What is VoIP jitter?
VoIP jitter, usually referred to as network jitter, is the time delay experienced by VoIP phone users between signal transmission and signal reception over a data network. During VoIP voice and video calls the audible and video performative effects of network jitter are usually seen as a loss of connection, glitches or ‘lag’.
Do you recognize this situation?
“You’re currently number 23 in the queue.”
That’s my starting position as I begin the familiar, on-hold phone game with my gas supplier. Four and a half minutes in and waiting patiently.
It’s not my position in the queue (down to position 17 now) that irritates me so much as the increasingly poor quality of the not-so-delightful hold music wailing in my ear. It’s choppy too, cutting in and out incessantly.
Do I really need to speak to them today? Last time I was on hold for almost 48 whole minutes. I’d groan if I wasn’t concentrating so hard on waiting to hear this sorrowful hold music stop.
Oh, I could always call back. I won’t though. I’m definitely not going through all of this again. Almost eight minutes now and my brain is starting to feel like a cheese grater.
I can barely make out the audio, but it sounds like I’m now number 9 in the queue, progress! But of course, the longer I wait to speak to someone, the more dire the call quality becomes. Typical. Wait. Why does the hold music now resemble a toddler let loose in a Yamaha Music shop?
“You’re currently number 7 in the queue. We’re sorry, all of our customer service agents are busy at this time. Please continue to hold. ”
Honestly, if they’re going to make me sit and wait for this long, they could at least check the hold music and queue updates actually work… I can feel the blood pressure rising before I’ve even spoken with the poor customer service agent!
Why is network jitter important?
The scenario described above is precisely why combating VoIP network jitter is important. Being placed in virtual customer service queues with distorted hold music is enough to make anyone grouchy and grumpy.
In this article, we look at how you can minimise customer irritation caused by network jitter on VoIP phones. Understanding VoIP jitter can help you increase customer satisfaction, minimise customer wait times and ultimately offer better customer service for increased sales.
What we’re dealing with here is quite simple – Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) jitter, often called network jitter.
VoIP or network jitter is congestion generated by millions of internet connections that are all active simultaneously, and which effectively start to clog up the ‘routes’ they’re taking to get to their individual destinations.
The technical definition of VoIP jitter is the variability over time of network latency.
Latency, in turn, is defined as the time it takes for one packet of data to pass along its route.
Source: TechRadar
