VOIP service recommendations?

[Nate_007]

Hey guys,

I have been asked by my boss to research some good voip service provider to replace our current one. There is about 65+ end users, I just started my job here but in the past they said they were a lot of complaints about the quality of the calls, both on hard phones and soft phones. I guess they just learned to live with it, but now they want action. We double checked our network infrastructure and it seems fine, our current voip provider guaranteed quality over the T1 lines but we're not getting it. (I was thinking maybe we need better internet service instead)

We're located at Toronto, can you guys recommend me some good voip providers you guys use in your business or offices. We are just trying to create a pool of providers to choose from. Also I am not too sure if I am asking in the right forum so I apologize in advance.

 

[drebo]

Hint: get a dedicated Internet connection for the VoIP service.

You don't need "better" internet. You just need internet that isn't competing with general internet access.

Hell, we make all of our customers sign a paper acknowledging that using 3rd party Internet will result in quality issues. I can't provide QoS over a 3rd party Internet connection. Having a connection dedicated to VoIP means that (by and large) I don't have to.

So, call your local cable or telco and get a cheap DSL or cable connection and then route your VoIP traffic over that connection. Provided you buy enough bandwidth (for 65 users, going by the 8/3 method, you'll want enough bandwidth for about 24 calls...at g711 bandwidth, that's about 2.5mbps in both directions) that should resolve your quality issues.

 

[Nate_007]

Hint: get a dedicated Internet connection for the VoIP service.

You don't need "better" internet. You just need internet that isn't competing with general internet access.

Hell, we make all of our customers sign a paper acknowledging that using 3rd party Internet will result in quality issues. I can't provide QoS over a 3rd party Internet connection. Having a connection dedicated to VoIP means that (by and large) I don't have to.

So, call your local cable or telco and get a cheap DSL or cable connection and then route your VoIP traffic over that connection. Provided you buy enough bandwidth (for 65 users, going by the 8/3 method, you'll want enough bandwidth for about 24 calls...at g711 bandwidth, that's about 2.5mbps in both directions) that should resolve your quality issues.

Thanks for this, I just confirmed from our networking guy that we are using dedicated T1 lines for our hardphones. But our softphone goes through the rest of the data as there is no way of separating that.

 

[drebo]

Thanks for this, I just confirmed from our networking guy that we are using dedicated T1 lines for our hardphones. But our softphone goes through the rest of the data as there is no way of separating that.

Are the T1s provided by the VoIP provider?

Also, what is the usage on them? As stated, 24 simultaneous calls will use about 2.5mbps. If you only have one T1, that's not enough.

And, why are the softphones not using the same T1s?

Need more information.

Honestly, it could be the VoIP provider, but 99 times out of 100, it's the network infrastructure that's the problem.

 

[Nate_007]

Are the T1s provided by the VoIP provider?

Also, what is the usage on them? As stated, 24 simultaneous calls will use about 2.5mbps. If you only have one T1, that's not enough.

And, why are the softphones not using the same T1s?

Need more information.

Honestly, it could be the VoIP provider, but 99 times out of 100, it's the network infrastructure that's the problem.

Hi, so network guy said the T1 line is from our voip provider, no other data is using it beside the hardphones. The softphone, not too sure because this is my first time working with the device. I guess because the softphone is being used through a computer/laptop so they cant separate the data.

 

[cmetz]

We double checked our network infrastructure and it seems fine, our current voip provider guaranteed quality over the T1 lines but we're not getting it.

Things might be totally different in Canada, but in competitive US markets, I've seen deals where if you pay for the PRI tail circuit, unlimited (well, 23 channels at a time) US calling is free. That is to say, T1/PRI circuits are expensive and domestic voice calls are very cheap, and if you're paying for the dedicated expensive part, you might consider whether you should use VoIP at all, or use a real PRI. Shop around and see what you can get in your market.

If you have 65+ employees, I would be inclined to be looking at real PRI solutions unless you have unusual needs. (for example, international calling may still be a whole lot cheaper going VoIP)

 

[mammador]

QoS?

And T1s? I think that's your issue there. You need a better WAN tech than that.

 

[kevnich2]

OP - exactly how much bandwidth (up and down) do you have allocated or reserved strictly for voip calls? Also, is your current voip an in house server or are you using an internet based voip provider?

If your using an internet based voip provider, you need to be allocating enough bandwidth for around 25-30 calls. If it's in house voip/sip server, that changes things but I doubt that's what you have.

It definitely sounds like you don't have enough bandwidth so your call quality is suffering from it.

 

[pcunite]

Lots of advice here ... but your VoIP provider is probably not the problem. You need a router doing advanced Qos and prioritizing VoIP sessions over everything else. I'm currently learning RouterOS to accomplish this and it is not an easy task. Get a consultant who knows what they're doing ... about $100hr to configure your rules.

 

[pcunite]

Something I've been testing that is really helping with my Internet service is making sure the ISP's upstream equipment is not doing any buffering of your traffic.

In your router, packet prioritization is important, but nothing will work when the ISP's equipment has a long line of TCP, ACK, and other types of packets and then you want to get those VoIP UDP packets out. They'll just wait in line till the buffer empties.

In the router, on your side, do the buffering to be 80-90% of what the ISP claims to provide on the UPLINK side. This will make a huge gain for UDP traffic.