Call Recording over MRA

[James Hawkins]

Hello,

I have configured phone based active call recording using Red Box Recorders.

Call recording for internal endpoints works ok but MRA recording only works for calls placed from a 7841 phone connected to a PSTN destination.

Calls made from PSTN destinations to the MRA IP phone do not get recorded.

I have not tested any other call scenarios yet (for example, internal extension to MRA extension) but will do so when I have people to test with.

Can anyone suggest why call recording is not working for calls to the MRA extension but works ok for calls from it?

Thanks!

[Nithin Eluvathingal]

• MRA call recording includes the following limitations:

  • Recording works for direct person-to-person calls only—call recording doesn't work for conferences.

    This limitation includes Built-in-Bridge (BiB) recording.

  • As of X12.6.1, MRA supports call recording with Silent Monitoring. For earlier releases, call recording is not supported with Silent Monitoring.

  • MRA doesn't support call recording with the Whisper Coaching feature.

  • MRA doesn't support recording tones for Cisco Jabber clients. Also note that CTI monitoring of Jabber mobile devices requires Unified CM 12.5(1)SU1 or later.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/expressway/config_guide/X12-6/exwy_b_mra-expressway-deployment-guide/exwy_b_mra-expressway-deployment-guide_chapter_01.html

[R. Clayton Miller]

Updates due to later revisions of code.  Citing excerpts from the docs:

Recording and Silent Monitoring

• BiB based recording over MRA                                                       Supported from X8.11.1
• Whisper Coaching / Whisper Announcements over MRA                Supported from X12.6.2
• Agent Greeting over MRA                                                               Supported from X12.6.2
• Display Active MRA Registrations Count                                         Supported from X12.6.1
• Silent Monitoring Over MRA                                                           Supported from X12.6.1
• Fast Path MRA Scalability                                                               Supported from X12.7.1

“MRA supports recording tones for Cisco Jabber clients and Webex Unified CM registered applications”  - Statement from X14.0 MRA Guide.  MRA Guide X12.7 lists this as a caveat.  Cannot find what exact release this was fixed but the statement is only in the X14.0 MRA Guide.

Silent Monitoring over MRA-  supported for compatible MRA-connected endpoints, provided that the deployed UC products are running compatible versions, the Silent Monitoring feature is configured on Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and SIP Path Headers are enabled on Expressway (as described in Enable SIP Path Headers).

MRA call recording includes the following limitations:

• Recording works for direct person-to-person calls only—call recording doesn't work for ad-hoc conferences involving the CUCM conference bridge or external conference bridges such as TPS or CMS. (Not sure if this was ever addressed or is currently still at caveat for X14)
• UCM 11.5(1)SU3 BiB is not supported on Expressway-registered endpoints.

Webex App and Jabber share code (ECC stack) for UCM Calling so BiB recording should work with Webex App like any other Jabber Calling feature.

Evidently, this doc is old and has not been updated:  https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/contact-center/unified-contact-center-express/white-paper-c11-743571.html

MRA Recording and Bandwidth and Capacity Requirements

If you plan to use call recording over MRA feature, be aware that it has a significant impact on bandwidth and call capacity:

• It requires additional network bandwidth to be provisioned. Details are provided in the “Capacity Planning for Monitoring and Recording” section of the Cisco Collaboration System 12.x Solution Reference Network Designs (SRND). Enabling BiB for MRA endpoints typically needs double bandwidth as, assuming both sides of the call are recorded, each BiB-enabled call consumes double the usual bandwidth.
• Enabling BiB on MRA endpoints reduces the overall call capacity of Expressway nodes down to approximately one-third of their original capacity. This is because each call that is being recorded has two additional SIP dialogs associated with it (so essentially equivalent to three calls)
• Enable Fast Path Registration for improved MRA scalability.

[j.a.m.e.s]

Recording works for direct person-to-person calls only—call recording doesn't work for ad-hoc conferences involving the CUCM conference bridge or external conference bridges such as TPS or CMS. (Not sure if this was ever addressed or is currently still at caveat for X14)

Does anyone know if this limitation was resolved? I don't see mention of recording limitations in either v14.2 Expressway Release Notes or v14.2.MRA Deployment Guide.