Analysis of Voice Quality Problems of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

After its introduction in mid 90s, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or IP telephony has drawn much attention. The prospect of cost savings on long distance and international toll calls, the global presence of Internet Protocol (IP), and the trend to converge data networks with voice networks have made VoIP one of the fastest growing telecom sectors. Additionally, the emergence of 3rd Generation (3G) cellular technology which offers high bandwidth will result in the convergence of the Internet and the cellular networks which will further stimulate the growth of VoIP. However, VoIP faces many problems mainly because of the nature of IP networks which were built to transport non-real-time data unlike voice. This thesis analyzes factors affecting the voice quality of VoIP. These factors are delay, jitter, packet loss, link errors, echo and Voice Activity Detection (VAD). Further, implementation suggestions to lessen the effects of these factors are presented and finally, these suggestions are analyzed.