How to Test VoIP Call Quality Effectively? A Simple Guide

One main reason to test VoIP call quality is to ensure a smooth flow of communication, which offers many advantages. For example, let’s say a potential customer contacted your firm. However, they couldn’t hear you clearly as the call was filled with noises and echoes. What would they do next, repeat again and again? Well, the caller would rather contact another business offering the same services.

Additionally, a crystal clear call lets agents know what a client is really talking about and successfully deal with it.

Furthermore, testing VoIP call quality helps identify problems with latency, jitter, and the speed of the internet, among others, that degrade call quality.

Like the saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure,” a quality test also shows underlying problems with your service provider or network, which can be dealt with beforehand before they inflict any conceivable damage.

Moreover, you can analyze your service provider’s performance and decide whether to continue with it or upgrade to a more reliable one.

As stated earlier, latency, jitter, and internet speed are among many factors that affect the call quality of a VoIP.
 

• Latency: In simple terms, latency is the time it takes for a data packet to reach its destination. The higher the latency, the more unreliable a provider is, and vice versa.
• Jitter: It is the inconsistency in receiving data packets. For example, if data arrives inconsistently, it lags a call. Jitter and latency go hand-in-hand.
• Packet Loss: It means the disappearance of data packets that were meant to reach their targeted place. While latency and jitter can be responsible for it, packet loss is mainly caused by network congestion, bugs, or other issues, making some of your voices disappear.
• Internet Speed: The higher the speed of the internet, the quicker the data reaches and vice-versa. Plus, low internet speed means less bandwidth and insufficient quantity to transfer data.
• Codecs: They compress and decompress data to be transferred and have many types, such as G.711, G.722, G.729, and others. Each type has its own characteristics.
• Hardware: At times, outdated equipment can also affect call quality. An old router may not provide the required bandwidth, or a faulty headset/mic can cause voice distortion.
   

The easiest way to test VoIP call quality is to analyze the signals and data of your service provider, whether VoIP or Internet. This gives a clear idea about the impact of latency, jitter, internet speed, and other necessary factors affecting VoIP call quality and guides you in solving these problems.

Though it may sound like a hassle, it is not, thanks to the abundant tools available in the market. The tools may be an application, an online portal, or even hardware.

SolarWinds is a renowned software company offering tools for businesses to manage their IT infrastructure, networks, and systems. VoIP & Network Quality Manager (VNQM) is one of its products. It provides metrics of jitter, latency, Mean Opinion Score (MOS), and others. It also shows the call path and the percentage of packet loss.

WAN (Wide Area Network) Monitoring, IP SLA (Internet Protocol Service Level Agreement) Monitoring and Management, Network Jitter Monitoring, and Cisco CallManager Support are some of VNQM’s other features, and offer a 30-day free trial period.

Having won the 2024 Merit Awards for Business, Fusion Connect is a top cloud communications solutions provider. Moreover, it is backed by Morgan Stanley. The company has an online VoIP quality test tool that easily shows the necessary metrics of download and upload speed, alongside latency, jitter, and quality score.

Fusion Connect doesn’t charge anything, and users can also regularly test their VoIP quality, which ultimately impacts calling capacity.

Unlike other providers who offer multiple services, OpenSpeedTest’s sole purpose is to examine the internet speed. Similar to Fusion Connect, it has an online portal to check download and upload speed and measures jitter but not latency. Rather, it shows ping.

Moreover, OpenSpeedTest also gives suggestions for increasing internet speed, such as installing firewall software, removing unwanted programs that may be using more bandwidth than required, or changing Wi-Fi channels.

Based in California, US, Sage Instruments is a leading wireless and telecommunications test industry. Contrary to the above-mentioned companies, it provides different equipment to assess voice quality and determine delay, noise, and other complications.

The 960B Multi-Channel Test Instrument, 966R Multi-Channel Rack Test Server, and 930i International Test Set are some of Sage Instruments’ top hardware. They test VoIP voice quality and expose illegal/rogue VoIP calls.

Like Sage Instruments, EXFO, a communications equipment company, sells various EXpert Test Tools. Their EXpert VoIP Test Tools generate VoIP calls and quickly verify voice quality using their intuitive user interface.

Moreover, it also presents voice quality metrics such as MOS, and other common affecting factors, like codecs, packet loss, and latency.

There are many measures to implement to improve VoIP call quality, from subscribing to a reliable ISP (Internet Service Provider) to investing in quality equipment, testing the quality of calls in a timely manner, and selecting the right codec.

As VoIP call quality directly depends on the speed of the Internet, the first priority to improve the former is to subscribe to a reliable ISP provider. This directly influences latency and jitter. Furthermore, ensure your VoIP provider is stable and has a high uptime guarantee so that your communication servers are always up and running without hindering any form of communication.

As aforementioned, outdated hardware can also affect call quality and cause noise or echo problems. So, it's better to invest in VoIP-based routers, headsets, and telephones. These devices effectively allocate the bandwidth required for a crystal-clear call, maintaining the user's good experience.

Check your VoIP call quality regularly. This gives a clear picture of how well the ISP and VoIP providers are working. Monitor latency, jitter, and packet loss, and easily deal with problems before they become bigger ones.

There are plenty of online tools, including Fusion Connect and OpenSpeedTest, to evaluate your ISP provider. You can even purchase hardware for more detailed insight and troubleshooting. Despite there being free tools, a purchased one gives a broader review.

Different things can affect wireless signals; a cordless phone can be using Wi-Fi or an application on your computer can be using the network without your knowledge, degrading call quality. Make sure to use ethernet cables to keep your connection stable and get the required amount of signal.

As stated earlier, codecs encode and decode voice data to be transmitted. Since there are different types of codecs, use the right ones. For example, a G.729 codec uses low bandwidth, leading to lower audio quality, whereas G.722 has wideband capabilities, offering top call quality.

Overall, the primary motive behind testing VoIP call quality is to confirm that both callers and receivers are conversing and clearly understanding what they are saying. Some ways to examine it are either using online tools or buying equipment.

While there are different factors like latency, internet speed, and hardware affecting a VoIP call quality, there are also preventive measures to tackle it, such as opting for a reliable ISP/VoIP provider, using ethernet cables rather than Wi-Fi for calling, and regularly testing VoIP call quality, among others.

Since there are many VoIP providers out there, sign up with Calilio today and do not worry about diminishing call quality. It uses HD technology and noise-cancellation features to provide crystal-clear audio.

A 20 ms latency is considered normal for a VoIP call. However, if it is more than 150 ms, it can degrade the call quality.

A jitter test for VoIP calculates and determines whether data packets are being received in a stable manner.

You can reduce VoIP jitter by using a jitter buffer, configuring Quality of Service (QoS) on your router, or subscribing to a reliable ISP provider.