Category: Blog

A system outage or any type of downtime can significantly impact your company’s ability to close sales or deliver customer support. This may result in a loss of business continuity and revenue. So, maintaining a cloud phone system with a high VoIP uptime and network redundancy is essential to your business’ ability to function.

Are VoIP Systems Reliable? Why VoIP Uptime is Important

Since a redundant architecture is critical to business operations, how reliable are cloud-based communications?

You may be surprised to hear that VoIP networks are more consistent than the wired setups of the PSTN. Landlines are susceptible to power outages, severe weather disruptions, and phone line damage – causing lengthy downtimes. This is because landlines have a single point of failure, meaning your entire system stops working when it fails.

IP telephony eliminates wired setups. Instead, all you need to get started is a stable internet connection. And even if your internet goes out, you can simply forward calls to another destination. So, cloud-based systems continue working during power outages, inclement weather, and more – making them more reliable than traditional phones.

While hosted solutions are certainly more trustworthy than landlines, it’s still critical to consider a provider’s VoIP uptime. Without a high uptime guarantee from your provider, you’re at risk of serious downtime. And downtime means tough consequences such as losing customers, profits, productivity, and more.

What Exactly is VoIP Uptime?

In other words, it’s a metric used to determine the provider’s quality of service, performance, and reliability. In contrast, “downtime” indicates the time a service spends offline, out of operation, or “down.”

You can usually find uptimes listed on your provider’s website, in their Service Level Agreement (SLA), or by contacting them directly. To determine VoIP uptime, most providers either use a monitoring service or measure it themselves using simple math.

It’s essential to confirm that your provider includes both scheduled (maintenance, upgrades, etc.) and unplanned (disasters, power outages, etc.) downtimes in their assessments. This way, you know their uptime is accurate.

What Does 99.99% Mean?

Many cloud providers use percentages to communicate their VoIP uptime to customers. These percentages typically start at 99% and go up from there. However, providers can’t guarantee true 100% uptime. This is because networks are susceptible to damage from natural disasters, cyberattacks, and other unforeseen technical issues that cause service interruptions.

Now, you’re probably thinking – If I can’t have 100% uptime, 99% is exceptional. However, while 99% is undoubtedly better than 75% uptime, it can still yield substantial downtime for your business.

In fact, every “9” in an uptime guarantee is significant. It lets you know how much downtime to expect during a given year. For example, 99% uptime is equivalent to 3.65 days of downtime per year. Whereas 99.99% (also known as “four nines”) is only 52.60 minutes of annual downtime.

Here’s a table listing the range of VoIP uptime percentages and how much downtime you should expect with each:

How Do Providers Ensure 99.99% VoIP Uptime?

It’s important to understand how providers ensure reliability and guarantee 99.99% availability. This way, you know exactly what to look for when choosing a provider.

• Global Points of Presence (POPs)

Having several global points of presence allows providers to establish a high availability service. If one server fails, providers can redirect traffic or fall back on a different POP. So, you never experience downtime if your provider experiences an outage.

For example, if your provider’s Seattle-based POP failed, they could instantly route call traffic from the Seattle server location to another US-based POP.

• VoIP Security

While VoIP is fairly secure as is, your provider might face security risks like Denial of Service (DOS) that compromise their system and lead to downtime. So, it’s necessary to look for a trustworthy provider that meets the minimum security requirements for your specific communication and industry needs.

Search for providers with voice encryption security like Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) and those with regular system security checks and firewalls. Providers with these security practices are more likely to deliver a consistent and secure business phone system with a high VoIP uptime.

• Networks of International Carriers

Selecting a provider that partners with multiple international carriers yields similar benefits, as discussed in the POP section. Working with numerous global carriers allows providers to reroute calls seamlessly to alternate destinations if one carrier fails. So, your provider (and your business) never experience prolonged outages or downtime. This helps providers build a more reliable and redundant service with high availability.

What Uptime Guarantee is Right For Your Business?

The answer to this question depends entirely on your business operations, communication setup, and service demands. 99.999% uptime is the industry gold standard – as it only allows about 5 mins of downtime per year.

