METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTED CALL RECORDING

• US 20080123628A1
• Filed: 11/27/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Everard, Jason Allen
• Granted Patent: US 8,228,898 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/656 for recording conversations

Abstract

A distributed call recording method and system. A recording agent performs recording of a phone call, preparing of the recorded phone call for being subsequently archived, and transferring of the prepared phone call to a central archiving server through a secure connection. The recording agent is a software application runs on a computer system, which may be a generic personal computer or a phone for Voice/video Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) communication. The secure connection utilizes a connection-oriented transport protocol and a security application, providing Quality of Service and data integrity, respectively. A remote management server may be used for monitoring, configuring, and controlling operations of a recording agent through a management interface.

Claims

1. A distributed call recording method for a phone, wherein the phone is coupled to a Local Area Network (LAN) and is a transceiver of a phone call, wherein the phone call is incoming from or outgoing to the LAN, wherein the phone call comprises at least one packet selected from the group consisting of at least one signaling packet comprising signaling data and both at least one signaling packet comprising signaling data and at least one media packet comprising media data, said method comprising:

recording the phone call in a local memory of a recording agent, wherein the recording agent either runs on a personal computer (PC) coupled to the LAN or is integrated into the phone;

preparing the recorded phone call for being subsequently archived; and

transferring the prepared phone call to a central archiving server coupled to the LAN through a secure connection, using at least one authenticating variable shared between the recording agent and the central archiving server.

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

detecting a condition that triggers recording of the phone call;

storing in the local memory a signaling packet of the phone call;

parsing the stored signaling packet and extracting signaling data resulting from said parsing;

generating a call recording profile parameter from the extracted signaling data;

finding the generated call recording profile parameter from a preconfigured profile of the recording agent which triggers recording of a media packet of the phone call; and

storing in the local memory the media packet of the phone call.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said preparing comprises:

parsing the recorded phone call and extracting signaling data and/or media data resulting from said parsing;

generating at least one archival configuration value from the parsed signaling and/or media data; and

storing in the local memory said at least one archival configuration value in a manner that said at least one archival configuration value associates with the phone call.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording agent performs said transferring, wherein said transferring comprises:

sending a request for the secure connection to the central archiving server;

receiving a grant for the secure connection from the central archiving server;

authenticating the central archiving server which sent the grant, using an authenticating variable of said at least one authenticating variable;

sending the prepared phone call to the authenticated central archiving server; and

purging the transferred phone call from the local memory of the recording agent,

wherein the recording agent keeps the amount of available local memory larger than a predefined threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the central archiving server performs said transferring, wherein said transferring comprises:

receiving a request for the secure connection from the recording agent;

determining that the recording agent which sent the request for the secure connection is a communicable recording agent;

sending a grant for the secure connection to the communicable recording agent;

authenticating the communicable recording agent, using an authenticating variable of said at least one authenticating variables;

receiving the prepared phone call sent by the authenticated recording agent; and

archiving the received phone call in a storage of the central archiving server.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein a remote management server is coupled to the central archiving server,

wherein the remote management server is configured to remotely start and/or stop the recording agent performing said recording, said preparing, and said transferring,

wherein the remote management server is configured to remotely query and/or update at least one current configuration value of the recording agent,

wherein a current configuration value of said at least one current configuration value determines whether the recording agent is communicable with the central archiving server.

7. A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code containing instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer system implement a distributed call recording method for a phone, wherein the phone is coupled to a Local Area Network (LAN) and is a transceiver of a phone call, wherein the phone call is incoming from or outgoing to the LAN, wherein the phone call comprises at least one packet selected from the group consisting of at least one signaling packet comprising signaling data and both at least one signaling packet comprising signaling data and at least one media packet comprising media data, said method comprising:

recording the phone call in a local memory of a recording agent, wherein the recording agent either runs on a personal computer (PC) coupled to the LAN or is integrated into the phone;

preparing the recorded phone call for being subsequently archived; and

transferring the prepared phone call to a central archiving server coupled to the LAN through a secure connection, using at least one authenticating variable shared between the recording agent and the central archiving server.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein said recording comprises:

detecting a condition that triggers recording of the phone call;

storing in the local memory a signaling packet of the phone call;

parsing the stored signaling packet and extracting signaling data resulting from said parsing;

generating a call recording profile parameter from the extracted signaling data;

finding the generated call recording profile parameter from a preconfigured profile of the recording agent which triggers recording of a media packet of the phone call; and

storing in the local memory the media packet of the phone call.

9. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein said preparing comprises:

parsing the recorded phone call and extracting signaling data and/or media data resulting from said parsing;

generating at least one archival configuration value from the parsed signaling and/or media data; and

storing in the local memory said at least one archival configuration value in a manner that said at least one archival configuration value associates with the phone call.

10. The computer program product of claim 7,

wherein a remote management server is coupled to the central archiving server,

wherein the remote management server is configured to remotely start and/or stop the recording agent performing said recording, said preparing, and said transferring,

wherein the remote management server is configured to remotely query and/or update at least one current configuration value of the recording agent,

wherein a current configuration value of said at least one current configuration value determines whether the recording agent is communicable with the central archiving server.

