VoIP systems present several advantages over analogue telephony. For enterprises, VoIP reduces the cost of equipment, lines, manpower, and maintenance. All of an organisation’s voice and data traffic is integrated into one physical network, eliminating the need for separate telephone lines. VoIP is also feature-rich, with functions like IVR/auto attendant, call recording, time of day routing, voicemail to email adding value to the investment. Despite all these advantages that VoIP has to offer there are still concerns around call quality and security that hinders the adoption of VoIP. Ted de Boer, product manager at MiRO explains that these issues can be overcome with the right solutions and technology.

One of the most common causes of poor call quality is jitter. Because the information is divided into packets, each packet can travel by a different path from the sender to the receiver. When the packets arrive at their intended destination in a different order than they were originally sent, the result is a call with poor audio. However, if you use a router, that has a built-in jitter buffer, this issue will be resolved. The jitter buffer receives the out-of-sync packets and temporarily stores the arriving packets to minimise the delay variations to ensure high-quality voice clarity,” says De Boer. De Boer suggests investing in quality VoIP solutions that stabilise system latency and in turn reduce jitter.

VoIP is also very dependent on your internet connection. De Boer adds, transporting voice packets is different and requires an additional set of internet protocols that your ISP may not be providing. Call quality issues can also occur due to inferior hardware. Many people use their internet connection for both voice and data, which is fine if your router can prioritise VoIP traffic. Without this, your call quality can be impacted by other users on your network.

Another important point to take note of is the security levels when using a VoIP solution. Just like any device connected to the internet, VoIP solutions can be sensitive to cyber risks such as eavesdropping, audio spam and malware. While security around older technologies seems to be on the back burner, there has been a large investment in security resources around VoIP. De Boer says that several counter steps can be used, including the use of VoIP-ready firewalls and other protection mechanisms. The maintenance of current patch levels is important, as patching after hacking is often complex and expensive. Also, encryption is necessary to defeat eavesdropping attacks. This can be achieved through either transport layer security or IPsec (Internet Protocol Security).

“MiRO has been involved with VoIP for more than 16 years and entered the market due to its commitment to providing first-to-market, best of breed IP convergence solutions. The company’s strong networking background made it inevitable that we would become involved in VoIP,” says De Boer.

MiRO offers a wide licence-free range of cost-effective quality VoIP solutions as well as a more premium, user-friendly series VoIP PBXs. With MiRO’s wide variety of hardware and software-based equipment, they can provide the perfect solution at a price bracket that will suit your budget. In addition to their solutions offering, MiRO also offers all their customers pre-sales support that includes a needs analysis as well as technical support and a variety of Zero-to-Hero and certified training courses.