VoIP has become essential for companies and businesses for communication around the world. It offers a modern, cloud-based system that’s easy to use and more affordable than traditional telephones.
VoIP is beneficial for you if you have to talk to your customers, clients, and employees regularly. But what if calls repeatedly drop in the middle of a conversation?
It’ll be an embarrassing situation for you, especially if it happens repeatedly. There are several reasons behind this issue, such as latency or internet jitter. You can resolve the issue following the troubleshooting steps discussed in this article.
Let’s dive into the details.
Network Issues
If you can’t make calls or deal with one-way audio, the reason can be network or LAN issues. It causes problems in the computers or the devices connected to them, such as the router. The router can malfunction, or you are using the wrong device for VoIP.
For VoIP usage, you have to use a router that can prioritize the calls through the internet, known as Quality of Services or quality of service in the short term. When your router prioritizes the calls, it’ll avoid network congestion. So whenever you choose the router for VoIP, make sure it has the right features to make quality calls.
Here is how you can check your LAN is working right:
- Unplug the router, wait for seconds, and then plug it again. Try to adjust router settings as well.
- Update the Qos settings for VoIP.
- Disable forward ports or SIP ALG.
- Check for router updates.
Phone And Voice Quality
The question might concern you why my calls dropped in the middle of an important meeting, or I’ve to face glitchy voice quality. To understand this issue, you first need to understand how VoIP works.
VoIP transforms voice inputs into data packets and combines them through a codec. Then transfer them through the internet. When sometimes data packets of voice are lost during the transmission, the quality of the call is affected. The voice quality depends on the time interval of data packets.
When the data packets don’t travel in a specific order, they cause choppy connections, and VoIP calls may not work.
To troubleshoot this issue, you can follow:
- Remove any interference after VoIP speed test.
- Make sure your router is connected correctly.
WAN And Internet Connection
If you’re looking for choppy voice problems, the culprit is WAN and network connectivity. The WAN issue isn’t similar to LAN or network problems. Instead, it’s more complex due to their extension beyond your connecting hardware. Your internet service provider can also originate this issue.
Make sure your data plan is VIP and can support VoIP calls. Keep in mind that not every bundle can manage a VoIP call.
You can test your data plans and connectivity:
- Test your bandwidth by running a speed test. It will tell you if your data bundle can manage VoIP calls or not.
- A ping test is also helpful in tracking packet losses.
- Make sure to plug your router correctly and then reboot it.
- Reduces the increase in bandwidth usage: close unnecessary apps and browser tabs.
Security
You must have enabled VoIP phone security because it helps secure your sensitive information from hackers. But it can lead to inconvenience such as VoIP deregistration, firewall attacks, and not working VoIP calls.
How to resolve this issue?
- Reset password: Usually, the VoIP calls accounts are on the hit list of hackers as these accounts share a lot of information and data. This is the reason the experts always recommend using a strong password. Changing your password too often can also help.
- Active security features: Security features like firewalls can also help you detect suspicious VoIP traffic or fraudulent activity that are signs of hacking attacks.
- Setup VLAN tagging: This will help in the flow of internet call traffic and prioritizing the security.
Use Of Incompatible Devices
Use of outdated devices, such as trying to connect a printer or fax machine with your cloud telephone, and the chances are high that you’ll encounter some issues because the devices are not compatible.
However, you can resolve the issues with third-party devices attached to your cloudy telephony.
- Use Compatible Devices: using compatible devices such as a fax bridge will help connect third-party devices to your VoIP equipment.
- Matching security components: your security components can also cause issues to your VoIP device and other third-party equipment attached to it. Ask your ISP to make your security devices compatible with your cloudy telephony system.
Avoid Using Wireless Cables
Wired connections were the only option for PCs or laptops in the past. They have been replaced by wireless devices that provide the fastest loading speed.
A significant issue with a wireless connection is that signals have to pass through physical obstacles. The wired connections are much faster because you don’t have to face such problems.
So you can use an ethernet wired connection easily because all motherboards are provided with such ethernet ports. The benefit of using this is it gives direct nourishment to your connection that helps you avoid VoIP issues.
Contact Your ISP
Sometimes you try your best to resolve the issue, but you cannot handle it independently. In this situation, you can contact your internet service provider. If there is no issue with your modem or router and connection, calling ISP will be the best idea.
If you still try to fix the issues on your own, it’ll rise to other problems. So make sure to ask your VoIP provider to check the problem on his end. Also, ask him to update your data bundle into VIP.
Also Check: How To Fix Memory Management Error In Windows 10?
Final Thoughts
VoIP service has become essential for companies and businesses that communicate with their customers regularly. Dropping calls, one-way audio, and choppy and glitchy voice quality are the issues users face.
Latency, jitter, and several other reasons can cause these problems. We have tried to compile a list of the best possible solutions for VoIP troubleshooting. You can fix these by following the instructions mentioned in the article. Let us know in the comments section whether this article was helpful. We’ll love to hear your thoughts.
Maryam has been teaching IT as a school teacher for over a decade, and her main subject of choice is Internet safety, especially helping parents keep their families safe and secure online. When Maryam is not teaching or writing she is a big fan of the outdoors, the complete opposite of staring at a computer screen for hours.
