How to Improve VoIP Monitoring for Optimum QoS

Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) has certainly awarded many cost-saving benefits to small businesses and enterprises alike. By switching to IP networks from wireline communications, gone are the days of minute pricing and long distance charges, among a few other costly features. VoIP has truly made communication significantly easier, better and more reliable, but like any technology, it does come with its own challenges.

One main drawback in making VoIP calls compared with regular landline is the quality of connection. VoIP call quality and reliability depends on a number of factors; when it comes to voice management, users complain the most about poor audio on VoIP calls. Despite this, there are a number of tips that can help improve the overall quality of VoIP calls, and contrary to popular belief, they don’t require an IT degree to implement.

First and foremost, when it comes to using anything over the Internet, it’s best to check your Internet connection. This might seem pretty self-explanatory, but you’d be surprised to hear how many issues stem from this very basic problem. A high-speed Internet connection is the best choice for VoIP, and if you’re on high-speed Internet, be sure to check that everything is configured right.

For example, if you’re running data and voice at the same time, use a specially configured router to ensure that everything is going where it should. Exploring Quality of Service (QoS) as a way to make sure that packets dedicated to VoIP are the preferred packets is the way to go. Options in a router may allow to you switch on QoS and choose to give high priority to your VoIP software/system.  

QoS is probably one of the most important aspects of managing voice to ensure good quality phone calls. ReliaTel from Tone Software (News - Alert) manages VoIP QoS in real-time while providing analytics to monitor, analyze, and resolve quality issues.

Quality of service technologies are intended to handle what sheer bandwidth or data-compression techniques cannot – that is, guaranteed timely delivery of specific application data or resources to a particular destination or destinations. It assures bandwidth for key applications and users, as well as can put off the need for faster network infrastructure and help in network planning by measuring and managing traffic flow.

ReliaTel can ultimately determine if your current network can support VoIP traffic with high levels of call quality, enable VoIP support teams to identify and resolve the correct VoIP quality issues before service degrades, and deliver VoIP quality trending reports and service level metrics that help improve ongoing voice quality and network performance as usage grows.

Any network can take advantage of QoS for optimum efficiency, whether it is a small corporate network, an Internet service provider or an enterprise network. In fact, it behooves businesses to use QoS when it comes to voice management to ensure optimum control over their communications.

To learn more about all of Tone’s offerings, visit www.tonesoft.com.

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Edited by Allison Boccamazzo