Today’s users have very high expectations regarding the quality they expect when they make a call, whether that be through voice or video. Unfortunately, however, there are a wide variety of issues that can occur and affect their experience. And this includes packet loss.
Businesses depend now more than ever before on clear communication channels for their customer interactions. As such more organizations are choosing to take a truly proactive approach to their audio quality management. When problems occur, callers often choose to ‘drop the call’. Some will try to reconnect, hoping for an improved connection the next time… But many will not.
What is Packet Loss?
Packet loss occurs when one or more packets of data traveling across a network fail to reach their destination. The end result of these packets not arriving successfully at the opposite end is missing data. Dropping just one or two packets won’t be a significant issue for a standard voice or video call. However, it’s common that much higher numbers of packets are lost.
Techradar suggests when it comes to voice and video calls, a packet loss of just 0.5% is noticeable. Additionally, they highlight that anything above 2% has the potential to seriously damage the conversation. And if the level consistently exceeds 5%, they warn that callers are likely to miss out on substantial parts of the conversation.
The Impact
In voice calls, packet loss typically causes choppy or distorted audio, leading to communication breakdowns and misunderstandings. Even a small loss of packets can create noticeable disruptions. This makes it challenging for callers to easily follow the conversation. As the rate increases, the conversation will become increasingly fragmented, with gaps or missing words in the dialogue. Callers might also experience delays or need to repeat sections, diminishing the overall call experience.
Likewise, in video calls, which utilize WebRTC technology, packet loss can affect both the visual and auditory aspects of the communication. Users may experience frozen frames, pixelation, or blurry images in their video feed due to the missing data packets. Audio synchronization issues can also arise, causing the heard audio to become misaligned with the video. Such problems can significantly impact the clarity of video streaming and lead to jittery movements and degraded video quality.
High packet loss rates frustrate users and will substantially impede effective communication and collaboration during online calls or meetings. This is especially problematic in scenarios where non-verbal cues and visual information are vital for effective interactions, such as in remote consultations or educational sessions.
So why does it happen and what can you do about it?
Common Causes
Because packet loss means the data was dropped somewhere along the network, it is generally caused by an issue within the network itself. Of course, the challenge lies in troubleshooting and locating this weak point. For lost or discarded packets, there are several potential causes; these may include:
- Reliance on WiFi and external interference: While generally more convenient, wireless network connections are often less robust and reliable when compared to a wired connection. Signals can easily be blocked by walls or even furniture. Interference from other devices or signals such as bluetooth or baby monitors can also get in the way of the signal and create delays in the delivery of data packets.
- Poor or outdated hardware: Internet network connections are made through a number of distinct hardware pieces. These include modems, routers, and switches. Poor hardware such as a damaged ethernet cable, or a malfunctioning router, can quickly cause issues with call quality. Out of date equipment can also cause similar problems.
- Software issues: Improper configuration on the software side can lead to packet loss. This could include interoperability bugs in the network, or simply improper software configuration on your devices.
- Network congestion: Network congestion is often the most common reason for packet loss. Thankfully, it’s also the easiest to rectify. By having too many devices running on the same system, at the same time, you will run out of bandwidth. This could slow your connection to a crawl or even cause downtime. Insufficient bandwidth or bandwidth caps are the leading causes of packets being dropped during VoIP calls.
Identifying Packet Loss
Understanding your network’s performance and addressing potential communication issues relies heavily on detecting any packet loss. There are two main methods which can be leveraged:
- Ping and traceroute tests: Utilizing simple network diagnostic tools like ‘ping’ and ‘traceroute’ offers some insights into your packet loss. These tools send test packets, and analyze response time and packet loss rates. They provide initial indicators of network stability and can flag potential issues.
- Customer experience assurance software: Dedicated tools like Cyara enable continuous and more reliable monitoring of network traffic. They facilitate real-time detection and analysis of your packet loss and offer insights into their impact on network performance.
Detecting and understanding any packet loss within your communications, along with recognizing potential trends or patterns is essential in diagnosing and minimizing network issues. These insights serve as a guide to implementing effective strategies that minimize packet loss, thereby enhancing overall network reliability.
Best Practices to Minimize Packet Loss
Efficient network management requires proactively implementing measures to minimize any packet loss occurrences. Here are some best practices you should consider:
- Upgrading hardware and network infrastructure: Continuously invest in your equipment and infrastructure. Outdated or inadequate hardware significantly contributes to packet loss. Upgrading to more efficient routers and similar equipment supports higher bandwidth and offers better reliability, reducing issues. Additionally, you should ensure that your network infrastructure is capable of accommodating increased traffic and data transmission demands to prevent packet loss due to congestion.
- Regular network maintenance and monitoring: Conduct scheduled and routine checks and maintenance activities to identify potential issues before they can escalate. Regular inspections of network components, including your routers, switches, and cables, can prevent failures in your hardware. You should also employ continuous and automated network monitoring tools to continuously test your network performance. This proactive approach enables quicker identification and resolution of any packet loss issues.
- Optimizing network settings for better performance: Implement ‘Quality of Service’ (QoS) settings to prioritize critical traffic and assign a higher priority to your voice or video data packets. This ensures their timely delivery, reducing potential packet loss. By implementing bandwidth shaping or throttling mechanisms, you can also help to prevent sudden spikes that have the potential to lead to congestion-induced packet loss.
- Training and awareness: Educate your network users about best practices to minimize unnecessary strain on your network. Provide guidelines on data usage, software updates, and responsible network behavior. Additionally, you should offer basic troubleshooting guidance to help users identify and promptly report on potential network issues. This results in quicker resolution and reduced impact.
Adopting these best practices strengthens and enhances your network infrastructure, mitigating the risk of packet loss.
Conclusion
Understanding and addressing packet loss is crucial to maintaining the reliability and quality of your voice and video calls and ensuring a seamless communication experience for your team and your customers.
Cyara provides you with a much more comprehensive view of your complete network. Critically, it gives an end-to-end perspective that includes international carrier networks – going far beyond your private network edge and into the wider public network that carries real customer calls.
Cyara’s platform helps organizations like yours to better manage and improve the service quality of their communications, regardless of the channel used. This not only results in increased levels of customer satisfaction, but also in reduced delays, resource requirements and improved cost optimization.