Silence detection: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:32, 4 January 2026

This guide explains how to enable and use VoIPmonitor's advanced audio analysis features for G.711 codecs, including silence detection and audio clipping detection. These tools are invaluable for diagnosing audio quality issues that are not caused by network packet loss, such as one-way audio, muted microphones, or faulty endpoint hardware.

Overview & Use Cases

Standard network metrics like packet loss and jitter can only identify problems that occur during network transport. However, many audio quality issues originate at the endpoint itself. The Silence & Clipping Detection engine analyzes the decoded G.711 (a-law/u-law) audio stream to identify these problems.

Enable this feature to diagnose issues like:

A user complaining about "dead air" when the network statistics look perfect
One-way audio scenarios where one party is not transmitting any sound
Identifying calls with audio clipping, which is often perceived as clicks or distortion
More accurately assessing call quality by penalizing MOS scores for periods of absolute silence

Prerequisites

Before enabling this feature, please ensure the following requirements are met:

1. Codec Limitation: This feature currently only supports calls using the G.711 a-law/u-law codec. Audio streams from other codecs will not be analyzed.

2. CPU Resources: Decoding and analyzing audio streams is a CPU-intensive process. Enabling these features will increase the overall CPU load on the sensor. Monitor your system's performance after enabling them.

3. Database Schema: All modern VoIPmonitor installations (approximately since 2020) include the necessary database columns by default. If you are running a current version, you do not need to perform any database modifications. The sensor will log an error on startup if any required columns are missing, which should only happen on very old legacy systems.

Configuration

Step 1: Enable in voipmonitor.conf

To activate the features, add or uncomment the following lines in /etc/voipmonitor.conf:

# Enables both silence and clipping detection logic
silencedetect = yes

# Enables the specific feature that detects clipped audio frames
clippingdetect = yes

# Defines the audio level threshold for silence. The default of 512 is
# tolerant to low-level background noise. Lower values are stricter.
silencethreshold = 512

After making changes, restart the voipmonitor service:

systemctl restart voipmonitor

Step 2: For Legacy Upgrades - Adding Database Columns

Note: This step is only required if you are upgrading from a very old VoIPmonitor installation and the sensor logs errors about missing columns on startup. For all recent installations, these columns already exist.

If required, you can add the columns to your cdr table with the following SQL command. Only add the columns that are reported as missing.

ALTER TABLE cdr
  ADD COLUMN caller_silence tinyint unsigned default NULL,
  ADD COLUMN called_silence tinyint unsigned default NULL,
  ADD COLUMN caller_silence_end smallint default NULL,
  ADD COLUMN called_silence_end smallint default NULL,
  ADD COLUMN caller_clipping_div3 smallint unsigned default NULL,
  ADD COLUMN called_clipping_div3 smallint unsigned default NULL,
  ADD COLUMN a_mos_silence_min_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
  ADD COLUMN b_mos_silence_min_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
  ADD COLUMN a_mos_silence_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
  ADD COLUMN b_mos_silence_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL;

Features & Metrics

Once enabled, you will have access to several new metrics and visualizations throughout the GUI.

1. Silence as Packet Loss & MOS Adjustment

The system identifies frames of absolute silence (e.g., from a muted mic) and treats them as a form of packet loss. This allows VoIPmonitor to correctly calculate a low MOS score for calls that were silent, even if no actual packets were lost on the network.

This is visualized in the CDR Graph Detail, where a new MOS score labeled "Sil" (Silence MOS) will appear.

2. Overall Silence Percentage

The CDR Detail view will show the total percentage of silence for both the caller and callee audio streams. A call with over 95% silence in one direction is a strong indicator of a one-way audio problem.

3. Silence at the End of a Call

This metric measures the duration of silence leading up to the end of the call. A high value may indicate that a user hung up out of frustration because they couldn't hear the other party. This value is shown directly in the main CDR listing.

4. Audio Clipping Detection

The system counts the number of "clipped" audio frames, which occur when the audio signal is too loud and hits the maximum amplitude, causing distortion. This metric is shown in the CDR detail and can be used for filtering and creating charts to find problematic endpoints.

5. MOS Scores During Silence Periods

When silence detection is enabled, VoIPmonitor calculates additional MOS values that appear after the standard MOS scores in the CDR table. These values represent the voice quality specifically during periods of silence in the call.

