Installing a call recording system sounds simple: hook up some phones, plug in a box, done. In practice, it's a coordinated effort between the install team, your IT staff, and whoever manages the system day to day. We sat down with Michael Edmondson, one of Radeus Labs' lead field technicians, to walk through what actually happens on-site, from the first walkthrough to the final training session.
Before the Team Arrives
The single biggest factor in a smooth install is preparation. Most delays don't come from the recorder itself, they come from connections that weren't ready when the technician showed up.
Here's what should already be in place:
- Phone and radio connections run to within about six feet of where the recorder will sit. That's the working range of the RJ21 cable used to connect to your breakout box.
- A configured network span for any VoIP lines, so the recorder can "see" the calls traveling across your network. Your IT or network team typically sets this up ahead of time.
- Basic network details on hand: IP addresses, MAC addresses, and which ports your VoIP vendor uses. This lets the technician program the recorder to listen for the right traffic from the start.
Getting these pieces lined up in advance means the visit can focus on installation and testing instead of troubleshooting missing infrastructure.
What Happens On-Site
Once the team arrives, the process generally follows the same sequence regardless of the setup:
- Assessment. The technician confirms what's already in place versus what still needs to be configured.
- Connection and testing. Phones (analog) or per-channel IP setups (VoIP) get connected to the recorder, and each channel is tested individually.
- Verification across all channels. Before anyone leaves the building, the team confirms the system is recording correctly on every line.
- Time synchronization. The recorder is synced to your domain controller so its internal clock matches the rest of your network. This matters more than it sounds. For organizations like police departments, a call's timestamp can be the difference between evidence holding up and not.
- Training. The administrator gets a walkthrough of the management tools, and end users, anyone exporting or reviewing calls, get the client software installed on their workstations, usually with IT's help since most office computers are locked down.
Common Hiccups (and How They Get Resolved)
Here's the short version: analog installs are usually plug-and-play, while VoIP is where nearly all the troubleshooting happens.
Once the correct connections are identified, analog phone lines tend to just work. VoIP setups are a different story, since they depend on your network configuration, not just a physical cable, so that's where most of the install team's time goes. A few issues come up often enough that it's worth knowing about them ahead of time:
- Encryption on VoIP lines. Most VoIP vendors turn on call encryption by default to protect end users. But an encrypted packet can't be read by the recorder, so it has to be turned off before recording will work. This comes up on nearly every VoIP installation.
- VLAN communication issues. If the recording software on a workstation ends up on a different VLAN than the recorder, it can lose the ability to talk to the server. The team works through this with your network staff during the visit.
- Low recording volume on analog lines. Analog recording only picks up audio that's loud enough to register. If the volume out of the phone system is too low, calls can go unrecorded even though they're audible in the room. A quick output adjustment usually fixes it.
Technicians often use a network scanning tool called Wireshark during installation to identify exactly which IP addresses and ports your VoIP traffic is using, which speeds up configuration considerably.
Peace of Mind, Built In
By the time the team leaves, you should have a system that's actively recording, synced to the correct time, and staffed by someone who knows how to run it, not just a box sitting on a shelf.
If you're planning a recorder installation and want a team that handles this process regularly, from legacy analog phone systems to hardened, government-grade VoIP setups, contact Radeus Labs. We install these systems all the time, and we're happy to walk you through what your setup will need before we show up on-site.