But when determining the right uptime for your business, it’s helpful to ask yourself:

• How integral is your cloud phone system to your critical, everyday operations?
• How much downtime can your business afford?

Then, based on your responses, select a provider with your preferred VoIP uptime guarantee.

Best Practices for Developing a System with High VoIP Uptime

While high availability falls mainly on your provider, it’s still up to you to build a redundant system and minimize downtime for your business and customers. Let’s review the best practices for developing a system with high uptime.

1. Carefully select your provider

Selecting a trustworthy provider with the right VoIP uptime for your business is crucial to developing a consistent network. When researching cloud telephony providers, evaluate the following factors:

• • Availability guarantees
  • Redundancy methods (multiple POPs and carriers)
  • VoIP security measures (voice encryption, firewalls, regular security checks)
  • Disaster recovery and business continuity plans.

2. Double-check Service Level Agreements (SLA)

Many providers list their uptimes on their websites, which may not always be accurate. So, it’s important to double-check a provider’s service level agreement. This document will list their true uptime percentage and permitted downtimes. The SLA may also list terms and conditions for what happens if their actual uptime dips below their guarantee.

3. Monitor your system

Regularly monitoring your VoIP system allows you to track any network issues causing interruptions. Simply start by integrating an open-source or paid monitoring service into your existing setup. Then, you’ll be able to quickly identify and troubleshoot your VoIP system.

4. Implement failover strategies

With failover strategies in place, you’ll build your network’s redundancy. Even if your business experiences outages or crises, your system will continue to work with failover methods. Consider the following:

• • Use failover forwarding to route calls to alternate locations if the first destination is unavailable
  • Set up a backup or alternate internet connection
  • Opt for hardware that is simple to repair or includes a warranty
  • Disperse your teams, servers, and other systems across multiple geographical locations
  • Backup all mission-critical data, documents, applications, and so on
  • Create an in-depth disaster recovery plan and use it to train your teams.

Get High VoIP Uptime and Consistent Service with United World Telecom

Through a highly redundant global network, United World Telecom offers 99.999% VoIP uptime to users. We deliver high-quality telephony solutions with high availability as we have built long-term relationships with multiple Tier-1 global carriers. Additionally, we have several international POPs and decades of experience in telecommunications.

To learn more about our redundancy measures and if we are the right provider for you, speak with our dedicated telecom experts. Call us at +1 (561) 908-6171 or chat with us online today!

Good call quality is essential when communicating with customers and prospects. This is because it’s a first (and rather important) impression of your business and its reliability. 40% of customers stated they stopped doing business with a company due to poor customer service, and this includes a bad caller experience.

Part of customer service is being able to communicate on the phone without any hiccups or interruptions like muffled audio or dropped calls. So, how can you achieve the best VoIP call quality for your business? Let’s take a look!

Improving Call Quality for Your VoIP Phone System

VoIP providers exist in abundance these days. Some are fly-by-night using least-cost routing (LCR) with low-quality termination. Others offer expensive plans with limited global coverage and no redundancy.

Along with low-quality cloud phone service providers, many factors affect good VoIP call quality. Part of improving voice quality over your phone system is correctly identifying the issues and resolving them.

Common VoIP Issues

In order to improve VoIP call quality, you need to be aware of the different issues affecting voice quality. These are the most common voice over IP issues that you’ll need to troubleshoot:

• Inability to make calls from a device
• Dropped calls
• No sound
• Jitter
• Echo or delays
• Broken or muffled audio
• Latency
• Packet loss

It is crucial to identify what VoIP problem your system faces. It helps you take the right course of action to improve your network’s functionality. Finding a high-quality VoIP phone service provider can take care of most of these issues. That aside, there are a few tweaks you can make to your system on your own. Here is a VoIP troubleshooting guide to get you started.

How to Achieve Best VoIP Call Quality?

