Abstract This paper studies the ways to determine the buffer size of the AAL2 packet voice multiplexer with bit dropping. A conclusion is drawn that the buffer size which corresponds to the delay budget of 9 millisecond is sufficient to meet the quality of service requirements of AAL2 packet voice. An algorithm for determining the buffer size and the bit dropping thresholds is also presented with relevant computation formula. The computer simulation results show that the algorithm presented here is good for determining the buffer size and the bit dropping thresholds with small packet loss probability, low packet delay and high mean bits per sample and can greatly improve the buffer efficiency.