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Part Number: 141214–04
Published: March 18, 2013
Do not delete
Communications Division
NexLog Recorder User Manual
Models NexLog 740 and NexLog 840
NexLog Recorder Software v2.2.0 or later
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or delete the text produced by these fields. Instead, reveal hidden text & change the variable. ]
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© 2004 – 2013 Eventide Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Every effort has been made to make this guide as complete and accurate as possible, but Eventide
Inc. DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. The information provided is on an “as-is” basis and is subject to change without notice or
obligation. Eventide Inc. has neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to
loss or damages arising from the information contained in this guide.
Notice: This computer program and its documentation are protected by copyright law and
international treaties. Any unauthorized copying or distribution of this program, its documentation, or
any portion thereof may result in severe civil and criminal penalties.
The software installed in accordance with this documentation is copyrighted and licensed by Eventide
Inc. under separate license agreement. The software may only be used pursuant to the terms and
conditions of such license agreement. Any other use may be a violation of law.
Eventide is a registered trademark of Eventide Inc.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Publication Date: March 18, 2013
Document Number: 141214-04
Publisher: Eventide Inc., Communications Division, 1 Alsan Way, Little Ferry, NJ 07643,
telephone: 201-641-1200
Communications Division Product Information: Visit the Eventide website at:
www.eventide.com.
Communications Division Product Service and Technical Support:
Users: Contact your local authorized Eventide Dealer.
Authorized Dealers: Visit the Eventide website or email support@eventide.com.
ii NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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Contents
Tables ............................................................................................................................................ vii
Figures .......................................................................................................................................... vii
Revision History ............................................................................................................................. 1
About This Publication ................................................................................................................... 3
Purpose and Applicability ............................................................................................................ 3
How to Use This Publication ....................................................................................................... 3
Documentation Conventions ....................................................................................................... 4
Important or Critical Information .......................................................................................... 4
Typographical Conventions and Symbols ........................................................................... 4
Related Information ..................................................................................................................... 5
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 6
1.1. Welcome ............................................................................................................................. 6
1.2. Customer Support Information ............................................................................................ 6
Release Numbers ............................................................................................................... 6
2. Recorder Setup .......................................................................................................................... 8
2.1. Unpacking the Recorder ...................................................................................................... 8
2.2. General Specifications ........................................................................................................ 8
2.2.1. NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 ................................................................................... 8
2.2.2. Front Panel Details: NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 .................................................. 10
2.2.3. Rear Panel Details: NexLog 740 ............................................................................ 12
2.2.4. Rear Panel Details: NexLog 840 ............................................................................ 13
2.2.5. NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 Blank Front Panel Units ........................................... 13
2.3. Bench Test ........................................................................................................................ 15
Info screen ........................................................................................................................ 16
Replay screen ................................................................................................................... 17
Setup screen ..................................................................................................................... 17
Login screen ..................................................................................................................... 17
2.4. Installation ......................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.1. General .................................................................................................................. 17
2.4.2. Operating Limits ..................................................................................................... 18
2.4.3. Location Considerations ......................................................................................... 18
2.4.4. Mounting Options ................................................................................................... 19
2.4.5. Other Considerations ............................................................................................. 20
2.4.6. Connecting AC Power and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) ............................ 20
2.4.7. Before You Connect Audio Signals to the Recorder... ............................................ 21
2.4.8. Connecting Telephone, Radio, and Other Analog Audio Signals to the Recorder .. 22
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 Contents iii
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2.4.9. The Optional Quick Install Kit ................................................................................. 22
2.4.10. Connecting Digital PBX Stations that are to be Tapped ........................................ 24
2.4.11. Connecting to an Ethernet Network ...................................................................... 25
2.4.12. Connecting a Keyboard ........................................................................................ 25
2.4.13. Connecting Headphones ...................................................................................... 25
2.4.14. Connecting Line-Level Equipment ........................................................................ 26
3. The Front Panel User Interface ............................................................................................... 27
3.1 Front Panel Step by Step Quick Guide ................................................................................ 27
3.2 Setup Screen ..................................................................................................................... 35
3.3 Info Screen ......................................................................................................................... 36
3.4 Archiving Controls ............................................................................................................... 37
3.5 Information Bar ................................................................................................................... 39
3.6 Alarm Status ....................................................................................................................... 39
3.7 Replay Screen (Detailed Information) ................................................................................. 40
4. Recorder Configuration and Administration .......................................................................... 48
4.1. The Welcome To NexLog Screen ..................................................................................... 48
4.1.1. MediaWorks Express ............................................................................................. 49
4.2. SETUP: NexLog Configuration Manager ........................................................................... 49