Take these steps to achieve good VoIP call quality for your cloud phone system:

1. Measure your VoIP call quality
2. Ensure you have the right equipment
3. Troubleshoot VoIP quality issues
4. Disable SIP ALG
5. Troubleshooting with VoIP QoS
6. Switch to a new provider

1. Measure Your VoIP Call Quality

It is vital to constantly monitor and measure VoIP call quality. Mean Opinion Score (MOS) measures VoIP quality by scoring a call from 1 (bad VoIP quality) to 5 (excellent VoIP quality). A good VoIP call quality MOS score falls between 3.5-4.2.

Here’s an example of what a MOS score chart looks like:

Test and measure call quality by monitoring jitter, latency, and packet loss. Additionally, call detail records and activity reports will help you identify where your call quality might be lacking. Then, you can determine how to resolve the issue.

2. Ensure You Have the Right Equipment

Purchase the right equipment to support your call volume and agent requirements. Here is a list of equipment needed for VoIP:

• VoIP (hard phones or softphones)
• Computers or laptops
• VoIP phone service
• Headsets with a microphone and noise-canceling technology
• High-speed and reliable data that meets essential VoIP bandwidth requirements

If you are a United World Telecom customer, you can work closely with our telecom experts to understand the equipment needed for your specific phone system. Chat with us online!

3. Troubleshoot VoIP Quality Issues

Besides finding the necessary equipment, it is crucial to test your VoIP phone system periodically. Here are some ways to troubleshoot VoIP call quality issues on your own:

1. Check your internet speed
2. Review network and equipment configuration
3. Identify and resolve jitter, latency, and packet loss issues
4. Check cables connecting devices and replace faulty wiring
5. Invest in good headsets
6. Avoid hubs on your local access network (LAN)

If you still suffer from low or bad call quality after trying these troubleshooting methods, then the problem may lie in your VoIP service.

4. Disable SIP ALG

Most internet routers come with the SIP ALG feature activated. SIP ALG — also known as Application Layer Gateway — prevents problems caused by a router’s firewall. It does so by monitoring and modifying VoIP traffic, as needed, to improve connectivity.

However, the downside is that VoIP traffic (voice data packets) can get lost due to router firewalls when transferred between the phone and the VoIP provider. This can lead to:

• One-way audio
• Phone not ringing for incoming calls
• Calls sent to voicemail directly
• Dropped calls

So, if your VoIP issues persist after trying these troubleshooting methods, you may need to check and disable SIP ALG.

Disabling SIP ALG depends on the type of modem you use. For most routers:

• Log into your router’s control panel.
• Navigate to Advanced or Security settings.
• Locate SIP, ALG, or Firewall settings (depends on your router’s set-up).
• Uncheck the SIP or ALG box.
• Save and reboot/restart your router.

If router settings are not clear, reach out to your internet provider for help.

5. Troubleshooting with VoIP QoS

VoIP Quality of Service (QoS) is the process of addressing and fixing voice quality issues. QoS prioritizes network traffic passing through a router. The end goal is to offer users acceptable-to-good service.

Routers handle data (and voice) packets on a ‘first in, first out’ basis. This way, all traffic on every device within your network is considered a priority. When too many people use the internet simultaneously, these packets end up waiting in long queues. This means, your call quality competes with other internet traffic on your network — leading to low voice quality.

QoS balances out bandwidth distribution across different types of traffic and devices. This way, you can prioritize what traffic gets through sooner and hassle-free to achieve the best VoIP call quality.

Set up VoIP QoS by reaching out to your internet supplier, VoIP providers, and IT team. To learn more, check out our guide to VoIP QoS standards and requirements.

6. Switch to a New Provider

Finally, if the above methods don’t work, it might be time to find a new provider to meet your business’ exact needs. Sometimes, no matter how you try to improve your call quality, the problem may lie in the phone system itself. Research different cloud phone service providers to understand how their system and phone network works. Consult with telecom experts to find the right solution for your business communication needs.

Resolving VoIP Call Quality Issues

Achieve the best VoIP call quality for your business by trying these different troubleshooting methods. And if those don’t do the trick, reach out to your VoIP provider.

Speak with our telecom experts to understand how we can help you achieve good VoIP call quality for your business. Call us at 1 (877) 898 8646 or chat with us online!

