What is VoIP QoS & How Does it Impact Voice Quality?
Would you be shocked to find out that the speed of your internet connection isn’t the reason your VoIP connection is quality or not? According to the FCC, for a VoIP call, you need a minimum speed of 0.5Mbps, not a substantial initial need at first glance. It’s when you start adding every office activity for every employee together that things get tricky:
- General browsing and email – 1Mbps minimum
- File downloading – 10Mbps minimum
- HD video teleconferencing – 6Mbps minimum
Speed plays a part, but the more significant concern is how your network handles and transfers data.
Do you want your data to be treated on a first-come-first-served basis, or should there be a more strategic manner in which it should be treated? You certainly don’t want to be the business that gambles and treats its network data like you threw a handful of magnetic letters against the fridge and expect a perfectly written poem.
VoIP QoS is here to help direct your network data to act in an orderly fashion.
What is Quality of Service (QoS) for VoIP?
Quality of service for VoIP is the router’s prioritization of voice traffic through the network. By default, routers are set to allow everything all at once instead of having priorities established. To be fair, prioritization isn’t needed in most cases, for example, your home network; but in an office setting where VoIP is enabled, tuning your network traffic is a game changer.
Why Does VoIP QoS Matter?
The experience your customers receive can make or break your business. If they call in and hear voice disruptions or delays of any kind, that can negatively skew their feeling for your entire business. Here are some additional examples:
- Outbound prospecting
- Customer support
- Inbound sales inquiries
- Meetings and customer training
According to a G2 report, 83 percent of companies have lost customers, missed deadlines, or fired employees because of communication problems. A crisp voice and video communication are essential for your business’s reputation and credibility.
How Does VoIP QoS Work?
The best way to describe how VoIP QoS functions is to think of QoS as the traffic cop in the middle of an intersection when it’s rush hour and the power is out, directing traffic without breaking a sweat. By activating QoS and designating what traffic is prioritized, the seemingly chaotic has defined criteria, and the traffic cop can get to work. The traffic on the network is flowing at top speed, then a call comes in, and all data pauses to allow for the call to come through unincumbered, and the lanes are cleared for the best possible connection.
Activating QoS doesn’t mean all data stops working; it’s just that if there is congestion or network strain, the voice call gets the right-of-way. That prioritization is vital because your calls are the lifeline to your customers. A report from Salesforce found that 71 percent of customers made purchase decisions based on customer service quality.
Optimize Your VoIP QoS
Setting up your VoIP QoS will need to be done in coordination with your internet and VoIP providers. There can be specific setups and hardware that are preferred and need to be discussed, so prepare yourself.
- Choose a VoIP provider with a reliable network: Find out the capabilities of the provider and how they monitor your service. Uptime is essential, but so are the online reviews and reputation of their support.
- Use wired connections instead of Wi-Fi: VoIP will run better over hardlines if you have desktop phones or softphones on your computers. Wi-Fi can have unexpected network congestion and interference from other electrical devices and building materials.
- Manage bandwidth: Understand your internet usage and how it’s handled. Review previous months to see what’s taking up most of your bandwidth and how that measures against any provider caps.
- Prioritize VoIP traffic: Verify your router is capable of VoIP, then work with your provider to enable QoS and tweak the settings to fit your needs.
- Monitor and adjust: VoIP QoS is a vital piece of your business communications infrastructure, so regular quality checks, firmware updates, and occasional updates may be needed.
Strengthen Your Voice Quality with VoIP QoS from the Experts at UBT
By upgrading your business communications to VoIP, you’re already leaps and bounds above your competition. Honing your setup to include VoIP QoS will make a quality choice even better. Work with an expert provider like UBT to find every performance boost that gives you the edge. Contact us today to explore how UBT can take your voice communications from good to great!
