Understanding The Balance Of Voice Data Transmission

Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology delivers a scalable, easily modified way to bring both internal and external voice services to any business. It can operate just like standard phone systems or resemble communications apps that are familiar to many tech-savvy experts entering the field. It comes at a slight configuration cost because of a few bandwidth (network capacity) demands needed to keep VOIP operations as smooth as possible, but a few network design details can help you figure out what needs to be done.

How Does VOIP Use Networks?

VOIP travels across data connections like any other kind of data, but like every form of data, it has a specific set of rules for how that data is sent and received. A VOIP codec is a set of translation instructions from voice to data that governs how the sounds entering a microphone are translated into data. There is no single codec that describes all of VOIP.

Although there are many individual differences with every voice codec, the goal of most codec is to deliver a mixture of quality and size. The quality is more obvious to most people, as it describes how a voice sounds when it reaches the listener. The size part affects quality and how well information is sent.

The bigger a packet of data, the more data that can be lost. A goal of some--not all--voice codec is to shrink the data size as small as possible to make sure that as much of the original voice recording is sent without being corrupted during the data packet's journey.

Other codec rely on the network being powerful enough to handle whatever data packet size they require, which means fine-tuning on the part of the network administrator and/or Internet Service Provider (ISP). This is often the case for professional entertainment presentations such as news networks communicating with each other for on-air reports.

What Needs To Be Changed?

The necessary changes are different for every network and every codec. There are, however, a few basic similarities.

Every network must be evaluated for packet loss before taking concerns to any other system. There's no such thing as an absolutely perfect network, because although everything may look like sleek, scientific technology to the non-initiated, you're still basically sending electricity and/or light through a bunch of boxes that have to split forms of energy. It can get pretty ugly if observed under an electron microscope, but that's not noticeable by the average person.

Network devices and cables need to be tested for latency (delay) and should be replaced if they don't meet the data requirements. After handling the network, the Internet Service Provider needs to ensure that their bandwidth delivery is stable enough to support your voice communications by doing the same thing with their network.

Finally, the proper VOIP codec must be used. This can be a trial and error choice done by allowing the users to decide which quality they like or by simply allowing experienced technicians to choose what they believe would be best for a particular voice line. Contact a small business VOIP service to discuss configuration changes and upgrades necessary for your business.

Share