4.3. SETUP: System ................................................................................................................ 50
4.3.1. System Info ............................................................................................................ 50
4.3.2. Date and Time ....................................................................................................... 51
4.3.3. License Keys .......................................................................................................... 53
4.3.4. Storage Devices ..................................................................................................... 54
4.3.5. Configuration Files ................................................................................................. 56
4.3.6. Power Off ............................................................................................................... 57
4.4. SETUP: Reports ................................................................................................................ 57
4.4.1. Recorder Reports ................................................................................................... 57
4.4.2. Quality Factor Reports ........................................................................................... 59
4.5. SETUP: Networking .......................................................................................................... 59
4.5.1. System Identification .............................................................................................. 59
4.5.2. Network Interfaces ................................................................................................. 60
4.5.3. VNC Settings ......................................................................................................... 62
4.5.4. VPN Settings .......................................................................................................... 63
4.5.5. SNMP Settings ....................................................................................................... 63
4.5.6. Packet Capture ................................................................................................ ...... 63
4.6. SETUP: Recording ................................................................................................ ............ 64
4.6.1. Boards and Channels ............................................................................................. 64
4.6.2. Replace Board ....................................................................................................... 78
4.6.3. Retention Settings .................................................................................................. 78
4.6.4. Resource Groups ................................................................................................... 79
4.6.5. Custom Fields ........................................................................................................ 85
4.6.6. Call Suppression .................................................................................................... 87
4.6.7. NG911 ................................................................................................................... 88
4.7. SETUP: Archiving ............................................................................................................. 88
4.7.1. Archives ................................................................................................................. 88
4.7.2. Archive Configuration ............................................................................................. 91
4.7.3. Media Selection ..................................................................................................... 94
4.7.4. Sequential and Parallel Modes ............................................................................... 95
4.7.5. Network Archive Storage Configuration(NAS) ........................................................ 95
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4.7.6. Archive Media History ............................................................................................ 96
4.8. SETUP: Alerts and logs ..................................................................................................... 98
4.8.1. Active Alarms ......................................................................................................... 98
4.8.2. Alert History ........................................................................................................... 99
4.8.3. Alert Codes ............................................................................................................ 99
4.8.4. Internal Logging ................................................................................................... 100
4.8.5. Email .................................................................................................................... 101
4.8.6. Audit History ......................................................................................................... 101
4.8.7. Client Activity ....................................................................................................... 104
4.9. SETUP: Users and Security ............................................................................................ 105
4.9.1. Users ................................................................................................................... 105
4.9.2. System Security ................................................................................................... 109
4.9.3. SSL ...................................................................................................................... 111
4.9.4. User Groups ......................................................................................................... 112
4.9.5. Permissions ......................................................................................................... 113
4.10. SETUP: Utilities ............................................................................................................. 114
4.10.1. Schedules .......................................................................................................... 114
4.10.2. Upload Recorder Patch ...................................................................................... 117
4.10.3. Network Utilities ................................................................................................. 118
4.11. SETUP: Quality Factor Software ................................................................................... 118
4.11.1. Agent Mapping ................................................................................................... 118
4.12. SETUP: Change Password ........................................................................................... 118
5. Recorder Operation ............................................................................................................... 119
5.1. Starting and Shutting Down ............................................................................................. 119
6. The Client-Based NexLog Recorder Software ..................................................................... 120
6.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 120
6.1.1. What is the Client-Based NexLog Recorder Software? ........................................ 120
6.1.2. Do You Need to Install the Client Software at all? ................................................ 120
Appendix A: Recorder Software Installation and Upgrade ...................................................... 122
Why Re-installation May Be Necessary .................................................................................. 122
Why Upgrades May Be Necessary or Desirable ...................................................................... 122
The Software Upgrade/Installation Process ............................................................................ 123
Some Details, Especially About Installation ............................................................................. 125
Restoring Archives When Installing New Software .................................................................. 125
Potential Issues ....................................................................................................................... 126
Appendix B: Optional General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) Boards ..................................... 128
National Instruments PCI-6503 Board (24-Channel) ............................................................... 128
Appendix C: NIST Time Servers ................................................................................................ 130
Appendix D: Channel Wiring for Eventide Analog Input Boards ............................................. 131
Appendix E: Alert Codes ............................................................................................................ 133
Appendix F: Recording VoIP or RoIP Calls ................................ ............................................... 144
Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 144
What is VoIP? ................................................................................................................. 144
The Advantages VoIP Provides ...................................................................................... 144
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 Contents v
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Technical Considerations ................................................................................................ 145
Network Requirements ............................................................................................................ 146
Local VoIP and RoIP ............................................................................................................... 147
Local VoIP and RTP Templates .............................................................................................. 147
Cisco Local VoIP Template ..................................................................................................... 149
SIP Local VoIP Template ........................................................................................................ 149
Local VoIP and RTP Channel configuration ................................................................ ............ 150
Advanced Local VoIP Recorder configuration ......................................................................... 152
Device Information .......................................................................................................... 153
Eventide VoIP Gateway configuration ..................................................................................... 159
Eventide VoIP Gateway Topology ................................................................................... 159
VoIP Gateway Installation and Configuration .................................................................. 160
Other Considerations for Using an Eventide VoIP Gateway ............................................ 164
VoIP Gateway Software Upgrade ................................................................................... 164
Limited Warranty ........................................................................................................................ 166
Who is covered under the warranty ......................................................................................... 167
When the warranty becomes effective .................................................................................... 167
Who performs warranty work .................................................................................................. 168
Shipping within the 50 United States ....................................................................................... 168
Shipping outside the 50 United States .................................................................................... 168
Software License ........................................................................................................................ 170
Product License and Usage Agreement .................................................................................. 170
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE ................................................................................ 173
Preamble ........................................................................................................................ 173
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION .... 174
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS ................................................................ ............. 178
How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs ........................................................ 178
Index ............................................................................................................................................ 181
vi Contents NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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Tables
Table 1—Specification Summary for NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 with touch-screen Front Panel .. 9
Table 2—Specification Summary for NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 (Blank Panel) .......................... 13
Table 3—Operating Limits .............................................................................................................. 18
Table 4—INFO Screen Messages .................................................................................................. 36
Table 5—Archive dialog information ............................................................................................... 38
Table 6—Replay Mode information ................................................................................................. 41
Table 7—Sample Net Mask and Subnet Settings ........................................................................... 61
Table 8—Default Security Group Privileges .................................................................................. 105
Table 9—Eventide Analog Board Standard Pin-Outs (8-, 16-, and 24-Channel Boards) ............... 132
Table 10—Eventide Analog Board Reverse Pin-Outs (8- and 16-Channel Boards) ...................... 132
Table 11—Alert Severity Levels .................................................................................................... 133
Table 12—Alert Messages ............................................................................................................ 133
Figures
Figure 1—NexLog 740 with Touch Screen (Door Closed) ............................................................... 10
Figure 2—NexLog 740 with Touch Screen (Door Open) ................................................................. 10
Figure 3—Touch Screen (Close-Up) ............................................................................................... 11
Figure 4—Typical NexLog 740 Rear Panel ..................................................................................... 12
Figure 5—Typical NexLog 840 Rear Panel ..................................................................................... 13
Figure 6— Front Panel Info Screen ................................................................................................. 15
Figure 7—Front Panel Archives and Drives .................................................................................... 16
Figure 8—Quick Install Kit Components ......................................................................................... 23
Figure 9—Front Panel Info Screen.................................................................................................. 27
Figure 10—Front Panel Replay Screen .......................................................................................... 28
Figure 11—Calendar Mode ............................................................................................................. 29
Figure 12—Replay Transport .......................................................................................................... 30
Figure 13—Incident ........................................................................................................................ 31
Figure 14—Selected Calls in Replay Screen .................................................................................. 32
Figure 15—Working Incident ........................................................................................................... 33
Figure 16—Create Audio CD .......................................................................................................... 34
Figure 17—Setup Screen ............................................................................................................... 35
Figure 18—Info Screen ................................................................................................................... 36
Figure 19—Archives and Drives Display ......................................................................................... 38
Figure 20—Information Bar ............................................................................................................. 39
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 Contents vii
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Figure 21—Alarm Status ................................................................................................................. 39
Figure 22—Replay Screen .............................................................................................................. 41
Figure 23—Calendar Mode Search................................................................................................. 42
Figure 24—Calendar ...................................................................................................................... 43
Figure 25—Date Mode .................................................................................................................... 43
