Since VoIP technology is still evolving, there are many business practices regarding it that are still undecided. One of these is how much bandwidth is necessary for a comfortable VoIP service. We all know the advantages of using VoIP since it only requires one network for management compared Tadacip to traditional PBX systems which also need the PSTN network. But does it mean that you can keep your existing Internet connection as it is, or will you require additional bandwidth to cope with the excess traffic? This article will discuss issues that arise from these considerations

Typical VoIP data

For now, let’s consider a typical VoIP connection between two people. The amount of data used will depend on the codec used to encode the voice. HD voice for example, which is clearer uses a more sophisticated codec and makes use of a higher amount of bandwidth. Interestingly, the bottleneck here is not your download capability, but your upload capability which refers to how much data can be sent from your network. The upload speeds are typically much slower than download speeds.

Good quality VoIP calls will make use of HD Voice codecs and can use up to 88kbps of bandwidth overall including the headers etc. This means that you need to have at least 128kbps if you want to comfortably browse the net for regular usage like downloading websites etc. This is quite a low figure especially in today’s environment. So if you need VoIP for personal use, even the most basic net connection available in the US is going to be sufficient for your needs no matter how much width the codec requires.

The problems occur when there are multiple VoIP lines. This is a big issue faced by businesses. It requires a detailed analysis of log files to find out the typical activity of how many calls are likely to be online at any given moment and make provisions for contingencies. Your service provider can help you out with this exercise since they will have the experience of similar types of businesses. They will also suggest different plans that will be more suitable for an Internet connection that also has VoIP data.

Very large businesses will need significantly powerful Internet plans in order to cope with the amount of Voice data. But these mammoths will already possess powerful pipes to the Internet to accommodate all their employees. So scaling up shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Author Bio: Bhagwad is an experienced writer for Hosted solutions for VoIP He also specializes in reviewing VoIP phones to those who are just starting out.

Category: Technology/VOIP
Keywords: VoIP Phones, Hosted Solutions for VoIP