VoIP call quality 'must be maintained'

Businesses enjoying the benefits of VoIP solutions must ensure they take steps to maintain call quality, it has been claimed.

Paul Wiggins, director of IP telephony quality control firm ReliaTel Convergence Management Technology, told TMCNet that finding the source of connection problems "can be frustrating and elusive".

However, following his five-point plan can make a big difference, he argued.

Firstly, IT teams must close the "gaps" between their underlying network and that provided for IP telephony.

After that, enterprises need to control the costs associated with VoIP and ensure they have a firm grip on network metrics including delay, jitter buffer, packet loss and latency.

Finally, support teams must be equipped with the expertise to effectively manage the system, while careful work must be done to optimise performance, Mr Wiggins added.

"As businesses today embrace converged communications, the need to manage voice over IP quality of service and converged network performance has become crucial," he remarked.

His recommendations come after research group Ovum suggested more public sector organisations in the UK will implement VoIP solutions in 2011.