5 Common VoIP Problems & How to Troubleshoot Them

Is VoIP Reliable? Understanding VoIP Stability

VoIP has become increasingly prevalent, with a projected annual growth rate of 18% from 2024 to 2032. This is an inevitable result when more and more users are looking for a cost-effective and convenient communication method. But, questions arise: is VoIP stable enough to make phone calls, and how reliable is it compared to traditional phone services?

To answer these questions, we need to take a quick look at several key factors that significantly impact VoIP reliability:

Internet Speed: VoIP systems use the Internet to make calls instead of phone cables. Therefore, a fast and stable internet connection is crucial for high-quality VoIP calls.

Network Setup: Your network’s configuration, including routers and switches, can strongly affect VoIP performance.

Hardware: The quality of your VoIP devices like VoIP phones, adapters, or headsets may influence VoIP reliability.

VoIP systems can be highly reliable when all these factors are optimized. However, traditional landlines still prove more reliable as they’re independent from the Internet. This makes them more stable during slowdowns or outages. Meanwhile, if your internet is unstable, your calls can drop or sound bad.

However, many VoIP systems now offer features to solve this problem. For example, they can forward calls to voicemail in case of an internet outage. Moreover, they allow you to install and use VoIP apps on your smartphone instead of VoIP phones to continue making calls as long as your smartphone has a cellular network like 5G. This is extremely beneficial when the Internet is slow or the power goes off, enabling constant communication.

In short, VoIP is generally reliable. But it’s not perfect. VoIP problems like dropped calls can still happen. In the next section, we’ll detail common VoIP issues and how to address them.

Top 5 Common VoIP Problems and How to Fix Them

Despite their visible benefits, VoIP systems still present several problems. Let’s take a look at the top five common issues you might encounter when using VoIP, each with simple troubleshooting solutions.

1. Poor Call Quality or Choppy Audio

VoIP users may confront poor call quality or choppy audio. Briefly speaking, choppy audio occurs when a VoIP call sounds unclear or broken up. In other words, you can only hear parts of the conversation while other parts are missing. This makes it hard to understand what the other person is talking about.

There are many reasons behind poor call quality or choppy audio.

The first culprit is insufficient bandwidth. Think of bandwidth like a highway. The wider highway will allow more cars to travel at once. Similarly, the higher bandwidth enables more voice data to be transported at the same time. Normally, VoIP calls need a certain amount of bandwidth to work well. Therefore, inadequate bandwidth can result in choppy audio and delays.

Another cause is a poor internet connection. If your internet connection can’t process the demands of VoIP calls, their quality can become poor. This is often noticeable during peak internet usage times or when using VoIP over wireless networks.

Solution

Here’s what you can do to enhance call quality and limit choppy audio:

1. Optimize bandwidth: Your internet connection needs to meet your provider’s minimum requirements for VoIP calls. Normally, the exact amount of bandwidth depends on various factors like codecs used, number of simultaneous calls, and call quality. But a typical VoIP call generally demands roughly 100 kilobits per second (kbps) of bandwidth. This figure must be 256 kbps or more for HD-quality calls.

Further, you should run speed tests by Ookla, Google Fiber, or Fast.com. This ensures your internet connection will meet the recommended bandwidth. Also, you should use a wired connection whenever possible. This is because wireless connections are more likely to be disrupted and have bandwidth limitations.

2. Prioritize VoIP traffic: VPNs, guest networks, or apps (e.g., YouTube) can consume a lot of bandwidth. This will slow down or even interrupt your network, hence impacting your VoIP call quality. In this case, you should disable unused or unnecessary network hardware/software to prioritize VoIP traffic. This will ensure your VoIP calls receive enough bandwidth.

3. Check for router issues: A faulty or outdated router can cause choppy audio. In this case, try restarting your router or updating its firmware. Contact your internet provider to upgrade your plan as well if these methods don’t work.

