It’s hard to imagine our life without VoIP, but we sure would like to eliminate ‘Can you hear me now?’ from our conversations for good. While IP telephony is both reliable and easy-to-use, it’s almost entirely dependent on internet quality for its smooth operation, so it isn’t always flawless. Latency is one of the most commonly experienced VoIP issues and also one of the easiest to test and fix. If you are looking for a rapid improvement of your call quality – read on.
What is Latency?
Latency is the time taken to send a data packet from the speaker to the receiving end. When latency falls above its acceptable range of 150-300 milliseconds, it leads to a disruption of call. It’s frequently referred to as a ‘lag’ or delay, whereby the data packets fail to arrive and dispatch in time.
On a call, high latency results in a slow and inconsistent connection, echo or two people talking over each other. You can also spot issues with latency during a video call when your audio and video aren’t synchronized.
How Can You Measure Latency?
Testing is made easy with tools, such as Speedcheck, that are readily available at no additional cost. You can run the test and find out the value of experienced lags specified in milliseconds as a separate parameter amongst other reports.
The delays can be identified either in one direction or in two direction measurements. One-way latency is the time taken for the data packet to travel from the sender to the receiver, also known as ping. On the other hand, a two-way latency test is used to measure the duration of a round trip. The latter is used for the MOS (Mean Opinion Score), a common assessment of VoIP quality.
What Causes VoIP Latency?
Delays can be attributed to a number of factors, some of which include:
Low Bandwidth
IP telephony is directly dependent on the quality of your internet connection. If the speed at which the data packets can travel is not satisfactory, the delays become more likely and frequently lead to a complete or partial breakdown of communication.
Codecs
A codec is a software or a device that compresses the data packets to send them over the network and then decompresses them on the receiver end. The goal of the codecs is to preserve the highest quality of sound while minimizing the number of bits being sent over the network. If the wrong codecs are used, they may increase the duration required for data packets to be correctly dispatched from speaker’s mouth to listener’s ear.
Outdated Hardware
To guarantee a smooth VoIP connection, you must examine all of your hardware. Outdated hardware may not work well with the new software and may need to be replaced with the newer models capable of adequately supporting your network.
How Can You Fix It?
Once you’ve established the underlying issues causing lags, you can turn to a number of easy fixes to target the problem.
Disconnect Unnecessary Devices
Remove all of the unnecessary devices from your network in order to clear out bandwidth. Your bandwidth is always shared between the devices, frequently leading to congested networks. The more devices are connected to your network, the more sources are using the same connection causing latency.
Implement QoS
Implementing QoS (Quality of Service) is another quick way to battle a saturated network. QoS prioritizes your VoIP calls to avoid congestion of your network. Only then, the rest of the traffic is shared between other applications. This doesn’t change the speed of your connection, but it sustains the necessary flow of data to avoid hiccups and irregularities during your conversations.
Check Your Settings
Some VoIP providers offer a switch between different codecs to offer optimal settings depending on the properties of your network. For instance, G711 and G729 are commonly used for IP telephony. G711 retains a higher quality of the sound, but it’s suggested for a stable internet connection. G729 is used for more unreliable conditions, as for instance when you are connected to your call over Wi-Fi. By making a switch between the two, you can eliminate disruptions to the transfer of data packets.
Replace Your Hardware/ Software
Regularly update your equipment and software to ensure the best quality of your IP telephony. Occasionally, it might be necessary to replace your hardware to ensure uninterrupted performance, especially when updating or changing your software. Make sure to always check for compatibility with your VoIP provider.
Contact Your Internet Provider
Persistent issues with your internet may not be resolved without the help of your internet provider. If your plan only allows very low bandwidth, it might be time to look into other packages that can increase your bandwidth and speed to better fit VoIP requirements.
To Wrap It Up
If you are experiencing issues with your IP telephony, it’s not a reason to be discouraged. With a variety of quick and easy fixes available you can adjust your setup to eliminate lags during your calls.
Didn’t find the solution to your problem here? Check out a vast collection of resources on voip-info.org for more information about all things VoIP.
April 7, 2023
Phone System 