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Common call quality issues

Explore common call quality issues and their underlying causes.

Updated today

This article outlines the most common problems, how they present during calls, and the underlying technical causes.

Issue

Symptoms

Common causes

Audio is choppy, robotic, or breaking up during calls

  • Audio cuts in and out

  • Robotic or distorted voice quality

  • Intermittent sound dropouts

Network jitter, which causes voice data packets to arrive out of order or be dropped. This results in degraded audio quality and interruptions during calls.

One party cannot hear the other during calls

  • One participant cannot hear the other

  • Complete audio loss on one or both sides

  • Network connectivity issues

  • Microphone or speaker permissions not granted to the app or browser

  • Incorrect or unsupported hardware configuration

Delayed audio during calls

  • Noticeable delay between speaking and hearing a response

  • Long pauses before audio are transmitted

High network latency, often caused by poor connection quality, long routing paths, or overloaded networks, which affects real-time audio delivery.

Echo during calls

  • Hearing your own voice repeated

  • Delayed echo after speaking

  • Feedback loops during conversations

  • Speakerphone used with high volume

  • Microphone and speaker positioned too close together

  • Improper audio device configuration

Static, crackling, or background noise

  • Crackling or static sounds

  • Persistent background noise

  • Audio distortion or fuzziness

  • Poor microphone or headset positioning

  • Environmental interference

  • Unstable or low-quality network connection

Calls drop unexpectedly or disconnect frequently

  • Calls end without warning

  • Abrupt disconnections

  • Repeated call failures

  • Network instability or connection drops

  • Software crashes or outdated applications

  • Poor device performance

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