How can I improve VoIP quality at our office?
We have a VoIP phone service at the office, and generally most people are satisfied with it. At times though, the quality drops, especially when everyone is in the office and at their desks. Our employees are generally younger, artistic types who listen to a lot of music while they work. We allow people to use iTunes, Pandora, Turntable, etc. at work, and have no desire to change what we feel is an important part of the atmosphere of our company. Of course, having acceptable voice call quality is also very important, and all that data is coming in through the same pipe. Short of blocking streaming music services, how can we make sure that our VoIP phone service call quality is acceptable?
Answers
You might want to experiment with various apps. Here's a roundup of VoIP apps:
Five Best VoIP or Voice Chat Apps
http://lifehacker.com/5781404/the-five-best-voip-or-voice-chat-apps
"Whether you use them for business communication, talking to family over long distances, or just fragging your friends over the latest FPS, communication has been revolutionized by voice calling apps. Here's a look at the five most popular options for having voice conversations over the internet. "
I'd also keep an eye on your network usage and try to maintain some bandwidth for VoIP. Watch out for other things that might slow down VoIP on your network.
- Share this answer
- Permalink
Related Questions
I would like to cut the telephone cord at my house and switch over to a VoIP system. It would save me hundreds of dollars per year, but...
Anyone?
Is it possible to have both good quality of calls and save money on telephone service by utilizing Sip Trunking for voice calls and...
Is there an easy way to determine the amount of bandwidth required for a given number of voice paths through an IP network? I want to...
Consumers have embraced "cutting the cord", and many have eliminated their cable and telephone bills through use of cell phones, VOiP...
Ask a question
White Papers & Webcasts
Webcast On Demand
Virtustream (Vayence) video taking a 3000-Seat SAP Environment to the Cloud
Sponsor: NetApp
See more White Papers | Webcasts
It sounds like you have already identified the cause of your VoIP quality issues - a lot of people simultaneously on the network using relatively bandwidth intensive programs as they stream music/video. What you might want to look into is how to control network traffic so that you can prioritize VoIP over non-crucial use. You might want to explore Quality of Service (QoS) as a way to make sure that packets dedicated to VoIP become the preferred packets. It depends on the router, but there may be options in the setup software where you can switch on QoS and choose to give priority to your VoIP software/system.