VoIP call quality deteriorates

Just as VoIP is hitting the mainstream, a new report says that voice quality on VoIP networks is bad and getting worse. Brix Networks--which admittedly makes monitoring tools--says its tests and surveys show that over the past 18 months, nearly 20 percent of all VoIP calls were of unacceptable quality, with a Mean Opinion Score of under 3.6. Brix is making available a Google Gadget that purportedly shows the Internet's moment-by-moment ability to support services like VoIP. A Computerworld commentary notes that although IT admins focus on easily quantifiable things like packet loss, users focus on call quality. That means techs will have to start making hard decisions on traffic prioritization--and maybe deploying more bandwidth than they had expected.

For more information about VoIP call quality:
- read this article [1] in Computerworld
- check out this press release [2] from Brix Networks