TESTED: VoIP over 3G on AT&T using iCall

The buzz from the release of the iPad and the official approval of VoIP over 3G has caused an unbelievable frenzy in the past few days.  At the core of the excitement is the prospect that iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users will be able to sign up for an unlimited data usage plan and use an inexpensive or free VoIP service provider for all of their phone calls.

I wanted to put this theory to the test and share my findings.

Having a strong background in VoIP, I know there is a VERY big difference between VoIP “working” and it “working well”.  With Apple and AT&T formally permitting VoIP over 3G, the necessary components are in place for a VoIP call to take place.  The question is: how well does it actually work?

The Test Enviornment

My co-worker, Taylor, downloaded the first iPhone application that Apple officially granted permission to use VoIP over 3G:  iCall.  With iCall he is able to place 3 minute long phone calls over WiFi and 3G to any phone number from his iPhone.

I set up our office telephone system to record calls that come into our office from Taylor’s iCall application.

He simply calls my office phone number from iCall, I answer on my office telephone, and we carry on a conversation that is recorded on my “side” of the call.  Unfortunately, iCall doesn’t support call recording so we can’t share the conversation from his side of the call, but only rely on his subjective report and opinion.

We perform the test first over WiFi (as a “control”) and then over 3G.  Taylor’s phone is a non-jailbroken iPhone using AT&T.  He stayed stationary for the entire duration of the phone call for both the WiFi and 3G tests.  He was making the calls out of our office, which is located on Wilshire Blvd. in the Miracle Mile District in Los Angeles (right across the street for CBS Radio and E! entertainment (so we get plenty of 3G signal).

The Results

Test #1: iCall VoIP over WiFi
Upon receiving a call from Taylor, we were able to carry on a conversation pretty clearly for the entire duration.  There were very few audio breakups (if any) and the call quality seemed perfectly on-par with what we normally have come to expect with VoIP over non-QoS Internet connections.  There was clearly audio compression being used (GSM or g729) but I could hear him and he could hear me perfectly fine.

Control Test: VoIP Call over WiFi

Click play to listen to the recording of this call.

Test #2: iCall VoIP over 3G (Take 1)
This call had some significant call quality issues.  On the receiving side of the iCall VoIP over 3G call, the first 2 to 4 seconds of Taylor’s speech every time he spoke was extremely garbled and his words were “drawn out” (jitter and latency).  Surprisingly, after those initial few seconds, the call quality would “clean up” and he sounded much more intelligible.  In a few cases, however, some words would drop out, notably at the end of sentences (due to packet loss).

Here is what I heard:

VoIP Call over 3G

On Taylor’s side, he didn’t report the garbled audio, just some clicks and dropped word here and there.  He reports it wasn’t much worse than the WiFi and he could understand what I was saying, it just wasn’t that clear.

Test #3: iCall VoIP over 3G (Take 2)
We waited a few minutes and tried the test call a few more times (without recordings though).  Surprisingly, the call quality was much better!  The strange garbled voice problem only occurred once, and there were only the occasional clips.  Taylor counted out-loud to 20, and I could undertand him clearly for pretty much the entire count.  There were moments where he would cut out which would interrupt the flow of conversation, but nothing too much worse than what you would sometimes experience on a cell phone.

From Taylor’s perspective, he reported the same behavior as I had experienced.

Oddly, in all cases, at one point audio in both directions would just stop, resulting in dead air for both participants.  However, I think this is an issue with iCall’s service and VoIP infrastructure, not necessarily 3G or AT&T.

Analysis

Here are some of my take aways for VoIP over 3G as it stands today:

• Mileage will vary.  We were operating under ideal 3G conditions (not moving, excellent 3G coverage area), and it was still iffy at best.  Moving around or having a weak signal will likely have a significant impact on call quality.  Even though heavy compression is being used to deliver audio to the iPhone, there are still QoS problems.  A lot of App Store reviews of the iCall app have people “screaming” about poor audio quality over 3G, which seems to confirm that our experience is on par with others.
• I wouldn’t recommend it for business.  Even though the call quality was manageable, it wasn’t good enough for business operations.  Until QoS is available (ie 4G networks) or substantial improvements are made to the current AT&T 3G network, VoIP over 3G will never fly with demanding business users.
• Fine for the consumer!  Want to make free calls and you don’t care if the call quality drops, clips, or get’s weird since you are paying next to nothing for it?  Great!  This is an acceptable solution for you.

