The rise of cloud telephony software such as Webex Calling and MS Teams
We previously wrote about the benefits and challenges of cloud PBX. The one certainty is that the reliance on cloud-based team collaboration software is not declining anytime soon. Thousands of enterprises use these applications on a daily basis to keep dispersed teams connected and communicating. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated organizations worldwide to rely on collaboration software as a communications platform for their remote workers. With such a dependence on these solutions, the need to manage cloud telephony call quality is more important than ever.
In June 2021, UC Today reported that “Microsoft Teams, currently boasting around 145 million daily active users, is the technology on the front line of the transition to flexible work. Now that most companies agree that hybrid work is the future of the way we operate, companies everywhere are revamping their tech stack to support globally distributed teams. Increasingly, the focus on “collaboration” is growing.”
What is cloud telephony?
Cloud telephony, also known as cloud calling, is a type of unified communications as a service (UCaaS) that offers voice communication services through a third-party host. Cloud telephony services can be web- or applications-based. UCaaS replaces the need for conventional enterprise telephone systems, such as private branch exchange (PBX). Source
Measure call quality and connectivity on virtual numbers
When it comes to our customers’ priorities, providing their customers with a premium communications experience is number one. Connecting people with each other, and with the right information, is mission-critical. Excellent voice quality is essential to that experience.
To get to the root cause of any issue, an organization needs to analyze the entire call journey for connectivity and voice quality. And ultimately hold their carriers and providers accountable, if necessary.
Several Spearline customers are partners with the likes of MS Teams, Cisco Calling, Webex Calling and other cloud collaboration providers. These unique partnerships enable our customers to deliver a superior service to their customers.
Our customers’ solutions interconnect in the cloud with a cloud telephony platform. This provides premium quality inbound and outbound calls, and best-in-class external remote meeting experiences for their customers.
As partners with the likes of MS Teams, Cisco, Webex etc., our customers use their private global voice network to connect people all over the world. Cloud-based voice telephony services eliminate the need for on-premises PBX equipment and regional carrier relationships, reducing complexity and cost.
The importance of measuring connectivity and call quality on cloud-based numbers
Large enterprises work with Spearline as we offer an innovative solution when it comes to monitoring their MS Teams, Cisco, Webex etc. numbers, across their carrier networks.
Since Spearline started monitoring cloud-based numbers, we have observed failure rates of 5% and upwards on inbound and outbound lines. This insight is extremely valuable as it allows organizations to pinpoint the cause of the issue and the provider that may be responsible. Additionally, Spearline provides a PESQ audio quality score to monitor the quality of their carriers across all of their routings.
What’s more, Spearline’s complementary SIP route tester solution, allows an organization to test their SIP trunks on the outbound leg of a call. This gives additional reassurance that their own carriers are not the cause of any connection issues or poor audio quality.
“Intrado uses Spearline to validate connectivity for new cloud-based numbers used across a variety of solutions that have been issued by our carriers. Pro-active testing ensures that Intrado provides the best service to our customer base, utilising the test results to generate incidents into our support teams, along with continually driving our carriers for improved stability and performance.”
How Spearline measures cloud telephony call quality and connection
Spearline’s testing solution works in two parts:
- Spearline dials into the cloud-based number provided by our customer, located in the PBX. Once a connection is established, Spearline traverses the IVR using hidden DTMF tones to the voicemail option, where our test prompt is located. This allows Spearline to monitor call connectivity and capture voice quality.
A PESQ score is then provided, which is the ITU-standard for measuring audio quality. With PESQ, audio quality on a cloud-based call can be assessed to an agreed international standard. This means there’s no ambiguity. An organization can be confident that they know for certain how their voice services are performing at any point in time across the globe.
- The second part involves dialing into a different cloud number in the PBX which call forwards to a Spearline number, located in the required country.
Once answered, the call then plays the audio prompt. This test allows organizations to monitor voice quality and connectivity throughout their regional carriers. This is turn allows them to make more informed call routing and carrier sourcing decisions.
Find out more
If you are interested in finding out more about our cloud-based number testing solution, please contact your Spearline Customer Engagement Manager or alternatively, email support@spearline.com
New to Spearline?
Spearline is the leading network intelligence company in the telecommunications industry. Our platform enables enterprises and telecommunications service providers to test connectivity and quality on global telecoms networks, testing automatically at volume. If you are interested, please get in touch with us.
