What methods can you use to ensure high-quality voice calls across borders?

1 Define voice quality

Voice quality is a subjective measure of how well a listener can understand and appreciate the speech of a speaker. It depends on both technical and perceptual aspects, such as the bandwidth, latency, jitter, packet loss, noise, echo, and distortion of the transmission, as well as the clarity, loudness, naturalness, and intelligibility of the speech. Voice quality can be affected by the network, the devices, the environment, and the human factors involved in a voice call.

2 Measure voice quality

To measure voice quality, you can use different methods that either rely on human judgments or on objective metrics. Human judgments are based on the opinions of listeners who rate the voice quality on a scale, such as the Mean Opinion Score (MOS). Objective metrics are based on algorithms that compare the original and the transmitted speech signals and calculate a score, such as the Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) or the Perceptual Objective Listening Quality Assessment (POLQA). Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, and they can be used in different scenarios and stages of the voice call lifecycle.

4 Optimize voice quality

To optimize voice quality, you can use techniques that enhance the performance and reliability of the network, the devices, and the endpoints involved in a voice call. These techniques can help you reduce or mitigate the impact of factors that degrade the voice quality, such as bandwidth limitations, latency variations, packet loss, noise, echo, and distortion. Some examples of voice quality optimization techniques are bandwidth management, quality of service (QoS), jitter buffers, echo cancellation, noise suppression, and codecs.

6 Learn voice quality

To learn more about voice quality, you can use resources that provide information and guidance on the concepts, methods, tools, and techniques related to voice quality assessment and improvement. These resources can help you deepen your knowledge and skills in telecommunications engineering and voice quality management. Some examples of voice quality learning resources are books, articles, courses, webinars, podcasts, and blogs.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?