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Call Recording and Storage

Record calls and listen to stored recordings. If call recording is enabled for your account, then all calls will be recorded depending on your configuration. The Call Recording application must be set up on your VoIP Account to establish a proper storage plan for call recording. After the call recording application is set up, configure it as required. See Configuring Call Recording.

About call recording

Call recording can be configured in a number of ways:

  • At the account level - means all calls, inbound and outbound, to this account will start the call recording system
  • At the user level - starts recording for any calls to/from a device owned by that user
  • At the device level - starts recording for any calls to/from the device
  • Explicitly as a callflow action

Warning

Device settings will override the user settings. For example, if a user enables call recording but a device has explicitly disabled it, the device will not be recorded when the user makes a call with it. If the device's settings are undefined, then the user's settings are applied.**

Best Practice

The phone recording system is extremely flexible, but this flexibility allows multiple combinations of configuration options. IP Telecom strongly advises that you test exactly what is being recorded after you set up your call recording configuration and again after you make any changes. Contact our support team for advice on changes that you are considering.

Enable call recording on a VoIP account

Typically, call recording will be added when a new account is set up if requested. If call recording is enabled for your account, go to the call recording app to configure the settings, see Configuring call recording.

Configuring call recording

To configure call recording on your account:

  1. Go to Your Apps > Call Recording.

  2. Click the Configuration tab, and choose whether to record all users, specific users, or devices only as follows:

    • Account: Records calls for the entire account, including callflows, ring groups, and conferences. accountconfig
      • Force Record all Users on Account: This setting applies to all devices for each user's configuration. It also records transferred and parked calls (except for the period that call is parked). When this setting is enabled, you can override recording options for individual users and devices at the User and Device level. This setting is the default for call centre agents. For more information see User and device level recording settings.
      • Force Record Entire Account: records every call on the account, including callflows, ring groups, conferences, and so on. When this setting is enabled, then you cannot override recording options for individual users and devices at User or Device level. For more information see Account level recording settings.
    • Users: Records specific users only, click on the settings next to the user for whom you want to set up call recording. This will override the setting at the account level. Users can also set customised call recording in Setting customised call recording. recorduser
    • Devices: Records specific devices only, click on the settings next to the device on which you want to set up call recording. This will override the setting at the account level.

  3. Save your changes.

IMPORTANT:

  • "Force Record Entire Account" overrides all other settings and simply records everything. For example, the "Stop Recording" action in a callflow has no effect if the "Force Record Entire Account" setting is enabled in the application.
  • If "Force Record Entire Account" is disabled, then you must set up queue recording at the queue level. See Recording a queue.
  • If "Force Record Entire Account" is enabled and you make and outbound call to a mobile, during that call if the user does a blind transfer to a second mobile, then both legs are recorded, the internal and also the external between the two mobiles.
  • If "Force Record Entire Account" is enabled and you make and outbound call to a mobile, during that call if the user does an attended transfer to a second mobile, the external call between the two mobiles will not be recorded.

Sample call recording scenario

The Sales department wants calls to and from customers to be recorded but not calls within the account. The configuration would be:

  • Account Level - Force Record Entire Account - disabled
  • Account Level - Force Record All Users on Account - enabled
  • User Level - All Sales users would have custom settings to enable external inbound and external outbound calls, but disable internal inbound and internal outbound calls.

sales

For more information about call direction, see Interpreting Call Recordings and Call Direction.

Stop and restart recordings

To pause recording during a call, you can use shortcodes to stop and start recording:

  • *9 to stop recording
  • *7 to restart recording

Every restart command will start a new recording and every stop command will stop the latest started recording.

NOTE: If the "force record entire account" setting is enabled, the recording will not be stopped at all.

Listening to stored recordings

To listen to the call recordings:

  1. Go to Apps > Call Recording.
  2. Click Stored Recordings and select the dates that you want to retrieve the recordings for.

  3. You can view the following details of the call:

    • outbound or inbound call
    • phone number
    • time and date the call was connected
    • call duration

  4. To listen to the recording, click Play or download in .mp3 format.

    listen

Deleting a stored recording

  1. Go to Apps > Call Recording.
  2. Click Stored Recordings and select the recording that you want to delete.

  3. Click the delete icon.

    deleterecording

  4. Click Delete on the first confirmation popup, and Yes Delete on the second confirmation popup.

    firstdelete delete

The recording is removed from the stored recordings list.

