VoIP calls are delivered through the Internet. Modern cloud based VoIP solutions go a step further, and deliver the entire platform over the internet, as well. These Platforms as a Service enable users to connect to and utilise advanced services that are hosted within a provider’s data centre.
This is what helps make Business VoIP solutions so powerful. But, as with all things internet based, the results can suffer if the connection is poor. To understand why, we need to understand how VoIP is transmitting your voice.
Instead of sending the data through the copper telephone lines of the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN), when a user speaks into their phone, VoIP services convert that sound information into packets of data. Everything sent over the internet is transmitted as a “packet” of information, or data.
Packets = the pieces of data traveling through a network, so during a phone call this would mean your voice.
If all goes well, and there is no interruption or delay on either end, then these packets of data will be send quickly, and in the right order. The issues begin when there is interference within the network that could cause a delay in the transmission of data, which could come in the form of:
- Latency
- Jitter
- Packet Loss
This interference could lead to a delay and empty space in the conversation, or even packets being sent out of order. This would then result in a jumbled conversation, with words and ideas out of order, and some words potentially being skipped or unintelligible.
Simply put, VoIP requires a solid and stable internet connection for smooth and stable phone calls. But again, since this is the internet we are talking about, it is currently impossible to send data and then receive data at the speed of light without a completely controlled and interference free environment.