Every person with an internet connection has made a VoIP call at some point in their life. But the VoIP phone service is not used only in social interactions but has also become an important tool for businesses, with approximately 31% of them using VoIP systems. Many SMEs use VoIP calls to communicate their services to customers, close deals, or talk about any problem the client is facing. It is also used between employees to connect remotely, making their collaboration much easier and more efficient.
Using a VoIP connection is an easy and quick way for customers to contact you and can help you raise your clients’ satisfaction levels. They may have questions that need immediate answers and can’t wait for an email. VoIP calls offer clearer voice quality, more flexibility, and have lower costs.
Keeping in mind that VoIP calls have become a vital element of any business nowadays, poor call quality can highly damage your team cooperation or your customer’s buying stage. How can you communicate the benefits of your product or service to your client if your poor VoIP connection is making the conversation impossible?
That’s why a great VoIP call quality is essential for your business’s progress, be it an e-commerce company, travel or marketing agency, real estate firm, etc. It provides flexibility and mobility, especially in such times where 32% of all employees worldwide are remote workers.
To ensure that your business won’t suffer from poor call quality, make sure to perform a VoIP test. VoIP quality testing is crucial to your company and will help you improve the communication between your team and clients.
In our article, we will talk about everything you should know on VoIP quality testing, so you can make sure your customer support department is performing great and that your team’s cooperation is going well too.
Keep on reading to learn all about:
- What are VoIP services?
- How does VoIP work?
- Why should you use VoIP over other methods?
- What is a VoIP test?
- Importance of performing a VoIP quality test
- How can you test VoIP quality?
- What is a great VoIP phone system you can use?
What you need to know about VoIP tests
What are VoIP services?
To learn what is a VoIP quality test, you first need to grasp a better understanding of VoIP service. A VoIP provider is an acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol (IP) that allows calls over the internet. It converts the user’s voice to digital signals, sends them through the internet, and converts them to sounds. With this technology, you won’t need to use the local phone system as long as you have a network connection.
You can use a VoIP connection for:
- Audio calls
- Video calls
- SMS texts
- Voicemail
- Team chats, etc.
How does VoIP work?
- Your phone connects to your internet router.
- When you dial another user, your VoIP phone system converts the sounds to digital data and splits it into smaller packets.
- The data is then sent to your router, which then sends the information packets.
- The receiving VoIP phone puts these data packets into order and converts them into sounds.
Why should you use VoIP over other methods?
In today’s capitalist world, with the same type of products in the market, offering the best customer service helps you differ from your competitors. You can improve your customer service in many ways.
Choosing VoIP phone service for your business calls offers many advantages for your business, just as the table below shows.
Qualities of VoIP phones over landline phones:
- Lower cost
- Flexible
- Call quality
Meanwhile, landline phones have disadvantages like:
- Affected by power outages
- Call location can’t be tracked
What is a VoIP test?
A VoIP quality test, also known as the VoIP speed test, measures your internet connection’s speed and latency. Through it, you can check if your internet bandwidth can support VoIP calling and estimate its performance. The higher the bandwidth, the higher the quality of your voice call. Network bandwidth determines how fast data travels and how fast your connection is. A VoIP test checks if your internet connection can allow more simultaneous VoIP calls.
Importance of performing a VoIP quality test
Poor voice quality will leave your client with a bad taste from your customer service call. It will damage your authority and move your prospects away from you. That’s why you should pay attention to your call quality over VoIP. Leveraging VoIP quality testing can help you review the performance of your call through a set of components.
Every SME who signs up for a VoIP phone system should first run a VoIP speed test. Even existing users should estimate their call quality from time to time if they want to offer excellent support to their customers. Working with software that allows you to check your VoIP quality is a great tool investment that can help you improve your business’ reputation.
How can you test VoIP quality?
You can check the quality of your VoIP by checking your:
- Upload speed
- Download speed
- Jitter
- Latency
Why do all these elements matter? Let’s discover more below.
- Upload speed
If your VoIP quality tests show high upload speed, that means the user on the other side of the phone can hear you easily. Three megabits are the ideal speed for uploads, and everything below that level means your call quality will suffer.
- Download speed
Download speeds should also be around 100-300 kbps or three megabits per second. It helps determine how many simultaneous calls your network can take and the ability to hear the person on the other side.
- Jitter
Jitter got to do with packets of data that are sent out of order. It also occurs when packets are delayed. When such packets are delayed, the quality of your voice calls falls. Make sure that the jitter is below 15-20ms, or else you will have to upgrade your bandwidth.
- Latency
Latency is the time it takes to send and receive the data. Higher latency can worsen call performance. Aim for a latency level 150 milliseconds or below.
