Method for forwarding and storing session packets according to preset and /or dynamic rules

• US 20050018622A1
• Filed: 08/09/2004
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nice Ltd
• Original Assignee: Nice Systems Limited (Nice Ltd)
• Inventors: Eytan, Bar, Halbraich, Eran
• Granted Patent: US 7,474,633 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/260
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1106 Call signalling protocols; H.323 and related
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/301 Management of recordings
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42

Abstract

A system and method for recording and/or monitoring data by forwarding it, with or without analyzing or otherwise filtering the data itself. According to preferred embodiments of the present invention, the system and method are operative over IP networks. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a system and method for forwarding data according to at least one characteristic of the data, such as the session'"'"'s metadata for example, without analyzing or otherwise filtering the data itself. According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, before the data is forwarded to the recording device, pre-processing algorithms are performed according to a system preset or according to one or more rules.

Claims

1. A method for recording a data session through a network by a recording device, comprising:

initiating the data session by a first communication device;

implementing the data session as a conference call in response to initiating the data session;

entering the recording device to said conference call as a participant; and

recording the data session through said conference call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said recording further comprises:

selectively forwarding data of the session through the network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said selectively forwarding further comprises:

analyzing at least one characteristic of the session;

comparing said at least one characteristic to at least one rule; and

if said at least one characteristic matches said at least one rule, forwarding the data of the session, such that the data is selectively forwarded without analysis of content of the data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one rule comprises a dynamic rule.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one rule comprises a static rule.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one rule comprises a deterministic rule.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one rule comprises a statistical rule.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one rule comprises an event driven rule.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said event occurs externally to the session.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one rule is invoked through manual activation of forwarding the data of the session.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one characteristic of the data comprises metadata.

12. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one characteristic comprises a session identifier.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said identifier is selected from the group consisting of an extension identifier and a telephone number.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein said selectively forwarded data is pre-processed before being forwarded.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said pre-processing comprises at least one of encapsulation, re-encapsulation, summation, compression, encryption or decryption.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein only said first communication device and said recording device participate in said conference call.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the data session is an IP telephony session.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the data session is an IP multimedia session.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein said first communication device contacts the recording device.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording device receives compressed data.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

storing said compressed data substantially without decompression.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

decompressing said compressed data to form decompressed data; and

storing said decompressed data.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein initiating the data session is detected by a recording agent, and said recording agent contacts the recording device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein a conference controller implements said conference call.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said conference controller comprises a MCU.

26. The method of claim 25 where said MCU performs compression of the data sent to the recording device.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein said MCU performs pre-processing of the data.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein said pre-processing comprises at least one of encryption, decryption, summation, encapsulation or re-encapsulation.

29. The method of claim 16, wherein initiating the data session is detected by a recording agent, and said recording agent contacts the recording device.

30. The method of claim 16, wherein said first communication device is a gateway for receiving communication through a PSTN (public switched telephony network).

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording device joins the data session through a hunt group.

32. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding additional recording devices as participants in said conference call.

33. A method for selectively forwarding data of a communication session through a network, the network comprising a plurality of computational devices, the session comprising a plurality of transmissions of data between any two or more computational devices on the network, the method comprising:

analyzing at least one characteristic of the session;

comparing said at least one characteristic to at least one rule; and

if said at least one characteristic matches said at least one rule, forwarding the data of the session.

34. The method of claim 33, comprising carrying out said forwarding the data of the session to a plurality of forwarding destinations.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein said communication session comprises a video over IP session.

36. The method of claim 33 wherein before forwarding, the data is pre-processed.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein before forwarding, the data is compressed.

38. The method of claim 33, wherein before forwarding, the data is summed.

39. The method of claim 33, wherein before forwarding, the data is re-encapsulated.

40. The method of claim 33, wherein before forwarding, the data is encrypted or decrypted.

41. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one rule is configurable.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein configuring said configurable rule is performed through at least one of IP telephony hardware, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein at least one of IP telephony hardware, IP telephony software, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system duplicates the data of the session for said forwarding.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein said computational device is connected to at least one of telephony hardware and software via a first connection and is configured for said forwarding.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein said first connection is at least one of a group comprising a network connection, a network component, a hub, a switch and telephony hardware of said computational device.

46. The method of claim 33, wherein said analyzing is performed such that the data is selectively forwarded without analysis of content of the data.

47. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

displaying said forwarded data.

48. The method of claim 33, further comprising at least one of:

recording said forwarded data; and

analyzing said forwarded data.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

displaying said forwarded data.

50. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one rule comprises a deterministic rule.

51. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one rule comprises a dynamic rule.

52. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one rule comprises a statistical rule.

53. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one rule comprises an event driven rule.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein said event occurs externally to the session.

55. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one rule is invoked through manual activation of forwarding the data of the session.

56. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one characteristic of the data comprises metadata.

57. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one characteristic comprises a session identifier.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein said identifier is selected from the group consisting of an extension identifier and a telephone number.

