[Mac-telephony-list] voip call quality

[Martin Joseph via List]

On Dec 20, 2006, at 10:19 AM, brody bernardi via List wrote:

> I guess I should have asked this first....What is the sound quality
> of a VoIP call?
> I was at a Sprint store and made a call on one of their phones (their
> land line not a cell phone)  to another Sprint store and the sound
> quality was not good at all.  I asked the employees about it and they
> unanimously stated that the phone lines sucked because they were VoIP
> and not copper.
>
> This is why I have preferred to stay on copper for the time being,
> not because of money.
> What are your customers saying about the quality of VoIP phone calls?
<big snip>

There are many variables.  The way the call is setup can be a  
limiting factor.  If the VOIP provider is limited in bandwidth usage,  
then a lower rate codec like g729 or ilbc can degrade the quality  
somewhat.

If the internet connection is poor and the call is routed through  
it,  you will have problems.

If you have a high quality connection and available bandwidth, call  
quality is as good or better then PSTN calls.  I make all my long  
distance calls via voip using uLaw codec, and I have had EXCELLENT  
call quality, once I found an ITSP with nice routes from my asterisk  
boxen.

Marty