Figure 26—Relative Mode .............................................................................................................. 44
Figure 27—Replay Mode Menu ...................................................................................................... 45
Figure 28—Selected Calls in Replay Screen .................................................................................. 46
Figure 29—Front Panel Set-Up top level menus ............................................................................. 48
Figure 30—Web Browser Welcome Page ....................................................................................... 49
Figure 31—Web browser System Info ............................................................................................ 50
Figure 32—Example license display with a Primary key and one Add-on license ........................... 54
Figure 33—Hardware RAID 1 storage devices ............................................................................... 55
Figure 34—Configuration files ......................................................................................................... 56
Figure 35—Example report for Month at a glance ........................................................................... 58
Figure 36—System Identification .................................................................................................... 60
Figure 37—Packet Capture............................................................................................................. 64
Figure 38—Boards and Channels page view by board ................................................................... 66
Figure 39—Boards and Channels page view by Channels as seen locally on the Front Panel ....... 68
Figure 40—Boards and Channels Detail level graph as seen in the Chrome browser ..................... 69
Figure 41—Editing the channel name inline .................................................................................... 71
Figure 42—Editing the channel by clicking on the gear ................................................................... 72
Figure 43—Resource groups .......................................................................................................... 81
Figure 44—Resource Group Filters and Resource Filters ............................................................... 81
Figure 45—Resource Group Rules Status ...................................................................................... 82
Figure 46—Resource Group Edit: Permission Group View ............................................................. 82
Figure 47—Resource Group: Empty Group .................................................................................... 83
Figure 48—Resource Groups: Right Mouse Button Menu .............................................................. 83
Figure 49—User Group Edit............................................................................................................ 84
Figure 50—Custom fields for NG911 event logging ........................................................................ 86
Figure 51—Archive display in web Configuration Manager ............................................................. 89
Figure 52—Archive Configuration ................................................................................................... 91
Figure 53—NAS configuration ........................................................................................................ 96
Figure 54—User configuration ...................................................................................................... 105
Figure 55—Editing a user ............................................................................................................. 107
Figure 56—User Groups ............................................................................................................... 112
Figure 57—Network Utilities.......................................................................................................... 118
Figure 58—GPIO Board Pin Assignments (NI PCI-6503) .............................................................. 129
Figure 59—Connectors with Standard and Reverse Pin-Outs ....................................................... 131
Figure 60—Adding a Local IP Board, Templates Menu ................................................................. 147
Figure 61—Telex/Vega Console Template Example ..................................................................... 148
Figure 62—Local IP EFJohnson Template Example ..................................................................... 148
Figure 63—Cisco Callmanager “Skinny” Protocol Template.......................................................... 149
Figure 64— SIP Phones Template................................................................................................ 149
Figure 65—Top Half of Local IP Channel RTP Tab ....................................................................... 150
Figure 66—Bottom Half of Local IP Channel RTP Tab .................................................................. 151
Figure 67—Local IP Channel Diagnostics Example ...................................................................... 151
Figure 68—Eventide VoIP Gateway Topology Example ............................................................... 160
viii Contents NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
Page 9
Revision History
Part Number
SW
Description
141214–04
v2.2.0
NexLog Recorder Series Server v2.2.0 User Manual.
Resource Groups
Network Utility
Upload Recorder Patch Utility
Alert Updates
Part Number
SW
Description
141214–03
v2.1.0
NexLog Recorder Series Server v2.1.0 User Manual.
Updated screen shots.
VoIP clarifications.
Updates related to MediaWorks Express option.
Updates related to Quality Factor Software option.
Part Number
SW
Description
141214–02
v2.0.1
NexLog Recorder Series Server v2.0.1 User Manual.
Updated screen shots.
Alert clarifications.
Permission clarifications.
AGC clarification.
This section summarizes significant changes, corrections, and additions to the document. The
history appears in chronological order with the most recent document listed first. Documents
are identified by part number and applicable software (SW) version.This section tracks
documentation changes. For a description of new software features and improvements
introduced in a particular release, see the product release notes on the Eventide company
website.
March 18, 2013
April 30, 2012
August 30, 2011
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 1
Page 10
July 10, 2011
Part Number
SW
Description
141214–01
v2.0.0
NexLog Recorder Series Server v2.0.0 User Manual.
Initial Release, July 28, 2011
2 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
Page 11
About This Publication
The following topics provide information about this publication:
Purpose and Applicability
How to Use This Publication
Documentation Conventions
Related Information
Purpose and Applicability
This publication provides information for users of the Eventide® NexLog™
Recorders.
This information applies to NexLog Recorder Software 2.1.0 for the NexLog 740
and NexLog 840 recorders. It may also apply to later versions except when
superseded by a more recent publication.
How to Use This Publication
The content is organized as follows:
About This Publication
Describes the content of this publication and how to use it.
Chapter: 1. Introduction
Provides a brief introduction and customer support information.
Chapter: 2. Recorder Setup
Provides information on unpacking the product, performing a bench test,
installing the product, and a short description of how to use the front panel.
Chapter: 4. Recorder Configuration and Administration
Provides information on configuring the recorder and administrative tasks
using the web-based Setup utility.
Chapter: 5. Recorder Operation
Provides information on basic operating tasks, such as start-up and shutdown,
additional information about locating and playing recordings, archiving
recordings, and live monitoring.
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 3
Page 12
Chapter: 6. The Client-Based NexLog Recorder Software
Courier font
Represents messages, prompts, code, or other text
displayed or generated by the computer.
Courier bold font
Represents user input or entries typed on keyboard or
other input device, such as through the front panel.
Bold italic text
Represents computer buttons or keys, either hardwarebased (e.g., on the front panel) or software-based (e.g.,
soft-keys on front panel display or PC display).
Provides introductory information about client software that can be used for
instant recall, incident playback, and more. Note: Detailed information about
the client-based NexLog software is provided in Eventide’s MediaWorks and
MediaAgent manuals.
Appendices
Provide related information.
Documentation Conventions
Important or Critical Information
The following labels are used to emphasize important or critical information. To
ensure safety and prevent damage, you must read and follow the instructions in
these statements.
