IP phones are an important resource for businesses when carrying out daily tasks. However, IP phones can still have issues (like any other commonly used electronic device) when accomplishing a job. With this being said, we're going to cover some common issues regarding IP phones and how to solve the problems without contacting technical support.
How IP Phones Work
IP phones are phones that work via internet connection. If your computers are having a hard time connecting to the internet, it's more than likely that your IP phones are having issues as well. However, it should be mentioned that internet issues only make up a small portion of common problems associated with IP phones.
Common IP Phone Problems
Common IP phone problems can oftentimes range from the simple to the complex. Such common issues are:
- There's no dial tone on the IP phone network.
- The IP phone network cannot receive or make calls from their systems.
- The IP network has a distorted reception on calls.
- The IP network is suffering from jittering or voice delays on calls.
- The IP network is suffering from one way calls (whereas only one party can hear another individual).
- The IP network is suffering from call dropouts.
IP Phone Troubleshooting Tips
Although diagnosing an IP phone network problem can sometimes be difficult, there's a few precautions that can be followed to reach a conclusion. Such precautions can be:
- Make sure the IP phones are provisioned - Make sure your IP phones are provisioned. Doing so can help you check if the networked IP phones are active.
- Ensure the devices have an active internet connection - Begin ensuring the devices have an active internet connection by checking the internet cables and outlets. If that doesn't work, try isolating the internet source to seek a solution.
- Perform a network test - Make sure your internet connection is fast enough to handle your activity by performing a network test. Bandwith is a priority when opperating large scale operations.
- Configure router settings - Make sure that your router settings have Port Triggering enabled and Inbound/Outbound metrics are open.
Condsidering the information above, it's fairly easy to troubleshoot your IP phone network on your own... without having a technical professional come in and tear apart the building. When putting technical situations into perspective, the minor technical upkeep associated with IP phones should pose as no problem in the future.