59. The method of claim 57, further comprising at least one of:

recording said forwarded data; and

analyzing said forwarded data.

60. The method of claim 57, further comprising:

displaying said forwarded data.

61. The method of claim 33, wherein said at least one rule states that all data of the session is to be forwarded.

62. The method of claim 33, wherein the session comprises an IP session.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the session comprises a communication session.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein said session comprises a video over IP session.

65. The method of claim 63, wherein said communication session comprises at least one of a media or a multimedia session.

66. The method of claim 63, wherein said communication session comprises a voice over IP session.

67. The method of claim 63, wherein the computational devices of said communication session comprise at least one of IP telephony hardware, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein said computer network-based telephone system comprises at least one of a video conferencing data session, a chat data session, a Web Collaboration data session, an application sharing session, a trunk radio data session and a data session system capable of being at least one of logged and monitored.

69. The method of claim 63, wherein said at least one rule is configurable.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein configuring said configurable rule is performed through at least one of IP telephony hardware, IP telephony software, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein at least one of IP telephony hardware, IP telephony software, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system duplicates the data of the session for said forwarding.

72. The method of claim 70, wherein said forwarding of the session data is carried out by a computational device connected via a first connection to said telephony hardware or said telephony software.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein said first connection comprises any one of a group comprising a network component, a network hub, a network switch, a part of said telephony hardware, and a part of said computational device.

74. The method of claim 33, wherein the session comprises a voice over IP session.

75. The method of claim 33, wherein the session comprises a communication session.

76. The method of claim 75, wherein said communication session comprises at least one of a media or a multimedia session.

77. The method of claim 76, wherein said at least one rule is configurable.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein configuring said configurable rule is performed through at least one of IP telephony hardware, IP telephony software, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein at least one of IP telephony hardware, IP telephony software, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system duplicates the data of the session for said forwarding.

80. The method of claim 78, wherein said forwarding is carried out via said computational device, said computational device being connected via a first connection to any one of a group comprising said telephony hardware and said telephony software.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein said first connection is any one of a group comprising a network component, a network switch, a network hub, a part of said telephony hardware and a part of said computational device.

82. A method for recording and/or monitoring a data session through a network, comprising:

duplicating data in the data session;

forwarding data in the data session to form forwarded data; and

recording and/or monitoring said forwarded data, such that all of the data is recorded and/or monitored.

83. A system for recording an IP communication session through an IP network, comprising:

(a) a first communication device for initiating the IP communication session;

(b) a conference controller for implementing a conference call with said first communication device for the IP communication session; and

(c) a monitoring device for being connected to the network and for monitoring data during said conference call, said monitoring device analyzing at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and the session, and

said monitoring device selectively forwarding the data of the session according to said at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and the session.

84. The system of claim 83, further comprising:

(d) a communication sub-system, wherein at least one of said communication device and said monitoring device is contained in said communication sub-system, and wherein said monitoring device comprises a communication management unit for analyzing said at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and the session.

85. The system of claim 84, further comprising a plurality of communication devices, wherein at least one of said plurality of communication devices is external to said communication sub-system, and wherein said external communication device is a participant in the session.

86. The system of claim 84, wherein the data to be forwarded from the session is duplicated by at least one of said communication management unit, said at least one external communication device, and at least one of said plurality of communication devices being contained within said communication sub-system.

87. The system of claim 85, wherein at least one of said plurality of communication devices comprises at least one of an IP telephony hardware, an IP telephony software, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system.

88. The system of claim 83, wherein said selectively forwarded data is duplicated before being forwarded.

89. The system of claim 88, wherein duplication of said selectively forwarded data comprises pre-processing.

90. The system of claim 89, wherein said pre-processing comprises at least one of summation, compression, encryption, decryption, re-encapsulation or encapsulation.

91. The system of claim 83, wherein said selectively forwarded data is compressed before being forwarded.

92. The system of claim 91, wherein said conference controller compresses said selectively forwarded data.

93. The system of claim 92, wherein said conference controller comprises an MCU and said MCU compresses said selectively forwarded data.

94. The system of claim 83, further comprising:

(e) a recording/monitoring sub-system for receiving said selectively forwarded data.

95. The system of claim 94, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system further comprises a recording unit.

96. The system of claim 95, wherein said recording unit participates in said conference call to record the IP communication session.

97. The system of claim 96, wherein said recording unit comprises the NiceLog™

product.

98. The system of claim 84, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system receives said selectively forwarded data as compressed data.

99. The system of claim 98, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system stores said compressed data.

100. The system of claim 98, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system decompresses said compressed data before storage.

101. The system of claim 98, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system requests compression of said selectively forwarded data from said conference controller.

102. The system of claim 101, wherein said conference controller comprises an MCU and said recording/monitoring sub-system requests compression of said selectively forwarded data from said MCU.

103. The system of claim 98, further comprising:

(f) a gatekeeper for receiving a request from said first communication device to initiate the IP communication session and for sending a request to said conference controller to initiate said conference call.

