What is 'latency' and how does it effect VoIP?

What is 'latency' and how does it effect VoIP?

Jim Gurol (VP of Operations, Tierzero) gives expert video advice on: Can I use VoIP with the phone I already have?; Can I keep my old phone number if I switch to VoIP?; Can I keep my phone number if I move? and more...

Latency is when data packets are traveling across the internet and they're slow. Typically data packets travel back and forth and it's within a hundred miliseconds say for example. But when you have high latency, it could be two hundred miliseconds or even more, and that is very damaging to a VoIP call; it'll cause echo on the line or it'll cause buffering or any kind of choppiness on the phone call, so you do not want to have latency on your calls.