I’ve got to admit I thought I wouldn’t be able to carry on a conversation at all, but it was somewhat OK.  I have no doubt we will eventually be using VoIP over 3G or 4G regularly once the networks improve.  Until then, it’s probably best to stick to the cell phone side of things for those important phone calls.

StreamLine 1.0 Off to a Great Start!

StreamLine, our latest iPhone App for ShoreTel IP Phone Systems, has so far exceeded our expectations on the iTunes App Store.  We have already sold 3-times more copies than we had predicted at this phase of the launch!

More importantly, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from ShoreTel customers and partners alike.  Users throughly appreciate the simple nature of the application and are able to fully utilize features of the ShoreTel system they otherwise would not use.  According to them, it is a “gotta have” app if you have an iPhone and ShoreTel phone system.  Further, there have been no bug or crash reports, meaning the application is performing very reliably on customer devices.

We have received several feature requests that we also plan on integrating into StreamLine to make it more of a one-to-one match with the current ShoreTel Blackberry edition.  We actually designed the app to fulfill many of these features in the 1.0 version, but ShoreTel lacked the necessary 3rd party mechanisms to allow them to work.  As such, we are in talks with them to figure this part out.

So, our next steps in the future of StreamLine are:

• Work with ShoreTel’s Technology Partner Program to formally recognize StreamLine as a “certified” application on the ShoreTel platform
• Add in additional features that ShoreTel users are used to on the ShoreTel platform (more specifically in the ShoreTel Mobile Call Manager) (if possible!)
• Add in additional features not seen before on ShoreTel system systems or devices…

We thank everyone for their continued support and helping us to make StreamLine a successful product.  Stay posted for updates!

StreamLine: ShoreTel Mobile Call Management for iPhone

Pacific Swell Networks is pleased to introduce StreamLine 1.0: an iPhone App that empowers businesses with ShoreTel Phone Systems to provide their employees with powerful, yet elegantly simple, personal call management while on the go.

Using StreamLine, users can forward their calls to their iPhone or ShoreTel IP phone with a single touch.  Additionally, it is simple to toggle between Call Handling Modes (Standard, In a Meeting, Out of Office, Extended Absence, Custom) using StreamLine’s straight-forward interface.

StreamLine is now available in the iTunes App Store!

Click here for detailed StreamLine information

SIP Trunking 2.0 Webinar Recording Now Online

I have posted a recording of a great webinar I co-hosted back in October that describes and explains the benefits of SIP Trunking “2.0″.

During the webinar, I explain a “special blend” of SIP Trunking, MPLS, Colocation, and Distributed IP Telephony Systems that can help multi-site businesses realize new avenues of cost savings while improving communications availability and business continuity.

I think it is pretty cool stuff because it is 100% Pure IP and represents a solution that fully leverages every benefit of today’s VoIP technologies.  From both a technology and a business perspective, it is a good watch:

http://www.pacificswell.com/go/siptrunk20

Buzzyouin.com Beta Testers Requested

We like to create new things here at Pacific Swell Networks besides just phone systems.  One of our latest inventions is “buzzyouin.com”, a service designed to allow apartment renters to have extra control of calls coming from the intercom “call box” at their apartment facility’s front gate.  Read the message from Taylor (our CTO) below for more information about the service and a limited time beta trial period we are offering for it.

A new service of ours is entering a private beta stage right now and we are looking for individuals interested in using and testing it.

This service is for use with the front gate intercom systems found at condos and apartment complexes. Intercoms generally cannot be set up to call long distance phone numbers or neighboring and overlap area codes. They also generally can only call a single telephone.

This service allows for the following:

- Use any national phone number, including cell phones, to talk to and buzz in your guests at the front gate.
- Have multiple phones called at once when guests buzz in, allowing you or your roommates to open the door.
- Eliminate the need to pay for a land line because the intercom at your complex requires a certain area code.

To qualify for the beta, you must:

- Live in an apartment or condo with a front gate intercom that calls tenants by telephone.
- Reside in the United States.

If you would like to participate, please contact me via facebook or beta@buzzyouin.com , providing your email address, your phone number and the area code that you reside in. I will provide you with a phone number to give to your landlord, as well as access to a website where you can add any cell phone or land line numbers that you’d like to have called when guests arrive.

This is a limited size private beta, so please respond immediately if you would like to participate in this free beta.