Call Audio Problems: Fix Echo, Latency, and Choppy VoIP Calls
When your VoIP call sounds like it’s coming through a tin can—or worse, you hear your own voice bouncing back—call audio problems, issues with voice clarity, delay, or distortion in internet-based phone calls are usually to blame. These aren’t just annoyances. They kill productivity, frustrate customers, and make remote teams feel disconnected. The good news? Most audio issues aren’t caused by your internet speed alone. They’re tied to how your network handles voice data, what codecs you’re using, and whether your hardware is set up right.
VoIP latency, the delay between when someone speaks and when you hear it often shows up as awkward pauses or overlapping speech. It’s not always your router. It could be your codec packetization, how often voice data is packed into packets for transmission. A 10ms interval sounds crisp but eats bandwidth. A 30ms interval saves bandwidth but feels sluggish. Most businesses stick with 20ms—it’s the sweet spot. Then there’s echo in VoIP, when your voice loops back to you or the other person hears themselves delayed. That’s rarely a software bug. It’s usually because your headset mic is picking up speaker output, or your phone isn’t properly configured for acoustic echo cancellation.
And it’s not just about settings. Old analog phones connected via ATA adapters? They can introduce static if the power supply is weak. Wireless headsets? Bluetooth ones drop packets in crowded Wi-Fi zones. Even your network’s Quality of Service (QoS) rules—if you have them at all—can starve voice traffic of bandwidth when video calls or downloads kick in. Real fixes? Prioritize voice packets, use wired connections when you can, and test your setup with tools that measure MOS and PESQ scores. You don’t need a network engineer. You just need to know what to check.
Below, you’ll find practical guides that cut through the noise. From decoding why your calls crackle during peak hours to choosing the right headset for your office, these posts give you the exact steps to fix what’s broken—without the fluff. No theory. No guesswork. Just what works.
