Why Test Your Global Numbers?

Kevin Buckley of Spearline discusses why it’s important to check your worldwide toll and toll-free numbers are live and operational.

Contact centres and conference companies are just two examples of businesses whose models are based on customers accessing their services via the telephone.

However the system is engineered, whether through fixed lines or over the internet (or more likely through a combination of both), the most important criterion for the customer is that the number dialled works the first time, every time and that the quality is first class so that whatever business he or she has to transact can be done quickly and effectively.

Most companies expend a lot of effort on their servers and hardware but have little or no control or visibility on the most important link in the chain: their overseas toll or toll-free number.

For this reason, testing your numbers is important, and companies like Spearline have created testing systems that allow organizations to test at any time whether a number is live and also test automatically the quality of the connection to that number in the country.

The quality score resulting from the test highlights any problems in the chain of telecommunications infrastructure and any improvements made can be benchmarked against the best results for that country.

These tools can be valuable in terms of maintaining the highest standards of quality for your customers as well as being an invaluable tool for troubleshooting when problems arise.

Audio quality, DTMF and CLI are tested on each of your routes. Combined with country-by-country benchmarking data from our millions of global test calls, better testing systems allow you to make an informed decision on how you route your calls.

In digital networks, carriers have the ability to transcode audio from excellent quality codecs such as G711 to poorer quality codecs such as G729 or GSM.

In fact, these testing platforms measure which codec is being provided by the carrier and ensures your carrier is delivering the service you are paying for.

Kevin Buckley

By using these tools you won’t have to halt the business workflow and you’ll have time to implement your contingency strategies. The business can carry on with a new project, or focus on other aspects, rather than issues with the system being a focal point.

Number testing provides you with insights to manage ongoing carrier relationships and make key routing decisions based on audio quality data.

Author: Robyn Coppell