If your phone calls sound choppy, broken, or you’re having other voice quality issues like delays, echo, or crackling/static noises, your network might not be optimized for VOIP.

When considering an ISP provider, don’t forget to ask about average jitter, packet loss, and round-trip times for customers in your area. These can give even the fastest connection an unacceptable quality rating for VOIP.

Before you do anything else, make sure you don’t have bandwidth hogs strangling your network. These include file sharing or other peer-to-peer applications, playing graphic-heavy online games, uploading large files with FTP programs, and sending email with big attachment sizes. Any time you’re using that bandwidth for something other than voice, you risk degrading the sound quality of your calls. Try pausing high-bandwidth activities and see if it solves your problem.

If you’ve dropped the bandwidth usage during calls but think there’s still room for improvement, you can:

1. Keep your VOIP internet phone adapter (the special router you got when you signed up for your VOIP service) well ventilated so it doesn’t overheat and make sure it’s positioned at least 3 feet away from any electronic device that might cause interference.
   
2. Take a moment and reboot your adapter, modem and computer. It may seem silly but this can solve a multitude of problems.
   
3. If you’re using multiple routers or other networking equipment, try plugging your VOIP adapter directly into the broadband modem. If this solves the sound issue, you might have a problem with one of your other pieces of equipment. Gradually add the equipment back into your setup until you’ve identified the one that’s causing the problem. Then you can contact the manufacturer for their troubleshooting recommendations.

Internet Voice can allow you to make a call directly from your traditional phone, a computer, or a special VOIP phone. You’ll be able to dial just as you always have, complete with a dial tone and everything. You’ll have a regular phone number, and a person can call you from his or her regular phone without using special equipment.