11. A computer system comprising a processor and a computer readable memory unit coupled to the processor, said memory unit containing instructions that when executed by the processor implement a distributed call recording method for a phone, wherein the phone is coupled to a Local Area Network (LAN) and is a transceiver of a phone call, wherein the phone call is incoming from or outgoing to the LAN, wherein the phone call comprises at least one packet selected from the group consisting of at least one signaling packet comprising signaling data and both at least one signaling packet comprising signaling data and at least one media packet comprising media data, said method comprising:

recording the phone call in a local memory of a recording agent, wherein the recording agent either runs on a personal computer (PC) coupled to the LAN or is integrated into the phone;

preparing the recorded phone call for being subsequently archived; and

transferring the prepared phone call to a central archiving server coupled to the LAN through a secure connection, using at least one authenticating variable shared between the recording agent and the central archiving server.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein said recording comprises:

detecting a condition that triggers recording of the phone call;

storing in the local memory a signaling packet of the phone call;

parsing the stored signaling packet and extracting signaling data resulting from said parsing;

generating a call recording profile parameter from the extracted signaling data;

finding the generated call recording profile parameter from a preconfigured profile of the recording agent which triggers recording of a media packet of the phone call; and

storing in the local memory the media packet of the phone call.

13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein said preparing comprises:

parsing the recorded phone call and extracting signaling data and/or media data resulting from said parsing;

generating at least one archival configuration value from the parsed signaling and/or media data; and

storing in the local memory said at least one archival configuration value in a manner that said at least one archival configuration value associates with the phone call.

14. The computer system of claim 11,

wherein a remote management server is coupled to the central archiving server,

wherein the remote management server is configured to remotely start and/or stop the recording agent performing said recording, said preparing, and said transferring,

wherein the remote management server is configured to remotely query and/or update at least one current configuration value of the recording agent,

wherein a current configuration value of said at least one current configuration value determines whether the recording agent is communicable with the central archiving server.

15. A process for supporting computer infrastructure, said process comprising providing at least one support service for at least one of creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and deploying computer-readable code in a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is capable of performing a distributed call recording method for a phone, wherein the phone is coupled to a Local Area Network (LAN) and is a transceiver of a phone call, wherein the phone call is incoming from or outgoing to the LAN, wherein the phone call comprises at least one packet selected from the group consisting of at least one signaling packet comprising signaling data and both at least one signaling packet comprising signaling data and at least one media packet comprising media data, said method comprising:

recording the phone call in a local memory of a recording agent, wherein the recording agent either runs on a personal computer (PC) coupled to the LAN or is integrated into the phone;

preparing the recorded phone call for being subsequently archived; and

transferring the prepared phone call to a central archiving server coupled to the LAN through a secure connection, using at least one authenticating variable shared between the recording agent and the central archiving server.

16. The process of claim 15, wherein said recording comprises:

detecting a condition that triggers recording of the phone call;

storing in the local memory a signaling packet of the phone call;

parsing the stored signaling packet and extracting signaling data resulting from said parsing;

generating a call recording profile parameter from the extracted signaling data;

finding the generated call recording profile parameter from a preconfigured profile of the recording agent which triggers recording of a media packet of the phone call; and

storing in the local memory the media packet of the phone call.

17. The process of claim 15, wherein said preparing comprises:

parsing the recorded phone call and extracting signaling data and/or media data resulting from said parsing;

generating at least one archival configuration value from the parsed signaling and/or media data; and

storing in the local memory said at least one archival configuration value in a manner that said at least one archival configuration value associates with the phone call.

18. The process of claim 15, wherein the recording agent performs said transferring, wherein said transferring comprises:

sending a request for the secure connection to the central archiving server;

receiving a grant for the secure connection from the central archiving server;

authenticating the central archiving server which sent the grant, using an authenticating variable of said at least one authenticating variable;

sending the prepared phone call to the authenticated central archiving server; and

purging the transferred phone call from the local memory of the recording agent,

wherein the recording agent keeps the amount of available local memory larger than a predefined threshold.

19. The process of claim 15, wherein the central archiving server performs said transferring, wherein said transferring comprises:

receiving a request for the secure connection from the recording agent;

determining that the recording agent which sent the request for the secure connection is a communicable recording agent;

sending a grant for the secure connection to the communicable recording agent;

authenticating the communicable recording agent, using an authenticating variable of said at least one authenticating variables;

receiving the prepared phone call sent by the authenticated recording agent; and

archiving the received phone call in a storage of the central archiving server.

20. The process of claim 15,

wherein a remote management server is coupled to the central archiving server,

wherein the remote management server is configured to remotely start and/or stop the recording agent performing said recording, said preparing, and said transferring,

wherein the remote management server is configured to remotely query and/or update at least one current configuration value of the recording agent,

wherein a current configuration value of said at least one current configuration value determines whether the recording agent is communicable with the central archiving server.