Similar to call quality fluctuating between different cell phone providers, call quality fluctuates between Hosted VoIP providers. Now, with the right Hosted VoIP provider, your call quality will be as good, or better, than a regular phone line. But with the wrong Hosted VoIP provider, you’ll find yourself writing a scathing G2Crowd review.
Here are three tips to help you find the best call quality VoIP service for your business.
#1. The right number of data centers
Data centers are key in determining the best call quality VoIP service. Specifically, you need a Hosted VoIP provider with at least half a dozen, well-distributed data centers. This will help you identify the cream of the crop in Hosted VoIP providers because many only have two or three data centers divided on the east and west coast. More data centers allows for reduced latency and better reliability.
For example, Jive Cloud has a true, multi-tenant platform distributed across 10 data centers. “Jive has 7 data centers in the United States,” explains Chris Price, Director of Sales Engineering, “which are strategically placed to shorten paths from the clients networks to the Jive network. This lowers the impact of latency and jitter, which are the enemy of voice quality.”
#2. Preparation
An article lists 5 causes of poor VoIP call quality, which include:
- Poor internet connection
- Inadequate router
- Improperly configured network
This article correctly diagnoses the problems of poor VoIP call quality, but their cure is problematic. In this article, the cure is “correcting” the problems. Yes, a “good” Hosted VoIP provider works with you on perfecting your voice quality, but the best call quality VoIP service requires preparation.
A VoIP quality test and helpful engineers
For example, Jive works preemptively. We know that a bad internet connection and improperly configured network causes poor call quality, so we run a VoIP quality test to discover those issues beforehand.
As our customers do a VoIP speed test with our tool, Jive View, we look at the results of the VoIP quality test to identify any VoIP incompatibility that cause poor voice quality.
In addition to providing software to pinpoint problems, Jive’s Field Engineers and support staff help our customers address those problems. “This gives our customers the tools and help they need to correct any network or internet issues, before they harm the quality of their VoIP experience,” explains Nick Nelson, Engineering Services Manager.
So between our VoIP quality test and helpful engineers, Jive prepare our customers for the best call quality VoIP service.
#3. Using the right audio codec
Call quality is also determined by the audio codecs a Hosted VoIP providers uses. Codecs are standard in the industry. For example, when dialing out to external numbers, Jive uses G711, which is pretty standard across providers.
But there are differentiators between codecs used for internal calls. Some Hosted VoIP providers prefer audio codecs, like G729, that decrease the bandwidth usage. But by decreasing the bandwidth usage, G729 sacrifices voice quality.
Instead of G729, Jive uses codec G722 when calling extension to extension. What does that mean for customers? Nick Nelson translates this into layman’s terms: “G722 is an HD codec. This gives you the crisp sound that so many of our Jive customers compliment.”
And that HD audio quality includes the Jive mobile app. Jive Mobile has an audio codec ability with Opus that can scale between 8 and 50kps to compensate and maintain call quality,
If these past few paragraphs are a little too technical, just remember that in-network calls, Jive provides HD audio quality.
The best call quality VoIP service
So if you want to ensure the best call quality VoIP service, make sure you look at a Hosted VoIP provider’s data centers, whether they prep their customers for the best VoIP sound quality, and ask about what codec they use for internal calls.
If you want to save time searching and asking providers about these three things, just go with Jive. Jive is a Hosted VoIP provider that meets all three of these requirements and is well known for their voice quality. So, get a quote and talk to a Jive rep today!
