Frequently dropped and/or disconnected mobile calls are not merely a major frustration in South Africa, but it can also cost local consumers in time and – depending on whether they have per-minute or per-second billing contracts – in call-back fees as well.
“It used to feel to customers as if their complaints about this fell on deaf ears,” says Mitchell Barker, founder and CEO of WhichVoIP, a directory Web site containing a comprehensive list of South Africa’s top VoIP providers.
“Despite frequent public gripes from customers and published surveys about the regularity of interrupted calls in South Africa, the country’s mobile operators simply shift blame, such as an MTN spokesperson once publicly blaming it on the nature of the radio-based technology used by the network.”
Both MTN and Cell C, whose customers are on per-second billing plans, have pointed out that their customers do not get charged for the inconvenience, while Vodacom and Telkom Mobile admit that those of their customers who are on per-minute billing, do get charged for a full minute – even if their call is dropped before the full minute is up – and likewise if they want to call back the person they were talking to.
However, if the country’s telecoms regulatory body has its way, the network operators and service providers could soon be coughing up refunds and major fines – of up to the tune of R1-million – for the frequency of dropped calls and the time it takes networks and operators to respond to other service issues, including network and services uptime, fault clearance rates and call centre response times – which would be music to the ears of fed-up consumers.
In January 2014, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) published an amended version of its End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulators for network operators and service providers in the Government Gazette. In it, Icasa shows its intention to conduct quality of service (QoS) testing and how all licensees will be required to submit compliance reports.
“The major question we have had from many of our VoIP users was whether these proposed stipulations from Icasa would affect VoIP operators as well,” Barker says.
This question was posed to Sumaiyah Makda, a telecoms regulatory expert at Ellipsis, a company that provides specialist regulatory and compliance advice to the electronic communications industry.
“While the Draft Regulations do not specifically differentiate between mobile and VoIP save for using the term Mobile Services when setting out measurement parameters, it is rooted in the original mobile network licenses, and therefore does have its focus on mobile networks,” Makda says. “However, the view held by Ellipsis is that there is no differentiation between voice and VoIP, and it all falls under consideration as voice services.”
As such, Makda notes, Icasa’s regulations will apply to all voice service providers – including VoIP providers – with the necessary adjustments.
“As VoIP providers are required to be Icasa licensees, VoIP services are also regulated by Icasa,” she explains.
But who should VoIP consumers direct their complaints to about QoS? “Any consumer complaints should first be taken up with the service provider, then an industry body if applicable, and it can then be taken to Icasa if the consumer is still dissatisfied,” Makda explains.
Barker says that there are some things that users can look into in order to improve their VoIP’s QoS. “Firstly, you need to ensure that your Internet connection is fast enough to handle voice and video calls and that you have sufficient bandwidth to handle your specific VoIP application,” he advises. “Then you need to decide whether your VoIP will be separated from your regular Internet or whether it will share the same network.”
For users who already have VoIP installed and are experiencing sluggish performance, Barker suggests trying to tweak the network settings via the router software if possible.
“Some router software allows users to do that by choosing a category, such as applications, gaming or voice, and then choosing one (in this case, voice) to make the highest priority. If that’s not an option, try to set the QoS by entering the router’s Media Access Code Address and the network name, or the IP address.”
He says smaller business owners who do not have an IT department and who are brave enough to attempt it themselves can search step-by-step instructions for their specific router online.
“Of course, for the less tech-savvy among you, it remains better to just call in professional assistance in the form of your VoIP provider,” he concludes.
