System Assessment for VoIP Monitoring of Hung Calls
A VoIP service provider was faced with increasing financial losses due to customers contesting calls, claiming that they had not made calls or that the length of calls was considerably shorter. They determined that the root of the problem was hung calls, mostly to problematic areas where VoIP route quality was poor. They needed a method to monitor if a call was still connected. What they got was an advanced VoIP monitoring application that automatically disconnects hung calls.
The VoIP Monitoring application needed to include:
- Method to perform a sanity check.
- Since the VoIP provider was unable to see the media stream, Leaftel needed to find a way to do the checking within the signaling path.
- Functionality that could be supported by their ATAs (VoIP connection devices).
Normally, a system could check if a call session is still connected. The Session Timer alerts both ends of the call every few seconds that the call is still active (verifying that people are still talking). The ATAs of this service provider did not support this functionality, requiring Leaftel to come up with a more creative solution.
Leaftel designed the following VoIP Monitoring workaround:
Most of the hung calls were coming from the ATA device on the caller's side.
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Leaftel generated a re-invite to the device side (CPE) within the signaling path, where
the device would give a 200 OK response if the session was still up and running.
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If the connection had gone down, then the new VoIP Monitoring application would send a 481 ERROR response (i.e., Call Leg Unknown), enabling the provider's system to know that the connection was broken.
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If it was down, the VoIP Monitoring application instructed the system to tear the call down.
Technical Specifications of VoIP Monitoring of Hung Calls
Leaftel established that there were also problems using Hook Flash (i.e., where the caller places a conversation on hold). The problem was that this feature got triggered when a caller hung up a call very quickly, then picked up the phone and dialed again.
For certain customers, the provider simply disabled the Hook Flash capability in certain device since it was not commonly used. If the VoIP monitoring application detected Hook Flash, it was able to determine how long to maintain the call before automatically disconnecting the line. It disconnected the call by sending a BYE message to both parties.
The Result:
The VoIP Monitoring reduced the VoIP provider's problems with hung calls.
Does your company think it is losing revenue that can be attributed to to a technical glitch in your system?
Contact Leaftel today for a focused VoIP System Assessment of your problem.
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