4. Use VLAN: You should create a separate VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) for your VoIP phones. This isolates VoIP traffic from other network traffic, hence reducing the risk of delays and network congestion. Also, VLANs limit access to sensitive data. Therefore, they help improve VoIP network security.

2. Dropped Calls

Dropped calls occur when your conversation suddenly cuts off and disconnects. This is one of the most frustrating VoIP problems, especially during important calls.

The most common culprit of dropped calls is network instability. Particularly, a weak or unstable internet connection can disrupt data flows needed for VoIP. Another reason lies in outdated firmware on your VoIP devices or network equipment. Such equipment can operate inefficiently or contain bugs, which leads to performance issues like dropped calls.

A UDP timeout can contribute to dropped calls. VoIP calls normally use UDP (User Datagram Protocol). This connectionless protocol sends data packets without waiting for confirmation of their arrival. If a UDP timeout is set too short on your router or there are network issues causing packet loss, the connection may drop before all the data packets have arrived. This makes VoIP calls disconnected.

Further, incorrect firewall settings can interrupt calls as they’re configured to block the VoIP traffic.

Solution

Here’s what you can do to mitigate the risk of dropped calls:

1. Monitor your internet connection: Analyze your network regularly for VoIP stability. To do so, you can check your router’s lights and observe internet speed. Plus, you may use network diagnostic tools (like Traceroute), VoIP-specific tools, and more to track call quality metrics and monitor network stability. Also, if you often experience internet outages or slowdowns, upgrade your internet plan or contact your internet service provider. This will help you identify any signs of instability or packet loss in your network.

2. Update or reset devices: Keep your VoIP devices and network equipment updated with the latest firmware. Sometimes, even up-to-date VoIP phones may undergo registration timeouts. This means they lose their connection to the VoIP server, leading to dropped calls. By resetting or turning the phones off and on again, you can fix these timeouts and reconnect the phones to the server.

3. Adjust the UDP timeout: Many VoIP providers have specific recommendations for UDP timeout settings. So, you should consult their documentation or contact their support team directly for assistance. Then, you can modify the settings of your router or VoIP software for a longer UDP timeout. This ensures your calls will be constantly connected.

4. Optimize firewalls and VPNs: If not properly configured, your VoIP traffic may be blocked by a firewall or VPN. Consult your firewall documentation or the IT department for firewall & VPN optimization.

5. Leverage PoE switches: Rather than plugging the IP phones with a primary adapter or USB jack, connect them directly over the cable onto the network using the Power of Ethernet (PoE). This configuration carries power and data simultaneously over a single connection. More reliable compared to WiFi as it will not drop if the WiFi signal is weak. The switches can be powered by a generator which allows the phones to keep working during power outages.

3. Echoing or Feedback on Calls

Echoing or feedback on calls is another common VoIP problem. It happens when you hear your voice repeating or there’s a strange noise in the background.

There are several reasons behind this problem. First, if your microphone and speaker are too close together or the volume is too loud, it can create a feedback loop. Plus, delays in the network, known as network latency, can cause echoing. When there is a significant delay in the audio data traveling through the network, it can lead to an echo effect.

Solution

Here’s what you can do to fix echoing or feedback on calls:

1. Opt for good-quality equipment: You can go with devices such as Jabra Evolve 65, Plantronics Voyager Focus 2 UC, or Jabra Speak 750 that are designed keeping in mind the VoIP systems.

2. Modify the settings of your audio equipment: Make sure your microphone and speaker are not too close to each other. Lower the speaker volume and test the mic sensitivity. Also, you need to fine-tune advanced settings such as which codecs are used (codecs compress voice data), packet size, and jitter buffers for audio smoothing. This will feature better call quality and less echo.

3. Decrease network latency: Increased latency will make the echoing problems even worse. So be sure that you are going to use a steady internet band, free up bandwidth for your network, put the VoIP calls at the top of vehicles, and even block ports if necessary. QoS (Quality of Service) allows you to enforce bandwidth, eliminate jitter, and make VoIP calls more important than any other traffic.

