Keynote Kicks VoIP Reliability and Clarity

Keynote Systems [1] has released its latest VoIP testing report comparing VoIP and PacketCable services against wireline providers. The study finds "tolerable" audio delays on the alternative services.

All the service providers (AT&T CallVantage, EarthLink trueVoice, Lingo, Packet8, Verizon VoiceWing, Vonage, and Vonics Digital on the VoIP side; Time Warner Digital Phone and Comcast Digital Voice with PacketCable) were compared to AT&T's local wireline service from calls made from residential locations in New York and San Francisco.

Results indicate consumers are more likely to experience "merely tolerable" rather than completely satisfactory audio delays on VoIP calls. One VoIP provider had no calls with MOS scores of 4.0 or better; one experienced audio delays of more than 150 ms for every call placed--a serious no-no for call quality since 150 ms is the threshold for good calls and one VoIP provider required six seconds more than other VoIP providers to connect calls after dialing. In addition, there were large quality gaps between VoIP providers on unmanaged networks and other service providers.

For more:
- Read Keynote's VoIP Telephony Quality release [2]

Related articles:
Keynote's VoIP Quality Report [3] Circa 2006
VoIP quality on the upswing [4] in 2007