All posts tagged: voip calling

The No-Worry Guide to VoIP Number Porting

The No-Worry Guide to VoIP Number Porting

Published by Webster

If you’re considering porting your landline number to VoIP, or your current VoIP number to a new service provider — and you have never done it before — you’re right to be cautious. It’s not difficult, but there are some odd formalities that can mix people up if they are unfamiliar with VoIP number porting. The best thing to do is follow every step of the well-documented, highly-regulated process. By following the very specific order of operations, you can port your VoIP number successfully to a business phone service that better suits your needs.. We’ll provide a detailed guide so that you can do this correctly without panicking, even if you have a ton of phone numbers to port, including 800-numbers or vanity numbers. 1 CloudTalk Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features 24/7 Customer Support, Call Management/Monitoring, Contact Center, and more How to port a landline number to VoIP Porting a number simply means transferring it to a new service. …

What Is an LOA and When Will My Number Get Ported?

What Is an LOA and When Will My Number Get Ported?

Published by Webster

A Letter of Authorization (LOA) is a document that you must send to your telecom provider when you want to switch to a new business phone service but keep your old phone number. It lets both your new and old phone company know that you’re the one who is actually requesting the change. Whether you’re switching over your landline or VoIP phone service, you’ll need an LOA to complete the process. Porting a number can take time — up to a couple of weeks in some instances — so be sure you wait to hear from your new provider before canceling your old service. That is the big thing to remember from my post. Do not cancel your existing phone service until your new service is set up. Cancelling your old phone service directly after submitting your LOA could lead to a gap in time where you do not have any service. The LOA merely starts the process — you should stay on your existing service during that time. That said, completing an LOA is …

Why the Rate Center Matters When You Buy or Port Numbers

Why the Rate Center Matters When You Buy or Port Numbers

Published by Webster

A rate center is a particular geographic area that’s crucial for businesses relying on phone services, whether they’re using traditional PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) or making calls over the internet with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). These centers outline the rules for local calling, billing, and assigning phone numbers. Essentially, they determine whether a call is local or long-distance based on its origin. By familiarizing yourself with rate centers, you may be able to choose your phone numbers more thoughtfully. Essentially, you can use this knowledge to ensure your business appears local and accessible to customers, which means they’re more likely to want to work with you. It also prevents your customers from facing long-distance charges, which is especially important if your business involves regular phone interactions. By strategically aligning your communication channels with customer needs, you can simultaneously make your customers happier while reducing costs on both sides of the phone call. Understanding rate centers Rate centers are particular areas that help phone companies figure out how to organize and charge for calls. …

How To Run a VoIP Quality Test and Improve Your MOS

How To Run a VoIP Quality Test and Improve Your MOS

Published by Webster

A VoIP quality test measures the performance of your network connection. The test simulates a set number of calls on your network and uses key metrics to determine how calls would sound in different situations. It can help you understand whether your connection is strong enough before implementing a VoIP system and alert you to potential post deployment issues as well. Mean opinion score (MOS) is an industry standard metric for VoIP call quality — it’s a simple 1-5 rating system with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. Anything above a 4 is sufficient and scores below 3.5 should be considered unacceptable. Below that range, users are more likely to experience mic echo, dropped calls, choppy or robotic sounds, and cutting out. This guide covers everything you need to know to perform VoIP tests and tweak settings to optimize for MOS. 1 CloudTalk Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features 24/7 Customer Support, Call Management/Monitoring, Contact Center, and …

How to Run a VoIP Speed Test for Free (3 Ways)

How to Run a VoIP Speed Test for Free (3 Ways)

Published by Webster

A VoIP speed test measures the performance of an internet connection to see if it can handle internet-based communications. These tests simulate data transmissions of a VoIP call from your network, typically measuring latency, jitter, upload speed, and download speed. When tested together, these results can give you a strong sense of what calls will be like for your team. Whether you’re interested in installing a VoIP system, making network changes, or troubleshooting an issue, a speed test takes less than 30 seconds. 1 CloudTalk Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features 24/7 Customer Support, Call Management/Monitoring, Contact Center, and more Three free VoIP speed test options There are dozens of free speed tests out there. These three are some of the best because they come from reputable business phone services. I encourage you to try all three — you can explore other free options as well. 1. RingCentral’s free VoIP speed test RingCentral is one of the best business communication …

