Call Recording and Storage

In the Call Recording app, you can record calls and listen to stored recordings.

NOTE: 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, you can configure it as required.

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; see Callflows.

IMPORTANT: 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.

Configuring call recording

To set up call recording on your account:

  1. Go to Apps > Call Recording.

  2. Click Configuration 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 is the default for call centre agents. 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. 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.

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.

Pause on recordings

Use shortcodes to stop and start recording:

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

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

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can I get a file that contains all recordings on our account?

A: No, we provide access to call recordings through your hosted PBX and you can download individual recordings. However, currently you cannot get a complete "data dump" of all recordings.

Q: If a recording is transferred from one call center group to another, is the recording stored in one or more files?

A: How the recording is stored depends on the setup as follows:

  • If "Force record entire account" is ON, then there is one recording.
  • If "Force record entire account" is OFF, and 'record queue' is on, then there might be more than one recording.
  • For recordings that were stopped and started with the in-call feature codes *7 and *9, these recordings are separately listed in the recordings tab.

Q: Is there a naming convention for the stored recordings?

A: No, the recording ID is used as the filename and is downloaded straight from the server. IP Telecom recommends renaming the file, or saving it appropriately to retrieve it more easily later.

Q: What configuration should I use if certain users do not want to be recorded for data protection (GDPR) reasons?

A: To disable recording on specific users or devices, IP Telecom recommends configuring your call recording application as follows:

  1. Disable "Force Record Entire Account".
  2. Enable "Force Record all Users on Account"
  3. At the User or Device level, individually disable the users and devices that do not want to be recorded. These settings will override the "Force Record All Users on Account" setting.
  4. The recording pauses and resumes depending on when the user or device, for whom recording is disabled, is active on the call.

Q: How do I record a call center queue?

A: See Setting up call recording for a queue.

Q: If call recording for a queue is set up in the Call Center app, do I still need to configure it in the Call Recording application?

A: No, call recording on a queue level is independent of all other settings.

Q: If Call Recording is enabled for a queue, do I still need to include it in the queue callflow?

A: No, if Record Queue is enabled, it updates the callflow behind the queue and adds a "start recording" action on each call before putting the call into the queue.

Q: When external calls are transferred internally how is call recording affected?

A: Call recording typically follows a transfer, however there are two types of call transfers:

  • Attended transfer - transfer the call to another user and announce who is calling or what the call is about
  • Blind transfer - transfer the call to another user immediately without previously informing them who is calling

Scenario 1: a blind transfer, with internal recording enabled or disabled - the call records the entire external call in one recording.

Scenario 2: an attended transfer, with internal recording enabled - the entire call is recorded including the attended transfer conversation.

Scenario 3: an attended transfer, with internal recording disabled - only the first leg of the call is recorded before the transfer occurs.

If you want to record the entire call without recording the attended transfer conversation, you could put the call on hold. Call the intended recipient on a new call, consult with them, then blind transfer the original call.