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 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.

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.