Column	Description
`a_mos_silence_mult10` / `b_mos_silence_mult10`	Average MOS score during silence periods (caller/callee)
`a_mos_silence_min_mult10` / `b_mos_silence_min_mult10`	Minimum MOS score during silence periods (caller/callee)

Important Notes:

These metrics are only active when silence detection is enabled (silencedetect = yes)
If silence detection is disabled, the system shows the full/regular MOS score instead
These values help identify calls where audio quality deteriorates during silent periods, which may indicate endpoint problems

AI Summary for RAG

Summary: VoIPmonitor's Silence and Clipping Detection analyzes G.711 (a-law/u-law) audio to diagnose issues invisible to network metrics. Key features: treats silence as packet loss for accurate MOS, calculates silence percentage (>95% indicates one-way audio), measures end-of-call silence, and counts clipped frames. Configuration requires silencedetect=yes and clippingdetect=yes in voipmonitor.conf. Modern installations have required database columns by default.

Keywords: silence detection, clipping, one-way audio, dead air, MOS, G.711, silencedetect, clippingdetect, silencethreshold, mos_silence

Key Questions:

How can I diagnose one-way audio problems?
Why is a call's MOS score high even though the user reported hearing nothing?
How does VoIPmonitor detect silence in a call?
What does the "Silence MOS" score mean in the CDR graph?
How can I find calls with audio clipping?

