v20 Call Recording Format

[jonathanp1]

Is it possible to compress current recordings in v20? Or change recording format from wav to WAV which uses less disk space?

 

[Ufoton]

Any update?

 

[OlegR_3CX]

Hi there.
This option has been removed and no longer there.

 

[Ufoton]

Great.
Any replacement? Workaround?

 

[VoIPTools]

I encourage you to take a look at our 3CX Recording Manager tool. By default we convert archived recordings to .mp3 and compress the recordings to about 1/4 of the original size. Here are some key points for you to consider:

• We archive a copy of the recording the instant the call is completed
• The original recording stays on the 3CX server until removed later by the retention policy
• We provide separate retention policies for the original recording and the archived version
• Separate policies allows you to keep recent recordings on the 3CX and manage archives separately
• When our retention policy removes the original recording, we first confirm the archive exists
• Archived recordings are compressed to 1/4 of the original size

As a side note, in the interest of reducing the cost of storing recordings, we can show you how to automatically migrate recordings from on-line to near-line to archived storage while still providing instant access to recordings. It's an approach we use on AWS for our hosted customers, and the approach provides a cost-effective way of keeping recordings without needing to archive at all -- it's done transparently to 3CX.

 

[TheodorosG_3CX]

Have you also considered remote archiving?

 

[Ufoton]

Have you also considered remote archiving?

Your remote archiving is useless in our situation. We are 100% aws and mounting efs give us unlimited space for reasonble money. Only Archiving to S3 give us benefit.

 

[Ufoton]

I encourage you to take a look at our 3CX Recording Manager tool. By default we convert archived recordings to .mp3 and compress the recordings to about 1/4 of the original size. Here are some key points for you to consider:

• We archive a copy of the recording the instant the call is completed
• The original recording stays on the 3CX server until removed later by the retention policy
• We provide separate retention policies for the original recording and the archived version
• Separate policies allows you to keep recent recordings on the 3CX and manage archives separately
• When our retention policy removes the original recording, we first confirm the archive exists
• Archived recordings are compressed to 1/4 of the original size

As a side note, in the interest of reducing the cost of storing recordings, we can show you how to automatically migrate recordings from on-line to near-line to archived storage while still providing instant access to recordings. It's an approach we use on AWS for our hosted customers, and the approach provides a cost-effective way of keeping recordings without needing to archive at all -- it's done transparently to 3CX.

This is realy funny.

• Server: Windows 7 Pro (64bit) and above, Windows Server 2008 R2 (64bit) and above
• Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 and above
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (free Express edition) and above
• Microsoft .net 4.6.1 and above
• VoIPTools Relay installed on 3CX server

 

[TheodorosG_3CX]

Understood however S3 buckets are not supported and i'm afraid that compression is not available.

 

[nikolascx]

Your remote archiving is useless in our situation. We are 100% aws and mounting efs give us unlimited space for reasonble money. Only Archiving to S3 give us benefit.

Hi @Ufoton

Thank you for raising this.
We understand that "adpcm" format used in v18, was saving approx 10% from each file.
But this format is uncommon and there is a serious drawback - none of the browsers support this compression codec so no one could play our audio.

We also break transcription - we cannot have non playable files just to save 10kb in 2024.

So this is not coming back. Anyway - if you have unlimited space as you claim, I'm surprised you raised this - I would not be expecting this from someone with unlimited space.

The problem here is the size of the resources. This is what we need to tackle. Compressing it will not solve it completely - but archiving it, will. So we need to go the archive way irrespective of whether you have unlimited storage or not. AWS best practices are not ones that promote a machine that grows and grows uncontrollably. To be responsible developers, we need to keep the 3CX footprint under control.

Now, while AWS services like EFS provide valuable storage capabilities, integrating remote archiving into your data management strategy can only further optimize costs, enhance data protection, and ensure regulatory compliance. EFS does not optimize your costs. Doesn't help you in disaster recovery and redundancy. And is not comparable to remote archiving when it comes to scalability. So this is not an "either", "or" situation. Both are technologies that should be coupled together.

If S3 is not in the list, yes, let's add it to the ideas so we vote for it and eventually support it. I perfectly agree we should archive to S3 because it is designed for data of this type.

@Ufoton Please add this to the ideas section and tag us in it.
Thank you for reporting and have a great weekend

 

[VoIPTools]

This is realy funny.

• Server: Windows 7 Pro (64bit) and above, Windows Server 2008 R2 (64bit) and above
• Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 and above
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (free Express edition) and above
• Microsoft .net 4.6.1 and above
• VoIPTools Relay installed on 3CX server

I get it. Lots of infrastructure just to archive. If that was it's only purpose I would agree. But that is not all it does, and it's only one of 35+ tools and many, many more custom tools, that come with the purchase of our tools -- wallboards, dialers, recording management, wrap-up codes, custom presence, profile management, data replication, active directory and contacts synchronization, and the list goes on.. So, yes, it's a lot if all you want is recording archival.

I suppose if all you wanted was compression, we could write a service that simply compresses the files, but then you are stuck with 3CX not being able to play them... and I agree 10% compression is hardly worth the complexity. We get the files down to about 1/4 of the original size in a format that is widely playable.

 

[OlegR_3CX]

Hi there.
So the removal of the compression should not affect your product in any way.
We removed compression because the compression was too small and lost functionality was too big (e.g. playing of audio from all browsers).

 

[Siderlei Raul]

Hi there.
So the removal of the compression should not affect your product in any way.
We removed compression because the compression was too small and lost functionality was too big (e.g. playing of audio from all browsers).

It would be interesting to keep the option, if you want to listen to it on any player, leave the option disabled.

We have some clients with several terabytes of recordings, without compression it will increase the space and consequently the storage cost.

 

[VoIPTools]

You may want to take a look at our 3CX Recording Manager tool. We provide compression to 1/4 of the original size with no detectable loss in audio quality, and the recordings will play on any modern browser.