The Total Recall voice recording system, manufactured by Arunta Comsec Pty., Ltd. of Australia and distributed in the U.S. by Omnicron Electronics (Putnam, CT - 860-928-0377, www.omnicronelectronics.com) is appropriate for basic compliance-recording (e.g., in financial services); for emergency services, dispatch, call-center quality monitoring, and other common applications. It's easy to install and use, and the price is right: starting around $4,800 for a four-channel unit.
It's a self-contained box: a PC chassis with a custom top-plane, presenting a large, readable LCD display, menu-management keys, tape-recorder-metaphor keys for play, stop, forward, reverse, pause, and a twelve-key keypad for data-entry. This simple, menu-based user interface - reminiscent of the UI on a modern .MP3 recorder - lets you configure the device, retrieve messages, and perform archiving chores. There's also a PC-based Remote Recall application that lets you search archive CDs for messages, using any multimedia-equipped PC (but not control the device itself, remotely).
Inside the chassis, there are two line-card slots. Four- and eight-channel cards are available, enabling production of four-, eight-, twelve-, and 16-channel systems. Some expansion-strategies may be non-economical, since they require removing a low-density card and replacing it with a high-density card, so it's important to plan ahead. There's also a large hard drive in the box - enough for more than 1,600 hours of recording in the system's proprietary .trc compression format - and a CD-R write-capable CD drive.
INSTALLATION
Completely turnkey, the system is a snap to install. Line card ports are standard analog, and can be attached in parallel to loop-start trunks or analog desksets. Headset-type adapters can be used to connect with digital desksets, via the handset jack. Connection can also be made to Motorola two-way dispatch radio base stations and similar equipment, using specialized adapters that Omnicron sells.
Configuration is simple, too. Enter the system password, and you can set up Total Recall to start and stop recording based on one of three levels of voice-band signal intensity (the 'mid' setting, default, seems like a keeper to us, but some users may need to experiment further), or on receipt of an off-hook/on-hook current-transition (should work on an analog trunk or analog handset - won't work on a headset-amp connection or handset-jack adaptation). Other configuration variables are similarly straightforward: For example, you can tell the system to provide the legally mandated 'beep' every few seconds, while recording.
The Total Recall device will capture standard caller ID and save it with an inbound call record, if such is available at the point of integration. It will also capture, decode, and store any DTMF digits dialed inline - perhaps the number of the called party, or (masked) matter-codes or agent IDs as well. There's also an RJ-45 serial port that can be connected to the SMDR port of a switch. Optional custom software (available through consultation with the distributor/manufacturer) can be developed and installed to parse SMDR data and derive additional values (e.g., trunk, station, dialed digits, agent log-on/off times, etc.) which can be saved with call records.
USE
Once installed, any computer-literate person can use Total Recall. The documentation is thorough, but largely unnecessary. Searches can be carried out "live" while the system continues recording traffic. To find a call, input its characteristics (e.g., number dialed, if that was captured; channel, length, precise time, etc.), or pull up a range of calls between given hours or across a span of days. Playback is through a relatively good-quality, built-in speaker system in the top-plane. Alternatively, archive CDs can be loaded into any multimedia PC equipped with the Remote Recall application, and recordings searched out and reviewed there. Remote Recall also lets you email a .wav version of the .trc call record.
Record archiving can be programmed to occur automatically or can be managed manually. The underlying database system is robust and self-repairing, and the system shows good data-retention across unanticipated power failure. Omnicron obviously recommends installing it behind a UPS, however, since database rebulds take time.
We like this system. It works as advertised. It's appropriate for global deployment (menus in English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Chinese). Easy to use. Robust. Flexible. If you haven't considered call recording due to cost issues, or need to install or upgrade an existing system, Total Recall is worth a serious look.
