Many companies and homeowners alike are switching over to VoIP telephones: telephones that use the Internet rather than traditional telecommunications lines. Yet because VoIP does use the Internet, it often requires fast Internet speeds to be reliable. Would your Internet service be able to support VoIP?
What Are the Recommended Speeds for VoIP?
There’s good news: most high-speed Internet services are going to be able to support VoIP, but that also depends on call volume. The minimum required speed for VoIP per call is quite low: 90 to 156 kbps. Most companies are going to be able to provide that.
However, if you have many simultaneous calls going on in an office, the amount of data being transferred grows. It’s important that you have both fast download and fast upload speeds if you’re going to be running a telecommunications-intensive operation, such as a calling center.
For home use, most high-speed Internet systems will be able to support VoIP, but most homes will also be streaming video, playing games and browsing the Internet at the same time. If there’s a significant amount of Internet traffic, faster speeds and more bandwidth may be required.
What Happens If Your Internet Isn’t Fast Enough for VoIP?
If your Internet isn’t fast enough for VoIP, you’ll usually experience a drop in call quality. Calls may be grainy or may stutter. Calls may be dropped or take an unusually long time to connect. If your Internet isn’t stable or reliable enough for VoIP, you’ll experience similar issues, in addition to more frequently dropped calls.
How Can You Upgrade Your VoIP Speeds?
If you want to upgrade your Internet speeds for VoIP, there are a few things you can consider. For commercial VoIP installations, many companies run a separate Internet line for their VoIP calls. This prevents VoIP call volume from being affected by data transfers. A separate VoIP line tends to be more reliable and consistent, especially for companies that heavily rely on phone calls.
Otherwise, a faster Internet connection can make VoIP calls clearer and more reliable. Faster Internet service makes for both better VoIP calling and better video calling, and it facilitates communication overall.
Switching Over to VoIP
Companies that are switching from a traditional telecommunications infrastructure to VoIP may not have Internet speed in mind. Instead, it’s usually more important to maintain a company’s internal network infrastructure.
This can be established through SIP trunking. SIP trunking uses a company’s existing internal telecommunications infrastructure but connects it to Internet rather than traditional telecom lines. A company gets to benefit from its existing resources while also switching to faster, more reliable and less expensive online services.
Testing Your Internet Speeds
If you want to make sure your current Internet can support VoIP, you can test your Internet speeds. Run a Speed Test in your office or at home to see whether the speed is enough to support VoIP.
A speed of 1 Gbps is generally enough to maintain 10 to 12 simultaneous calls. To really know whether your business can support VoIP, you will usually need to have an estimate of the amount of calls that employees are often on at the same time. You may also need to go through your other Internet data. depending on whether you want to split your lines or use a single line for both data and voice.
Are you interested in VoIP calling? Switching to VoIP can save you money while also delivering a faster, streamlined voice calling service. To find out whether your current Internet speeds can support VoIP, contact the experts at PS LIGHTWAVE.
