VoIP Call Recording, a Commercial Reality For Some!

Everybody is betting on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony as being the eventual winner in the battle of IP versus traditional PBX telephone systems. But for the immediate future we will continue to see a mixture of both IP PBX telephony and traditional PBX systems being specified, installed and used by customers.

A tremendous amount of column inches have been devoted to the emergence of VoIP telephone systems from both traditional telephone manufacturers such as Alcatel, Avaya, Mitel, Nortel and Siemens and new IP telephone offerings from networking providers such as 3Com and Cisco. In every case the battle lines are clearly drawn between the evolution of existing products from traditional telephone suppliers and the revolutionary VoIP product offerings from the networking providers.

For the traditional PBX switch market AudioSoft already has a wide range of recording solutions for all switch manufacturers and models. However because of the relative immaturity of the IP telephone market the range of options is more limited. AudioSoft solutions are currently available for 3Com and Mitel with developments currently underway for Alcatel, Avaya and Cisco.

The Isle of Man Ports Authority, Initial Security and Cable Direct are three organizations that have recently benefited from VoIP recording solutions provided by AudioSoft. In the Isle of Man location a hybrid pairing of Mitel 3300ICP (VoIP PBX) and SX2000 (Traditional digital) PBX’s were connected to two networked recorders. At Initial Security a Mitel 3300ICP (VoIP PBX) and at Cable Direct a 3Com NBX100 VoIP PBX are each recorded by AudioSoft recorders.

In each case a combination of SmartIPLogger and AudioPC provides a trunkside recording solution of each IP switch and furnishes call details such as state changes (ringing, answered, on hold, completed) displayed in real time. For other IP telephone switches call details are recorded at the end of the call and stamped onto the recording. A secondary benefit of using SmartIPLogger is the ability to use the software as a support tool for IP testing to determine the integrity of IP network cabling, connections and data boards.

Commenting on the developments in VoIP recording, Chris Twemlow, Commercial Business Development Manager said: “We are pleased to have been selected by The Isle of Man Ports Authority, Initial Security and Cable Direct to supply VoIP solutions that are available today and work successfully. In my experience there are a lot of companies who claim to have a solution but upon investigation it often proves to be ‹vaporware› rather than shrink wrapped product that can be purchased!”

Discussing VoIP developments AudioSoft engineer David McFarlane commented “The development of VoIP is still in its infancy, with protocols and standards still being defined. For instance in standard H323 architecture as well as the required functionality of address translation, admissions control, bandwidth control, there is a need to consider optional functionality such as call authorization, bandwidth management, supplementary services, directory services and call management services as well.”

David further commented “It is our intention to include these functionalities together with G.711 and G.723.1 media encoding into IPPC, our new integrated VoIP recorder which is undergoing extensive compliance testing with several manufacturers at present”.

So in summary VoIP recording is a reality today with many exciting developments planned for the near future. AudioSoft will continue to be at the forefront of VoIP recording development with compliant solutions for additional platforms being announced in due course.

About Ultra Elecronics AudioSoft

Ultra Electronics AudioSoft, one of the leading software systems integration companies for speech and telephony applications in the UK, is at the forefront of the development of digital voice and data recording technology. Markets include Air Traffic Control, Courtroom, Defence, Emergency Services, Law Enforcement and National Security.

AudioSoft’s range of PC based recording, audio analytics and visualise products include AudioPC, Medirva™, AudioPC-CR, AudioPC-IR, AudioPC-LE, AudioPC-HS and SonarPC.

Typical applications include, digital data recorders, conference recorders, interview recorders and surveillance recording.

Satisfied customers include HM Government, The Bank of England, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Dutch Navy, Local Government, Public Authorities, International Airports and Commercial organisations.

Based in Cirencester, AudioSoft was recently named (for the third year) as one of the Top 10 fastest growing technology companies in the South West and Wales by Deloitte and Touche.