Businesses looking for ways to improve the performance of their sales and customer service teams often turn to call recording software to provide coaching and training. These companies understand the power behind effective usage of recorded calls as a mechanism to monitor and make actionable data driven decisions. When these companies decide to take their business performance to a higher level and choose a powerful incident recreation, liability control and workforce optimization tool such as Versadial, it will be necessary for them to build out the call recording system.
This article will highlight the necessary steps to build the Versadial call recorder in three steps, the planning, hardware and software installation.
Step 1 – Planning and Identification.
Identify:
- Phone system model, vendor.
- Recorded inputs/lines analog, digital, ISDN PRI, VoIP trunks.
- What recording cards are required (analog, digital, ISDN PRI).
Please review the different recording scenarios here https://www.versadial.com/common-call-recording-scenarios/. Determine which scenario(s) seem to satisfy your recording requirements.
Select recorder computer. Windows Computer or VM (VM cannot be used if recording boards of any kind are required)
See Versadial Call Recording Kit Installation guide.
Step 2 – Hardware Installation (for analog inputs recording)
The first step to setting up a call recording system is the hardware installation. A server is required to host the call recordings. Before diving into the installation process, it is essential to ensure that the server meets the minimum hardware requirements. For greater details review the Call Recording Hardware and Analog Line Installation Guide. The article will identify the operating system, CPU, RAM, storage, and the PCIe or PCI slots required for call recording hardware. If analog or digital lines are recorded, the recording boards must be verified to ensure the server may accommodate them. A punchdown block, a type of hardware used to cross connect wires through a metal peg system typically used in telephony systems, and telco cable is required to connect the telephone lines to the server.
During the physical installation steps, the call recording card will be physically installed into either a PCI or PCIe slot depending upon the type of board that was provided. The telco cable will be connected directly to the call recording card on one end and to the punchdown block on the other. A bridge clip will be required to connect the phone line to the calling card. A bridge clip will be required for each line for multiple lines.
What is the Call Recording on Virtual Machine option?
Versadial software is designed to install on virtual machines (VMs) allowing businesses to easily provision the proper resources and begin recording calls without constructing a dedicated server. The call recording software supports VM Ware, Citrix Hypervisor, ESX-Server, Oracle VM, MS Hyper-V Server, VirtualBox, and other platforms. Call recordings may be setup to be auto archived into network drives to extend storage capabilities to avoid depleting the resources on the VM which is a benefit in this configuration.
Step 3 – Software Installation
Before we begin the software installation for call recording.
It is recommended that all files are downloaded to the local server first before installation. Simply create an installation folder and download the recording card drivers, latest version of the Versadial Software Distribution, Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1, Oracle JAVA 32 bit, and Adobe Reader DC.
How to prepare for the call recording software installation.
The agent names, extensions and MAC address of the hardware must be collected before software installation begins. This information is necessary for a successful configuration of the platform during the final stages of the software setup. The data will be imported into the VSLogger system via a Comma Separated Value (CSV) file.
Local administrative access to the call recording server is required to install and configure the hardware and software. This user will log into the server and ensure the main Local Area Network (LAN) adapter is the default adapter, uncheck the Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) because it will interfere with the service. The User Account Control (UAC) must be turned off within the control panel to eliminate the account control warnings that interrupt installations and general configurations changes. The recorder should never stop so the Power Options must be set to High Performance, plan settings must have the Turn Off hard disk after setting to Never, and USB selective suspend setting to Disabled. The folder settings should be updated to Show hidden files, folders, and drives. Do not allow hidden drives or extensions. Firewall settings will need custom configuration for port exceptions below:
| Module | Location/Ports |
| VSLogger Services | C:\Program Files (x86)\Versadial Solutions\vsLogger\vslogger.exe |
| Adutante Services | C:\Versadial\Adutante\adutantesrv.exe |
| Ports | 22443 – VSL UI – internal LAN access from other local PC’s 8443 – ADU UI – internal LAN access from other local PC’s 22222 – API (DTA) – internal LAN if using DTA / separate recorder and Adutante 9977 – CLI – internal LAN access from other local PC’s administration only 8080 – If not using SSL for VSL 9995 – ADU / VSL communication on LAN internal DTA / secondary recorder 1099 – Adutante framework ( OFBIZ ), you do not need to Firewall it |
The recording card driver must be installed and the hardware must be configured. The most common recording cards along with detailed installation instructions are located below:
- Wireshark – Watch Video for VoIP recording.
- Smartworks – Guide for Analog/Digital/T1/E1/PRI recording.
- Synway – Guide for Analog/Digital/T1/E1/PRI recording.
What are the components of the Versadial Call Recording Software system?
The Versadial System consists of two components, Adutante and VSLogger. The Adutante server contains the Recorders, Quality Control (QC) and Administration Modules. These modules provide administration to authentication, permissions, evaluation form creation, employee grading, third person reviews, and reports. The VSLogger server(s) is the call recorder engine with an HTML 5 interface containing the Windows Recording and Connection services, CLI Tool, and VSLogger monitor. These components provide the services for media capture and recording, interface and API calls, administration utility programs, and client-side user interface services.
How to Install and activate the Adutante and VSLogger software.
To install the Adutante software, Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1, Oracle JAVA 32 bit, and Adobe Reader DC must be installed in the server first. During the Adutante installation please accept the software agreement, confirm the location of the Java installation, destination of the Adutante software installation, QC Recording storage location, XML backup location, and typical installation. The installer will prompt to create and seed the initial values for the database including all user agents and permissions. The next step is the Optional Test of Adutante service to allow the service to start. The Test Adutante UI prompt will allow the user interface to launch and a user may login. The user will have access to Adutante’s Recorders and QC modules.
The VSLogger installation is straight forward. Simply run the setup.exe file and follow the instructions. A license will need to be added after the installation completes.
How to configure VSLogger and register with Adutante.
The VSLogger will need to be configured to run the hardware, software, and net server after installation. The configuration may be set via the Command Line Interface (CLI). Refer to the CLI Tool Overview for greater detail. Register VSLogger with Adutante by opening a browser and logging into the system as administrator. Launch the CLI tool and enter into Adutante Configuration mode. Register VSLogger with the register command and specify the host and ID. The recorder will automatically reload after the registration is successful. Proceed with Channel Configuration after reload completes. Wiring connection and setting up the admin, phone, and agents/users may now be completed. Refer to the General Wiring Diagram for additional instructions.
Using the Call Recording Software.
Companies will have a powerful tool to help improve the performance of their sales and customer service teams when the Versadial call recorder is online. To take full advantage of the program, review our How To:
- Create Bookmarks, Silence or Extract Portion of a Call
- Expand/Add a Phone Line To Your Recorder
- Monitor, Download, Search and Playback Live and Recorded Calls
- Flag, Comment And Search Recorded Calls By Comments In Versadial Call Recorder
- Run and get the most out of Versadial Call Recorder reports
When you have mastered the user interface, you can implement coaching and training techniques to your Sales and Customer Service teams. Review our training:
- How To Coach a Remote Sales Team
- Improve Customer Service KPIs through Call Monitoring
- Improve your Inside Sales Agent Performance through Sales Activity Monitoring
For more advanced tips on improving performance with call recording, review the following:
- How Call Recording is Essential to Effective Call Scoring.
- How to analyze and get the best call center performance from your call recordings
Call recording will improve the performance of your Sales and Customer Service teams and provide sustainable business growth when used properly. Contact Us for a quote to bring the power of this call recording system to your business.
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Last Updated on November 10, 2023