Voice Over Internet Protocol, otherwise known as VoIP, is a phone service over the internet. A VoIP user could conduct unlimited video or voice calls through the internet. For many, it’s a better alternative to local telephone services and a more cost-effective method of communicating and managing a high call volume.
For VoIP to work, a system is needed to convert analog phone signals to digital signals that could be carried over through the internet. The device relies on high-speed internet to stabilize connectivity. You may use this through a wired Ethernet cable or strong wifi connection.
You can also choose to go for a cloud-based VoIP phone system which will store all operations online, allowing your employees to work from anywhere.
VoIP is advantageous for and is widely used in businesses and corporations, big or small. Hence, VoIP call qualities must strictly be clear and crisp for the customers’ satisfaction.
7 Clever Ways to Improve VoIP Call Quality
1. Get a High Quality Headset
Grammy-holders recording artists don’t use a cheap, poor-performing headset, so why would you settle for less for your business? If you aim to be a 5-star company, all the details are essential, even the headsets! Relying on sub-standard equipment won’t fully maximize VoIP usage. Hence, it’s extremely important that you don’t settle for less.
In choosing headsets, you must consider several factors. For example, if your main focus is on the call quality, noise-canceling headsets with an excellent microphone must be your first choice. Moreover, cord-type or USB headsets give off a much better sound quality than the wireless or Bluetooth types. This is because wired headphones receive an analog signal, enabling them to handle more data than wire-free ones.
2. Get Rid of the Jitters
Your voice data is technically sent in chronological order to the receiver in different data packets. However, your calls could suffer from incorrect queuing or even network and configuration errors. The mentioned discrepancies may disrupt your data packets’ organization. Thus, your data or voice would be delivered in low and unclear quality.
To get rid of the jitters, you must have your Ethernet cord upgraded to a Category 6 cable. A CAT6 cable can transmit data up to 250 MHz. If it doesn’t work, remedy the problem by using a jitter buffer.
3. Limit Bandwidth Use
Limiting the number of devices connected to your bandwidth could be quickly done if you’re living alone or your company has several routers. However, home networks are generally centered on a single router that processes all the traffic. Thus, bandwidth reduction is most applicable to this setting.
Heavy traffic running on the same network at the time of a VoIP call could cause jitters, a collision of data packets, and other network errors that can affect the call quality. But solving problems related to the number of used bandwidths is simple.
For those living with their families or managing a small home business, you may ask others to stop using the internet during your video conference. However, if it won’t work, you may set up a separate VLAN to run your VoIP traffic. Through a VLAN, your VoIP traffic will have its network; thus, reducing the bandwidth problems.
4. Secure a New Compression Software
The digital signals that are sent and received by VoIP networks are compressed before they go anywhere. The compression is done in two ways: lossy compression and lossless compression. Lossy compression refers to removing data from the original file, while lossless compression reduces data size without any quality loss. The lossy compression is much suited for audio call signals.
The compression software you’re using could be a tad hardcore for your VoIP conferences. It might be over-compressing data, thus making your data signal obscure. To avoid it, consider getting yourself a new compression software that’s a little less harsh on your data. Once you do it, you’ll notice an improvement in your VoIP call quality.
5. Purchase a VoIP Router
A standard home router satisfactorily performs until you send or receive VoIP calls. Hence, it would be best to purchase a separate VoIP router that prioritizes VoIP traffic above other internet data. Small businesses may use the inexpensive ones, but a heavy-duty router is a must for larger corporations. Make sure you check the options that all VoIP providers offer.
Furthermore, your router must support the SIP or the Session Initiation Protocol, which aids in delivering data between the server and client. The SIP is mostly helpful for establishing two-party sessions and modifying existing calls, making your call quality better.
6. Clear Any Interference
A typical VoIP phone has a 2.4 GHz. If you’re encountering interferences, check the frequency that your phone runs on. If you have a phone running on a 5.8-GHz frequency, try shifting to a 2.4-GHz.
Any phone that has a higher GHz frequency is more prone to interference production. Generally, a 2.4-GHz band provides a much longer range but with slower data throughput. On the other hand, a 5-GHz band gives lesser coverage but with a quicker data flow.
7. Hire a Specialist
If everything else fails, the best you could do is get an expert. IT specialists and several tools could help solve whatever VoIP-related problems you have or would encounter in the future.
There are tools made for monitoring your VoIP calls’ quality. These tools and software would warn you regarding bandwidth issues or jitter experiences even before noticing that your call sounds terrible.
Some helpful tools are VoIP Spear and Riverbed VoIP Monitoring. VoIP Spear can rate your calls’ quality to help you know whether your communication needs improvement. On the other hand, Riverbed VoIP Monitoring can monitor real-time streams and detect quality problems.
Conclusion
VoIP is the future of business communication because of the many benefits it provides. Not only does it provide better call quality but it’s also cost-efficient and offers mobility. Above all, your call quality must be kept sharp to avoid any inconvenience and misunderstanding. With our tips, it wouldn’t be difficult to keep your VoIP calls clear and crisp!