Cisco UCM Central Recording Configuration - Manual Setup (Advanced)

When Chronicall is installed and launched for the first time one of the initial setup steps will be "Cisco Central Recording (with BIB) Configuration". This will take care of the details below. However, should that fail, below are the details of what that configuration would have attempted to do.
 
Configure a SIP Trunk Security Profile
 
Follow these steps to configure a SIP trunk security profile to be used with the recording library SIP trunk:
  1. Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  2. Select System > Security Profile > SIP Trunk Security Profile.
  3. Create a new profile for the new recording trunk by clicking on the Add New button.
  4. Set Incoming Transport Type to TCP+UDP.
  5. Set Outgoing Transport Type to UDP.
  6. Disable digest authentication - when you create the SIP Trunk Security Profile, the Enable Digest Authentication option might be checked. Make sure to disable it.
  7. Set Incoming Port to 5070 (this setting has to match the configuration in the Chronicall system settings).
  8. Set the Device Security Mode to "Non Secure".
  9. Click on the Save button.



Create a New SIP Trunk
 
A SIP trunk must be created for the Cisco UCM to send call audio to the Chronicall Recording Library. Please follow these steps:
  1. Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  2. Select Device > Trunk, and click on the Add New button.
  3. Set the name of the device in the Device Information section.



  4. Set Destination Address value to match the Chronicall Recording Library IP address.
  5. Set Destination Port to 5070 (this value has to match the setting in Chronicall system settings).
  6. Set the SIP Trunk Security Profile to the one created in the previous section.
  7. Leave other parameters as default.



  8. Click on the Save button.
  • Note: On newer Cisco UCM systems the destination may be configured slightly differently:



 Configure Cisco UCM for Multiple Recording Library Servers

 
Chronicall Recording Library can be deployed multiple times in order to increase the availability of the call recording service. In such a configuration, each recorded call will be directed to the first available instance of a Recording Library through the trunk in the configured route group.
 
Follow theses steps to configure the Cisco UCM for use with multiple recording libraries:
  1. Add a new SIP trunk for each Recording Library server following the steps outlined above.
  2. Add all SIP trunks to a configured route group and set the distribution algorithm to Top Down.
  3. Select the previously created profile as the SIP Profile for every SIP trunk that is used for recording under Device > Trunk.

Create a Recording Profile

 
A recording profile is necessary for provisioning line appearances to allow recording. Follow these steps to configure a recording profile in Cisco UCM:
  1. Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  2. Select Device > Device Settings > Recording Profile.



  3. Select Add New



  4. Enter a Name and a Recording Destination Address. The address is the directory number of the recorder that associates with this recording profile. The Cisco UCM needs to be able to route it to the SIP trunk that defines the Chronicall recording library. Users will not call this number; it is just used internally to "call" through the recording SIP trunk. Choose a number that does not collide with your numbering plan.



  5. Click Save

Configure Call Routing

To ensure that the phones are set to be recorded and the recording library trunks are able to call the Calling Search Space defined in the recording profile, the following steps should be followed:

1.  Create a New Route Group
  • Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  • Select Call Routing > Route/Hunt > Route Group from the menu and then click on the Add New button.
  • Give the group a name in the Route Group Name field.
  • Set the Distribution Algorithm to Top Down.
  • Assign the previously created SIP trunk (or trunks if using multiple recording libraries) to this route group in the Find Device to Add to Route Group section by selecting the available device and clicking the Add to Route Group button.
  • Save



2.  Create a New Route List

  • Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  • Select Call Routing > Route/Hunt > Route List from the menu and then click on the Add New button.
  • Enter a Name and the appropriate Cisco Unified Communications Manager Group.
  • Add the route group we just created to this route list in the Route List Member Information section by clicking Add Route Group and selecting the right route group.
  • Save




3.  Create a New Route Pattern

  • Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  • Select Call Routing > Route/Hunt > Route Pattern from the menu and then click on the Add New button.
  • Set Route Pattern to be the value previously configured in the recording profile.
  • Set the Gateway/Route List to be the one just created above.
  • Save



Disable Unsupported Codecs

Chronicall Recording Library supports the most common voice codecs: G.711 a-law, G.711 u-law, G.722, G.729, and SPEEX. Unfortunately, there are two newer codecs that are not yet supported: iLBC and iSAC. Using these codecs with a Chronicall Recording Library that does not support them can cause a call to drop if transcoding resources are unavailable. To ensure that this doesn't happen, please do the following:

