Voice delay or latency is characterized as the amount of time it takes for speech to exit the speaker’s mouth and reach the listener’s ear. Latency sounds like an echo.

This can happen all the time to data service but usually goes unnoticed, but there is no escaping latency with a voice service.

The Solution: Prioritize

Prioritise Voice traffic over your network. Your IT Manager can assist with this as there are various options dependent on the route cause; Policy based network management, bandwidth reservation, Type of Service, Class of Service, and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) are all widely used techniques for prioritising traffic. A good quality router can solve many of these issues and will result in a business quality Phone Service.

You may have been supplied with or trying to utilise a router that is not compatible with Voice Services. Although Router may all look the same and do the same job for an “End User” on a Technical Level they are all very different and have a different range of settings.

Your Supplier should always Provide or Recommend a Router that is suitable for your Cloud Based Voice Service.

The Solution: Install a Recommended Router

This is one of the most common causes of call quality issues. Many small businesses use their internet connection for both voice and data. This is perfectly fine as long as your router has the ability to prioritize traffic.

Most Internet Service Providers (ISP) are designed for web surfing and not voice services. Transporting voice packets is different and requires an additional set of internet protocols that your ISP may not be providing.

The Solution: Review Internet Connection

A Leased Line Service with uncontended bandwidth is the best way to ensure a high quality internet connection. However this doesn’t suit everyone’s budgets so an Assured Broadband Connection or at the very least a Strong Dedicated Broadband Connection for your Voice Service will definitely help and is our Standard Recommendation. Contact Us to discuss the various connections available to you.

Cloud Hosted Voice Services, in whichever variety, are less than 10-years old. Many Small Businesses also rely on External IT Providers so if you haven’t been correctly advised by your Voice Provider and the correct Network Configurations are not in place you can expect to have call quality issues.

The Solution: Network Configuration

This is one of the easiest and least expensive problems to correct. Midland Telecom will always supply a Configuration Document in advance of install to be passed to the IT Manager. As each Solution is different you will need to speak with your provider for the correct configuration settings.