoIP Spear, you can implement the best monitoring service for your communications systems. Your system is tested persistently, and you receive alerts when its performance falls below par. You can address issues right away, before it affects your bottom line.

Call Quality Monitoring: How To Address VoIP Call Issues

Whether you're new to VoIP or have been using it since Skype became so popular, call quality monitoring should be your top priority. You should know how to do it, and you should know how to address the issues that you find.

Knowing all about call quality monitoring and what it entails ensures that you enjoy the best of VoIP. VoIP is supposed to be the better alternative these days, when it comes to cost, features and quality. But like all technology, there are kinks that need to be ironed out along the way. VoIP is dependent on your internet connection and the amount of traffic your network has. Your equipment -- and your network and service provider's equipment, of course -- also affect how much you get out of it.

The first step here is to get set up with VoIP Spear. With VoIP Spear, you monitor your digital phone's endpoint 24/7/365 for key parameters that determine good VoIP quality of service. Single endpoint monitoring is free, with limited reporting extras. The paid packages are affordable for what you'd get.

VoIP Spear is your best option when it comes to call quality monitoring. Other comparable VoIP monitoring services will have you buying expensive equipment that you'd need to hire an engineer for. These options are really not practical when all you want is to get performance profiles of your VoIP service at a regular basis.

Now, have you set up an account? Did you plug in your endpoints? That's all you need to do. You are now ready for call quality monitoring.

When you login, you will have access to online reports. If you have a paid account, you can be alerted when your VoIP service performs below your set thresholds. The reports are for the primary measures of VoIP quality: MOS, latency, jitter and packet loss. Your reports will show scores of 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest.

Of course, a low score, especially at consistent intervals daily, is something that you'd need to address.

One of the VoIP problems that you can try to address from your end is latency. Latency pertains to delays in the transport of data/voice packets. This can be caused by a variety of reasons. Or, the cause can be on the side of your network or VoIP service providers -- which you can't do anything about except contact for tech support or change service providers. But, if the problem is at your end, there are basic troubleshooting that you can implement. (Btw, latency problems may also be causing packet delays and jitter. So it really does help to do these basic troubleshooting tips first.)

1. Check your cables: Sometimes, VoIP call quality problems are just caused by less than perfect cables. These may be cut or too old. A visual inspection can pinpoint cable problems. To fix this, just buy compatible cables, ideally from a tech store.

2. Turn off other applications that use heavy bandwidth: Delays in your VoIP can be caused by applications "fighting" to use your limited bandwidth allotment. When it is important to have VoIP available -- say, for your home use -- try shutting down other apps that eat up bandwidth, such as networked gaming programs. If you are experiencing VoIP delays because of inadequate bandwidth and you're at the office, it's time to upgrade your network and VoIP service; or assign a separate network for your VoIP. It is important to get consistently available good call quality for business VoIP.

3. Configure your QoS: All modern routers provide access to the system's QoS (Quality of Service). Here, you can update your router's settings to give priority to voice applications. While you do this, make sure to deprioritize gaming appls and other bandwidth eaters.

Note that this is only a call quality "patch." Your system is most likely inadequate to support voice calls and you will need to upgrade an equipment or two.

VoIP Call Quality Issues

When you transition to VoIP, be prepared to deal with typical service problems. These are natural conditions. Normally, you shouldn't experience any service disruption or distortions even when you have these. However, if you are with a so-so network or VoIP service provider, you will feel the effects of VoIP call quality issues.

• Know about problems before they affect your day-to-day operations
• Stay on top of how your VoIP service performs
• Enjoy the full benefits of VoIP

Typical VoIP call quality issues should not affect your VoIP performance. For instance, latency, which is the delay transport of data/voice packets, is normal. Even traditional telecommunications experience latency. But if it goes beyond 150ms one way, you will definitely experience voice quality distortions.

For certain circumstances, you can address VoIP call quality issues yourself. Here are some tips:

Slow connection: This is one of the worst things to have when you want to use VoIP. Digital communications rely on your network connections. Fast connections mean that you can have unhindered conversations. When you suffer from slow connections, the best thing to do is upgrade your service. This means either getting a better service project with the same or a different service provider.