Has your business considered upgrading its legacy ISDN phone system to gain new features and capabilities? Then, you must consider an ISDN to SIP migration.

SIP trunking is cost-effective and highly scalable. And this makes it an excellent choice when upgrading your phone system.

Here is a brief guide to replacing ISDN with SIP trunking, including the benefits of an ISDN to SIP migration and the different steps involved to make this transition smooth and cost-effective.

Why Switch to SIP?

SIP phone systems are often considered a modern alternative to traditional business phone systems. By replacing ISDN with SIP systems, you can add more flexibility and scalability to your phone system.

It is a good practice to upgrade legacy phone systems to take advantage of updated and advanced technologies. Here we will look at how you can migrate to SIP and what an ISDN to SIP plan looks like.

How Can SIP Trunking Benefit Your Business?

There are many benefits of switching to SIP trunking, from making your phone system cloud-friendly to aiding in global expansion to bringing more flexibility.

SIP trunking uses session initiation protocol (SIP) to send voice, video, text, and other unified data through the internet instead of traditional POTS lines. With this ability, you can run your business communications from any location and connect with your team wherever they are located.

And the best part? You don’t need additional hardware or new equipment to get your SIP system running. Global SIP trunks can easily integrate within your existing PBX. So, you do not need to install a new system. Simply bring SIP trunking into your current system. Additionally, your business can even expand to new markets and regions without increasing overhead costs.

So, with SIP trunking, you get a more advanced and scalable phone system while keeping your communication-related costs low.

What to Keep in Mind When Migrating to SIP Trunking

When doing an ISDN to SIP migration, note that:

• You will need to conduct an audit of your current phone system to gauge the scope of the migration.
• Since SIP can work alongside ISDN, switching won’t cause any downtime or interruptions.
• Tests that ensure the system runs smoothly can be conducted around your business’ schedule and activity.
• Research different SIP trunking providers to get a sense of what they offer and what their rates are.

Debunking SIP Trunking Myths

When it comes to new (and complex) technology, it is easy to get sucked up in misinformation and doubts. And so, before we discuss how to migrate from ISDN to SIP, let’s go over some common SIP trunking myths and discuss them:

• SIP call quality is poor — When it comes to digital communication, there is a tendency to believe that communicating over the internet can cause packet loss, latency, and network jitter. But SIP trunking uses dedicated IP connections designed and optimized for high call quality. Because of this, they offer the same, if not better, call quality than ISDN calls.
• SIP trunking comes with hidden costs — SIP trunking is a cost-effective alternative with two primary costs: monthly fees and call costs. You choose the plan at the beginning of your contract. With the plan, you can make and receive local and international calls for low costs. And there are no installation or set-up fees involved. In fact, with some providers, you won’t even pay a cancellation fee, if you choose to find another provider. One additional fee might be to upgrade your PBX system and internet bandwidth if you have low internet capacity. But even with these costs, you will find the service ROI-friendly.
• SIP trunks are not secure — Another common misconception is that cloud communications (like other internet services) come with cybersecurity risks and can be easily hacked into. However, with advanced technology, cloud communication, and SIP trunking providers offer a great deal of security. Additionally, you will need to work with your internet service provider to ensure firewalls and security measures are in place.
• Migrating to SIP will result in downtime — As we mentioned before, many are afraid that switching services or communication systems can lead to interruption and downtime. However, with SIP trunking and a quality service provider, you can minimize VoIP downtime and migrate without pausing your service.

ISDN to SIP Migration in 7 Steps

So, what does an ISDN to SIP plan entail and how can you prepare for such a migration? Here is a 5-step plan to replace ISDN with SIP trunking:

1. Identify and Document Your Requirements

Before you get started, you need to identify what you need from this migration:

• Do you need new business phone numbers? If so, how many numbers do you need?
• What types of numbers do you need: local or toll-free?
• Do you need call management features such as cloud IVR, auto-attendant, call queues, call monitoring, and so on?
• What locations do you need calls forwarded to?
• Do you need extensions or dedicated numbers (also known as direct inward dialing numbers) for specific employees or departments?
• Do you need a softphone to support remote workers?

