What are some ways to measure the performance of a VoIP network?
Latency is the total of a lot of small delays that occur during the coding, transmission and decoding of a voice conversation. The time each step takes can be measured, and then improved through better network equipment and better configuration of the network. Performance factors within a business’s control include the presence of absence of a firewall for VoIP traffic; delays in the digital signal processor (DSP) that codes and decodes voice traffic; how big a chunk of data the DSP takes on at once; how big a buffer you build in against delays elsewhere in the VoIP system; and how efficiently the decoded signal is routed within your data network to an IP-enabled phone or PC. Performance factors outside a business’s control include the length of the path packets travel between computers across the Internet, and the speed at which signals travel through physical lines or satellite links (typically a high fraction of the speed of light).
