It's almost never enough bandwidth (Pt.3))
Posted by Scott Morris on Fri, Feb 26, 2010 @ 12:03 AM
When it comes to voice over internet protocol phones, there are several things that are imperative to make it work right. Imagine setting off to deliver dinner to a friend who's been through a rough spell. You get on the free way at 4:30pm. Her exit is a mere 3 from where you get on. But the lanes are jammed up. And worse yet, your car sucks. Every time traffic starts to move, you step on the gas...and it takes forever for your car to actually start going. In the mean time, some idiot in a "why are they so tall" van cuts in front of you. It's going to be a long trip...
In the world of VoIP, bandwidth is the equivalent of the number of lanes on a given freeway or highway. The more lanes, the better. It'll handle more traffic, speeds are better because there is less getting jammed up.
- Bandwidth: A measure of how much 'traffic' (information) can travel from you to others. There are different types of internet connections, and they have different amounts of bandwidth.
- A DSL connection has anywhere from a little bit of bandwidth to a lot of bandwidth
- A T1 has a lot of bandwidth
- Cable connections can have a TON of bandwidth...but there are some potholes in the road.
The key to a successful VoIP phone system is to have enough bandwidth - enough lanes for all of the information to move on it that you want to have moving. How much bandwidth is enough? It all depends on several factors. If you would like help discovering how much bandwidth you will need, get help here.
The other crucial componenet of VoIP phones in called QoS.
- QoS: Quality of Service. This is actually pretty cool. QoS is a process of giving voice packages traveling on the 'highway' of your internet priority over plain old data (e.g. email, files, IM, etc...)
Imagine this: you get on the highway to go to work. I small man with a whistle runs out into traffic to slow it down, allowing you to get on very quickly. As you hurtle down the lanes and approach your exit, another small man makes sure that all of the other cars on the highway slow down so that you can go first and get off the highway quickly. QoS is the mechanism on your VoIP system that functions like those little men, slowing down all other internet traffic on your internet connection so that your voice package can move unhindered, and thereby get to its destination as fast as is technologically possible.
Warning: most companies today talk about QoS and affirm you'll get it. There is much more to a successful VoIP implementation than those three letters, and bandwidth is equally, if not more, important. When looking for a VoIP solution, be sure to maximize both.