It is also a good practice to document what you currently have and want to keep, such as phone numbers, extensions, voicemail inbox, etc.

Once you determine what you need from your new system, you can start planning for the SIP migration.

2. Communicate with Your Employees

Before making the switch, bring your employees into the migration process. Get their input and feedback to identify additional areas of conflict and improvement. Some questions to ask employees include:

• What do you think of our current business phone system?
• Have you encountered any issues using this phone system? If so, provide details.
• What would you like from a new phone system? Explain why.
• Can you think of anything that will improve internal and external communication?

3. Make a Plan and Scope the Job

The next step to replacing ISDN with SIP is to make a plan. This will help you determine what your business should expect in terms of scope, transition, and cost. Depending on the state of your current system, you may have to transition in parts (floor by floor or branch by branch) or migrate the entire system in one go.

Work with your communications or SIP trunking provider to get an idea of what the transition will look like, and how your business can prepare. When preparing your plan, consider the following:

• Employees — List down all staff members and collect their contact information.
• Vendors and suppliers — List down contact information for essential vendors, suppliers, and service providers.
• List all communication equipment — Create an inventory of all business-related phones, laptops, computers, desk phones, fax machines, smartphones, etc.
• Call routing — Identify what numbers will route calls to which numbers and locations and when.
• Backup data — Make sure information and data are backed up and that backup processes are working properly.
• Setup safekeeping for critical data — Keep critical data extra safe as you may need this to enact disaster recovery and business continuity. Think logins and passwords, alternative numbers and phone and lines, etc.
• Include remote working capabilities — Here’s an opportunity to explore remote working options for your employees. Review how your new system can support this flexibility.
• Create and test a business continuity plan — This plan will help your business continue working and offer services if something goes wrong.

4. Conduct an Audit: Evaluate Existing Systems

Next, evaluate your current system and anticipate possible problems and changes required. Look at the infrastructure and bandwidth capacity. What is your current system lacking that a SIP phone system can solve?

Check with your SIP provider how much bandwidth and network capacity you will need for your business’ call volume. This information will help you decide if additional connections are required to prioritize voice traffic over other internet usages. Similarly, communicate your call volume expectations with your provider. They will help you understand what infrastructure will work best for your business needs.

Lastly, you may even want to let your provider on future expansion plans. This will help you determine if this provider’s service is scalable and can assist your business in growing when it is ready.

5. Get and Install a SIP Trunking Service

Once you’ve completed the audit, the next step is to find a reliable SIP trunking provider and subscribe to the service. Research different providers to get a sense of what they offer and how much they charge.

You should also look for additional features and tools they offer that can further enhance your business communication system; for example, call management features like call routing or softphones, and so on. Another important factor in choosing a SIP trunking provider is their support team. Is their support team easily accessible? Do they offer 24/7 customer support, in case your business needs help off-hours?

Once you’ve settled on a SIP provider, it’s time to set up and get your SIP system up and running. One significant benefit of replacing ISDN with SIP is that SIP trunking requires less equipment and hardware. And since most SIP services are hosted and maintained by your SIP provider, you have little to no installation. You might need to tweak and adjust minor things, and you might choose to install the service section by section. This ensures no downtime or interruption.

Finally, prepare for the ISDN to SIP migration by getting the right equipment ready.

6. Test Your New SIP System

As you set up your SIP phone system, you must test it and its different components to ensure everything is working smoothly. Most SIP systems can integrate with other business applications such as CRMs, video conferencing tools, APIs, and so on. Test your system with core business applications to identify any issues or hiccups. Similarly, your provider should test the service and phone numbers before the system goes live. Keep your business continuity plan ready, in case there are any issues and you need a backup.

7. Go Live and Make Business Calls

Finally, once your SIP system has been tested and any issues have been resolved, you can fully switch over to SIP. The installation and activation of the system is relatively quick; it is the preparation that can take some time. However, with the right SIP provider and the right tools, this transition will occur smoothly, and your business communication system will work effortlessly.