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 == Overview & Use Cases ==
 Standard network metrics like packet loss and jitter can only identify problems that occur during network transport. However, many audio quality issues originate at the endpoint itself. The Silence & Clipping Detection engine analyzes the decoded G.711 (a-law/u-law) audio stream to identify these problems.
+<kroki lang="plantuml">
+@startuml
+skinparam shadowing false
+skinparam defaultFontName Arial
+rectangle "RTP Stream\n(G.711 audio)" as RTP
+rectangle "Audio Decoder" as Decoder
+rectangle "Silence Detection\n(threshold check)" as Silence
+rectangle "Clipping Detection\n(max amplitude)" as Clipping
+database "CDR Database\n(metrics stored)" as DB
+rectangle "MOS Adjustment\n(silence = loss)" as MOS
+RTP --> Decoder : decode a-law/u-law
+Decoder --> Silence : audio samples
+Decoder --> Clipping : audio samples
+Silence --> DB : silence %, silence_end
+Clipping --> DB : clipping count
+Silence --> MOS : silence frames
+MOS --> DB : adjusted MOS scores
+@enduml
+</kroki>
 Enable this feature to diagnose issues like:
-* A user complaining about "dead air" when the network statistics look perfect.
+* A user complaining about "dead air" when the network statistics look perfect
-* One-way audio scenarios where one party is not transmitting any sound.
+* One-way audio scenarios where one party is not transmitting any sound
-* Identifying calls with audio clipping, which is often perceived as clicks or distortion.
+* Identifying calls with audio clipping, which is often perceived as clicks or distortion
-* More accurately assessing call quality by penalizing MOS scores for periods of absolute silence.
+* More accurately assessing call quality by penalizing MOS scores for periods of absolute silence
 == Prerequisites ==
@@ Line 28: / Line 50: @@
 === Step 1: Enable in voipmonitor.conf ===
-To activate the features, add or uncomment the following lines in `/etc/voipmonitor.conf`:
+To activate the features, add or uncomment the following lines in <code>/etc/voipmonitor.conf</code>:
-<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
+<syntaxhighlight lang="ini">
 # Enables both silence and clipping detection logic
-silencedetect    = yes
+silencedetect = yes
 # Enables the specific feature that detects clipped audio frames
@@ Line 40: / Line 62: @@
 # tolerant to low-level background noise. Lower values are stricter.
 silencethreshold = 512
+</syntaxhighlight>
+After making changes, restart the voipmonitor service:
+<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
+systemctl restart voipmonitor
 </syntaxhighlight>
@@ Line 45: / Line 73: @@
 '''Note:''' This step is only required if you are upgrading from a very old VoIPmonitor installation and the sensor logs errors about missing columns on startup. For all recent installations, these columns already exist.
-If required, you can add the columns to your `cdr` table with the following SQL command. Only add the columns that are reported as missing.
+If required, you can add the columns to your <code>cdr</code> table with the following SQL command. Only add the columns that are reported as missing.
-<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
+<syntaxhighlight lang="sql">
 ALTER TABLE cdr
- ADD COLUMN caller_silence tinyint unsigned default NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN caller_silence tinyint unsigned default NULL,
- ADD COLUMN called_silence tinyint unsigned default NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN called_silence tinyint unsigned default NULL,
- ADD COLUMN caller_silence_end smallint default NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN caller_silence_end smallint default NULL,
- ADD COLUMN called_silence_end smallint default NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN called_silence_end smallint default NULL,
- ADD COLUMN caller_clipping_div3 smallint unsigned default NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN caller_clipping_div3 smallint unsigned default NULL,
- ADD COLUMN called_clipping_div3 smallint unsigned default NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN called_clipping_div3 smallint unsigned default NULL,
- ADD COLUMN a_mos_silence_min_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN a_mos_silence_min_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
- ADD COLUMN b_mos_silence_min_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN b_mos_silence_min_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
- ADD COLUMN a_mos_silence_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
+  ADD COLUMN a_mos_silence_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
- ADD COLUMN b_mos_silence_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL;
+  ADD COLUMN b_mos_silence_mult10 tinyint unsigned DEFAULT NULL;
 </syntaxhighlight>
@@ Line 91: / Line 119: @@
 When silence detection is enabled, VoIPmonitor calculates additional MOS values that appear after the standard MOS scores in the CDR table. These values represent the voice quality specifically during periods of silence in the call.
-'''Additional MOS Columns:'''
+{| class="wikitable"
-* <code>a_mos_silence_mult10</code> / <code>b_mos_silence_mult10</code> – The '''average''' MOS score calculated during periods of silence in the call (for caller/callee streams)
+|-
-* <code>a_mos_silence_min_mult10</code> / <code>b_mos_silence_min_mult10</code> – The '''minimum''' MOS score recorded during the silent portions of the call (for caller/callee streams)
+! Column !! Description
+|-
+| <code>a_mos_silence_mult10</code> / <code>b_mos_silence_mult10</code> || '''Average''' MOS score during silence periods (caller/callee)
+|-
+| <code>a_mos_silence_min_mult10</code> / <code>b_mos_silence_min_mult10</code> || '''Minimum''' MOS score during silence periods (caller/callee)
+|}
 '''Important Notes:'''
-* These metrics are '''only active when the silence detection feature is enabled''' (<code>silencedetect = yes</code>)
+* These metrics are '''only active when silence detection is enabled''' (<code>silencedetect = yes</code>)
-* If silence detection is disabled, the system shows the full/regular MOS score instead of these silence-specific average and minimum values
+* If silence detection is disabled, the system shows the full/regular MOS score instead
-* These values help identify issues like calls where audio quality deteriorates during silent periods, which may indicate endpoint problems
+* These values help identify calls where audio quality deteriorates during silent periods, which may indicate endpoint problems
 == AI Summary for RAG ==
-'''Summary:''' This document describes the configuration and benefits of VoIPmonitor's Silence and Clipping Detection features. It explains that this functionality is specific to the G.711 (a-law/u-law) codec and is CPU-intensive. The guide details the required `voipmonitor.conf` settings (`silencedetect`, `clippingdetect`). It clarifies that while the feature requires specific database columns, these are included by default in all modern installations, and provides the `ALTER TABLE` command only for users upgrading from very old legacy systems. The key benefits are then explained: 1) Treating absolute silence as packet loss to produce a more accurate MOS score. 2) Calculating the overall percentage of silence to identify one-way audio. 3) Measuring silence at the end of a call to find frustration-based hangups. 4) Counting clipped audio frames to detect distortion. 5) Recording additional MOS score columns (`a_mos_silence_mult10`, `b_mos_silence_mult10`, `a_mos_silence_min_mult10`, `b_mos_silence_min_mult10`) that show the average and minimum MOS scores calculated during periods of silence. These silence-specific MOS values only appear when silence detection is enabled; otherwise, the system shows the full/regular MOS score.
+'''Summary:''' VoIPmonitor's Silence and Clipping Detection analyzes G.711 (a-law/u-law) audio to diagnose issues invisible to network metrics. Key features: treats silence as packet loss for accurate MOS, calculates silence percentage (>95% indicates one-way audio), measures end-of-call silence, and counts clipped frames. Configuration requires <code>silencedetect=yes</code> and <code>clippingdetect=yes</code> in voipmonitor.conf. Modern installations have required database columns by default.
-'''Keywords:''' silence detection, clipping, one-way audio, no audio, dead air, MOS, G.711, alaw, ulaw, `silencedetect`, `clippingdetect`, `silencethreshold`, database schema, alter table, legacy upgrade, audio quality, audio analysis, `mos_silence`, `mos_silence_min`, average MOS during silence, minimum MOS during silence
+'''Keywords:''' silence detection, clipping, one-way audio, dead air, MOS, G.711, silencedetect, clippingdetect, silencethreshold, mos_silence
 '''Key Questions:'''
 * How can I diagnose one-way audio problems?
 * Why is a call's MOS score high even though the user reported hearing nothing?
 * How does VoIPmonitor detect silence in a call?
-* What does the "Silence MOS" or "Sil" score mean in the CDR graph?
+* What does the "Silence MOS" score mean in the CDR graph?
-* Do I need to alter my database table to use silence detection?
+* How can I find calls with audio clipping?
-* How can I find all calls that have audio clipping?
-* What configuration is needed to enable silence detection?
-* What do the additional MOS values (average and minimum) that appear in the CDR mean?
-* What are the `mos_silence` and `mos_silence_min` database columns for?
-* Why do my CDR records show silence-specific MOS values when silence detection is enabled?