  1. Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  2. Select System > Service Parameters.
  3. Select the Server to be configured.
  4. Then select the Cisco CallManager service from the Service field.
  5. In the Clusterwide Parameters (System - Location and Region) section, please ensure that the iLBC and iSAC codecs are not Enabled for All Devices. If they are, change it to be Enabled for All Devices Except Recording-Enabled Devices.
  6. Save




Configure Transcoder Resources
 
Chronicall Recording Library supports all Cisco supported voice codecs except iLBC and iSAC. It is possible that the UCM might drop call recording sessions or even calls completely if transcoding is not properly configured. The following call scenarios are examples of when these events can be triggered if transcoding resources are not available:
  1. If the Chronicall Recording Library and the recorded phone are on different sites, WAN link bandwidth limitation may require a low bitrate voice codec. In this scenario it would be recommended to configure the recording library to be in a different UCM region, then set the inter-region codec according to available bandwidth.
    • For Example, Phones at a remote branch office are using the G.722/G.711 codecs for internal calls. Between the recording library and the remote office, using the lower bitrate G.729 codec would be preferred due to the office's upload bandwidth limitations.
  2. If the Chronicall Recording Library and recorded phone are in different UCM regions and the intra-region codec bitrate (codec used in the "original" calls between phones/gateways in the same region) is higher than the inter-region codec between the recording library and the phone, then the UCM would be forced to insert a transcoder in the phone region to transcode the voice sent to the recording library, in order to match the inter-region codec bitrate.
    • For Example, The original call bitrate is 64 kbps (G.711 or G.722) and the recording library's region relationship dictates 8 kbps G.729 (which is the default inter-region codec in UCM). 
  3. If a codec change occurs in a consultative transfer or when joining a conference and a different codec is involved in the consultation or conference transfer part of the call, the UCM drops both the audio going to the recording library and original phone call. This is a known Cisco UCM issue. Consultation and after consultation parts of a call are recorded in the same session (from the transferee or conferencee point-of-view). When the phone initiates a recording session using a specific codec, it becomes locked on that codec. Chronicall Recording Library can support a mid-call codec change, but the UCM does not support this when calls are being recorded. A transcoder can handle the issue caused by this situation; the UCM tries to insert transcoding between the new part of the call (on a new codec) and the codec from the original part of the call.
    • For Example, In a consultative transfer, Jack calls recorded agent Jill to transfer the customer, Bob, who is connected through a PSTN that is using the G.711 a-law codec. Jack calling Jill is an internal call that uses the G.722 codec. When the transfer from Bob to Jill happens, the call switches to the G.711 a-law codec. These call legs from Jill's phone's point-of-view are handled in the same recording session initiated by UCM, and due to locking the built-in-bridge (BIB) to G.722, this causes the call to drop.
To verify that region configuration is set-up correctly, follow these steps to verify your region relationships:
  1. Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  2. Select System > Region.
  3. Select the region containing the Chronicall Recording Library.
  4. Verify region codec settings and make any necessary modifications in the Modify Relationship to other Regions section.
  5. Click Save.
To verify that transcoding configuration is set-up correctly, follow these steps to verify media resources:
  1. Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  2. Select System > Device Pool.
  3. Select the pool containing the recorded phone.
  4. In the Roaming Sensitive Settings section, verify that a Media Resource Group List is selected that contains a valid transcoder.
  5. Click Save.
Configure Recording Notification Tone
 
Follow these steps to configure an optional recording notification tone:
  1. Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  2. Select System > Service Parameters.
  3. Select the appropriate Server to load the services.
  4. Select the Cisco CallManager service in the Service field to load all of the settings.
  5. Make any changes in the Clusterwide Parameters (Feature - Call Recording) section.
  6. Click Save.
Selectively Enable Recording For Each Phone
 
Follow these steps to configure an optional recording notification tone:
  1. Sign in as an administrative user to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.
  2. Select Call Routing > Directory Number.



  3. Search for and select the appropriate Directory Number



  4. Select the applicable Associated Device and click Edit Line Appearance



  5. Scroll down to the line-specific settings and select Automatic Call Recording Enabled as the value for Recording Profile



  6. Also, select the Recording Profile that was configured previously.
  7. Click Save
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Table of Contents

    Environment

    Operating System

    PBX System

    • Cisco UCM

    Chronicall Version