Common VoIP Problems & How to Troubleshoot Them

nobody likes dealing with VoIP issues
from choppy voices to dropped calls
delays and routing messages nothing gets
in the way of business faster than an
unreliable void Connection in this video
we're going to give you five ways to
troubleshoot so that you can get your
team back cabinet full speed since most
issues that affect call Quality derive
from the network let's start by
performing some routine troubleshooting
there like all computer issues the best
place to start is with a restart first
shut down all the computers on your
network next locate any switches and
your router we want to restart any
devices that stand between your voice
and the internet common troubleshooting
wisdom says to leave your devices
unplugged for 30 seconds before you plug
them back in
that seems kind of sadistic it's kind of
like the digital equivalent of holding
someone's head underwater for another
minute after they stop
I'm going to think of another analogy
and get back to you on that one let's
just keep troubleshooting next let's log
into your router and disable all of the
Sip helpers especially sip ALG now these
features attempted to fix VoIP issues
but they tend to cause more issues than
they fix and they don't really help the
majority of business use cases anyway
however if you are dropping calls at 10
to 11 minutes consistently sip ALG might
be the cause while you're in the router
check if VoIP quality of service or qos
is enabled if your router doesn't have
VoIP qos it might be time for an upgrade
qos is a feature that allows the router
to reserve a certain amount of bandwidth
for your VoIP calls to ensure quality if
your router doesn't have voipq OS you
might be able to log in and dedicate a
certain amount of bandwidth to your VoIP
devices by finding their Mac addresses
and assigning a minimum bandwidth for
each device and you'll probably want to
set that at about 100 kbps now if
reconfiguring your router doesn't solve
your issues it's time for an upgrade new
modern routers not only include VoIP qos
support but they're also often dual band
now that allows you to segregate traffic
from Smart appliances like thermostats
and everything else in your Digital Life
to a slower Network while you keep the
computers TVs and VOIP phones chugging
along on the faster Network all right
now that we've sorted out the network
let's take a look at some call quality
issues in more detail and how to address
them we're talking specifically about
Echo delays Distortion and buzzing most
of these issues are caused by electronic
interference or faulty equipment now if
you're experiencing an echo or buzzing
you might want to cut back on the
caffeine or try covering your phone's
microphone if you cover the phone's
microphone and the audio goes back to
normal you may just need to turn the
audio level down on your speakers or
earpiece try moving your router away
from other equipment if possible fans
monitors and power strips can sometimes
cause enough interference to affect call
Quality you'll also want to try removing
any equipment that sits between your
router and the the VoIP device like
caller ID boxes or switches now this one
might hurt a little bit if this is the
culprit check your wires make sure that
everything is plugged in where it's
supposed to be and you don't have this
going on
a dog would never do that finally you
might just want to look into some new
equipment headsets and speakers can
degrade over time leading to Distortion
and other call quality issues alright
once you've checked off all the easy
stuff on the list it's time to take a
look at your wide area network
connectivity and internet provider not
all isps support VoIP on all plans so
make sure that yours does while we check
The Following start by running a
bandwidth test next Diva has a great one
that allows you to specify the number of
void blinds and you can find a link to
it in the description below next test
for packet loss damaged wiring or faulty
ISP Network equipment might cause some
of your packets to wander off to chase
them down you can run a ping test with a
network monitoring tool a ping test will
deliver a series of pings to a remote
server and report back on the percentage
lost it's also the only test that you
want to get a zero on with the exception
of certain medical tests finally if none
of that helps but you're still shooting
your ISP the side eye give them a call
and make sure that your issues aren't
related to service plan limitations or
network outages while you're sorting out
call quality issues it's probably also a
good time for a security audit
compromised VoIP accounts or compromise
Security in general can allow hackers to
utilize your bandwidth degrading call
Quality and putting your data at risk
it's a good practice to reset your VoIP
account and admin passwords regularly
deploy a firewall and limit the type of
traffic sent and received on your
voip-enabled devices don't let hackers
hurt your brand by doing things that you
wouldn't approve of with your phone
number like calling my grandma and
saying you're the bank credentials
inspector knock it off lad stay the hell
away from Nana now if you're still
having trouble after going through all
of the issues above be sure to call your
VoIP provider they should be able to
provide tech support and to help you
identify any issues related to the VoIP
service itself next Diva has solutions
to all of your business communication
needs including VoIP so if you're not
getting amazing service at your current
provider it might be a good time to
consider a change thanks again for
watching I'm Jake with nextiva see you
next time
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