Bad equipment: It could be that you experience VoIP call quality issues and the problem is on your end. You may have the wrong router for prioritizing VoIP calls. Or, you may have outdated equipment that result in voice quality distortion. The best solution here is to upgrade to a better router wherein you'd be able to configure the QoS. With the router's QoS, you can prioritize VoIP. This lessens the bandwidth allotment for other applications, particularly the bandwidth-heavy applications ones, like gaming applications.

Delays: All forms of telecommunications experience delays or latency. The crucial issue is the length of delay. There's tolerable delay and there's delay that ruins your overall user experience. With VoIP, the two-way delay should only add up to 250ms. A rate above means that there is disruption every so often. The delays may even be causing dropped packets and gaps in the conversation.

There are several ways of dealing with delays, depending on the cause of delays. If the cause is on your end – your equipment may be out of date or defective, or your network and VoIP connections may be bad – these are situations for which you can implement fixes.

Cut wires and incorrectly setup equipment can be fixed by changing cable wires, or upgrading to a newer model.

Sometimes, too, a simple way of fixing delays is to set yourself up closer to your router. Connecting via wi-fi will cause delays and if its too much, all you need to do is go closer.

A surefire way of correcting delays caused by your system is by prioritizing voice packets. You do this by configuring your QoS. Most modern routers now come with QoS access where you can set how much priority is given to different applications. To prioritize VoIP, you just have to prioritize voice applications while reducing priority of bandwidth heavy applications, such as gaming applications.

To stay on top of how your VoIP performs, set up an account with VoIP Spear, a VoIP monitoring service that offers free trial accounts and personal, residential and business options.

VoIP Quality Test: Latency

Let's talk about the different VoIP quality parameters that a typical VoIP quality test system monitors. In knowing more information about these parameters, you may be able to address VoIP performance issues better before turning over troubleshooting to your service provider.

• Know more about your VoIP quality test system
• Address immediate VoIP performance problems yourself
• Have in-depth knowledge about VoIP

One of the most important VoIP quality test parameters is latency. Latency pertains to the delays in the transport of data/ voice packets. These delays may occur in all the components of VoIP communication, from each party of the conversation and throughout the network where packets travel through. This means that delays may be rooted in packetization, propagation and jitter butter. In a way, how your entire VoIP system performs affects how much delays you experience.

Understand however that delays are normal. Packets travel from your phone system through your network and its servers and other hardware, before reaching your intended recipient. When your recipient says something back, packets need to travel back through the same route. So naturally, there will be some delays.

This is true even for traditional telephony – so naturally, you have it too in digital telecommunications.

The crucial aspect of latency is when it adds up to too much, such that you already experience degraded VoIP user experience. The maximum one-way latency is only 150ms. Even then, reduced VoIP quality is already noticeable at this rate.

When you experience service degradation or disruption, it pays to know what's going on. This is where your VoIP monitoring service comes in. The reliability and consistency of your VoIP testing becomes important because it is through consistent testing that you get an idea of your VoIP performance profile. You will know problem areas (the parameters of VoIP quality, such as latency, jitter and packet loss), how much and at which period within a typical day.

If your VoIP performance profile shows issues with latency, there are steps you can take on your end before relying on your VoIP network service provider for solutions.

For the reliable VoIP monitoring service, check out VoIP Spear.

VoIP Spear Adds New Monitoring Servers

It's good to know that the VoIP Spear team has expanded its network of testing servers. We are already relying on their VoIP monitoring service. The addition of servers means that test results become more accurate, especially when it comes to endpoints outside North America. With new testing server locations in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, users can now select where monitoring tests originate.

North America: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami
Europe: London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Moscow, Milan, Madrid
Asia: Hong Kong, Japan (Tokyo), Singapore, India (Chennai)
South America: Chile (Vina del Mar), Panama (Panama City)

VoIP Spear's lead development team took 6 months to perfect this truly global VoIP monitoring service. Users have free reign on which servers test their endpoints. They can set it up when they set up or edit endpoint (bottom of the page). We're happy with how things turned out. We've updated some of our endpoints. The rest are in the USA so they're good, as is.