Personal Hazard Information
CAUTION This warns of a potential hazard that could result in minor or moderate injury if
not avoided, or it warns of an unsafe practice.
WARNING This warns of a potential hazard that could result in death or serious injury if
not avoided.
DANGER This warns of an imminent hazard that will result in death or serious injury if
not avoided.
Useful Information
Important! This provides important information, mainly alerting readers to situations that
may cause undesirable results or system harm. If there is more than one item,
they will appear in a numbered list.
Note: This draws the reader’s attention to useful information. If there is more than one
item, they will appear in a numbered list.
Typographical Conventions and Symbols
The following information describes the meaning assigned to various text
formatting and symbols.
4 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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Blue text
(PDF version only) Represents a hyperlink in the
electronic document. Click on the link in the PDF to jump
to the referenced item. This format is often applied to
cross-references within the document, such as to
chapters, sections, tables, and figures.
Parameter
Parameter names are typically given in bold type.
<name>
Refers to an item of information of the named type, which
may vary from case to case and so is identified
generically. A user would substitute specific information
if instructed to enter this information.
Related Information
Eventide Documentation
MediaWorks User Manual (part number 141114 version 01 or later)
MediaWorks Express User Manual (part number 141217 version 01 or later)
MediaAgent User Manual (part number 141115 version 01 or later)
Eventide Quality Factor Software User Manual (part number 141216)
NexLog Screen Recording Guide (part number 142218 version 01 or later)
Note: Although documented in this publication, screen recording features
are not intended for production use and general availability (they are
available only for manufacturer-coordinated customer trials).
Eventide Products and Services
For product information, visit the Eventide website at www.eventide.com.
For technical support, email Eventide at support@eventide.com.
Note: Eventide offers advanced professional services. If you are interested in obtaining
specialized services or Customer Engineering work, contact Eventide through
one of the means listed above.
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 5
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1. Introduction
1.1. Welcome
Welcome and congratulations on your purchase of an Eventide® NexLog™
Recorder.
Eventide invented the digital communications recorder in 1989. With thousands
of communications recorders in service in such diverse applications as corporate
call centers, NORAD, nuclear submarines, NASA, maximum security prisons, air
traffic control, and 911 call centers throughout the world, Eventide continues its
tradition of combining unmatched ease-of-use with mission-critical reliability.
This manual will help you maximize the use of your purchase. It includes:
A quick-start bench test, for those who want to quickly familiarize
themselves with some basic operations
Guidance on installing your recorder
Step-by-step instructions on how to set up and operate your recorder
Descriptions of all of the controls and menu items on the front panel user
interface
To help us reach you with information on updates and upcoming new features,
please send us your warranty card. Eventide does not provide your information
to marketers or any other outside organizations.
1.2. Customer Support Information
Eventide is committed to your satisfaction. If, after using this manual, you still
have questions about the operation of your recorder, contact Technical Support
at support@eventide.com or call (201) 641-1200.
The Eventide web site has additional information that may be helpful. Go to
www.eventide.com.
Release Numbers
You may need to identify the software version and serial number for the
following products/components:
6 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
Page 15
NexLog Recorder Software: On the touch screen front panel or with a monitor
and mouse attached (while the recorder is running), do the following to
display the version information:
Select the menu icon on the lower left indicated by an “e” icon.
Select Setup.
Select System.
Select the sub menu System Info.
The Recorder Serial Number and Current Firmware Version should
be displayed.
Alternatively, you can get the version and serial number remotely via the Webbased NexLog Configuration Manager:
Log into the recorder via a web browser and navigate to the recorder’s
address (example: http://192.168.2.100). Note that the default logon
credentials for the recorder (before they are changed by the
administrator) are User Name: Eventide / Password: 12345.
Click Configuration Manager.
In the NexLog Configuration Manager’s navigation menu on the left,
select the System menu.
In the sub navigation menu select System Info.
The Recorder Serial Number and Current Firmware Version should
be displayed.
Eventide MediaWorks or Eventide MediaAgent: On the Help menu, select About
to display the version information.
Eventide® VoIP Gateway: Attach a monitor, mouse, and keyboard to the
gateway, and login (the default user is Eventide with password 12345). To
identify the software version of the gateway, open the following text file on
the gateway:
C:\VOIP\version.txt
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 7
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2. Recorder Setup
2.1. Unpacking the Recorder
CAUTION Use care and assistance when lifting and handling the recorder. The NexLog 740
weighs approximately 50 pounds (23 kg). The NexLog 840 can weigh as much as
95 pounds (43 kg)!
Check the box for damage. A crushed box, holes, or water damage, for example,
could indicate that the recorder has been damaged. Open the box and inspect
the recorder and associated accessories. If the equipment appears damaged
contact Eventide right away and save the damaged box and packaging!
Check that the unit is delivered with the expected configuration and accessories.
