How to Improve VoIP Call Quality
If you’re starting a home or small office, chances are you might be considering using a VoIP service rather than getting another analog phone line. One main drawback in making VoIP calls compared with regular landline is the quality of the connection. VoIP call quality and reliability depends on a number of factors.
We sometimes get calls from our VoIP users asking for tips to improve their call quality. There are cases where connection and quality issues are beyond the users’ control, but on other cases, the call quality can be improved by going through the following checklist.
Here are some factors that affect VoIP quality and what you need to do about it:
1. Echo – It happens when you hear your own voice after you speak on the microphone. Echoes are caused by two phenomena. The first is an electrical echo, which the end user has no control over. The other one is an acoustic echo due to microphone pickup of audio output. To minimize acoustic echo, use a headset with microphone instead of using the built-in mic of your laptop or a standalone mic.
2. Latency - Also known as lag, latency occurs between the moment a voice packet is transmitted and the moment it reaches its destination. Check your latency by performing a “Ping” command under CMD. Go to Start -> Run -> Type “CMD” without quotes and then type Ping voip.onesuite.com. In the VoIP world, the advisable latency is 200ms or below. The higher the latency, the more the voice quality suffers. A high latency also leads to echoes. If your latency is much higher then ask your ISP to check the cause of high latency.
3. Bandwidth - Make sure you have enough bandwidth (At least 512kbps download speed and 128 kbps upload speed for OneSuite VoIP) to make a decent VoIP call. If you don’t have enough bandwidth, then choppy calls, delays and break-ups can be expected. Perform a speed test to check Internet connection.
4. Applications - Programs that consume bandwidth (like virus definition updates) will also affect your VoIP calls. Don’t download, update or browse video or picture sites because these will take away bandwidth from your calls.
5. RAM - Sometimes old PCs just don’t have enough RAM (computer memory) to run a softphone to have a decent VoIP conversation, especially if multiple applications are running at the same time. Close unnecessary applications and upgrade your RAM if possible. These days, it is recommended to have at least 1GB of RAM in your computer.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for posting these tips. I don’t know anything about latency until now and it was a learning experience performing PING commands to check the latency from different websites including OneSuite.
I already bookmarked your blog. Keep it up!
Jayz
Too true about RAM. I always get choppy statics whenever I used VOIP last year but since upgrading and improving my pc’s RAM, it’s been great. No connection lags or anything.
Thanks for providing these tips about VoIP call quality. I didn’t get to try it often, but echo does seem to be one of the common problems. I’ll try to switch to a headset and see how it goes.
Hi Ching Ya,
Using a headset makes a huge difference on VoIP calls. Aside from minimizing the echoes from the other end, you will also get a clearer quality on your end.
All the best,
Michael
The biggest factor affecting it is Internet connection and latency. Thanx for sharing it.
Yes Ricky, most VoIP problems can be traced back to the quality of Internet connection. I suggest VoIP users who are having problems to check the five tips I’ve mentioned above before complaining to their VoIP provider.
Thanks for visiting,
Michael
OneSuite VOIPs phone client call quality is abysmal. For me it is basically not usable. Skype and Gizmo does work. I have not figured out what the problem is (I am a satisfied OneSuite customer otherwise).
Hi Michael,
Million thanks for such a clear and very informative article. It really always boils down to your PC first, then internet speed, computer accessory (ex. headset), then shall we only consider looking into selections of softphones to be used.
Many thanks again.
Sandy
Thanks for the tips. Sometimes my VOIP calls are just terrible and I was looking to find some way to improve the quality.Would distance affect call quality?
@Yoyo: Thank you for your feedback. Can you please elaborate the problem you are having with OneSuite softphone? Also did you try using other free softphones like the newer version of SJphone that you can find here -> http://blog.onesuite.com/?p=409 or X-lite -> http://blog.onesuite.com/?p=389
Give me an update maybe I can help.
@Blaine: Hey glad to see you here. Distance can affect call quality as your voice packets travel (hops) to different routers across the internet. The more hops the voice packets travel, the more chance your latency goes up, which is bad for VoIP quality. Check the enumerated factors above and see if you can improve your VoIP call quality.
Hi Michael,
I have not tried the other phones but I got ekiga under Linux to work with onesuite. Still, your provided software does not work unter windows. Not that it matters to me but you should be aware of this.
Yoyo
But since you are here, some suggestions for onesuite.
* Sending faxes, an option I suggested long time, is a bit expensive for me since I rarely send a fax.
* Why does my number show as 000000001 when I call someone? Can’t you route my phone number OR my onesuite number through? The 00000001 looks so shady, many people wouldn’t even pick up if they didn’t knew it was me.
* 60 stored phone numbers for calling? Not much. Why not make it 200 or at least 99 if you want to keep it down to two digits.
* The most annoying thing that you don’t have (AFAIK): Recall the last number. Especially when you call abroad and have the number not stored at onesuite then you have to type it in again. Why not be able to type 00 for “redial last number”?
* Is it possible to buy stocks from onesuite?
Yoyo
@yoyo
Hi again Yoyo,
The four alternative softphones (Zoiper, SJphone, X-Lite, Pangolin) all work with Windows XP and Windows vista. I have all of them installed on my work PC running on XP and also on my own laptop with Vista. All are also available in Linux and Mac except for Pangolin which is available only in Windows (2000, XP, Vista, 7)
Regarding your caller id question, Onesuite made changes this year and your actual phone number will show up on the destination number unless you make a request to block your number from showing up.
We do have the last number redial feature. You can place another call without hanging up and redial the access number. To do so, please wait until the previous call is terminated, wait for 5 to 10 seconds, you will hear a prompt asking you for the destination number you wish to reach. To redial the last number just enter “99#”.
We will forward your comments about increasing online phone book capacity to our poduct and management team.
Buying stocks from Onesuite isn’t possible at the moment but we will keep everyone updated in our website if there will be a possiblity of any initial public offering.
Regards,
Michael
When I am calling with the VOIP phone, other computers using thesame internet connection suffer of no connectin. how can i avoid calls to affect browsing on other computers?
@Lucien
Hi Lucien,
When making calls through VoIP, you need to allocate your internet connection to your call and this can be done through QOS or Quality Of Service. Depending on your internet bandwidth, some computers if not all will suffer slow connection when having VOIP calls. This is actually better than having your VoIP call suffer.
Hope this helps.
Michael