Interpreting call recordings and call direction

Call direction is a CDR field that indicates where the call initiated. In a traditional phone network, PSTN -> phone is considered "inbound" and phone -> PSTN is "outbound".

However, in a hosted PBX system:

  • Inbound - indicates that the PSTN (phone/carrier) is calling the hosted PBX (inbound to hosted PBX).
  • Outbound - indicates that the hosted PBX is calling the PSTN (phone/carrier) (outbound from hosted PBX).

When calls involve two phones there are multiple call legs:

PHONE A -> hosted PBX -> PHONE B

  • PHONE A -> hosted PBX - is the inbound call
  • hosted PBX -> PHONE B - is the outbound leg

Therefore, the call_direction field of a CDR might not indicate the direction of the call as we typically understand it.

When call recording is configured, the "leg" being recorded includes the recording information in its CDR. If a leg is coming in from or going out to the PSTN, it includes a resource_type field which tells you if the call originated/terminated from within the network (internal) or externally (external). By fetching all legs involved (using the interaction_id), you can determine the direction of a call from the end user's perspective.

For example:

Type Call Direction (A leg) Resource Type (A leg) Call Direction (B leg) Resource Type (B leg) End User's Direction
A call comes in from the PSTN to a registered device on the hosted PBX. inbound (from PSTN) external-origination outbound (from hosted PBX to the device) undefined inbound
A call goes from a registered device to the PSTN inbound (from a device) undefined outbound (to the PSTN) external-termination outbound

NOTE: The call legs between the hosted PBX and device do not have a resource type.

These scenarios can become complicated in the following examples:

  • A call comes in from the PSTN and is then sent to a device with call-forwarding enabled (using PSTN). Both legs have resource_type set.
  • When a device calls another device, no resource_type exists on either leg.
  • When a call is transferred or parked/picked up (sometimes multiple times).

NOTE: The leg where call recording is started has media_recording_id set (among others) in the leg's CDR under the custom_channel_vars object.

Account level recording settings

  • internal (call doesn't leave the hostedpbx)
  • external (call originates or terminates outside of the hostedpbx)
  • inbound (phone is calling the hostedpbx)
  • outbound (hostedpbx is calling phone)

When an internal device makes an internal call:

Setting Source Destination Recording Started
Force record internal inbound internal internal yes
Force record external inbound internal internal no
Force record internal outbound internal internal yes (if inbound -> internal isn't configured)
Force record external outbound internal internal no

When an internal device makes an external call:

Setting Source Destination Recording Started
Force record internal inbound internal external yes
Force record external inbound internal external no
Force record internal outbound internal external no
Force record external outbound internal external yes (if inbound -> internal isn't configured)

When an external device makes an internal call:

Setting Source Destination Recording Started
Force record internal inbound external internal no
Force record external inbound external internal yes
Force record internal outbound external internal yes (if inbound-> external isn't configured)
Force record external outbound external internal no

User and device level recording settings

When an internal user or device makes an internal call:

Setting Source Destination Recording Started
Inbound internal internal internal yes¹
Inbound external internal internal no
Outbound internal internal internal yes
Outbound external internal internal no

When an internal user or device makes an external call:

Setting Source Destination Recording Started
Inbound internal internal external no
Inbound external internal external no
Outbound internal internal external no
Outbound external internal external yes

When an external user or device makes a call to an internal device:

Setting Source Destination Recording Started
Inbound internal external internal
Inbound external external internal yes
Outbound internal external internal no
Outbound external external internal no

Multiple recordings

You might end up with multiple recordings for a single call depending on what settings you have chosen. These recordings could be the entire call, or just for sections of the call. This can occur when you choose to record calls in multiple locations such as recording a general callflow action and recording users.

In particular, different recording rules are applied at different times such as when:

  • a call enters and leaves a "Call Centre" queue
  • a call is parked
  • a call is transferred
  • multiple calls are conferenced together

Warning

Calls from an external number that are picked up from a parking slot using a BLF key may not restart recording when picked up again.

Best Practice

The phone recording system is extremely flexible, but this flexibility allows multiple combinations of configuration options. IP Telecom strongly advises that you test exactly what is being recorded after you set up your call recording configuration and again after you make any changes. Contact our support team for advice on changes that you are considering.