The packing slip states the contents. In addition, the box will include:
A configuration sheet indicating installed audio input boards and other I/O
boards
A warranty registration card
One archive medium per removable archive drive
One power line cord per power supply module
One server software DVD disk labeled “Eventide NexLog Software”
This document
Other accessories may be included, depending on your order. For example, you
may receive client disks and additional documentation for the client software.
2.2. General Specifications
2.2.1. NexLog 740 and NexLog 840
All Eventide NexLog Recorders are based on identical server (recorder) software
and client (PC user) software. The primary differences among different units in
the product line are physical, e.g., size, power, storage configuration, etc. The
following table highlights the differences among the products. This is a
summary only and does not replace the individual unit specifications.
8 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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Table 1—Specification Summary for NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 with touch-screen Front Panel
Product view
NexLog 740
NexLog 840
Front Panel
GUI
Available 800 x 600 Touch screen Display (or use an external SVGA 800x600 display)
Front Panel
I/O
USB jack, 1/8-inch line level output, 1/8-inch headphone output
Remote
software
Web browser based NexLog Configuration Manager
Windows-based remote playback clients (optional)
Operating
System
Linux (embedded)
Call Record
Database
Internal relational database with programmable retention
Channel
Inputs
Compression Rates (Kbits/s): 13.3, 16, 32, 64 Mu-law
Frequency Response: 200 to 3400 Hz
Signal to Noise: -50dB
Crosstalk: -60dB
AGC: 24dB Boost
Impedance: >10 K ohm
Network
Ethernet 1,000 Mbps (Qty. 2)
Height
5 1/2 inches (3 rack units)
7 inches (4 rack units)
Depth
24 inches
27 inches
Power
350 watts
400 watts
Power
supplies
Dual hot-swap
Dual hot-swap
Weight
50-80 pounds
65-95 pounds
Analog
channels
8-96
8-240
Digital PBX
channels
8-96
8-240
T1/E1/ISDN
PRI channels
24-192
24-240
ISDN BRI
channels
4-48
4- 120
VoIP
channels
8-255
8-255
Maximum
hard disk
capacity
2 or 4 drives, RAID 1, RAID 5, or RAID 10
2 or 4 drives, RAID 1, RAID 5, or RAID 10
Standard
archive drive
1 X Multi-Drive for DVD-RAM Archiving (for bare
DVD-RAM media, 4.7GB per side)
1 X Multi-Drive for DVD-RAM Archiving (for bare
DVD-RAM media, 4.7GB per side)
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 9
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Standard
hard disk
storage
2 X 1 TB fixed-mount, software RAID1
2 X 1 TB fixed-mount, software RAID1
Optional
storage
Removable hard drives
Removable hard drives
2.2.2. Front Panel Details: NexLog 740 and NexLog 840
Figure 1—NexLog 740 with Touch Screen (Door Closed)
The touch screen display is on a locking door that protects the power switch and
optional hot-swap RAID array.
Figure 2—NexLog 740 with Touch Screen (Door Open)
10 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
The NexLog 740 with the touch screen door open, showing the optional hotswap RAID hard drives.
The NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 employ touch screen displays for control, and
don’t require a mouse or keyboard. All functions can be accessed from this
panel. When necessary, an alphanumeric keyboard appears on the screen so
that alphanumeric data such as channel names can be entered. The RAID disk
array (up to 6 TB of storage) can be accessed and disks can be replaced while
the recorder is operating by opening the monitor door (hot-swap hard drive
option required). One DVD-RAM multi-drive is standard for archiving on the
NexLog 740 and NexLog 840.
Newer NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 systems ship with DVD-RAM drives made by
LG that are for cartridge-less DVD-RAM use only, while earlier models had
Page 19
cartridge based Panasonic drives, which accepted Type 4 cartridge DVD-RAM
The door lock can be opened to access the
recorder power switch and the hot-swap
RAID disk array. Two keys are supplied.
The recorder power switch is behind the
locked door. Note: Avoid using this switch
to power down the unit. Use it to power
up only.
media or cartridge-less DVD-RAM discs.
Audio monitoring/playback is accomplished with an integral amplifier/speaker
unit (left) with headphone jack, line-level output, and volume control below the
LCD screen.
Figure 3—Touch Screen (Close-Up)
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 11
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The audio section provides a 1/8-inch
headphone jack and a 1/8 inch constant
level Line Out jack for convenient rerecording. The volume control adjusts
speaker and headphone volume.
2.2.3. Rear Panel Details: NexLog 740
Figure 4—Typical NexLog 740 Rear Panel
Card Slot Numbering: 6 5 4 3 2 1
The rear panel of this NexLog 740 shows (from left to right): Dual Hot-Swap
power supplies, connector panel for PS/2 mouse and keyboard, two RS-232
ports for serial ANI/ALI and SMDR feeds or serial time sync, DVI (not used), two
Ethernet ports, four USB ports, and audio in/out (unused- use the front audio
connectors instead). On the right side of the unit are spaces for four telephony
boards, 2 (second from far right) through 5. Slot one is reserved for certain halfsize option cards. The sixth slot is reserved for the optional hardware RAID
controller.
