Many problems can fall into the category of poor quality audio: clipping of the beginning or ends of words, pops, or crackles.

Poor quality audio is generally caused by network problems. In particular, these problems indicate packet loss on the data network. Common solutions for such problems include applying or tuning QoS parameters and checking for duplex mismatch issues.

This section uses the following terms:

• Choppy voice. A voice audio signal that is impaired.

• Clipping. Missing pieces in the received voice signal, especially at the beginning or ending of words.

• Pops. Sudden interruptions of the voice by a popping sound.

• Crackles. Intermittent samples of noise and silence.

All these phenomena could be caused by packet loss or excessive jitter (perceived as packet loss).