ADVANTAGE OF IP CALL RECORDING VS TRADITIONAL RECORDING
By Patrick Botz

As companies look to leverage their investment in IP telephony, recording of voice and screen interactions is also becoming a standard procedure. Organizations are opting to record all or a high percentage of their calls for liability management, quality assurance, regulatory requirements, and security issues. IP call recording differs from traditional call recording in that it captures voice and data packets from a span (or mirroring) port versus tapping audio from telephone line extensions or from the PSTN trunks entering the building from the central office. IP recording is also software based and is often less costly than traditional recording since it doesn’t have to tap phone lines and often requires fewer servers.

Centralized Recording and Administration
IP call recording solutions have several advantages over traditional recording systems. Some of the many benefits of IP telephony include the ability to reduce overhead costs, facilitate flexible scheduling needs, and select from a larger pool of skilled agents – without the restrictions of geographic boundaries – by deploying home agents. IP recording and centralized call quality management and coaching ensure the same level of quality control and brand protection as with the utilization of traditional agents in brick-and-mortar facilities.

Due to its centralized recording and system administration capabilities, IP call recording is ideal for organizations with multiple remote or satellite locations, branch offices, and/or employees working from home. Unlike traditional call recording, IP call recording enables centralized recording in distributed organizations. You can easily administer the entire system from anywhere on the network. Centralized IP call recording saves costs by eliminating the need for installation, management, and administration of the system at remote and branch locations, enabling the efficient monitoring of remote and home-based employees.

An advanced VoIP recording solution will provide access to the system via a Web-based portal, which enables authorized personnel to access and monitor calls across multiple locations from anywhere in the world. With many traditional, first generation recording systems, the listener has to be at the actual location of the equipment in order to search the hardware.

Simplified Change Management
When changes or moves are necessary, you can simply adjust the software – IP call recording does not require the modification of wiring or PBX programming to record different telephones – as is often the case in a TDM environment. The flexibility of an IP recording system is greatly enhanced due to the fact that you don’t have to install wiring to each telephone in order to capture audio. Making changes in a TDM environment is typically more expensive, complex, and time-consuming. IP call recording solutions primarily require software licenses and point-and-click configuration.

Attractive Savings
In order to function and compete within the global economy, organizations around the world are incrementally reengineering their entire voice infrastructures to adopt VoIP. As organizations move through the normal cycle of replacing their PBX systems, they are viewing VoIP as a logical choice for achieving increased productivity from converged messaging. VoIP can also play a significant role in the reduction of deployment and management costs due to the utilization of a single wiring infrastructure.

Traditionally, interactions recording solutions have been implemented within specific industries, such as financial services and public safety. For these industries, recording is recognized as crucial for compliance with state regulations and for risk management. Today, a growing number of contact centers have recognized the benefits of recording calls to safeguard against long, costly litigation. Many organizations now record at least one or all departments for a combination of quality assurance, liability, and regulatory purposes. The elegant new VoIP recording solutions have made interactions recording a viable proposition for organizations that may previously have been reluctant to record due to the potential expense and complexity of implementation.

Understanding Your IP Call Recording Options
Once you’ve decided to make the investment in IP call recording, it is important to carefully examine your options. Although IP telephony is now very straightforward to implement, IP call recording can be a little more challenging – a “one-size-fit-all” approach simply isn’t appropriate for this purpose. There are various ways to record IP interactions. The right solution for your specific needs can only be determined by carefully examining the structure of your operational and IT environment, your call volume, the number of channels deployed, and of course, your reasons for recording.