Now, we have a good understanding of some of the most common causes
of VoIP issues. Let's take a look at some best practices for
troubleshooting and resolving these issues. Network monitoring and
notification systems are crucial for the quality and reliability of
VoIP communication systems.
They allow administrators real‑time visibility into network performance to
identify and resolve issues and improve the overall user experience. A robust
network monitoring and notification system allow administrators to quickly
resolve issues before they impact users.
This includes real‑time monitoring of key performance
indicators, such as network latency, jitter,
and packet loss,
as well as the ability to analyze and identify the root causes of
these problems. A Single Point of Failure, SPOF, in a VoIP
infrastructure can cause significant disruptions.
So it is essential to identify and eliminate Single Point of Failures for a
seamless user experience. A Single Point of Failure is a component like a
single switch in a network or a single power supply in a server. If it
fails, it will shut down the entire system. This can be extremely damaging
to businesses that rely heavily on voice communications for their
mission‑critical operations.
One of the best ways.
To remove Single Point of Failure is to implement redundancy,
that is, duplication of key components, to always have a standby
device available in case of failure. Of course,
you cannot have duplication of the entire infrastructure,
that would be extremely costly. For example,
having multiple switches in a network or multiple power supplies in a
server is a great idea. Moreover, network monitoring and notification
system can detect and alert administrators regarding the single point
of failures. Operation manuals, standard operating procedures,
SOP documents,
and other standard business documentation are a collection of written
materials that outline the structure, objectives, processes,
and expectation of a business. These documents define the
standards and best practices in the organization that must be
followed to maintain efficiency, stability,
and success.
HLD, or High‑Level Design, document is an overview of the Unified
Communication or VoIP infrastructure, including the servers,
devices, outlining its architecture, the network design,
and organizational details. Low‑Level Design, or LLD,
document is a detailed description of the UC or voice
infrastructure, its design specification,
the technology used, and its implementation details.
For example,
the physical rack layout, site address, power supplies, actual
connectivity, network details like IP addresses or network ports,
etc. An SLA, Service Level Agreement,
is a contract between a service provider and a customer. It defines what
kind of service a customer can expect from the service provider, including
the uptime of different devices and resolution time for different severity
of tickets. An escalation matrix is a document that defines a system for
when an escalation should happen and who should handle incidents at each
escalation level.
To sum up,
these standard business documents define the process, objectives, and
expectations everyone in an organization should be aware of. Disaster
recovery and backups are critical components of a successful VoIP
infrastructure, which allows the system to operate even in the event of an
outage, preserving critical communication capabilities and minimizing
downtime. This is achieved through the creation of redundant devices and
configuration backups,
and regular testing to verify the viability of disaster recovery procedures.
Effective disaster recovery and backup process require
regular review and update to align with changing business
needs. A Business Continuity Plan, BCP,
is a critical component of any VoIP infrastructure. It is a
comprehensive plan outlining how an organization will continue to
operate in the face of an unexpected event. A BCP is a detailed
plan for maintaining communications, important data backup,
and recovery procedures, and a detailed escalation matrix to point out who
is responsible for decision making and communication in case of a disaster.
This plan needs to be tested regularly and requires updates with evolving
infrastructure of the organization.
For example, if a site,
is completely down and the end users are not able to make or receive
calls, the BCP plan should be invoked, the IP telephony service
provider will route all the calls related to that site to an auto
attendant or an IVR using a different route, and from there, the call can reach the end users using the directory services.