Evaluating these elements is essential because they all have to do with the quality of your voice call. There are many tools out there that you can use to check your internet service provider’s latency, jitter, upload, and download speed. Running these types of tests will help you determine if your call quality is good enough to talk to your customers so you can avoid dropped calls or delayed sounds.
There are also other factors that affect VoIP quality. Only checking your internet connection when you are facing issues might leave them unresolved. The quality of handsets and router rules also affect VoIP calls. Ensure to audit your system regularly by checking all the pieces of equipment and the software you are using.
Also, make sure to pick an excellent VoIP monitoring software for your business, especially one with a great reputation and a proven track record for satisfying its customers. Choose a VoIP phone system that supports interconnectivity and offers interaction with a global audience. Don’t forget to check firewalls as they might block traffic flow too.
What is a great VoIP phone system you can use?
As you saw, you should choose your VoIP provider carefully because issues that can occur can genuinely damage your business. Make sure that the tool you are using helps you solve issues quickly.
There are many VoIP system providers out there that you can choose from. One sophisticated business phone system that you can try is Ringblaze. The tool helps you maximize convenience by offering immediate insights. Each member of your team can have access to resolved and unresolved call issues so they can work immediately on fixing any problem that occurs.
That way, you can make sure your customers are all satisfied. Ringblaze can be used from any part of the world without worrying about missed calls and poor connections. Ringblaze even offers a free trial so hurry up and sign up to show your beloved customers the best service they deserve!
Reasons to use Ringblaze:
- You can set up your widget in 15 minutes
- Chat support
- Desktop – Windows deployment
- Desktop – Mac deployment
- Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
- Easy to use
- Affordable
Conclusion
Hopefully, our article on VoIP quality tests has taught you everything you need to know about them. We started this article by explaining what VoIP calls are to understand better what a VoIP test is. We described this technology, added what you can use it for, and then explained how it works.
Later in our article, we compared VoIP with other communication systems used by businesses. To us, a VoIP provider is the best method you can use to offer your customer service. We also explained a VoIP speed test and the importance of performing one. We then went into deeper details with our next section informing you about different methods to test your internet speed.
Don’t forget that your connection is not the only factor that affects the quality of your calls. Choosing a great VoIP provider is crucial for the quality of your calls too. Make sure to select a high-quality one like so you won’t suffer from any troubleshooting when you are serving your customers.
We hope our article was informative and taught you a lot about VoIP quality tests. We hope that you will make the right choice when picking out a VoIP tool for your business. Don’t forget that your customers should always come first, so invest in the best one.
FAQs
How do I test VoIP quality?
VoIP quality test will evaluate the speed of the data being transmitted from your network to another by measuring the most important aspects of your internet connection. Running these tests will help you understand your internet’s bandwidth capacity and speed. You can check the quality of your VoIP service provider by checking its jitter, latency, upload, and download speed of it.
If the quality of your VoIP call is great, that means that you and the other user can both hear each other pretty well with no dropped sounds occurring. Internet stability alone is not the only factor that can influence call quality. Except for internet issues, you should also address troubles attributed to your VoIP structure.
How is VoIP performance measured?
Upload speeds tell you how easily the other phone user can hear you. Upload speeds shouldn’t be below three megabits, or the call quality won’t be great. On the other hand, the download speeds tell you how well you can hear the other person. The download speeds should be around 100-300 kbps.
Another feature that helps you measure VoIP performance is Jitter. Jitter happens when packets of data are delayed and sent out of order. It should be below 15-20ms, or the voice quality during your call will suffer. The last feature that helps determine the bandwidth of your internet connection is latency. Latency is defined as the time it takes to send and receive the data. Its level should be around 150 milliseconds or below.
What is the quality of VoIP?
Since VoIP is the transmission of voice and telephony data through the internet service, the quality of VoIP is how well this data is transferred. VoIP quality relies heavily on a steady internet connection. That’s why it’s important to perform scans of your network often.
Troubleshooting sounds and choppy audio mean that you are facing quality problems. Meanwhile, if your voice calls are responsive and clear, that means that the data packets are sent successfully from one side to another.
How do I test VoIP issues?
Except running tests for Jitter, latency, etc., you can also test for VoIP issues in other ways. After you have verified your network stability, test your devices and headsets. Make sure you also have quality network connection cables for all your devices.Put your VoIP phones into the other user’s Virtual Local Area Network to segment it from other traffic. Prioritize SIP traffic with QoS on your router. And most importantly, don’t forget to choose a reputable VoIP tool like Ringblaze. Business phone systems like Ringblaze can be used from any part of the world and offer immediate insights.