104. The system of claim 103, further comprising a telephone device connected to said gatekeeper through a PSTN (public switched telephony network) for participating in the IP communication session.

105. The system of claim 98, further comprising:

(f) a recording agent control module for initiating participation of said recording unit in said conference call.

106. The system of claim 105, further comprising a scheduler for determining whether the IP communication session is recorded, said scheduler controlling said recording device.

107. The system of claim 106, wherein said conference controller comprises a MCU.

108. A system for selectively forwarding data, comprising:

(a) a plurality of communication devices;

(b) a network for connecting said plurality of communication devices, such that data is capable of being passed between any two or more of said plurality of communication devices in a session; and

(c) a monitoring device for being connected to said network and for monitoring data passed between said two or more of said plurality of communication devices in said session, said monitoring device analyzing at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and said session, and said monitoring device selectively forwarding the data of said session according to said at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and said session.

109. The system of claim 108, further comprising:

(d) a communication sub-system, wherein at least one of said plurality of communication devices and said monitoring device is contained in said communication sub-system, and wherein said monitoring device comprises a communication management unit for analyzing said at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and said session.

110. The system of claim 109, wherein at least one of said plurality of communication devices is external to said communication sub-system, and wherein said external communication device is a participant in said session.

111. The system of claim 110, wherein the data to be forwarded from said session is duplicated by at least one of said communication management unit, said at least one external communication device, and said at least one of said plurality of communication devices being contained within said communication sub-system.

112. The system of claim 111, wherein at least one of said plurality of communication devices comprises at least one of an IP telephony hardware, an IP telephony software, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system.

113. The system of claim 109, wherein at least one of said plurality of communication devices comprises at least one of an IP telephony hardware, an IP telephony software, an IP telephone, a computational device featuring an IP telephony component, and a computer network-based telephone system.

114. The system of claim 113, further comprising:

(e) a recording/monitoring sub-system for receiving said selectively forwarded data.

115. The system of claim 114, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system further comprises a recording unit.

116. The system of claim 115, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system further comprises a management unit.

117. The system of claim 114, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system further comprises a play-back unit.

118. The system of claim 114, wherein said analyzing said at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and said session is performed according to at least one rule.

119. The system of claim 118, wherein said at least one rule is deterministic.

120. The system of claim 118, wherein said at least one rule is statistically based.

121. The system of claim 118, wherein said communication management unit performs said analysis of said at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and said session according to said at least one rule, and wherein said at least one rule is received from said recording/monitoring sub-system.

122. The system of claim 121, wherein said at least one rule is received upon initialization of said recording/monitoring sub-system.

123. The system of claim 118, wherein said recording/monitoring sub-system performs said analysis of said at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and said session according to said at least one rule.

124. The system of claim 123, wherein if the data of said session is to be selectively forwarded, said recording/monitoring sub-system requests said communication sub-system to forward the data.

125. The system of claim 118, wherein said at least one rule is configurable through at least one of said communication sub-system, said communication management unit, said recording/monitoring sub-system or at least one of said plurality of communication devices.

126. The system of claim 125, wherein said communication sub-system further comprises an external API (application programming interface), and wherein said at least one rule is configurable through said API.

127. The system of claim 108, wherein said analyzing said at least one external characteristic of at least one of the data and said session is performed according to at least one rule.

128. The system of claim 127, wherein said at least one rule is deterministic.

129. The system of claim 127, wherein said at least one rule is statistically based.

130. A method for monitoring a plurality of data sessions through a network, comprising:

duplicating the data for the plurality of sessions;

forwarding the data to form forwarded data; and

recording said forwarded data.

131. A method for selectively recording and/or monitoring data being transmitted through a network, the network comprising a plurality of computational devices, the data being transmitted between any two or more computational devices on the network, the method comprising:

analyzing at least one external characteristic of the data to form an analysis, without analysis of content of the data or filtering of the data;

determining whether the data is selectable according to said analysis;

duplicating the data of a session; and

forwarding the data, such that the data is selectively forwarded without analysis of content of the data.

132. The method of claim 131, wherein said at least one external characteristic comprises at least one of metadata, and any type of data descriptive of transmission and/or storage of the data.

133. The method of claim 131, wherein said duplicating comprises pre-processing of the data.

134. The method of claim 133, wherein said pre-processing comprises at least one of summation, decryption, encryption, compression or re-encapsulation of at least a portion of the data.

135. The method of claim 134, wherein said pre-processing is performed according to a system preset.

136. The method of claim 134, wherein said pre-processing is performed according to at least one rule.

137. A method for selectively recording and/or monitoring a session through a network, the network comprising a plurality of computational devices, the session comprising a plurality of transmissions of data between any two or more computational devices on the network, the method comprising:

analyzing at least one characteristic of the session to form an analysis;

determining whether the session is selectable according to said analysis; and

if said session is selectable, duplicating and forwarding the data of the session, such that the data is selectively forwarded without analysis of content of the data.