Will Your Network Support Your New Phone System
A proper network assessment identifies potential issues before your Hosted PBX service is installed, not after.
Table of Contents
Prerequisites: What does a Network Assessment test? Five questions the assessment answers Do I have enough bandwidth? Are my firewall settings optimized for Hosted Voice? Are there any settings that could negatively impact service? What will my call quality actually be like? Can my network handle multiple calls at the same time? Why does hardware-based testing produce more accurate results Hardware assessment vs browser-based tests The assessment report Export and share your results Start with confidencePrerequisites:
- Software license key
Hosted Voice installations can run into serious problems when network and firewall settings aren't correctly configured. A Network Assessment is a customized pre-installation test that validates your network's readiness and surfaces any issues before your new service goes live.
What does a Network Assessment test?
The assessment runs a suite of targeted diagnostics to test the specific ports, settings, and performance benchmarks required by your phone system. Here's what gets checked:
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Firewall port validation Validates that all required TCP and UDP ports are open. Closed ports are clearly flagged for |
SIP ALG and Double NAT Detects problematic network settings, such as SIP ALG, Double NAT, and UDP Timeout, that are known to cause VoIP issues. |
Real Hosted Voice call testing Generates actual Hosted Voice calls and reports on call quality using industry-standard MOS (Mean Opinion Score) measurements. |
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Concurrent call capacity Simulates 15 simultaneous real Hosted Voice calls to confirm your network can handle your expected call volume without quality degradation. |
Latency and bandwidth Tests the available bandwidth at your location and reports on latency to ensure your connection can handle voice traffic. |
Hosted Voice quality metrics Reports on Jitter, Latency, and Packet Loss, the three key indicators of VoIP call quality performance. |
Five questions the assessment answers
Before deploying a new phone system, there are five critical questions every business should be able to answer with confidence. The Network Assessment addresses each one.
Do I have enough bandwidth?
The assessment tests available bandwidth at your location and includes a clear readout in the report. You will know whether your internet connection can support the number of simultaneous calls your business requires.
Are my firewall settings optimized for Hosted Voice?
Every required TCP and UDP port is validated. Any closed ports are clearly identified and reported, so your IT team knows exactly what needs to be addressed before installation.
Are there any settings that could negatively impact service?
SIP ALG, Double NAT, and UDP Timeout are three common network settings that can silently interfere with VoIP performance. The assessment detects and reports on each one, so there are no surprises after go-live.
What will my call quality actually be like?
The assessment generates a real Hosted Voice call and reports on quality using Mean Opinion Score (MOS), the industry standard for measuring voice quality. Detailed Jitter, Latency, and Packet Loss figures are included in the results.
Can my network handle multiple calls at the same time?
Fifteen real concurrent Hosted Voice calls are generated on your network, and the average MOS score is returned. This gives you a data-backed answer about how your network performs under realistic load before you commit to a service.
Why does hardware-based testing produce more accurate results
A browser- or software-based test runs on a laptop, so it does not behave like an IP phone on your network. The Network Assessment device is installed the same way a desk phone would be, including on your Hosted Voice VLAN if applicable. This ensures the test results reflect what your actual phones will experience, not what a laptop browsing a website experiences.
Hardware assessment vs browser-based tests
Not all network assessments are created equal. Here is how a hardware-based Network Assessment compares to browser or software-based alternatives.
Network Assessment |
Browser / Software-based Tests |
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The assessment report
At the end of the assessment, a detailed report is generated that documents all findings. This report is designed to be shared and acted on.
Export and share your results
The Network Assessment report can be exported to PDF and shared with your IT team, internal vendor, or your service provider's support team as part of the implementation process. Every finding is documented clearly so remediation steps can be assigned and completed before installation day.
Start with confidence
Skipping a network assessment is one of the most common reasons Hosted Voice deployments run into problems. Issues that would take minutes to fix before installation can take hours to troubleshoot after the fact, and often at the expense of a live phone system.
A Network Assessment turns the unknown into the known. By the time installation begins, every port, setting, and performance metric has already been validated. Your team can move forward with confidence rather than hoping for the best.
Contact your service provider to request a Network Assessment before your next Hosted Voice deployment.