Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can help your business thrive, providing cost efficiency, enhanced call features, flexibility for remote work, and more.
However, clear calls are essential for success.
Consumers often associate a garbled voice on the line, or similar audio problems, with spam callers. In fact, nearly two-thirds (65%) of people will immediately hang up because of poor call quality in an attempt to avoid spam, a recent study showed. This leads not only to fewer sales opportunities, but also to customer frustration, unresolved issues, and provider switches.
Other VoIP flaws, including in firmware and Power over Ethernet (PoE), can lead to costly data breaches. These averaged $4.4 million globally per incident in 2023, up 15% year over year.
Due to the many variables that affect VoIP call quality, many businesses today are choosing to work with cloud-based providers, who handle all issues remotely.
In general, poor VoIP call quality can be traced to one or more of three main causes: problems with the setup of the system, issues with packet delivery, and/or side effects of spam prevention and other security measures. We’ll look into each of these below.
There are two main problems that can occur related to the setup of your VoIP platform, the first of which results from a shared multitenant format.
During spikes in calls, these systems experience “traffic jams” that can significantly reduce call quality. Businesses that switch to private setups see better results, but this comes with a high upfront price tag, costing two to three times as much as shared. Other associated costs with private systems include $5,000+ in annual audits.
One well-known example of this issue occurred with Techmode in 2022, when choppy audio on calls due to traffic spikes caused the B2B tech company to switch from shared platforms to private.
The second problem that can occur due to the setup of your VoIP platform has to do with its configuration. In some cases, physical barriers such as walls or loose wiring can cause these issues, while in others a miscommunication between systems occurs.
WiFi interference caused by walls and/or metal can add 50 to 100 milliseconds (ms) jitter. For reference, your jitter threshold should be no more than 30 ms to ensure clear calls. A jitter threshold represents a limit to “network jitter,” or variation in packet delay.
In healthcare, dropped calls can be especially problematic, such as in 2023 when senior living facilities experienced high levels of mid-call reboots due to loose PoE connections, causing delays in emergency response and resulting in safety audits.
System configuration can also be an issue when mismatches between systems occur. This results in one-way audio, dropped calls, and other serious call issues, often only detectable by 24/7 logging by MOS trend tools.
Last year saw a surge in SIP trunk scaling, which was good for overall growth but also resulted in 25 percent more bottlenecks due to misconfigurations.
“Packets” of data are how voice travels over the internet in VoIP systems. The impact of packet loss is huge in VoIP, with just a 1-3 percent loss causing clipped words and anything over 5 percent resulting in unintelligible calls.
As one expert put it, "VoIP demands zero-tolerance real-time transmission—missed packets can't be resent like email, gone forever by arrival time."[1]
The use of double routers often results in dropped outbound packets, detectable by an “X” on the screen.
Outdated firmware can lead to UDP timeouts—a recent study showed this to be the cause of 70 percent of drops. In 2024, firewall patches for UDP vulnerabilities doubled, slashing drop rates nearly in half (40 percent) but requiring monthly checks.
Addressing dropped packets is essential for all businesses, but is perhaps especially important in healthcare, where HIPAA violations via unencrypted fallbacks are a risk.
Finally, security and spam-prevention efforts can result in increased latency, known to reduce call quality.
For reference, a latency benchmark of less than 150 ms one way is recommended for clear calls. Anything greater than this will result in delays in speech, sometimes known as “moon talk.” Call centers set their latency standard even higher, at no greater than 100 ms one way.
In healthcare, HIPAA encryption has been known to add 20-30 ms of latency to networks. However, these mandates became even more stringent in 2025, causing many in the healthcare industry to have to switch VoIP providers.
Across the board, spam filters in recent years have blocked 46 percent of illegal VoIP calls while adding 10-20 ms latency to legitimate networks.
VoIP systems are complex. They are also subject to updates and other internal and external changes that can affect call quality.
Solutions can be just as complex, as we’ve explored in this article, sometimes requiring more than one approach, e.g., switching to a private setup, updating firmware, removing redundancies, checking configurations, employing logging tools, etc.
Many businesses have found a more complete solution by using a cloud-based provider for the management and maintenance of their VoIP infrastructure. These providers ensure that you are in compliance and operating effectively.
Businesses benefit from VoIP in many ways, but it’s essential that calls are consistently clear.
With over 30 years of experience in communications technology, QVD can help you succeed with VoIP. Call us today to learn about our comprehensive cloud-based solution.