Voice quality issues are caused by an issue in the path between the caller and callee. The path usually consists of your handset, the connection between the handset and the PABX, the connection between the PABX and the PSTN (Public Service Telephone Network) or an issue in the PSTN carriers network.

To investigate where in the path the issue is occurring, the following information greatly assists :
  • Example calls that had low quality, including the date/time of the call, the caller and the callee numbers and the type of issue. For example - unexpected drop out, breaks in audio or crackly audio
  • The time frame the issue has been occurring, just then or hours/days?
  • The extent of the issue, is it one handset or a few?

Calls to mobiles or international calls are not very useful for the investigation into voice quality issues as they have common and well know issues with voice quality. Mobiles can often go in and out of range and international calls involve many carriers in the path. Although an issue locally can impact these calls, calls within Australia greatly reduce the number of points of investigation and provide a quicker resolution.