Voice Recording with Simpler Set-up and Less Expensive Operation

CallRex extends the benefits of 3Com® NBX® IP telephony solutions by facilitating monitoring, recording, and playback of voice calls. These capabilities are particularly useful for enterprises with security, legal, and historical record-keeping requirements. Compared to conventional TDM voice recording systems, CallRex solutions are designed to be easier to deploy and more cost-effective to operate.

Prior to the IP telephony revolution recording calls was an expensive activity, requiring the installation of telephony cards to enable telephone line tapping (a requirement for processing the digital signals necessary for recording the calls). The high cost of these proprietary telephony cards—in addition to the ancillary costs of purchasing, installing, and maintaining specialized servers—made call recording too costly for most businesses

As shown in the diagram, CallRex records calls by monitoring the corporate data network looking for voice packets as they travel across it from the NBX call processor/chassis. This "packet sniffing" technology identifies and extracts only the voice packets to be recorded. Packet sniffing also enables specialized monitoring features, such as the ability to trigger recording when certain conditions are met, or to flag calls by name or value according to particular requirements.

Single-Site Implementation
In a single-site implementation, port mirroring is enabled on the "observe" port of the LAN core switch to which the NBX device is connected. The CallRex server is connected to the analysis port on the same switch. The switch is configured so that a copy of every packet going to/from the observe port (NBX connection) is also sent to the analysis port (CallRex server).

Multi-site Implementation
In a multi-site implementation, the observe port of the LAN core switch at headquarters connects to the NBX device, and the analysis port connects to the CallRex server. As with a single-site implementation, the switch is configured so that a copy of every packet going to/from the observe port is also sent to the analysis port. Remote locations are connected to the headquarters site via a high-speed data connection. They receive dial tone either locally or from headquarters.

At a remote site, the NBX system is connected to the LAN switch observe port with port mirroring enabled. A data collection server (a version of CallRex) is connected to the analysis port on the LAN switch. Packets traveling to/from the observe port are also sent to the analysis port (data collection server). The data collection server is configured to record, compress, and send calls in real-time back to the main CallRex server, where calls are stored for later retrieval.

Key Product Features

• Real-time Recording and Monitoring: record and monitor calls in real time for both local and remote locations.
• Playback Options: playback calls directly to computer speakers or to the telephone.
• Save Calls: save detailed information about every recorded call.
• Flag Calls: flag calls by call description/notes or flagged name/value.
• Search Options: find specific recordings easily and quickly through multiple search options, including time and date, user name, inbound number, caller ID name, phone number, flagged name or value, or recording group.
• Recording Options: record calls on an ad-hoc basis by simply clicking a button on the client or by using automatic triggers.
• Call Log: view detailed information about recorded calls by day, week, month, or custom date range.
• Recording Triggers: record automatically by using triggers such as user name, caller ID number and name, percent of inbound/outbound calls, area code, prefix, suffix, and wildcards.
• Multilevel Security: assign monitoring, recording, and playback rights on a per-user basis.
• Multi-site Recording: record/monitor telephone calls at multiple remote locations—all from one user interface.
• Unlimited Recording Sessions: record and monitor an unlimited number of telephone calls.