VoIP has been in existence since the 80’s but never really got the place it deserved until in the current times. Previously, VoIP’s quality and reliability were questioned for and these two areas failed to prove VoIP as the best communication tool than the traditional phone services. However, today, VoIP has crossed those barriers and is widely replacing other telecommunication services at a fast pace and winning hearts of millions worldwide owing to the excellent calling plans, affordability, and scalability. Today, it is VoIP all over the place! Whether for residential usage or business communication needs, internet phone services have become a part of every walk of life. It offers much convenience and comprises of latest technology. The VoIP that we use today has come in a much-improved package.
However, there are still people out there who are heard complaining about voice quality in VoIP. Of course, when one gets used to a particular service (I mean traditional phone services here), then it takes time to get used to some other service. What they do not know is there are plenty of factors that affect the quality of service of an internet phone.
For those among you who are still not aware of it yet, I have mentioned below some factors that affect the quality of a VoIP phone service and ways to maximize the VoIP performance once learned what causes it.
Internet Bandwidth
By now, we all know that an internet phone runs with the help of a high-speed broadband internet. The better your connection is the better your VoIP service. Your broadband connection should give excellent quality and bandwidth to let you enjoy a seamless VoIP service. Make sure you hire services from an ISP who is reliable in terms of quality and service. One more thing, if you are a dial-up internet user, then you can’t expect VoIP to give you an excellent voice quality, because your internet can’t offer enough bandwidth for VoIP functionality. Get excellent bandwidth and you get excellent VoIP results.
Your VoIP Equipment
Remember; choose the best hardware equipment for your VoIP phone service. Never compromise on quality. Just because you find it reasonable in price to get cheap costing equipment, it’s not fruitful in the long run. Besides, think about the benefits that you get in return using an affordable phone service for life. So, when buying yourself equipment, make sure you get a high quality ATA, router or IP phone. You had better gather reviews on the product you are going to buy. The World Wide Web is filled with information just about anything. Google is your best friend, so Google the product you are looking for, read reviews, consumer comments on forums etc. will till you buy it.
ATA/Router
When buying yourself an ATA/Router, you should know a bit about:
· Codec that support your device
· Echo cancellation
· Firewall and security support
Internet Phone frequencies
If you are experiencing a voice quality problem in your VoIP phone, check the frequency of your internet phone. It often happens that your internet phone frequency causes interference with your VoIP equipment, resulting in poor quality of sound. Try lowering your phone frequency to get this problem fixed.
Bad Weather Conditions
You can’t blame the weather-man if his prediction about the weather being bad comes true and you experience a VoIP failure. Often weather conditions can affect your VoIP quality. You might often experience a voice distortion due to static charges, which automatically appear on broadband internet cables due to thunderstorms, heavy rain, dust storms, etc. you can get rid of static problem by unplugging your hardware, which includes your ATA, router and phone, and plug it up again.
Codec
The VoIP data transmitted happens to be compressed for easy transmission and the software used for this purpose is called a codec. There are different types of codec specified to be used to different purposes. So, make sure that the code you use for your VoIP is meant for VoIP usage; otherwise, you will not get an excellent voice quality.
These should help you with knowing a bit on what affects VoIP and how to improve the VoIP quality.
