Why Broadband Testing is a Must For VoIP

Alan: If you’re thinking about VoIP for you telephone system, there are a lot of things that you need to consider. But, one thing that you really should do is to test your broadband connection. Our guest, today, is Julie Lancaster, Spokesperson for Visualware. Welcome back to Let’s Talk Computers, Julie.

Julie: Hi, Alan. Thank you for having me back.

Alan: So many people think that when they sign up for VoIP, that just because they have a broadband connection, that they are going to get a good quality sound. It just doesn’t happen that way, does it?

Julie: No, there are many additional factors that play into good VoIP sound quality. Many people think it’s just a matter of your download speeds and upload speeds, which are important, but in addition to that, there is “jitter”, which measures the variations in time it between when the data packets are sent and when they arrive. VoIP performs by sending by sending data packets from the source to the destination. Oftentimes, packets do not arrive at the destination in the same order in which they are sent. If they don’t arrive in time to be put back in the correct order, it can result in excessive jitter which can cause poor VoIP sound quality.

Another factor for VoIP is “packet loss”. Packet loss occurs when the data packets just don’t arrive or they are discarded because they don’t arrive in time, when there’s excessive congestion on your Internet connection or at your location.

Alan: I guess the best to make sure that VoIP doesn’t have any packet loss is to have one dedicated DSL connection from your VoIP provider to you. But, most people cannot do this. Most people have a broadband connection, whether it’s cable or just regular DSL and there are a lot of measurements that we have to look at, to really look at the quality of service. It’s not just the upload and the download speeds any more, is it?

Julie: In addition to upload and download speeds, there are the jitter and packet loss, which I mentioned and also the consistency of your bandwidth delivery – and that refers to how consistent the data arrives to you. If you get a consistent data stream it is much more effective than having data streams that are low and then high, even though they can average out to the same.

Alan: When you’re talking about jitter, how does jitter affect us on VoIP?

Julie: It affects you because the data packets arrive out of order. Basically, the data packets, when somebody is speaking, are sent from their location to your location. That sound is broken up in various data packets and if they don’t arrive in order within a given amount of time then the data packets can be dropped which results in static or often times a sound that can’t be understood.

Alan: Well, on your website, you have an article entitled, “A Tale of Two Airlines”. And I guess this sums it up nicely. Because with VoIP, you want the best quality in sound and sound is a component of broadband speed and jitter.

Julie: You’re referring to the quality of service. For instance, if you have two airlines and they both have the same service for the number of packages that are sent and charge the same rate – on the surface they would appear to provide the same service. But, if one airline just has one flight that delivers all the packages, that cannot be as beneficial as another airline that provides one flight everyday of the week.

For instance, if you have a shipment that goes out one specific day, and an airline that only flies one day a week, then you may have to wait several days in order to be able to ship it. It’s similar to your data stream and how it relates to your quality of service. If you had consistent quality of service over time, that will result in a much more reliable phone sound quality than data streams that bounce up between low and high.

Alan: But, when you call a VoIP provider they all say the same thing, “we’ve tested the quality of service and it is totally adequate for VoIP.” You have software that lets us actually see what is going on in the background. Otherwise, we would have to rely on the provider who is telling us that service is great!

Julie: We have products that actually simulate voice traffic, (provides a call simulation). So, it tests your Internet connection for jitter, packet loss and quality of service to help determine what type of voice sound quality you can expect on your Internet connection.

Alan: How do you determine what is good and what is bad, as far as far as a percentage? 10% jitter could be bad; it could be good. What are we looking at as far as percentages of being good and bad?

Julie: That can vary since the factors all interrelate. You can simulate the voice call and then as a result of the measurements of all the factors, you will get a rating of the type of sound quality that you can expect.

Alan: Plus the fact, that when you are talking VoIP, you’re talking about packets; you’re not getting the complete transmission all at one time. It’s like taking a puzzle and then breaking it up into itty-bitty pieces and then shipping the pieces and then reassembling it on the other end and hoping that you have the same puzzle.

Julie: That’s exactly it, Alan. That’s why it is so important for all the data packets to arrive within the allowed time window so they can be reassembled. Or if they are dropped due your Internet connection, then you don’t get the complete package reassembled. That results in difficult to understand sound quality.

Alan: Julie, you have a series or Programs that will actually show us our jitter; show us our connection speeds. And what else does it show us?

Julie: It shows those primary factors, the jitter and the packet loss, your download speeds, your upload speeds and the consistency of the data. Then, it rates all of the combination of those factors. It analyzes them to provide you a report of the sound quality that you can expect.

Alan: And you show us where dropped packets can occur. That’s very important, because when we have a major stoppage right out of our ISP, every VoIP connection that we have is going to sound choppy. And especially if you are in business, the first impression of having poor-quality telephone connection – that really says a lot for your business, doesn’t it?