The preceding figures show the full front panels for the NexLog 740 and the
NexLog 840. The NexLog 840 in its standard configuration has one DVD-RAM
multi-drive for archive usage.The NexLog 740 in its standard configuration also
has one DVD-RAM multi-drive for archive usage. Other archive drive options are
available, including a second DVD-RAM drive, and/or removable 500 GB hard
drive(s). Refer to the Eventide NexLog Price list for each model’s Archive array
options.
12 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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2.2.4. Rear Panel Details: NexLog 840
Product view
NexLog 740 (Blank Panel)
NexLog 840 (Blank Panel)
Front Panel GUI
None (use External monitor and standard computer mouse and keyboard)
Front Panel I/O
USB jack, 1/8-inch line level output, 1/8-inch headphone output
Remote software
Web browser based NexLog Configuration Manager
Windows-based remote playback clients (optional)
Operating System
Linux (embedded)
Figure 5—Typical NexLog 840 Rear Panel
Card Slot Numbering: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The rear panel of this NexLog 840 shows the dual-redundant power supplies on
the left. On the right are two USB ports, two gigabit Ethernet ports, VGA output
(only available on blank front panel systems). Just to the left are audio in/out
(unused- use the front audio connectors instead), followed by two 9-pin RS-232
serial ports for ANI/ALI and SMDR integrations or for serial time
synchronization. To the left of those are ten telephony board slots. Slots 1 and 2
are shown filled. The board in Slot 1 holds the lowest-numbered channels. Note
that it is important when inserting additional boards into the system you must
fill in order from 1 to 10, and not skip slots.
2.2.5. NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 Blank Front Panel Units
The NexLog 740 and the NexLog 840 Blank Panel Unit require that a mouse,
monitor, and keyboard be plugged in for local configuration (setting of the IP
address). Note that once basic networking setup is completed, it is possible to
access all other configuration settings remotely via a web browser.
Table 2—Specification Summary for NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 (Blank Panel)
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 13
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Call Record
Database
Internal relational database with programmable retention
Channel Inputs
Compression Rates (Kbits/s): 13.3, 16, 32, 64 Mu-law
Frequency Response: 200 to 3400 Hz
Signal to Noise: -50dB
Crosstalk: -60dB
AGC: 24dB Boost
Impedance: >10 K ohm
Network
Ethernet 1,000 Mbps (Qty. 2)
Height
5 1/2 inches (3 rack units)
7 inches (4 rack units)
Depth
24 inches
27 inches
Power
350 watts
400 watts
Power supplies
Dual hot-swap
Dual hot-swap
Weight
50-80 pounds
65-95 pounds
Analog channels
8-96
8-240
Digital PBX
channels
8-96
8-240
T1/E1/ISDN PRI
channels
24-192
24-240
ISDN BRI channels
4-48
4-120
VoIP channels
8-255
8-255
Maximum hard disk
capacity
2 or 4 drives, RAID 1, RAID 5, or RAID 10
2or 4 drives, RAID 1, RAID 5, or RAID 10
Standard archive
drive
1 X 9.4 GB multi-drive for DVD-RAM
1 X 9.4 GB multi-drive for DVD-RAM
Standard hard disk
storage
2 X 1 TB fixed-mount, software RAID1
2 X 1 TB fixed-mount, software RAID1
Optional storage
Removable hard drive
Removable hard drives
14 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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2.3. Bench Test
Before installing the unit, you may want to run a brief bench test, especially if
you are unfamiliar with Eventide NexLog Recorders. The following steps are a
suggested bench test procedure, which you may modify as you wish. If you
change settings, note the defaults first and set them back to the defaults after
you complete the test.
Plug in the provided line cords to the appropriate line voltage.
Unlock the door and press the power switch. The boot process will start and
diagnostic messages will scroll by on the front panel screen or monitor.
After several minutes, the screen will show the INFO display, one of three
top-level displays. The others are SETUP and REPLAY, which are accessed
by the Menu button indicted by the “e” in the lower left hand corner.
Figure 6— Front Panel Info Screen
Place a new DVD-RAM archive medium in the archive drive. The associated
Drive Status indicator will change from “No disk” to “Unformatted media.”
There is no need to format it now. It is better to wait until you are actually
ready to start archiving. You will learn more about archiving later in the
manual.
View the available archive action options by selecting the archive drive. On
the touch screen this is done by pressing the brown box in the “ARCHIVES
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AND DRIVES” section. (When using a mouse, the drive icon can be singleclicked to open the archive menu).
Figure 7—Front Panel Archives and Drives
Eject the DVD-RAM medium by pressing the “Eject” button.
