Senior Writer: Jahnavi Vekaria
Date: March 28, 2023Today VoIP platforms are more popular than any other communication channel when it comes to business. The main reason for the rise in popularity of VoIP platforms is they reduce your monthly expenses from 50%-75%. VoIP phone calls offer your team mobility and your business the communication speed it needs to grow.
Have you been missing essential calls for your business and incur all those extra losses due to it? Well, with VoIP for business, none of your customer service calls will go unanswered. Some VoIP providers also allow you to reach your customer with FB messenger and WhatsApp giving higher satisfaction among your consumers.
The mobile VoIP growth is expected to have phenomenal growth to $145.76 billion by 2024. VoIP software provides you with advanced calling features, excellent voice quality, and a bundle of other services so you can get rid of your outdated telephone services and resume a new way of communication.
Voice over Internet Protocol software works round-the-clock to answer every query and demand of its customers. Also, VoIP is a more cost-effective option than other alternatives, especially if you are a small business.
Despite discussing the problems that VoIP solves for a business, many people still believe in common myths about it that revolve around the internet bandwidth that it consumes. So let’s have a close look at the effects of internet bandwidth and the influence of some other factors on your VoIP calls.
Scroll down to this blog, and you will get to know the following things about the uses of VoIP phones.
What is the Minimum Speed Required for Your VoIP Phones to Function Well?
According to the FCC, VoIP systems need an internet speed which is less than 0.5 Mbps download.
Isn’t it too low? But the answer is yes!
Did you know that streaming YouTube videos require six times more internet speed, i.e., 3 to 4 Mbps download speed, and scrolling on social media uses 1 Mbps?
If your bandwidth connection can handle Netflix and social channels, it is probably sufficient to run VoIP too!
Also, VoIP internet requirements can vary as per the number of concurrent calls you will make.
For Example, if you make 1 to 3 calls, then the minimum required internet speed is 100 kbps to 500 Kbps and down.
Your internet speed requirement gradually increases with the number of your calls to increase your call quality.
Bandwidth requirements will also vary as per the processing technology of your VoIP providers. Most of the leading VoIP providers will provide specific recommendations about how much speed is required for smooth functioning.
How to Identify VoIP Bandwidth Speed?
If you buy internet service, then the salesman or the service provider will say that you will get so and so speed. For example, if you buy a plan that delivers up to 50 Mbps internet speed, you must be thinking your internet speed is 50 MBPS.
But many of you must be overwhelmed to know that it is not the actual reflection of your speed.
So, the question remains the same: how to identify the internet speed to identify the VoIP bandwidth. Simple run an internet speed test through the service providing company’s app and identify in real-time how fast is your internet connection!
Then, identify your VoIP internet speed by ensuring these numbers:
1 ) Download Speed
In the download speed check, you must identify how many megabits you can download in a second. According to the FCC, the introductory download rate of any broadband is 3 to 8 Mbps, the medium speed is 12 to 15 Mbps, and the advanced rate is more than 25 Mbps.
2 ) Upload Speed
People often download the data rather than uploading but to ensure your speedy bandwidth connection; you must analyze your upload speed that depicts how many megabits you can upload in a second.
Both upload and download speeds are essential to ensure the highest quality VoIP calls within your workspace because communicating in real-time requires both sending and receiving audio data.
3 ) Ping Rate
Ping rate refers to the identification of the reaction time, which is measured in milliseconds. A fast ping rate and a low number of milliseconds lead you to a more responsive and fast connection.
You must run the speed test many times in a day to identify any variances and understand the speed of your internet connection. Also, run this test on different devices to ensure its versatility because each device uses different Wi-Fi antennas; some may be faster and maybe slower than others.
Other Contributing Factors That Affect VoIP Calls
VoIP calls are affected by many factors rather than just internet speed. Here are the factors that affect the voice quality of VoIP transmission:
1 ) Broadband Quality
The quality and durability of your broadband play a significant role in the effectiveness of VoIP calls. Your VoIP system is impacted due to frequent connection drops and extended periods of downtime. You must get that internet service provider who guarantees a high quality of uptime and uninterrupted internet connectivity.
2 ) Type of Codec
Every business firm with a VoIP telephony system applies an audio codec to liquefy the audio signals at one end and de-liquify the same audio at the other end. The type of codec considerably affects VoIP calls. Many codes can modify various target compression rates, and more CPUs are required to analyze complex codecs, which significantly affects call quality.
3 ) Integration of Outdated Equipment
Poor VoIP transmission quality arises due to outdated routers, inferior cable modems, and ineffective firewalls. If you want to improve your call quality, then you need to update or replace that equipment. Partnering with a VoIP service provider will help you to recognize the actual issues of smooth communication and problems associated with VoIP phones and provide a solution to effectively dealing with this at a specific time.
4 ) Echo Problem
Transferring of IP media to digital signals generates an echo at several points in the network. There are two types of echo immersed in this process of conversion, i.e., hybrid and acoustic. Pick that vendor who effectively monitors the echo and offers its cancellation at the gateway level.
Points to Keep in Mind While Choosing the Right VoIP Service Provider
Choosing the right VoIP service provider in 2021 is quite a tricky process. Every service provider has its different offerings; pick one that suits your pocket and fulfills your requirements.
Let’s take a quick tour of some points and understand how to choose the right VoIP service provider:
1 ) Recognize Your Requirements
The first and foremost thing you need to do is to outline your requirements and features you want and proceed accordingly. The VoIP system offers many basic features with your subscription, including caller ID, call forwarding, and call waiting. You can also add some additional and advanced features like auto-attendants, call transcription, and call screening as per your requirements.
2 ) Make a Budget
After specifying your needs, next, you have to decide how much money you want to spend on the VoIP system. For this, calculate your current telephone bills and other communication-related expenses you are paying. After that, note down all features of the VoIP system you needed, compare your current costs and further VoIP cost, narrow down your options, and pick the provider who offers your options in your budget.
3 ) Security of VoIP System
Security of your transmission is a necessity for business communication. Pick the provider who ensures maximum security of data passing via the internet and provides a robust encryption framework, advanced security features.
4 ) Better Customer Support
VoIP services are not a one-shot method; it needs continuous evaluation and customer support. It starts from initial setup to third-party integration and extended to problem-solving customer support, which will be available 24*7 to handle any issues.
Conclusion
Are you ready to switch to VoIP? Structure your communication system, pick an expert internet and VoIP service provider that delivers premium quality VoIP phone calls and cloud-based transmission services. Revolutionize the communication system of your business.
Set up your VoIP phone number in just seven easy steps with CallHippo.
Jahnavi Vekaria is a Senior Content Writer at an E-commerce company, that has offices in India and the USA.
With a savvy understanding of language and search, Jahnavi grew her love of the IT and SaaS industry’s technical side, gravitating towards learning about SEO, audits, crawls, and other aspects of digital marketing.
