Call Quality & Network Troubleshooting

Call quality relies heavily on your internal network and your ISP. Most quality issues are caused by poor internet connections, packet loss, high latency and saturated connections.

How do I know I have what's causing my call quality issues?

• Network or Internet related
  • Choppy calls
  • Dropped calls
  • Echo on calls
  • 3 second delays when talking
  • 1 way audio
    
    
• Equipment-related
  
  • Cordless phone range issue
  • Static or crackling sounds
  • Won’t power on
  • Dead batteries
  • Sticky keys

Please follow the guideline below to troubleshoot and resolve call quality issues.

Network or Internet Related

1. Reboot your phones. This is a commonly overlooked step that resolved a majority of the issues.
   
   
2. Reboot your ISP modem and network router. Rebooting your networking equipment clears out tasks that may of stalled out that are causing a delay within your network.
   
   
3. Check the Admin Portal for MOS scores. Log in to either the Admin Portal or SmartPBX and look at your recent call quality metrics. Consistent Fair or Poor readings over a full day or multiple days is a good indication that there are ISP issues.
   
   Good:
   
   An occiasional decline into the red is normal and can be expected on public internet connections.
   
   
   Bad - lots of calls in the red:
   
   
   If your calls are consistently in the red zone, please troubleshoot your network and ISP, starting from the ISP inward. The biggest bottleneck is your local internet connection.
   
   
4. Are you using a backup cellular connection or hotspot? 4G Cellular hotspots/backups are temporary solutions and are not a guaranteed and consistent connection. The performance varies too frequently. If your phones are still using your backup ISP after a failover event, you can get them back on the primary by rebooting them (either physically or by clicking the reboot button in the SimpleVoIP portal). 
   
   If your signal strength is low, move your 4G modem or upgrade the antenna to improve it's performance. Some models allow you to place an antenna on your roof.
   
   You can likely determine the ISP being used by each phone at your location in the Admin Portal. Hover over the phone count and view the IP addresses to see if they match.
   
   
   
   
5. Are you using all your bandwidth? 
   Streaming services such as Netflix, Youtube, or Spotify can cause voice degredation. This can happen sporadically and most commonly during high volume periods.
   
   A properly set up network can help these issues by identifying phone traffic and giving it priority over all other types of traffic. A few of the strategies you can implement on your router are:
    
   • Throttle bandwidth intensive applications. Put limits on streaming services or guest WiFi in aggregate and on a per-device basis.
   • Create a QoS policy: A Quality of Service (QoS) policy is implemented in your router and will ensure phones have access to the fast lane and don't get run over by Netflix.
   • Enable traffic shaping or policing: This often works in conjunction with a properly implemented QoS policy to identify the size of your internet circuit and tell the router when to start enforcing priority. Some routers need it explicitly set while others are dynamic and automatic.
   • Configure a dedicated VLAN for your phones. While not necessarily linked to voice quality, this is a best practice that will virtually segment your phones on your local area network. It's a good security practice as well as a tool used to enable QoS.
     
     For more detailed information on our network configuration best practices, read this article: Prepare your Network for VoIP
6. Is the Internet connection causing problems? 
   Broadband is a shared technology, which means it's oversubscribed and your neighbors are all sharing bandwidth. The good news is there's a lot of bandwidth out there, but every day there seems to be a new bandwidth-hungry streaming service. 
   
   
   1. High Utilization: check your ISP's bandwidth reports and see if you are maxing out your connection. Once you get to about 90% of your bandwidth, the remaining 10% gets very choppy and can cause poor voice quality and a general slowdown of internet. If this is the case, see #3 above, implement a QoS policy, upgrade your ISP package or throttle bandwidth hogs.
      
      
   2. Packet Loss: This happens when you have over utilization of your internet connection but can also happen if you have faulty wiring inside your location or outside on the street. The result of packet loss is gaps in your conversation. You are literally "losing" pieces of the conversation. Check your router and ISP reporting for packet loss and open a ticket with your ISP if you suspect they are at fault. Sometimes rebooting the ISP modem or replacing the cables can fix these issues quickly.
      
      
   3. High Latency: Normal latency can vary based on your ISP, but it's important to stay consistent. If your ISP reports show consistent spikes it will affect voice quality. Open a ticket with your ISP to address inconsistent latency on your circuit.
7. Check all cables
   A loose or damaged cable can cause packet loss on your local network. Replug all cables in your setup or try replacing them. This includes patch cables to the phone, from the switch to the router, from the router to the ISP modem and the cable from your modem to the ISP box outside. 
8. Check your switch and router connections: 
   Duplex mismatches cause lots of problems with voice. Bent or broken network cables are bad as well.

Equipment Related

1. Static or crackling sounds (wired) – if on a wired phone this is normally caused by a bad phone cord. If shifting the cord produces crackling, you need a new phone cord. Advise a local purchase or open a ticket and we'll send you a new one.
2. Static or crackling sounds (cordless/DECT) – Check the signal strength as you walk around the location. For additional range send the ticket to SV for a DECT repeater to be ordered. If the issue is happening near the base, relocate the base or move away from equipment that may cause interference.
3. Phone not connecting to a WiFi network (network unavailable)
   1. Reseat the wireless dongle
   2. If the screen says “wifi adapter added” then you will have to press the OK softkey (button 4 under the screen). If nothing happens, it’s a bad dongle. Open a ticket to order a replacement dongle.