Avaya

The Verba recording solution supports Avaya DMCC Multiple Registrations call recording (Avaya Aura).

Using Avaya Communication Manager release 5.0 or higher, it is possible to register up to three devices against an extension; using earlier releases, only one device can be registered.

The multiple registrations call recording method, which Verba Recording System uses takes advantage of the multiple registrations capability to register a recording device against the actual extension from which calls are to be recorded. The application simply requests listening services and CM sends a duplicated stream of all traffic from the originally provisioned extension. The forked RTP comes to the recording server from the media resource (formerly MedPro) card. The duplication request takes up a media resource but does not require conferencing resources or timeslots compared to other recording methods.

Advantages

• Because this method does not require a standalone recording device to be added to calls, the six-party limit in a call is not affected as compared to the other two recording methods (single-step-conference, service observing).
• Because the RTP is forked by the Communication Manager itself, it does not require additional TDM slots as compared to the other two typical recording methods (Single Step Conference and Service Observing). The Multiple Registrations method consumes one additional media resource for each recording device. Additional TDM timeslots are not consumed as the recording device is not able to talk.
• Service Observing and Single conferencing both make use of standalone recording devices which are registered against extensions that have been provisioned on Communication Manager specifically for call recording purposes. Thus each recording device consumes one additional station license. Service Observing typically has a one-to-one association between target extensions and recording devices and therefore consumes a relatively large number of station licenses. Single conferencing typically uses a pool of recording devices, and therefore potentially needs fewer station licenses, but introduces the possibility of running out of recording devices if a large number of recordings need to be made at the same time. The Multiple Registrations method used by Verba Recording System does not consume additional station licenses.

Considerations

• Requires Avaya Communication Manager 5.x or later and Avaya AES 4.2 or later.
• SIP phones can be recorded with Avaya Communication Manager 6.2 or later and Avaya AES 6.2 or later, and the Dependency Method has to be set to INDEPENDENT.
• Automatic announcement of the recording cannot be done by the recorder. An external IVR should be used.

Supported Avaya environment

• Avaya Communication Manager version: 5.0 or later
• Avaya Application Enablement Services (AES) version: 4.2 or later
• Supported phoneset types:
  • digital Avaya phones (DCP)
  • IP Avaya phones (SIP devices can be recorded from CM 6.2 and AES 6.2)

Required Avaya licenses

• Computer Telephony Adjunct Links license on the Avaya Communication Manager
• 1pc DMCC Full license for each recorded station (DMCC Basic license is enough if you already have IP_STA license for each recorded station)
• 1pc TSAPI Basic User license for each recorded device on the AES
• Optionally 1pc TSAPI Basic User license for the monitored technical hunt group (for receiving agent status information)
• Properly sized media resource card to support recording sessions (forked RTP streams)

For further information, please refer to an official Avaya representative or read the guide below:

https://www.devconnectprogram.com/site/global/products_resources/avaya_aura_application_enablement_services/support/faq/dmcc/index.gsp?tab=other&accordion=faq-630

Recording approaches with the Avaya Communication Manager

The following table summarizes the available recording approaches in the Avaya Communication Manager environment and the available Verba support:

The well-known passive IP call recording is not officially accepted by Avaya, because the signaling protocol used for Avaya devices is based on a proprietary version of H.323. The new SIP-based devices can be monitored passively, but certain PBX functionality is still missing from the SIP-based firmwares, so they are very rarely used. The only officially supported recording method is CTI-based recording, which means that the recording solutions must work through the Avaya AES server. On the AES server, there are different APIs:

• TSAPI
• JTAPI
• DMCC: Device, Media and Call Control API (formerly CMAPI, based on ECMA-269 Standard, used by Verba)

There are 3 different call recording approaches using the AES:

Service Observing

This method works by operating softphones and monitoring the recorded stations and invoking service observing upon recording request or automatically for each call.  This way the softphones can participate in the calls, and thus receive the audio. The application uses the AE Services DMCC service to register itself as a standalone recording device. The Service Observing feature is provisioned and activated on the device so that, when the target extension joins a call, the recording device is automatically added to the call. The application receives the calls aggregated RTP media stream via the recording device and records the call.

Single-step-conference

This method works by operating softphones and monitoring the recorded stations and invoking single-step-conference upon recording request or automatically for each call. In this way, the softphones can participate in the calls and thus receive the audio. The application uses the AE Services DMCC service to register a pool of standalone recording devices. The application uses the AE Services TSAPI service to monitor the target extension for Established Call events. Whenever the extension joins a call, an Established Call event occurs which triggers the application to use the Single conferencing method to add a recording device to the call. The application receives the calls aggregated RTP media stream via the recording device and records the call.

Multiple Registrations supported by Verba Recording System

Using Communication Manager release 5.0 or higher, it is possible to register up to three devices against an extension; using earlier releases, only one device can be registered.  Where multiple device registration is supported, the number of DMCC devices that can be registered against an extension is determined as follows:

• If there is no physical set and no Avaya IP softphone registered at the extension, the client application can register up to three DMCC devices.
• If there is a physical set or Avaya IP softphone registered at an extension, the client application can register up to two DMCC devices.
• If a physical set and Avaya IP softphone share control of an extension, the client application can register only one DMCC device.

Possible deployment of Central call recording with RTP forking for Avaya:

• Single server solution: All Verba services (Administration, Recorder) are on one server. It is recommended only for a few user POC or trial deployment (100-200 users).
  For the installation guide see: Installing a Verba Single Server solution 
• Media Repository + Recorder Server: The Verba administration/storage server is deployed separately from the recorder.
  For the installation guide see: Installing a Verba Media Repository and Installing a Verba Recording Server 

Avaya Communication Manager metadata

VFC captures the following metadata specific to Avaya Communication Manager calls.