How Much Data Does VoIP Use?

VoIP provides numerous benefits for businesses, including reduced monthly costs and enhanced communication capabilities for your team with customers and prospects. It is important to understand the data usage of VoIP to avoid surpassing your internet plan.

VoIP operates through the internet, utilizing your high-speed connection to complete calls. Although the data usage of VoIP calls is not excessive, we have performed the calculations for you to determine the bandwidth required for your VoIP calls.

Today we cover all VoIP essentials, including how much bandwidth you need to order from your Internet Service Provider to get the most out of your internet phone service.

A Primer on Bandwidth & Data Usage

You probably understand the concept of the size, and therefore speed, of your internet connection. The more devices that are connected, generally, the slower things go overall.

In addition to the speed of your connection, there’s a measurement of how much data you’ve transferred in a given time period known as bandwidth. All data that travels over your internet connection from any device hooked up to the network counts toward your bandwidth for that period.

You may hear some wrangling about data caps, most often from people with home broadband connections. Data caps represent the total bandwidth of your internet connection during a specified period, such as a month. Despite seeming ample, data limits can easily be exceeded if not monitored closely. The typical data limit starts at 1024 GB (one terabyte), but can also be as low as 150 GB.

If your office uses more data than the data cap allows, you pay extra to your internet service provider.

Phone calls made from your company’s office, while highly compressed, add up quickly as your company grows.

How Does VoIP Work?

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) enables voice communication via the internet. Rather than transmitting calls through analog signals to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), VoIP uses your broadband connection to transmit. The technology behind VoIP is called Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), providing a secure and reliable way to communicate with others via software.

An IP phone functions by transforming audio into data packets and transmitting them over an IP network. Unlike a landline phone, IP phones are connected to your network. The data then travels from the network through your modem to the chosen VoIP provider on the internet, and the VoIP service quickly establishes calls through the PSTN or directly to other reliable VoIP networks.

With a hosted VoIP solution, you have access to more options than just standard IP phones. Your provider manages the VoIP gateway, allowing you to make calls using softphone apps on other devices.

Does VoIP Work Without an Internet Connection?

No, because it relies on Internet Protocol (IP) to exchange digital data over an established connection, VoIP does not work without an internet connection.

To use a VoIP system, you need a high-speed broadband connection rated for at least 100 kbps per phone line up and down. Most broadband connections handle one phone easily. Each individual phone takes this, so as the company adds more phones the connection needs to speed up.

Audio Compression, Codecs, and Data Usage

VoIP uses codecs to make phone calls files smaller while keeping call quality high. Numerous codecs get used for telecommunications just like music uses multiple formats.

How Much Data Does VoIP Use?

Since a VoIP phone typically continuously streams two-way audio, real data usage is twice the stated rate per second.

For contemporary DSL, cable, or fiber connections, the impact of the G.711 codec is minimal. Thus, the data usage for VoIP calls made from the office is not a significant concern, unless it’s a large office or call center. If your employees utilize mobile VoIP for work calls outside the office on their cell phones, it generally won’t be a problem with most cellular plans.

However, if your employees work remotely, it’s crucial to ensure their broadband connection doesn’t have a low data limit. For example, if they are on calls for seven hours daily and work 20 days a month, they could surpass 86 GB of bandwidth.

Is a Standard Data Plan Enough?

For calls made outside the office, most data plans are adequate. For most consumers, mobile data plans will slow down the connection speed when they exceed a high bandwidth threshold. A typical mobile plan today provides more than 3GB of bandwidth, equivalent to approximately 10 hours of calling. On average, U.S. consumers with limited plans consume only 1.6GB of data per month.

It’s worth mentioning that calls made via Wi-Fi do not affect your data limit on a cellular plan. Business plans usually have unlimited data, eliminating the problem of data caps. If employees work from home using a residential broadband connection, it’s advisable to review past usage and familiarize yourself with your limits with your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

How Much Bandwidth Do You Need for VoIP?

For VoIP calls, purchase a minimum of 100 kbps upload and download bandwidth per line. Don’t assume that a 1 Mbps connection is sufficient for ten VoIP lines.

A minimum of 1 Mbps of dedicated bandwidth supports ten concurrent high-quality VoIP calls. When budgeting, also allocate bandwidth for other activities such as updating your sales CRM, hosting webinars, or streaming music.

Major carriers offer gigabit speeds (1000 Mbps) for business clients. For a small business, one DSL or fiber connection will suffice.

For large offices and call centers, separate the VoIP phones from the main LAN with a separate network switch or a VLAN to optimize your network bandwidth and reduce network congestion.

Having Speed Isn’t Enough

Speed is great, but a business also requires a stable, high-quality connection with minimal packet loss and latency.

Latency refers to the time lag between the moment a phone sends data and the moment the receiver receives it. A higher latency or ping (the time it takes to transmit data) results in a longer audio delay.

Packet loss occurs when some data packets fail to reach their destination due to an unstable connection. This results in poor audio quality and even unstable calls due to high rates of packet loss.

Measure the health of your internet connection by taking an Internet speed test. This test provides you a good readout on the ability to make and receive high-quality phone calls. They vary, so take three different ones and average the results.  If your actual speed is consistently less than you’re paying for, it’s time to talk to your Internet service provider.

If you suffer latency and jitter issues, also talk to your Internet service provider about it.

How Much Upload Speed Do You Need for VoIP?

To ensure call quality, you need at least 100 kbps per line of stable upload bandwidth.

Note that many cable and DSL providers provide unequal upload and download speeds. For instance, you might enjoy a download bandwidth of 100 Mbps but your upload speed could only run at 25 Mbps. In case your speed test results indicate inadequate upload speed, contact your Internet service provider.

Ready For A Top Notch VoIP Business System?

Want to never worry about any of this stuff? We can take care of it all for you.

Here at NoContractVoIP, we create custom business phone systems offering a full suite of hybrid and remote solutions for your telecom needs. We rely on your success and we know it.

We never lock our clients into long term contracts.  If you dislike our services or support, just tell us to cancel and we take care of it.  No early termination fees, nobody gets stuck for years on end, and we’re motivated to keep our clients thriving.

All of our tech support people live and work near our headquarters in California, and tech support always answers 24/7/365. Our billing and customer support work from the same office. When you call you get a human, not a menu.

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