We are looking forward to more from VoIP Spear. Even without these new servers, we were already quite happy with their service. I suppose we should be ecstatic now lol! But seriously, VoIP Spear is providing us VoIP service providers with a great, reliable and hassle-free service. I really appreciate that the team continues to work toward improvement and expansion. http://voipspear.com/signup

Securing Your VoIP Service

One of the least talked about topics when it comes to VoIP is VoIP security. Popular concerns have been performance and cost, and for the right reasons. However, you shouldn’t forget VoIP security. The simple fact that data/ voice travels through networks as a data packet means that at certain points of voice conversations, calls become vulnerable to attacks. Attacks could range from eavesdropping to the potentially more costly call fraud and phishing.

The cost of letting your VoIP service be vulnerable to attacks can add up, and not just monetarily. You may lose time and opportunities just trying to recover from an attack,

VoIP Security: An Investment in Savings

When you want uninterrupted optimal VoIP performance – and this is immensely important for businesses that have switched to VoIP – you need to invest in measures that secure your service and ensure consistent good quality connections.

To do this, you need to sign up with a good VoIP service from the get go. The protocols used to transport your voice and multimedia calls are important in securing your VoIP conversations. Basic services offer to the use of session initiation protocol (SIP) and real-time transport protocol (RTP). These two protocols are innately vulnerable. Data and multimedia packets may be captured just by using a basic protocol analyzer.

The better VoIP service uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) for SIP calls and secure real-time transport protocol (SRTP) for multimedia calls. So, it is important to check with your service provider first to ensure that you are getting this.

Another security measure to look for is the use of IP-VPN networks. If your service provider uses this, it means that VoIP traffic is separated from normal net traffic. This segregation keeps VoIP calls safe from cyber attacks.

When you’ve secured your VoIP, ensure that its performance is consistent and efficient. Set up an account with a VoIP monitoring service like VoIP Spear. This layer of safeguard guarantees that your security measures are not for nothing and that you really do enjoy the best of VoIP.

Three Questions To Ask Before Your Switch to VoIP

Switching to VoIP is a major step and is something that you need to do when you want incomparable savings in your phone bill. This New Year is a great time to do this. Not only will you benefit from the leaps and bounds made by VoIP technology. You will enjoy low signup rates and phone bills.

If you want VoIP for your business, however, there are questions you need to answer first. These give you a good assessment of your organization’s readiness in making the big switch.

Will it improve your work efficiency and productivity?

One of the things you’d want to happen with a switch to VoIP is an increase in productivity and efficiency. After all, VoIP – through communications convergence – lets you do so many things with data in digital format. Plus, don’t forget the savings from VoIP. You can do a lot with that to improve your day-to-day performance.

However, VoIP can take its toll on your network. If you are not sure about the capacity of your network because all that you’ve been doing is browsing and file-sharing, then test it using the services of VoIP Spear. Being on a poor network can cost you. The data packet that run through your network will multiply by at least 4X because of voice packets. If your network cannot take this much traffic, then you are also compromising other tasks done within the network. This can affect the quality and quantity of work done within a day.

Can your network handle VoIP?

This is the logical ‘next question,’ of course. Your network directly affects your VoIP benefits. If you have limited bandwidth, you will need to upgrade your account. However, if your network is really bad, it is ideal to not switch to VoIP until you find a better one, a service provider with proven support for VoIP telecommunications.

An incapable network means that you are likely to suffer from bad voice call quality. You will experience delays/ pauses in calls, as well as jitter and packet delays.

Can you afford to equip your office for VoIP?

A typical office cannot use VoIP just via computer and headphones. This takes away from accessibility and convenience. SIP phones or ATA boxes are necessary for workstations with phone units. You will also need an IP PBX system or a gateway device for your old PBX. All this can cost. So, alongside your VoIP account fees, you will need to take care of this at the start.

When you do make a switch to VoIP, treat this as an investment. Install whatever’s necessary so that this investment lasts. Make sure that you have an account with VoIP Spear, and that you are monitoring all your endpoints. This tests your endpoints for performance lapses, which you or your support team can then address. 

An Easy Guide to Transition to VoIP

When you have finally decided to ditch traditional wireline telecommunication for VoIP, don’t worry about the transition. Switching to VoIP can be a simple task. You only have to pay attention to the details at the start, when you want to ensure that you get a near-perfect service. Getting all this done early saves you from VoIP problems (at least those that you can control from your end).

