Because your calls travel over the internet, call quality depends a lot on your network and your setup. The good news: most quality problems have simple fixes you can do yourself. This guide walks you through them.
Read the quality meter first
When you are on a call in the web softphone, ReliaRing watches your connection and shows a quality rating (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, or Bad). If your connection gets weak, a banner appears with a message such as "Poor call quality detected", "High packet loss detected", or "Very poor call quality - consider reconnecting".
Those messages almost always point at your internet connection, not the person you are calling. Use the steps below to steady it.
Quick diagnosis
| What you hear | Most likely cause | Try this first |
|---|---|---|
| Choppy or robotic audio | Weak or busy internet | Switch to a wired connection, close other apps |
| Echo | Your speaker feeding back into your mic | Use a headset, turn down the volume |
| Long delay before you hear a reply | Slow connection or a VPN | Turn off your VPN, reduce other network use |
| You hear them but they can't hear you | Router or microphone settings | See our "One-Way Audio" guide |
| Calls drop partway through | An unstable connection | Restart your router, move closer to Wi-Fi |
Step 1: Check your internet
Voice calls do not need much speed, but they do need a steady connection. As a rough guide, allow about 1 Mbps of upload and download for each call happening at once, and aim for a low, stable ping.
- Run a quick speed test (any free online speed test works).
- If your speeds are far below what your plan promises, or they swing up and down, that is likely your culprit.
- Try again when fewer people or devices are using the connection.
Step 2: Prefer a wired connection
Wi-Fi is convenient but it is the number one cause of choppy calls. Wireless signals fade, share the channel with your neighbours, and drop packets.
- Plug into your router with an ethernet cable when you can.
- If you must use Wi-Fi, sit closer to the router and avoid thick walls.
- On a busy network, pause large downloads, cloud backups, and video streaming while you are on a call.
Step 3: Fix echo with a headset
Echo happens when your speaker's sound is picked up by your microphone and sent back to the other person.
- Use a headset or earbuds instead of your laptop speakers.
- Lower your speaker volume.
- Move your microphone away from any speakers.
Step 4: Turn off your VPN for calls
A VPN routes your traffic through an extra server, which adds delay and can cause one-way or garbled audio. Turn it off while you are on calls, or ask your IT team to allow ReliaRing traffic to bypass it.
Step 5: Restart your equipment
If calls keep dropping, restart your router (unplug it for about 30 seconds), then reload the softphone page or restart the app. This clears up a surprising number of intermittent problems.
Test your setup safely
From your ReliaRing phone or softphone, dial *99 for the echo test. Speak, and you should hear your own voice repeated back to you. Clear echo back means your audio path is working; if the test sounds broken, the problem is on your side of the call.
Still having trouble?
If quality is still poor after trying these steps, it helps our team to have a few details ready before you reach out. See Before You Contact Support so we can resolve your ticket faster.