You’ve been there before… you’re in the middle of a meeting, a conference, or just a phone call with a member…
And suddenly, the call drops. You try to reconnect, but your connection is spotty. The voice is garbled. You send frantic emails to figure out what’s going on. Maybe you give up.
Poor voice quality has ruined yet another perfectly good workday. Surely, you think, there must be a way to prevent this?
There is.
How to Troubleshoot a Bad VoIP Connection
While much of the U.S. explores reopening, others of us are exploring new ways of doing business. Many of those “new ways” involve rapid digital transformation and remote work. (We haven’t stepped foot in our office since early March.)
Even with many branches reopening, not everyone is ready to visit their local brick and mortar. Rather, a good portion of people avoid going out at all costs. Instead, they’re turning to digital channels. Online banking, mobile apps, and yes, telephones are major components of this “new normal.”
But what happens when your phone cuts out? Or when the voice is garbled and unintelligible?
Well, chances are that the problem is on your end. (Though sometimes it’s the carrier…) Our friends at PhoneSentry have a few tips about how to troubleshoot poor phone call quality in your office or call center.
1. Check your bandwidth
If your office, call center, or house is downloading or uploading a bunch of files, this may cause a problem. If there’s a lot of traffic or activity on your network, it could cause poor call quality.
2. Check your firewalls
Usually, firewalls are helpful and keep your security high. But sometimes they aren’t configured correctly, get reset, or otherwise get in the way of what you’re trying to do. Check your routers to make sure they’re not interfering with your VoIP setup.
3. Check your equipment
One reason why VoIP doesn’t always work smoothly? Faulty equipment. Broken headsets and frayed cords can affect your phone call quality for the worse.
4. Turn it off and then on again
It’s silly, but it’s true. There’s a reason why this is the age-old fix for almost anything electronic. It doesn’t matter how it works—it just does.
Turn your devices off—your phone, your computer, your router—then, turn them on again. That may do the trick!
5. Reconfigure your network
Sometimes, switching to VoIP from a legacy POTS or PRI network may cause poor call quality issues. You may need to reconfigure your network to prioritize VoIP connections to ensure better service.
If None of the Above Work
Of course, the common causes of poor VoIP call quality aren’t the only causes. More often than most carriers would like to admit, they drop the ball. And the call.
If you suspect that your carrier is the problem, you may need to call in a specialist. You might also consider call quality monitoring to ensure that you don’t have an outage that affects your credit union.
Read more in-depth about how to troubleshoot VoIP call quality issues here. Or follow the links below to learn more about why VoIP is the future—and how to get there painlessly.
Replacement Strategies for Copper Telephone Service (POTS Sunset)