VoIP is a reliable alternative to traditional telecommunication. It is also cheaper and more accessible, as long as you have reliable internet connections. Likewise, you need to have done your transition properly:

1. Get the right service providers: This is probably the most basic thing to do when you want to ensure a successful transitioning to VoIP. It means that your internet connection should be fast enough for VoIP (at least DSL). The service should also be reliable, with little downtime. At the same time, you should go with a reputable VoIP service company, ideally through a paid account.

2. Get suitable gear: The right gear to use with your VoIP account depends on your circumstances. It could be that you work in front of the computer most of the time, and would like to process calls through it to keep things simple. If that’s the case, then you just need a good headset and microphone. However, if you want to install VoIP for your entire household, then it’s a good idea to invest in a SIP phone or an ATA unit for your analog phone. If you’re an office manager handling your company’s VoIP transition, you will need to choose between investing in a gateway for your old PBX or getting an IP PBX. The IP PBX is the better choice if you’re transitioning your entire communications platform to VoIP.

3. Transfer your public telephone number: VoIP companies refer to this as your DID number, which stands for Direct Inward Dialing number. Your service provide will transfer your DIDs for you for a limited number of DIDs. Companies or those with big offices should coordinate with their phone company regarding the transfer of their DIDs.

4. Install your VoIP Service: At this point, you can already move forward with installing your VoIP service. 

5. Install Backup Services: There are two necessary backup services for VoIP. These are your VoIP testing services and your backup power plan. The call monitoring service is a third party service, like VoIP Spear. It usually comes for free for single endpoint testing. The backup power can be a simple UPS or generator. It can also be a default setup wherein calls are transferred mobile or wireline numbers when VoIP is not accessible.

Dealing with Packet Delay

The wonders of VoIP is all for nothing if you experience network problems that compromise the quality of your calls. Problems like packet delays may be minor irritants if these happen once in a blue moon. However, if this is a chronic problem, you should do something about it.

The solutions, when it comes to packet delay problems, can either be with you or your service provider. Sometimes, you just need a little tweaking on your end to enjoy better VoIP.

What Is Packet Delay

Packet delay refers to the delay in the travel time of data packets between endpoints. This delay is natural up to a certain degree. After all, data packets go through a series of hardware, plus the wireline telephone system. In a healthy network, this delay is not perceivable. You can use your VoIP and conversation is clear and without pauses.

However, in problematic networks or setups, packet delays are perceived by users as delays in audio and video, echo, feedback, and pauses in conversations, among other problems. In really bad situations, packet delays can affect how you enjoy (or not enjoy) VoIP.

Types of Packet Delays

There are two main types of packet delay, namely End System delays and IP network delays. Of these two, you can tweak settings to affect some end system delay issues.

IP network delays are delays that occur during the packet transmission. This may be caused by too much network traffic or being on a network that’s inappropriate for VoIP. The delay usually between ten to a thousand millisecond.

End system delays happen in the handling of the packets at the endpoints. Here, data packets go through decoding, encoding and buffering, with buffering being the main culprit in delays. Jitter buffer delay can take up to hundreds of milliseconds. Coding and decoding, on the other hand, only takes up to 40 milliseconds of delays total.

How Monitoring Your VoIP Helps

When you monitor your VoIP through third party services, such as VoIP Spear, you can know the root cause of your communication problems and be able to deal with this accordingly. VoIP monitoring services do consistent tests over a period of time, at set intervals. This means that you get a complete picture of your VoIP’s performance and can get to the problem right away, either to deal with this yourself or to report to your service provider.

Tweaks to Minimize Problems with Delay

There are things you can do at your end to help lessen problems caused by packet delays. Remember, however, that these are only tweaks.

1.      1.  Lessen the “path” that voice packets go through. If you are connecting to your internet via wifi, connect directly to your router instead.

2.     2.  Close all other applications that use up bandwidth. When you want to focus on VoIP, stick to that for the meantime. Close all applications that are not connected to VoIP, especially the big bandwidth eaters: file sharing and gaming.

3.       3. Customize your QoS setup. Your QoS refers to a tool when you login to your router. This lets you set upload and download speeds, bandwidth priorities. When you want to enjoy VoIP, give voice and video application top priority. Deprioritize gaming and file sharing. 

VoIP Call Quality Test: Why Do You Need It

VoIP, as an alternative to wireline telephony, has made leaps and bounds in close to a decade since its commercial development. It has become a true option to landlines, offering consumers with cheaper communications rates and more accessibility.