Julie: It sure does. If you’re going to use VoIP for business communications, it’s very important that you have reliable Internet connections that will result in sound quality, so that your calls do not get lost or dropped - and that your conversation is completely understandable. Alan: And your software, tests something called “roundtrip time”. What is that and why is it important?

Julie: That’s a measurement of how long it takes a data packet to be sent to the destination and returned. And obviously, the longer it takes for that to occur then the more time passes where the data can be lost. So, if you have a shorter roundtrip time, there’s less time for the data packets to be dropped or to be affected by latency.

Alan: We have been talking about VoIP, but this testing also applies to any kind of broadband connection. For example, I know that when we were experiencing bad connection speeds with our broadband supplier; they said that the upload looked good, the download looked good and as far as they were concerned, the speeds were just fine. But, I was having trouble sending large files and receiving large files. By using your reports, which are generated by your software, I was able to go back to our ISP and say, “here’s what is really going on”, and then when they looked at it they said, “Oh, I see we have a problem, elsewhere”, and then they fixed it.

Julie: You can send your ISP an actual picture of the service that you’re getting and it’s very helpful for them to troubleshoot the problem and to determine what they can do to resolve it.

Alan: With any kind of testing, reports are very important. What kind of reports does your software produce? Julie: There’s the jitter and the packet loss and in several products there are bar chart and line graph reports, where you can see your connection speeds over time and your quality of service over time. You can also email your test results to your ISP. Alan: You have two products – MySpeed PC and MyVoIPSpeed PC. What is the difference between those two products?

Julie: The MySpeed product measures the bandwidth speed, (being the upload and download speeds) and your connection performance for the consistency of your bandwidth delivery. The MyVoIPSpeed product adds the test for the jitter and the packet loss, which are the key components that affect the VoIP sound quality.

Alan: And with each of these two products, you actually have two different versions of each one. You have a Standard version and an Advanced Version. What is in the Advanced Version that is not in the Standard Version?

Julie: The Advanced versions allow you to perform continuous testing over time and that’s important in order to get a more complete picture of your Internet performance. As you know, especially with cable, you can have great speed at one time of the day, but then at prime time when other people are on it, the download and upload speeds can deteriorate a lot. With the Advanced versions, you can have it automatically test your speeds throughout the day, at a time-interval that you set in order to see a picture of your Internet connection, for days at a time, or longer.

Alan: Well, let’s say you have a problem, it’s in the middle of the night, and you can’t get tech support. And the next day you report the problem, they look up your connection and they test it and they say, “It’s a good connection; I don’t see you have any problem. If you are having a problem later on, please contact us.” However, if you have a report that is showing over hours, or even days’ time, they can’t really deny that anymore, can they?

Julie: An advantage of seeing reports over hours and days is that you can often identify patterns – like at certain points in the day your download speeds may drop. That can be very helpful to an ISP to determining what the problem is, as well.

Alan: And for a business that using e-commerce, this is really important. This is a difference between having sales and people who maybe going elsewhere. If you have a report that says, “Nobody could get into our service during such and such time because they were getting dropped packets or it was so noisy and the connections weren’t good. Customers do not like to go places where connections are not good. They find alternate places to shop, don’t they?

Julie: I’ve seen studies where people who don’t get a response within seven seconds, they will abandon your site and go somewhere else. So, it is critical for a business to have pages and service that is very quick for their end users.

Alan: Well, what are we looking at as far as the cost of these products, (MySpeed PC and MyVoIPSpeed PC for testing VoIP, both Standard and Advanced)?

Julie: For the MySpeed PC product, which does the bandwidth speed testing, there is a free version available. The Advanced version, which does the continuous testing and stores those results over time, is $29.95. For the MyVoIPSpeed PC product, it is $49.95 for the Standard version and $89.95 for the Advanced version that does the automated testing.

Alan: And for somebody that is thinking about getting VoIP, it is money well spent. Because, once you sign up for a service, if voice quality is less than what you think that it should be and especially for a business, the ability to have these tests, right here, to help you and your ISP will help give your that quality sound that you really deserve.

Julie: That’s very true. It’s hard to know where the problem is occurring unless you can actually test your connection and see a report. Alan: Well, Julie, where can someone find more information about MySpeed PC and MyVoIPSpeed PC?

Julie: http://www.visualware.com.

Alan: Julie, it’s been our pleasure to have you as our guest today, on Let’s Talk Computers, showing us how we can do our own testing and see what is really going on behind the scenes in the VoIP World. And we look forward to having you back on the air again, real soon - talking about some of your other products.

Julie: I look forward to that as well and thank you for having me.