Business phone systems and data communications are increasingly happening over the cloud, making Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) a critical part of modern business communication. Instead of utilizing standard analog phone lines, VoIP utilizes broadband internet to lower costs and increase accessibility. To improve VoIP quality even further, software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs) take communications to the next level through higher quality and greater network security. Here’s how SD-WAN improves VoIP quality.
Application Prioritization
Application prioritization gives high-priority traffic like VoIP and video first resources, maintaining crystal-clear audio and video. Thanks to SD-WAN, your network detects the application and prioritizes VoIP traffic over other types like email and web browsing. For employees and customers, this improves productivity and the overall communication experience.
Bandwidth Bonding
Bandwidth bonding combines data at the packet level and aggregates multiple connection links — cable, DSL, fiber, wireless, and more — to share their bandwidth. This automatically increases a location’s capacity and encourages session persistence. If problems and connectivity issues arrive, calls are immediately reported to an available connection. This eliminates dropped calls, reduces latency, and boosts reliability.
Forward Error Correction
With forward error connection, the receiving end of SD-WAN duplicates your phone call’s data packets, giving every packet of every phone call two chances to succeed. It also detects and corrects errors in transmitted data, minimizing errors and loss that can make VoIP phone calls sound choppy or drop altogether.
Jitter Buffering
A jitter buffer reduces phone calls to disjointed, choppy pockets of audio, creating lag and frustrating communication experiences. SD-WANs can collect data pockets that compromise your call, store them, and send them out in normally spaced intervals. This temporary storing creates a standard, clear VoIP instead of dealing with poor audio due to network congestion.
Network Security
With cyberattacks on the rise, network security is mission-critical. Increase your network security with a combination of SD-WAN and firewalls. This creates a seamlessly updated threat detection and filter list, protecting your infrastructure and data in real-time. It also adds a layer of protection from vulnerabilities that can cause network slowdowns and failures that impact VoIP call quality and user experience. And if you’re worried about your network security, get a free Network Security Evaluation from TPx.
Leverage SD-WAN for Improved VoIP Quality
VoIP cloud calling provides scalability, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and increased quality, and TPx helps leverage these benefits even more when paired with SD-WAN and firewall solutions. Contact our team today to learn more about our cloud calling, SD-WAN and firewall solutions and how they can deliver increased quality, reliability, and security of your business communications.