However, an issue with VoIP has always been its dependence on your network connections. If you have unreliable internet, you are bound to experience interference and choppy connections during your conversation. If you still have a free account with VoIP service providers, such as Skype, this might be okay. You can ignore fluctuating quality of service if you have not completely switched to VoIP.

However, homes and businesses that have made the VoIP switch and rely on it as their main means of communications need to have at least a 99% uptime – and not just that. They have to have reliable and good quality internet connections if they want to talk without echo, static and other possible audio disturbances.

This is where doing a VoIP call quality test becomes important. Technically, you don't have to have an active VoIP account to begin testing your VoIP readiness. With third party services, such as VoIP Spear, you can test your IP endpoint and make it go through a series of threshold checks. Through these tests, you can monitor key aspects of your network connections like jitter, packet loss and latency.

VoIP Spear measures VoIP quality using MOS or Mean Opinion Score, which is the industry standard in grading VoIP service quality. Through your MOS, you can get a pretty accurate assessment of your network's VoIP suitability.

And you need to do consistent VoIP call quality test. This is one of the best ways to be on top of your VoIP service. VoIP is definitely the next level in telecommunications. Before we get the most of it though, everything has to be in place. A VoIP service is only as good as the network it's on.

Alternative Tools for VoIP Call Quality Test

A VoIP Call Quality Test is not just for network administrators and VoIP service managers. This is something that VoIP subscribers need to do if they want to maximize their  benefits from digital telephony. VoIP can really take over all telecommunications needs. You just need to ensure that you constantly do a VoIP quality of service test to monitor your service's performance. This way, you know right away when there's a problem. You can address this through a tools/ gears upgrade, a change in network providers or VoIP service providers, or a call to technical support.

There are several tools you can use to do a VoIP call quality test. Of course, the very very basic here is to do a ping test from your computer. This isn't ideal. A simple ping test does not point out where you're having problems. It just lets you know how fast (or slow) packets travel through your network. And ping tests as a your VoIP quality of service test have no monitoring component, unless you intend to sit in front of your monitor all day staring at your CMD screen.

The least you can do for VoIP call quality test is use a Network Analyzer tool, such as Wire Shark's and NAST's network analyzer tools. This tool is alternately called packet analyzer or packet sniffer. What this does is it intercepts and analyzes web traffic. Analyses are based on RFC. While you don't really get the specifics that matter in VoIP, you can at least tell if your web connections are fast enough for digital telecommunications.

Another alternative VoIP quality of service test is the Packet Analyzer. An example of a packet analyzer is VoIP Spear's call quality test and monitoring services. It works like network analyzer. Additionally, it also analyzes RTP streams and VoIP protocols. You then know how your network is doing based on latency, packet loss and jitter. This is a more reliable way of testing and monitoring your VoIP service.

You may also want to consider other tools for VoIP call quality test: the VoIP Probe and the VoIP Quality Testers. However, both of these tools are more suitable for VoIP service providers who want to be on top of how their service is performing. VoIP Probe is implemented at several service endpoints, where traffic is then analyzed. VoIP Quality Testers, on the other hand, are more intrusive testing methods that send audio packets to test the network. These files are tested using  the P .OLQA or the P .862.

Welcome to the VoIP Quality Test Blog

Great that you found us. Welcome to the VoIP Quality Test and Monitoring blog!

We're all about VoIP quality of service test and all other VoIP service issues. Why? Well, we believe that VoIP is really the next phase in the development of telecommunications. Alas, its connected technologies, such as network connections, SIP phones, softphones, and the like, affect how VoIP performs as a communications media. Of course, there are also the differences in VoIP service providers and the hardware and software they use to deliver services.

All this affects how a VoIP subscriber enjoys his service. Call quality may suffer, and this affects the user experience. It can get so bad that it turns the user off to VoIP. This shouldn't happen. With all the progress made in VoIP technology, everyone with a good network coverage should be able enjoy VoIP as an alternate -- if not main -- means of communication.

Through the VoIP Quality Test and Monitoring blog, we will discuss all issues that affect VoIP, and how users and VoIP service administrators can address these. It starts with a simple voice quality test, of course. But, we'll talk more about that later. Check back in here for weekly updates.