Unified Communication has become the prime method of communication, giving companies a flexible scalable system that allow users connect from any location and communicate through advanced technologies. However, VoIP phone systems — with their advanced features, high voice quality, and more — are not devoid of possible quality issues The underlying technology supporting VoIP is the network. As Voice is a critical application being able to troubleshoot these problems effectively and in a timely manner is critical to your continuing operations as Downtime translates to lost productivity, revenue, and customer satisfaction
VoIP is extremely sensitive to delay and packet loss compared to other network applications such as web and e-mail services. This presents a real challenge and means we need to look at network statistics from a different perspective.
Network-Related VoIP Symptoms
Examples that you might be asked to troubleshoot include:
- Network Delay can cause a delay between the time you talk and when the other side hears you. You may start talking not realizing that the other party has already started talking
- Packet Loss can cause "holes" in the conversation where the other side is talking and you don't hear anything.
- Jitter can cause muffled or garbled words or high distortion
- You can hear an echo when you talk. This can be exacerbated by network problems, but a constant echo is usually not caused by network problems.
- Phone registration issues.
Tools To Debug and Troubleshoot VOIP
When you are having these problems you are going to need the right tools to troubleshoot so that you have insight into where the problem is happening.
Network Monitoring
When you are having these problems you are going to need the right tools to troubleshoot so that you have insight into where the problem is happening.
Packet Capture Tools
This technique allows you to capture the actual calls and view what is actually getting sent and received by VOIP devices.