How to Fix Mic Echo Before Everyone Bails on the Call

How to Fix Mic Echo Before Everyone Bails on the Call

Published by Webster

If you’re on a phone or video call and you suddenly hear your own voice on a slight delay, you’re most likely experiencing mic echo. Even with modern calling technology, this scenario is still common and it can leave anyone feeling frustrated — especially when time is short and you need to present yourself as a polished, prepared communicator. Fortunately, this mic echo is usually caused by a variety of easily fixable factors, including: Where your microphone is located. This is the most common cause of echo issues. If you’re using an external mic, it may be situated too close to your speakers, causing it to pick up and send out the sound of your voice in an endless loop. The volume level of your speakers. If your speakers are too loud, your mic may be picking up on its output no matter where it’s located. The number of microphones in use. Having more than one running mic can multiply the sound of your voice. Make sure your main mic — whether it’s a headset, …

How to Optimize Your VoIP Network Before the Next Call

How to Optimize Your VoIP Network Before the Next Call

Published by Webster

You’ve got your Voice over Internet Protocol network up and running smoothly — congratulations! One of the great things about a well-set-up VoIP system is its reliability. For the most part, you can count on it to hum along and support your calls, chats, and team meetings. But even the best network setups can face stress. If your business expands to new locations, as more callers start using WiFi instead of traditional phone lines, or deploys new security measures — your previously perfect system may start to have performance problems. If you have tried all the basic VoIP troubleshooting fixes, it might be time to take a closer look at how to optimize your VoIP network. A well-optimized network can make all the difference for professionality. In this post, we’ll walk you through practical steps to ensure your VoIP network is primed and ready for your next call. 1 CloudTalk Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features 24/7 Customer Support, Call …

9 VoIP Troubleshooting Tips to Fix Everything Right Now

9 VoIP Troubleshooting Tips to Fix Everything Right Now

Published by Webster

Making VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls is easy, convenient, flexible, and affordable. VoIP troubleshooting, on the other hand, can be frustrating and time consuming if you don’t know where to look. Some of the most common issues include dropped calls, mic echo, delay, no audio, or one-way audio. Fortunately, fixing most of these problems is relatively simple with one of the following: Move closer to the router. Close other applications. Use a different Wi-Fi band. Update router firmware. Disable SIP ALG. Check firewall settings. Change VoIP codecs. Prioritize VoIP traffic with QoS. Use a Wi-Fi booster. Bonus tip: If your router is more than a few years old, you might want to replace it with one of the best VoIP routers. I recommend give these other fixes a try first — VoIP is old technology that certainly doesn’t need the latest and greatest hardware to work well. 1. Move closer to the router (or restart it) Because of how routers work, this tip is really effective. If it’s easy for you to move with …

Vishing, Wangiri, and Other VoIP Fraud Tactics On the Rise

Vishing, Wangiri, and Other VoIP Fraud Tactics On the Rise

Published by Webster

VoIP fraud is a serious and growing threat to businesses, with attackers increasingly targeting cloud phone systems to exploit vulnerabilities for financial gain. This type of fraud involves unauthorized access to a VoIP network, often for making costly international calls or redirecting traffic to premium-rate numbers. But there are many types of VoIP fraud, and not all of them rely on premium-rate number schemes. In this post, we’ll explore common VoIP fraud tactics and offer practical steps to protect your business from these threats. 1 RingCentral Office Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees) Medium, Enterprise, Large Features Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more 1. Vishing Also known as voice or VoIP phishing, vishing is a tactic that involves social engineering to extract company credentials, like logins, passwords, employee IDs, and other types of business or personal data. Scammers often use VoIP, along with voice-altering software, and other tactics to disguise their identities to pretend they’re …

Vonage Business Communications Review (2024): Is It Worth It?

Vonage Business Communications Review (2024): Is It Worth It?

Published by Webster

Vonage’s fast facts Starting price: $19.99 per user per month. Key features: Unlimited calling and texting. Free number porting. Virtual receptionist. Intuitive admin portal. Communication APIs. Image: Vonage Vonage is an average business phone system if you just need something that supports basic calling and texting capabilities from your smartphone. If you’re looking for more functionality, it’s missing advanced features and team collaboration tools, despite having a higher price tag than many of its competitors. However, Vonage’s support for communication APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to embed custom calling capabilities into apps and websites may be worth the lack of other features if that’s a priority for your business. 1 RingCentral Office Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees) Medium, Enterprise, Large Features Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more Vonage’s pricing Vonage has three standard business phone system plans: Mobile: $19.99 per user per month for a few users who just need basic calling and texting capabilities. …