Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is sending a voice conversation over a corporate LAN/WAN and/or the Internet. The voice signal is split into separate data packets and these packets are then transmitted over a data network to the desired destination. The separate packets are reassembled at the receiving end and the digital information is converted back into a duplicate of the original voice signal. Most current VoIP implementations today are a hybrid of traditional and VoIP telephony.

The VoIP gateway bridges the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the VoIP network. A gateway receives calls from the traditional network, generally through a T-1 interface, converts them to VoIP data packets and routes them to the appropriate receiving device.

Another key component in a VoIP network is the IP switch (Softswitch). The Softswitch coordinates call control functions, such as call setup, termination, routing and advanced features like conferencing. In some implementations the Softswitch function is contained within the gateway.

The three basic types of recording, in a traditional telephony environment, trunk side, station side and random sampling, are available choices in the VoIP call recording environment as well.

The first decision to be made, when looking at ways to record VoIP calls, is whether a VoIP recording system is actually needed.

If all of the calls to be recorded are carried on traditional T-1’s and it is not necessary to record internal calls, then a trunk-side VoIP call recording method can be used. This would record all calls where they enter the center, including those directed to VoIP phones.

Recording in a VoIP system utilizes a commonly found feature of IP network switches called port mirroring. This feature provides the capability to copy data packets from one port on the switch to another destination on the network. In a Cisco environment this feature is called SPAN, which is short for Switched Port Analyzer.

Although this feature was originally intended to provide monitoring and diagnostic support in a network, it is very useful as a way to record VoIP conversations. Using this method, the switches in a network are configured to mirror data packets from VoIP phone ports to ports on a VoIP call recording system.

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As always, if you have VoIP call recording questions, contact us for a no-obligation consultation with a VoIP call recording expert.