With a Voice over IP system, we can usually link poor audio to the internet quality at your workplace. The first step in finding the causation for poor audio is checking internet connection and internet speed.
TEST YOUR INTERNET SPEED
The rule of thumb is that each phone can take up to 0.1 MB/s bandwidth, so if you have 10 phones, all on a call at once, it would take up to 1 MB of bandwidth, plus you have to consider all the other internet traffic being used; for this reason, it’s hard to get a hard number that applies to everyone, it all depends on how many phones, and how much internet traffic is in use.
Ways to detect if you have poor internet speeds:
- Is your internet running slowly? Run a speed test at www.speedtest.net.
- Should be close to the advertised speed of your service package.
If it's possible, plug the computer you are using to run the test directly into your network through an ethernet drop. A direct internet connection yields the most accurate test results; wifi is always slower.
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Try a ping test for packet loss. The terminal will populate with ICMP requests. If you're seeing many Request Timeouts, you need to contact your internet provider to see if there are known issues in your area.
- Mac
- Open terminal (Press Command + Space to open Spotlight).
- Type “terminal” and press Enter (Return).
- Type in “ping 8.8.8.8” and press Enter (Return).
- Windows
- Type "cmd" into your search bar or text box, depending on which version of Windows you have.
- Select the Command Prompt, Desktop apps.
- A black box with a flashing cursor will open; this is the Command Prompt. Type “ping” and then hit the Space bar on your keyboard.
- Type in the address you’d like to ping, and then hit the Enter key on your keyboard.
- Mac
Ping is affected by things like distance, quality of service, type of connection, etc. Ping tests check the time it takes to send a message from one IP address to another. The smaller this time value is (usually in ms), the better. A good ping test is 5- 30ms, anything higher causes issues on anything web-related (phone calls, internet service).
- Ensure that your router is configured for QoS (Quality of Service) and traffic shaping if you have a router.
- Reboot your network.
Still unsure?
If none of this works or you have questions, contact Support or your network admin.
For immediate assistance, you can contact our Technical Support Team by dialing 611 from your net2phone Canada device or by calling 1-877-498-3772 and choosing option #3. Emails will be responded to within 1 business day and can be sent to support@net2phone.ca.
NO AUDIO OR STATIC
- Check to make sure your volume is turned up.
- Check to make sure your headset or handset is plugged into the correct port.
- Try testing another headset/handset on your phone and the headset/handset on another phone to confirm if this is the problem.
- If none of the above is the issue, contact support.
TIPS!
- Don't put anything directly in front of your phone if you plan on using the speaker. The mic is located in the front at the bottom, and this will block out the sound.
- Play around with the volume controls.
- Ensure you have a good quality headset if you use one, sometimes sound issues have nothing to do with connectivity and everything to do with a faulty headset. Check out our recommended headsets!
- Try reducing the amount of bandwidth you are using while on a call if your Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac) can show you which applications you may want to restrict before a scheduled phone call!
