Systems and methods of improving the quality of voip communications

Abstract

Methods of addressing problems in a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) telephony system include collecting data on network events, analyzing the data, and taking corrective action when possible. If an IP telephony device is registering with the VOIP telephony system more frequently than necessary, which can indicate the IP telephony device is unnecessarily jumping between proxy services, the IP telephony device is instructed to re-initialize itself. If an IP telephony device sends two successive stay alive registration messages to a proxy server from different ports of a router, which can indicate that a router pinhole is closing between stay alive messages, then the IP telephony device is instructed to send stay alive registration messages more frequently. If data packet statistics indicate that an IP telephony device is experiencing a jitter problem, the IP telephony device is instructed to increase the size of a data buffer for incoming data packets.

1 . A method of taking a corrective action by an internet protocol (IP) telephony device related to its registration to an IP telephony system, comprising:
 in response to a determination that two successive stay alive registration requests sent from the IP telephony device originate from different IP addresses, receiving an instruction to re-initialize itself;   re-initializing upon receipt of the instruction; and   conducting a new registration process with the IP telephony system thereby registering a current IP address with the IP telephony system.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the instruction is received upon determining that the IP telephony device is conducting a full registration process with one or more proxy servers of the IP telephony system more frequently than necessary. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the instruction is received by the IP telephony device upon determining that two successive stay alive registration requests sent from the IP telephony device originate from different ports of a router. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising receiving an instruction to send stay alive registration requests from the IP telephony device more frequently when two successive stay alive registration requests sent from the IP telephony device originate from different ports of a router. 
     
     
         5 . A method of taking a corrective action by an IP telephony device to correct a potential problem, comprising:
 in response to a determination that a measure of data packet communication errors experienced by the IP telephony device exceed a threshold value for more than a predetermined period of time, receiving an instruction to switch itself from using a first encoding algorithm to using a second encoding algorithm which utilizes greater data compression than the first encoding algorithm; and   switching from using the first encoding algorithm to using the second encoding algorithm upon receiving the instruction.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the measure of data packet communication errors comprises a measure of data packet jitter. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the measure of data packet communication errors comprises a measure of data packet loss. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the measure of data packet communication errors comprises a measure of data packets that are out of sequence. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second encoding algorithm causes the data communications to use less bandwidth using the second encoding algorithm than the data communications using the first encoding algorithm. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein audio data in the data packet communication using the second encoding algorithm is of a lower quality than audio data in the data packet communication using the first encoding algorithm. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein video data in the data packet communication using the second encoding algorithm is of a lower quality than video data in the data packet communication using the first encoding algorithm. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the IP telephony device is instructed to switch from using the first encoding algorithm to using the second encoding algorithm when an average value of the measured data packet communication errors over the period of time is below a specified threshold. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the IP telephony device is instructed to switch from using the first encoding algorithm to using the second encoding algorithm when the measured data packet communication errors at one or more points in time over the period of time fall below a specified threshold. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein
 the IP telephony device is configured to receive data packets, in a buffer memory of the IP telephony device, from another device, and   each data packet having a sequence number assigned to the data packet thereby allowing the IP telephony device to put each data packet into a proper sequence of data packets.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the IP telephony device expands a size of the buffer memory when a level of data packet jitter and/or a level of data packet loss in the received data packets exceeds a threshold value. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the size of the buffer corresponds to the level of data packet jitter and/or the level of data packet loss in the received data packets. 
     
     
         17 . A method of adjusting a frequency in which an IP telephony device sends stay alive registration messages to a proxy server of a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephony system to keep the IP telephony device within a pinhole communication window of the proxy server, comprising:
 receiving an instruction to increase a delay between periodic transmission of stay alive registration messages sent from the IP telephony device based on an identification of which port of a router the IP telephony device is associated;   increasing the delay between period transmission of stay alive registration messages upon receiving the instruction to increase the delay;   upon determining that two successive stay alive registration messages sent from the IP telephony device originate from different ports of a router, receiving an instruction to decrease a delay between the periodic transmission of stay alive registration messages sent from the IP telephony device; and   decreasing the delay between periodic transmission of stay alive registration messages upon receiving the instruction to decrease the delay.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the amount by which the IP telephony device is instructed to increase the delay is greater than the amount by which the IP telephony device is instructed to decrease the delay. 
     
     
         19 . A method of stopping an IP telephony device from jumping between proxy servers of a VOIP telephony system, comprising:
 upon determining that an IP telephony device is conducting a full registration process with one or more proxy servers of a VOIP telephony system more frequently than required by the VOIP telephony system, based on a number of registration attempts the IP telephony device has conducted within a specified period of time, receiving an instruction to take a corrective action when the number of registration attempts conducted within the specified period of time exceeds a threshold value; and   taking the corrective action upon receiving the instruction.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the IP telephony device is instructed to re-initialize itself.