4. Calls With No Sound

One of the most frustrating VoIP problems is undergoing calls with no sound. This occurs when you can’t hear the other person or they can’t hear you. Although there’s still a connection, the call goes silent.

The main culprit of this problem is often a misconfiguration in your audio settings. Sometimes, the microphone or speakers may not be correctly connected and use improper settings, hence hardly receiving or transmitting audio properly. Plus, damaged or loose connections can disrupt audio signals, leading to no sound.

Another cause lies in incompatible codecs. Normally, VoIP systems use codecs to compress and decompress voice data. If the caller and recipient leverage incompatible codecs, it can lead to no sound or poor call quality.

Further, excessive network traffic and QoS misconfiguration can result in packet loss and delays. All these things can interrupt real-time calls and cause audio issues.

Solution

Here’s what you can do to troubleshoot VoIP calls with no sound:

1. Check your audio devices: Ensure your microphone and speaker are correctly connected and functioning. Plug in your audio equipment fully into VoIP phones and check the volume levels on the phones to ensure they aren’t muted or too low.

2. Update your VoIP software or hardware: Outdated firmware or software can contain bugs, significantly affecting call quality and connections. Therefore, keeping your VoIP system up-to-date with the latest firmware or software can address these problems.

3. Check your network connection: Ensure you have a stable internet connection and there are no network issues.

4. Switch codecs: If the current codec isn’t functioning correctly, try switching to another one on the VoIP phone. After switching codecs, you should reboot the phone. This will refresh connections and ensure that the new codec functions well.

5. Restart your VoIP device: Sometimes, simply restarting your VoIP equipment can fix audio problems.

5. Security Concerns

Like other internet-connected tech, VoIP systems are prone to many security threats. These cyber-threats include:

Data Privacy: VoIP calls transmit sensitive information, including personal conversations and even confidential business data. An attacker can steal or intercept this data if a VoIP system is attacked and compromised.

VoIP Call Interception: In this type of VoIP attack, threat actors can monitor your VoIP calls to spy on confidential information

Vishing: This tricks VoIP users into unknowingly sharing sensitive information or clicking on malignant links.

DoS (Denial of Service): This enables attackers to prevent legitimate users from utilizing the services provided by the VoIP System.

The main culprit behind these cyberattacks is often inadequate security protocols (like no encryption or weak authentication). They’re the set of standards or rules about how to transmit and secure data over the network. Unfortunately, when these protocols are too old and weak, hackers will take advantage to launch attacks.

The second reason is the absence of regulatory compliance. If VoIP systems don’t adhere to data privacy and security regulations, they can be easily attacked and confront penalties.

Solution

Here’s what you can do to address the security problems of VoIP systems:

1. Update software: Keep your VoIP software up-to-date as the latest security patches can help protect it against attackers.

2. Change default passwords & use encryption: Change the default credentials with strong, non-reused passwords instead. Also, replace these passwords frequently to avoid unauthorized access. Remember to use encryption protocols such as TLS (Transport Layer Security) that will make your audio data snippets unreadable to unauthorized people.

3. Secure SIP: Secure Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) uses encryption algorithms to mask the data of VoIP calls against any potential security threats. Therefore, it doesn’t let users start calls without verifying their identities. For this reason, someone unauthorized can’t read/write your voice data.

4. Leverage VPN Connections: A VPN (Virtual Private Network) adds an extra layer of security to your network carrying VoIP traffic. Particularly, it helps encrypt your data and protect it when it travels from your VoIP devices to a remote server.

5. Choose a reliable VoIP service provider: You should look for a VoIP provider that offers advanced security features and acquires security certifications. All ensure the provider is committed to data security and adheres to privacy regulations.

6. Educate employees: It’s crucial to train your employees about common security threats and how to detect and prevent them.

Protecting Your VoIP System: Tools and Best Practices

You’ve discovered the five common VoIP problems and how to resolve them. Now, we’ll elaborate on some best practices and tools you should consider to maintain and monitor VoIP systems. These tools and practices help you identify the mentioned problems quickly and protect your VoIP system.