Ready to Switch Over to SIP?

If you are looking for ways to upgrade your existing business phone system without increasing expenses, then SIP trunking is the way to go. Want to learn more? Our experts at United World Telecom can help you understand how SIP trunking works and how it can help your business specifically. Call us today at 1 (877) 898 8646 or chat with us online!

To get the most out of your VoIP phone system, you need the right VoIP equipment to support your business communication needs.

While most newcomers consider VoIP to be expensive and complicated, the truth is that the technology is fairly simple and inexpensive. There is not a lot of hardware or expensive technology required.

In fact, with VoIP, you can convert existing technology into business powerhouses. How?

Let’s have a look at the equipment needed for VoIP.

Must-Have VoIP Equipment in 2024

What equipment is needed for your VoIP system needs depends on the type of VoIP user you are—residential user or business user.

A residential user will need only a PC / laptop, softphone, and a headset. A small business, on the other hand, might need more. Business users will need a web phone or softphone, a computer, a headset, high-speed internet or data, and a business VoIP subscription.

Without the right VoIP equipment, you will struggle with poor VoIP call quality, leading to frustration and miscommunication. To combat this proactively, make sure you get the right equipment and VoIP setup.

Here is a checklist of equipment needed for VoIP to use your service successfully:

1. VoIP Phones: Hard Phones or Softphones

The main VoIP equipment you need is a phone to make and receive calls. Many VoIP and virtual phone service providers offer global call forwarding to route calls internationally to specific locations and numbers. This way, you can divert calls to your VoIP phones or locations as needed.

A VoIP phone uses IP technology (the internet) to transmit calls between two or more parties. There are two types of VoIP phones:

• • Hard phones — are like traditional phones but come with specialized digital hardware.
  • Softphones — are web-based applications or software that can be downloaded on different devices.

You can even use a combination of both types of VoIP phones to support in-office and remote users. Since softphones can be used from any location and device, you can

2. Headsets

Next, you will need VoIP headsets for your users. VoIP hard phones come with a microphone and receivers. However, if your users use a softphone, then they will need a headset with a microphone. While the tendency is to purchase inexpensive VoIP headsets, these headsets can lead to VoIP issues such as latency and network jitter.

Take time to find good quality headsets that are hands-free, remain connected, have noise-canceling technology, and, overall, improve call quality.

3. Computers or Laptops

Next, you will need personal computers to complement your service. You can use computers and laptops to not only get work done but also make and receive your VoIP calls through a softphone. This way, users can manage calls and update their CRM or task managers as they work without interruption. And, users working remotely can also use their laptops to connect through cloud-based and virtual software and continue working.

4. High-Speed and Reliable Data

Next, if you’re using VoIP for business, then you need a robust internet setup. This includes a reliable and stable internet connection with a modem and router. VoIP does not demand much but needs enough bandwidth to handle your call volume.

While setting up your internet, work with your internet service provider and IT team to set up VoIP QoS for your VoIP service. VoIP Quality of Service (QoS) can help troubleshoot voice over IP issues. When QoS is set up, you can prioritize network traffic to make business calls a high priority. This way, even with everyone using the internet for multiple reasons, the quality of your business calls remains untouched.

5. VoIP Phone Service

Finally, you will need a VoIP phone service, and you can get this from any virtual phone service provider. However, you want a provider who offers quality service for a reasonable price and has easy-to-access, responsive customer service. When settling on a VoIP provider, ask about the installation and set-up processes and the different features that come included with the service. Look for customer reviews and case studies to get an idea of how the product works in action. Then, choose a provider that meets your needs and budget.

Get Your VoIP Phone Service with United World Telecom

Now that you know what equipment is needed for VoIP, you can set up VoIP phone service for your business. United World Telecom can get you set up with high-quality VoIP phone service for your business. We have been offering cloud communication solutions to businesses around the world for the past 28 years. Learn more about our VoIP service by speaking with our experts. Call us today at 1 (877) 898 8646 or chat with us online!