Record at the trunk, extension, handset or VoIP

Once you've decided that recording calls is right for your business the next decision to make is how to record those calls. You have 4 options: trunk, extension, handset or VoIP network recording, each with its own pros and cons. In the diagram to the right you can see where each of these options is in relation to the others.

Trunk lines (in green) are the phone lines coming from your phone company and are ususally connected to your PBX, or in some cases directly to your phones.

A PBX is a switchbox of sorts between your trunk lines and the Extension lines (in orange) that lead to each phone handset in your company. Usually you will have less trunk lines than extension lines.

Your Phone handsets (in blue) or headsets are the actual phone sets where calls are made.

Finally if you use Voice over IP or VoIP, these calls usually travel over your in-house computer network lines (in brown).

Which phones should you record?

This is an easier question to answer than what way you should choose to record. You have 3 main options. 1) You can choose to record all the phones in your organization, 2) only some of the phones in your organization, or 3) only the phones that are active up to a certain maximum.

Full channel recording: To record all your phones simply purchase Versadial call recording hardware with a maximum capacity equal to, or greater than the number of phones you have and a software license for every phone in your organization. In the diagram the dotted line represents the recording pool, or the phones being recorded.

Dynamic recording (manual mode): To record only a portion of your phones, purchase Versadial call recording hardware with a maximum capacity equal or greater than the number of phones you want to record, and a software license for the nubmer of phones you want to record. You may at any time, manually switch which set of phones are recorded.

Dynamic recording (auto mode): To record only phones currently taking a call, purchase Versadial call recording hardware with a maximum capacity equal or greater than the number of phones you estimate will be active at any one time and a software license for the same number. The VS Logger call recording software will automatically record any phone line that becomes active up to the total number of software licenses you purchased. This will lower the cost of the recorder you need tremendously.