Slight pause and echo

[donwob]

While I am very please with the ooma service, I am experiencing two issues with call quality and I wanted to see if there is a fix. On occasion, (20% of the time) when I pick up an incoming call, there is an extended pause as the call connects, 1 to 2 secs. During this period I try to say "Hello" and no answer from the other side. As a result I tend to say hello 2 to 3 times before we are connected. Not a deal breaker, but a little bothersome.

The second thing we are experiencing is a short echo on our side of the conversation. A few words will echo in the background of the phone and then clear up for the rest of the call. It seams the first minute of the outbound call is the toughest at my household, any tips on improving these two symptoms?

[Bobby B]

Hi donwob, I think we might need some specific information on calls that are affected by these two issues. When echo is detected, we do have echo cancelers that become active quickly (usually in < .5 s) at the start of the call. The next time either one of these issues occurs, can you send a note to our support team at:

http://www.ooma.com/support/contact.php

Please note the approximate day/time, the caller/called number, the approximate time of the observed issue (how much time does it take for echo to go away or how much time does it take for your "hello" to be heard by the remote part").

Also, when you run into one of these issues, please run a VoIP test immediately after at:

http://www.testmyvoip.com

Please record the detailed report results.

Thanks!
Bobby

While I am very please with the ooma service, I am experiencing two issues with call quality and I wanted to see if there is a fix. On occasion, (20% of the time) when I pick up an incoming call, there is an extended pause as the call connects, 1 to 2 secs. During this period I try to say "Hello" and no answer from the other side. As a result I tend to say hello 2 to 3 times before we are connected. Not a deal breaker, but a little bothersome.

The second thing we are experiencing is a short echo on our side of the conversation. A few words will echo in the background of the phone and then clear up for the rest of the call. It seams the first minute of the outbound call is the toughest at my household, any tips on improving these two symptoms?

[johnboy]

Bobby.. the .5-1 second delay in being able to speak is an EVERY event for me too. Most of the time, the people I call don't just say 'hello'. They announce the names of their companies which is far longer than the delay time in allowing me to speak. There is an "OOMA dial tone" which sounds when I connect and that is the delay time. It reminds me of the codes on 2 way radios or the sprint/nextel direct connect chirp. You can't speak when it's chirping or transmitting the code. My voice quality rating on the web site you posted is 4.4 (but my computers (one of which was used to test) are in a router behind the OOMA, so it's probably really higher than that). The echo for me is never a real problem. It's VERY occasional (1 out of 100 times or less).

You asked the other person to let you know if EITHER problem occurs again. The connect delay is, as I am sure you know, persistent... but I thought it was a functional limitaiton of the system. Is it not?

John

[donwob]

Thanks Bobby, I will run the test and the work with the support staff. As for the ooma tone and .5 sec delay can you go into more detail about this? Is there a way to reduce the delay ooma needs to connect with the other party?

Is this a trade-off for using the system?

[Bobby B]

Hi Johnboy and donwob, there is the ooma tone that is played to the remote user when a call is connected. I think the support team can disable the ooma tone manually, which may decrease the connect time delay slightly. Although when I have the tone enabled in my home ooma system and I don't experience any noticeable call connect delay, it might be worth a try to see if your connect time condition improves with the tone disabled.

[donwob]

Hi Bobby,

Thanks for the suggestion, I contacted support and they made the change. So far so good and no delay on the connection. Thanks again.

[johnboy]

Hi Bobby..

Thanks for the response. I have asked for and apparently received a 'turn off' of the tone. I was asked to reboot my ooma (power off / power on) in 30 minutes or so and I will do that and let you know if this makes a difference in a later post. Thank you for responding to this.

John