Announcement

The system has a built-in feature to play audio notifications for recorded conversations. The announcement capability is currently available for Skype of Business and Cisco environments. The announcement is available for certain call scenarios only.

Call ScenarioSkype for Business AnnouncementCisco Announcement
Internal callNoNo
Incoming PSTN callYesYes
Outgoing PSTN callYesYes
Incoming federated callYesN/A
Outgoing federated callYesN/A
Conference callYesNo

The announcement can be enabled and disabled on a user level where administrators can specify the audio prompt file for each type of cal scenario. Active Directory synchronization allows configuring the announcement parameters through the synchronization profiles without the need to configure users one by one.

The announcement audit log provides a log for tracking and searching announcements played by the system (or not). The system stores the audit log entries in the database and provides search and listing for the records. The audit log is turned off by default. The announcement white list allows excluding phone numbers and SIP URIs from an announcement. If a phone number is added to the whitelist, the system will not play the recording announcement for that number. Multiple whitelists can be added and maintained through the user interface as a global configuration in a Verba instance. For more information, refer to:

Skype for Business announcement

The Verba Lync/SfB Announcement Service is able to notify the participants that the call will be recorded. The service can be used for meetings, incoming/outgoing PSTN and federated calls. To configure it you will need a Trusted Application Pool/Server in your Lync topology. It supports Lync 2010, Lync 2013 and Skype for Business 2015 environments. The Verba Lync/SfB Announcement Service is transparent, which means that the endpoints receiving the call don't see that the call was actually transferred by the announcement service and the transfers are not visible in the call records either. It has five different ways of operating depending on the call scenarios it's used in:

Call ScenarioOperation
Incoming PSTN calls

The incoming PSTN calls are forwarded to the Verba announcement service, which notifies the caller that the call will be recorded, then the service transfers the call to the original called party.

Outgoing PSTN calls

The outgoing PSTN calls are forwarded to the Verba announcement service, which notifies the caller that the call is on hold and the call will be connected. In the meanwhile, the announcement service initiates an outgoing call to the original callee and notifies him/her about the recording and connects the two call legs.

Incoming Federated calls

The incoming federated calls are forwarded to the Verba announcement service, which notifies the caller that the call will be recorded, then the service transfers the call to the original called party.

Outgoing Federated callsThe outgoing federated calls are forwarded to the Verba announcement service, which notifies the caller that the call is on hold and the call will be connected. In the meanwhile, the announcement service initiates an outgoing call to the original callee and notifies him/her about the recording and connects the two call legs.
Meetings / Conference calls

The Announcement service automatically joins the meeting when the recording is started and plays the announcement to the participants as well as sending an IM message to the conversation window. When new participants join the conference, the announcement service notifies them privately, without disturbing the meeting.

For information on how to install and configure this service, refer to the Installing and configuring the Verba SfB - Lync Announcement service article.

Cisco announcement

The Verba Cisco Announcement Service is able to notify the participants that the call will be recorded. The service can be used for incoming/outgoing PSTN calls. The feature relies on the External Call Control (ECC) capability of the Cisco UCM. The solution works with any type of endpoints, it does not require Cisco phones. As long as the call is routed through a CUCM and an ECC profile can be triggered, the announcement can be played. It has 3 different ways of operation depending on the call scenarios it's used in:

Call ScenarioOperation
Incoming PSTN calls

The system supports 2 configurations for inbound announcements:

  • The incoming PSTN calls are forwarded to the Verba announcement service, which notifies the caller that the call will be recorded, then the service transfers the call to the original called party.
  • The incoming PSTN calls are forwarded to the CUCM, which notifies the caller that the call will be recorded, then the service transfers the call to the original called party.
Outgoing PSTN callsThe outgoing PSTN calls are forwarded to the Verba announcement service, which provides a ringback to the caller. In the meanwhile, the announcement service initiates an outgoing call to the original callee and notifies him/her about the recording, and connects the two call legs.

For information on how to install and configure this service, refer to: