Call quality and troubleshooting · For 3CTel customers
Why is there echo or delay on calls?
Echo is usually acoustic: sound from a speaker or a loose headset is picked up by a microphone and sent back. If you hear your own voice, the echo is being created at the other end. Delay and robotic or choppy audio come from latency and jitter on the internet connection, typically Wi-Fi interference, a congested upload, or a satellite or cellular link. Both are diagnosed by changing one thing at a time.
Echo: who hears it and where it comes from
If you hear your own voice coming back, the echo is generated at the far end: their speakerphone, their headset or their old analogue line. If they hear themselves, it is coming from your side. This rule saves a lot of time, because it tells you which end to look at.
- Lower the speaker volume or switch off speakerphone.
- Use a headset with the microphone positioned away from the earpiece.
- Check for a loose or damaged headset cable or a cheap Bluetooth headset.
- On desk phones, test with the handset; if echo disappears, the speakerphone is the source.
- Calls to some landlines and older PBXs carry a faint echo that no local setting can remove.
Delay, jitter and choppy audio
Voice packets need to arrive steadily. Latency is how long they take; jitter is how much that time varies. A little of either is fine. A lot causes noticeable delay, people talking over each other, robotic voices, or words dropping out. The usual causes, in order of likelihood, are Wi-Fi, an upload link saturated by other traffic, a router without QoS, and a high-latency internet link such as satellite or cellular.
- Connect the affected device with an Ethernet cable and test.
- Run a speed test during the problem and look at ping and jitter, not just download speed.
- Pause backups, cloud sync and video streaming and see if audio improves.
- Enable QoS for voice on the router, and confirm SIP ALG is off.
- Restart the modem, then the router, then the phones if the problem is sudden.
When to contact 3CTel
Contact support if delay or choppy audio affects every device, including desk phones on Ethernet, and a speed test shows normal ping and jitter. Give the time of an affected call and the number dialled. If the problem is limited to calls with one particular number or region, mention that; carrier routes vary and can be checked from the platform.
Bandwidth is rarely the cause on business internet. A single call uses roughly 100 kbps in each direction; stability matters far more than speed.
Related questions.
Why do I only get echo when I use speakerphone?
The phone's speaker plays the caller's voice loudly enough for the microphone to pick it up and send it back. Lowering the volume, moving the phone away from hard surfaces, or using the handset or a headset resolves it.
Is a small delay normal on VoIP?
A delay of a fraction of a second is normal on any phone call, including cell phones. It becomes a problem when people start talking over each other, which usually means latency or jitter on the connection rather than the phone service.
Can 3CTel measure my call quality?
Support can review quality statistics reported by the phones and apps for a given call, which shows packet loss and jitter from your side. That helps determine whether the cause is your local network or the carrier route.
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