VoIP Jitter & Latency - Why Your Calls Sometimes Echo or Lag

You know that moment when you’re in the middle of an important business call, and suddenly the other person sounds like they’re talking underwater? Or worse, there’s a weird echo, and you end up talking over each other like an awkward Zoom karaoke?

That is the joy (or, to be more specific, the suffering) of VoIP jitter and latency, my friend. Those gremlins that creep into your otherwise business phone systems.

Let’s break them down with a pint of plain English.

The “Gremlins” of VoIP Phone Calls

A business in the UK today is a business where your communication lives and dies on your VoIP phone service. Clients expect crystal-clear calls, remote teams need smooth connections, and meetings can’t afford awkward delays.

But sometimes…

• You hear a delay before the other person responds.
• Voices sound robotic or choppy.
• Calls overlap with awkward pauses.

This isn’t bad luck. It’s jitter and latency—the culprits making your VoIP telephone service feel more like a dodgy walkie-talkie.

Why This Really Matters

A little bit of delay in a family WhatsApp call? Fine. You laugh it off.

But in business:

• Imagine pitching a new client and your voice echoes like you’re in the Albert Hall.
• Picture your support team sounding robotic while handling complaints.
• Or worse, a contract negotiation where you keep interrupting because of a delay.

Not only is it unprofessional, but it is also time-consuming, expensive, and reputation-damaging. Even the most popular business telephone systems in the UK do not perform well when the quality of calls is poor. And the thing is—it’s not usually your VoIP phone service that’s the issue. It’s how the data travels.

No Problems, Satisfied Clients.

Here’s the good news: jitter and latency aren’t permanent houseguests. With the right phone systems for business, they can be kicked out of your calls faster than you can say, “Can you hear me now?”

First, what are they in plain English?

• Latency: This is delay. As when you scream at the other end of a football pitch and it takes your mate a second to hear. In VoIP, it’s the gap between speaking and hearing the reply.
• Jitter: This is inconsistency. Imagine trying to clap along to a drummer who can’t keep time. That’s how your voice packets arrive when jitter is high—all over the place.

 How to fix them?

• Stable internet: Your VoIP phone thrives on reliable broadband, not bargain-bin Wi-Fi.
• Prioritize voice traffic: Set your router to give phone calls the fast lane over Netflix downloads. (This is called QoS, but think of it as the “VIP pass” for your business calls.)
• Upgrade your business phone system: Modern VoIP telephone service platforms (like PineVox, hint hint) come with built-in tools to smooth out the bumps.
• Use wired connections where possible:Wi-Fi’s great, but cables are steadier.

Real-World Example

Take jitter and latency and consider them the post office.

• Latency is when your letter takes longer than expected to arrive—a delay.
• Jitter is when the postie drops half the letters at the wrong doors and delivers the rest out of order.

Neither is very good at communicating. And in the world of business calls, it’s the difference between sounding professional and sounding like a Dalek.

Interested in learning other VoIP terms?? Keep an eye on our glossary series, where we make tech talk human.