In the early days of VoIP, when most people had dialup access, about the only reason to use VoIP was that it allowed you to make free (or almost free) long distance calls over the Internet. While free long distance provided a good incentive, the call quality was sub standard for most people. This is because dialup does not provide enough bandwidth to maintain a clear voice transmission over the Internet. Another limitation was the fact PC softphones were the only VoIP phones available, and both users had to be running the same softphone software in order to have a conversation.
The wide availability of broadband access has changed the VoIP scene remarkably. Call quality is no longer an issue due to the high bandwidth available with broadband access. As a matter of fact, in many cases call quality is better than that of analog telephone service because of that fact that VoIP is a digital technology. As long as their is sufficient bandwidth available, VoIP can deliver a better voice signal than a regular analog telephone service. This difference in quality is similar to the difference you notice when comparing the sound from a cassette tape with a CD. The cassette tape is analog and the CD has much better sound because it is digital.
There are, however a few factors that you need to be aware of that can affect call quality when using VoIP. Most of these factors center around the available bandwidth. Broadband Internet access has a minimum bandwidth of approximately 384kb (384 kbps, or 384 thousand bits per second). This can vary, depending on the type of access that you have. A typical VoIP call, at the highest quality setting, can require a bandwidth of up to 100kb. This is something that you should definitely check with the provider to determine, as this number varies considerably between providers. If you have high speed DSL access, the available bandwidth depends a good deal on the distance between your home and the nearest connection point. You may recall when signing up for DSL service that the provider told you they would be running a line test – this tested the bandwidth capability of your analog telephone line, which is used to carry the DSL signal. If this test had not passed, then you would not have been able to sign-up for DSL service. So if you have a working DSL connection, then you likely have sufficient bandwidth available for VoIP.
If your high speed access is provided by your cable company, the available bandwidth is not affected so much by distance as it is by the overall quality and condition of the cable lines to your home. These conditions can vary somewhat, particularly during rainy periods, but if you have this type of access the chances are excellent that you will always have sufficient bandwidth for making VoIP calls.
It is a good idea to check your actual bandwidth capability before you purchase VoIP service. Most provider websites have a utility to do this. Typically these utilities will download a large file to your computer and measure the download time. The download time and size of the file is then used to calculate the actual bandwidth. Run this test at several different times during the day. You will likely find that the bandwidth is lowest during the day on weekdays – this is when the Internet and your access provider have the largest load. If you have sufficient bandwidth during these peak use times, then you will likely have it at other times as well.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this available bandwidth is the total that is available for both VoIP voice calls AND any other Internet access that may be happening at the same time. If you or someone else in your home is accessing the Internet, the available bandwidth will be reduced. Normal activities, such as surfing and checking email, will likely not cause any bandwidth problems. On the other hand, large file downloads may eat into the available bandwidth enough to affect call quality. So if you normally work with a lot of large files, or if several people may be accessing the Internet on your connection at the same time, then you should try to run the bandwidth tests while this access is happening. This will give you an idea of the worst case to expect, and whether or not call quality will be affected.
With the bandwidth available from today’s high speed Internet connections, call quality is seldom an issue with VoIP service. If you have broadband access, then you will likely experience better quality from VoIP than what you are used to.
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