TouchPoint Networks Blog Articles

Improve Communication with VoIP Solutions

October 16th, 2023 by admin

A headset resting on a laptop keyboard

In the business world, every CEO is concerned with improving their bottom line. Coming up with innovative strategies to meet the goals is the key to success. This is where VoIP comes in. Think of it as your friendly and highly capable accountant, who cuts down your phone bills and other digital expenses significantly. VoIP allows businesses to make calls over the internet, lowering long-distance and international call costs.

One of the biggest benefits VoIP offers is scalability. Businesses grow unexpectedly, which VoIP adapts to seamlessly. For example, if you are expanding your business, the first thing you do is hire more employees. VoIP ensures an open communication line with everyone in the business without costly hardware installation.

VoIP isn't just about making calls. Think of it as a Swiss Army knife. It comes loaded with various features, such as voicemail to email transcription, call forwarding, caller ID, whiteboarding, video conferencing, auto-attendants, and more. These help ensure that your business runs like a well-oiled machine.

Despite all its wonderful features, this system has its challenges, including voice delays, feedback, etc. Let's take a look at some tips on how to improve communication with VoIP:

Ensure Sufficient Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the number one factor that affects VoIP's voice quality. The choice of audio codec significantly impacts bandwidth usage. Codecs compress voice data to reduce the amount of data transmitted. Common codecs include G.711 (64 Kbps) and G.729 (8 Kbps). Higher-quality codecs like G.711 consume more bandwidth.

Choose a codec according to your work requirements. If you run a large enterprise, that relies on phone calls, choose G.711. Check the QoS settings on your router. QoS prioritizes VoIP traffic over other internet activities, ensuring that voice calls receive the necessary bandwidth for high-quality communication.

Stop Feedback

Feedback in VoIP occurs when the microphone picks up the sound from the speaker, creating a loop that results in a high-pitched, often annoying sound. This is more likely to happen in VoIP calls due to the use of microphones and speakers in close proximity.

Low-frequency phones can mitigate this by focusing on transmitting sound in the lower frequency range, which is less likely to interfere with the mid and high-frequency sounds produced by the speaker. This separation of frequencies reduces the chances of feedback.

Consider VoIP Acceleration

VoIP acceleration is a process that optimizes the transmission of voice data packets over the internet, making calls smoother and more reliable.

VoIP calls involve the transmission of data packets containing audio information. A VoIP accelerator uses packet prioritization techniques to ensure that voice packets are given higher priority over other types of data packets, such as file downloads and emails. This helps reduce latency and ensures real-time delivery of voice packets.

Buy High-Quality Hardware

It's important to understand the hardware components of VoIP systems. Here are some things you need to consider before buying a VoIP phone for your system.

  • IP Phones: These connect directly to your network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi and come in various models, including conference phones and desk phones.
  • Wireless Headsets: Provide mobility and flexibility, allowing users to move around the office while on a call. Buy one with quality insulation for better call clarity.
  • Routers and Switches: Quality of Service (QoS) enabled routers and switches prioritize VoIP traffic, ensuring consistent call quality. Gigabit Ethernet switches are recommended for high-speed data transmission.
  • Noise Reduction: These devices filter out background noise, ensuring clear communication even in noisy environments.

Work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to Implement QoS

Collaborating with an Internet Service Provider that supports QoS allows you to maintain a stable and high-performing internet connection. QoS assigns different priority levels to different traffic types based on their importance and application requirements. This prioritization helps reduce network congestion, minimizing packet loss, and ensuring low latency for critical applications. In simpler terms, QoS ensures data gets through without delays.

QoS ensures the internet connection remains consistent, even during peak usage hours. For businesses relying on VoIP communication and cloud services, QoS helps maintain the reliability of applications, ensures seamless customer interactions, and boosts productivity.

With QoS in place, your ISP can assign bandwidth according to demand. This means that bandwidth is distributed efficiently, preventing a user or an application from hogging it and causing congestion.

VoIP is not just a technological advancement but a strategic move that positively impacts your business's cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and overall success. Its advanced features make it a must-have tool in today's business landscape. So, whether you are running a small startup or a multinational corporation, VoIP is “THE” communication solution that will propel your business to new heights.

TouchPoint Networks is a technological solutions provider. With more than 22 years of experience, the company has been helping businesses with VoIP, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and more.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a technology that allows you to make and receive phone calls over the internet. It's a great way to save money on your phone bill and improve your communication.

If you're looking for a way to improve your communication, VoIP solutions are a great option.

If you want to learn more about how to improve communication with VoIP solutions, contact us today.

Posted in: Solutions