Complaints regarding call quality when transferring out to cell

[dhumes0524]

We have inbound customers calling into our system on a PRI.  These calls are frequently transferred back out of the system to our agents in the field on their cell phones.
We are frequently having complaints from both the agents and the customers that they "cannot hear the other party" or there is "static". 

The agent typically ends up getting the callback number for the customer, and dials them out directly from their cell phone and the connection is noticeably improved.

Again, calling directly to the customer from their cell phone is good, but if the customer calls into our MiVoice 250 and is transferred out by our receptionist to the agents cell, voice quality issues ensue. 

I don't get any daily complaints of any other voice quality issues with normal calls inbound and outbound to our MiVoice 250 - only complaints come on transfers back out of the system...

Can someone recommend some troubleshooting steps for me on this?  Unfortunately the issue is somewhat intermittent, so I am unable to easily recreate.

[DND ON]

How are the outbound calls placed, using the same PRI as the inbound call? If so, call quality should be excellent.

If they're going out via analog trunks or a remote node, call quality will suffer.

[dhumes0524]

They are going out the same PRI as they came in on, we only have one connected to our system.

[dwayneg]

Intermittent call quality issues including one or maybe two cell phones are difficult to ever pin down, because you've got dozens of points that call passes through.  I'd certainly start by seeing whether most complaints center around one specific employee or one of your callers, because that might point to a particular carrier or device.  As DND says, if it's all PRI it's ones and zeroes coming inj, ones and zeroes going out, should have no deterioration of quality.  One area that MIGHT cause problems is if it's not a true PRI...many carriers deliver what looks like a PRI but is really SIP converted by a gateway.  In that case you add two SIP connections to the mix and that increases the cance of something going wrong.

[Tech Electronics]

dhumes0524,

Are they performing an actual transfer of the call out to the agent or are the agents setup to use Dynamic Extension Express? You may need to up the Conference Gain on the system to eliminate the dB drop when combining so many connections at one time. The only thing this will effect is low volume as the PRI is not what is injecting static as it is a digital circuit. If the PRI were injecting static you would have problem all of the time; the static most likely is from one or both of the cell phones reception.

Thanks,

TE

[dhumes0524]

They are transferring the call directly to the cell phone number, the agents are not using dynamic extension express.  I am searching to find the 'Conference Gain' setting, but am having trouble.  Is that located in Database Programming?

[Tech Electronics]

dhumes0524,

Yes and No, that can only be found through Online Monitor (OLM) so unless you are a certified technician I would suggest you get your vendor to make that change. If you want to take the chance and do it yourself then go to System > System Information. I would start out with just bumping it to 3 dB and then get out and see how it works, rarely would you have to go to 6 dB.

Remember this will only increase the audio between the two PRI channels so bad audio in is still bad audio out; just much louder.

Thanks,

TE

[irongladiator]

dhumes0524,
You mentioned the issue was intermittent. You may want to try to see if this is isolated to a specific "PRI channel", and that's what is causing the issue. I agree with TE, in that it could be bad audio and padding the audio will only increase/decrease the bad audio and not do anything to clean it up. You can also try to swap the PRI card, to rule out bad hardware. Hope all goes well.

Thanks,
-Iron

[BlackSunshine]

Can you add a couple temporary analog lines a to test with?

[dhumes0524]

I agree on adjusting the gain, that doesn't seem like the resolution to my issue. 

I am going to research more with my staff and find out if there are quality issues intermittently on normal calls, and if so, that makes me think about a bad PRI channel.  I don't have a spare PRI card, but I could maybe get one from eBay depending on the cost.  We are actually switching PRI providers in about 120 days for pricing reasons, so that could "fix" our issue as well, if it is in fact with the PRI.

As for analog lines, I don't have a quick easy way to do that, unless I want to have lines installed, because we don't have any currently.

[Tech Electronics]

dhumes0524,

You could try to find a "bad" channel, but it would be on the carrier's side if there was one. Use the extension if each channel to make a call out and see if you have any issues after a few minutes on each one.

If it won't allow you grab an individual channel then go to CO Trunk Group > 9200x {this would be the PRI trunk group} > Toll Restriction > Exempt from ARS Only: Yes

Don't forget to change that back once you are done testing.

Also you could force a reset of the PRI card and see if that helps out as well. Go to the back of the system and locate the PRI card. untighten the screw that holds it in place, but do not remove it yet. Hold down the lever until you see the light flashing to tell you it is ok to remove the card. Plug the card out, but not all the way, and then reseat it and wait for it to come up and then screw it back into the cabinet.

Prior to doing a reset you could see if there are any errors on the card as well. Go to System > Controller > Dual T1/E1/PRI > T1 Diagnostics you shouldn't see any numbers here really, but if you do then just go into the hourly and daily folders to see.

Thanks,

TE