Essential Tools to Monitor VoIP Systems

1. Site24x7 – VoIP Monitoring

This tool tracks the quality of VoIP services during calls. In other words, it helps monitor and troubleshoot VoIP performance in real-time. By tracking availability and performance metrics like Jitter, Latency, or Round Trip Time (RTT), you can receive alerts and avoid service interruptions. For this reason, you can quickly detect issues like call delays or choppy audio.

2. Paessler – PRTG Network Monitor

This tool monitors your entire IT infrastructure, including VoIP systems. It integrates various technologies like SNMP (a protocol that monitors devices), Traffic Analysis (using flow protocols or packet sniffing to analyze data traffic), or REST APIs (retrieving data in JSON or SML formats). This gives you a detailed picture of how your network is performing.

Moreover, PRTG allows you to customize real-time dashboards to visualize your network. Whenever PRTG identifies problems, it will alert you via email, push messages, or HTTP requests.

3. SolarWinds® – VoIP & Network Quality Manager

This tool tracks key metrics to ensure good call quality and WAN (Wide Area Network) performance. It also offers real-time insights to address issues like call delays, noise, or distortion. Further, the tool enables you to visually trace the path of your VoIP calls, which helps identify where problems arise. It also facilitates the setup and management of Cisco IP Service Level Agreements (SLA) to ensure your VoIP network is reliable.

4. VoIP Spear

This service monitors your VoIP performance from different locations globally. Additionally, it tests your VoIP system frequently and offers real-time feedback on network quality. To do so, it uses and visualizes industry-standard metrics like packet loss, jitter, and latency in customizable dashboards. You can also receive VoIP Spear alerts to control your internet issues.

5. Obkio – Network Performance Monitoring Tool

This cloud-based tool monitors and troubleshoots network performance. It also measures essential metrics (e.g., jitter or latency) and uses visual diagnostics (e.g., traceroutes) to promptly pinpoint and handle network problems, especially those that are hard to catch, like intermittent issues. Obkio also provides a free network audit tool that allows you to see exactly where performance issues occur. It can even send smart alerts before issues can impact end-users to prevent overload.

Best Practices to Secure VoIP Systems

Apart from these tools, you should consider the best practices for safeguarding VoIP systems from problems:

Enforce strong, unique passwords for all VoIP devices and accounts.
Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) where possible to add an extra layer of security.
Use strong encryption protocols like SRTP (Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) to encrypt your VoIP calls and protect your data from being intercepted.
Update VoIP software and hardware often to fix vulnerabilities and protect your system with the latest security patches.
Set up QoS (Quality of Service) to prioritize VoIP traffic on your network. This helps your calls get enough bandwidth for good call quality.
Use an isolated VLAN for your VoIP devices to separate them from other network traffic. This mitigates the risk of attacks spreading from other parts of your network.
Have regular backups for your VoIP system’s call data and configurations. This enables quick recovery in case of data breaches or system failure.
Regularly audit your VoIP traffic to spot any anomalies like unauthorized access or hacking attempts.
Turn off unused services, ports, and features on your VoIP system. This reduces entry points for threat actors.
Choose a trusted VoIP provider with robust security measures and strict compliance with privacy regulations. This will ensure better protection for your system and uninterrupted communication.

Final Words: Maximizing VoIP Efficiency

A VoIP system provides your business with various immense benefits. However, we can’t deny its possible problems like dropped calls, choppy audio, echoing, calls with no sound, and security concerns. These VoIP problems can be resolved or avoided as long as you implement proactive measures (like encryption or regular updates) and leverage tools to support your network protection.

If you want to find a reliable VoIP service provider with strong security measures, Designveloper is a good choice! Here, we specialize in building custom VoIP solutions for customer service and remote workers. We also enhance your staff’s awareness of security concerns through customizable training programs. Further, we also focus on penetration testing, security/privacy threat modeling, security architecture, and compliance consulting to maximize your VoIP network’s efficiency.