The Importance of Measuring Jitter
June 20, 2018
Category: Phone Systems, VoIP
Jitter, the amount of “noise” that interferes with your Internet access or phone call, comes in many forms: annoying lag when you’re trying to stream a video or a crackly noise interrupting a speaker on a conference call.
In our last blog, we discussed the ways in which you can measure jitter. Now, let’s take a look at why it’s important to measure jitter.
Proactive Remediation
Ideally, we would never experience jitter, but in reality, it comes with the technology. An “acceptable” level of jitter is between one to three milliseconds–enough that it’s occurring, but you probably won’t notice it.
Any more than that and jitter will cause issues–it may sound like you’re in a bad cell phone service area, or the caller’s voice may go in and out. In some very extreme cases, jitter can cause packet, or information, loss–but generally speaking, it doesn’t get to that point. Overall, jitter makes for a very frustrating phone call.
By regularly measuring the jitter in your network, you can ensure your organization’s systems will avoid those problems. For example, if your timekeeping system is online, but your Internet is experiencing a high level of jitter, employees may not be able to accurately track time. Furthermore, if you do find an issue, you can proactively remediate the problems to ensure the effect on your business is limited (or nonexistent).
Final Thoughts
Consistently and proactively measuring the level of jitter in your network is important because it gives you an accurate picture of how your Internet and VOIP systems are functioning. If an issue needs to be adjusted, it can be done so quickly–not after your network (and business) have been negatively affected.
Founded in 2007, DataStream Communications is a hosted VOIP provider that offers businesses within the Mid-Atlantic region complete cloud phone systems as well as phone numbers. We cover the entire process from initial consultation to installation and after purchase services. DataStream is heavily focused on customer service and quality and strives to provide the best possible customer experience. Contact us today to see how we can improve your phone quality.
