Terminal based monitoring of voice call quality in mobile networks

Recent technological advances have allowed great enhancements in the quality of service provided to subscribers by mobile telephony network operators. A key requirement in enhancing a subscriber's experience of utilising the services provided by such networks is the ability for the network operator to gather reliable information relating to the customer's experience when attempting to invoke the services offered by the network. Traditional methods include “drive testing” the network in order to gather sample information concerning the ability to access network services and subsequent experiences while utilising them, or the use of advanced network simulation tools to predict characteristics concerning radio coverage and likely resultant air interface characteristics. While these methods have served their purpose, it can be said that they are no longer as efficient as they have been in the past. This paper outlines a system for real time monitoring of call parameters by placing a small monitoring application on the subscriber's terminal to enable regular monitoring of various call parameters during voice calls. On call termination the subscriber is asked to rate the quality of the call by submitting a “call score” based on the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) rating. This rating and the collected information is then transmitted over a wireless connection to a network server to facilitate real-time quality analysis relating to subscriber's experiences in accessing the voice telephony service provided by the network.