After the DVD-RAM Medium has been ejected, close the archiving action menu
by pressing the “Close” button.
The Channel Status section tells you which channels the recorder recognizes as
ready for recording. For example, if you ordered a 16-channel unit (whether
analog-only, digital-only, or a combination), you should see 16 green steady
indicators.
Likewise for 24 channels, 32 channels, and so on. This is a good time to make
sure you see the expected number of channels.
Press the menu button (‘e’ on bottom left) to view the main screens for the Front
Panel. The available screens are as follows:
Info screen
– View channel status
– Listen to real time activity on channels (live monitor)
– View and manage archiving status
16 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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– Access active alarms on the recorder
Replay screen
– Research and playback recordings stored locally and on archives
– Export recordings to removable media.
Setup screen
– Configure the recorder.
Login screen
– This option is only visible and available under certain configurations. This
will be explained later during System Security Settings.
When you have finished viewing each screen, you can shut down the unit as
follows:
Important! Do not force a shutdown by pulling the power plug or using the
power switch. A forced shutdown can result in corrupted files
and loss of data.
1. Go to the SETUP screen.
2. Select System.
3. Select Power Off.
4. Select the Shutdown button.
5. Answer OK to the prompt.
After the recorder completes its controlled shutdown procedures, the unit will
automatically shut down.
2.4. Installation
CAUTION NexLog Recorders can be quite heavy, depending upon the model and options.
Do not attempt to lift or install these units without assistance. Do not attempt to
rack mount any model without either shelf or rack-slide support. Rack slides
are available as an option from Eventide. Do not support these units using only
the mounting ears.
2.4.1. General
NexLog Recorders are computer equipment. They have essentially the same
requirements, both physical and electrical, as standard servers, and similar
attention should be paid to their environment to assure long life and reliable
operation. Site preparation, especially for larger installations, may include
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 17
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providing rack cabinets and concentrating communication wiring – phone lines,
Parameter
Range or Limits
Voltage
100 - 250VAC
Frequency
47 - 63 Hz
Power (typical/max)
NexLog 740-200W/350W, NexLog 840 - 200W/400W
thatTemperature
Operating +5C (41F) to 40C (104F)
Humidity
10% - 80% relative, non-condensing
Altitude
-2,000 to +10,000 feet operating (to 22,000 feet non-operating). If operated
at high altitudes, take special care that airflow is unrestricted by dust or
obstacles.
Vibration (Hard Disk
Drives)
These units contain hard disk drive storage units and mechanical
components that are sensitive to mechanical vibration. They are intended
for operation in fixed locations.
Typical vibration limits for the hard disk drives are as follows:
Operating: .2 G, 5-300 Hz
Non-Operating: 1 G, 5-300 Hz
Shock (Hard Disk
Drives)
Typical shock limits for the hard disk drives are as follows:
Operating: 1 G, 11 ms half-sine
Non-Operating: 40 G, 11 ms half-sine
Orientation
The archive drives are very sensitive to orientation. The recorder should
always be mounted on a flat, non-sloping surface.
radio, etc. – nearby.
2.4.2. Operating Limits
The installation should allow the units to operate within their electrical and
physical operational limits.
Table 3—Operating Limits
2.4.3. Location Considerations
When choosing a location, consider the following:
Operating Limits. The location must respect the unit’s operating limits, as
listed in the Operating Limits section of this manual.
Convenience. If the unit will be operated from its front panel, then it should
be comfortably accessible to the operator. Service personnel should have
access to the unit. If the unit is to be installed in a rack, special rack units
that provide a horizontal writing surface are commercially available.
Security. If the unit must be physically secure, then it can be placed in a
locked equipment room with limited access. This will also help ensure data
security. Consider that a user with access to the unit can remove power,
disconnect the input cables, play back recordings, monitor calls, remove
archive media, and do other things to compromise your data. Logins are no
18 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
protection against a determined attacker with physical access to a machine.
Page 27
In short, if you are concerned about malicious users making a purposeful
effort to gain unauthorized access to your data, then the only real protection
is to place the unit in a secure location.
Cable lengths. For analog signals, such as POTS lines and radio receiver
outputs, cable lengths are not likely to be an issue. An adequate level can be
obtained hundreds of feet from the signal source. The unit has
programmable adjustments for low or high signal levels. That being said,
shorter cable lengths will create less signal attenuation and pick-up less
noise than longer cable lengths. For tapping digital PBX telephones and
T1/E1 circuits, maximum cable lengths are extremely important, and can be
different for different makes & models of telephone systems. Contact
Eventide technical support for digital-tap cable length information for your
particular digital phone system or T1/E1 circuits.
Particulates. The archive drives and, to a lesser extent, the fans and hard
drives, can be damaged by smoke and dust. If you find dust build up on the
surfaces or the fans being clogged, consider changing the location.
Power dropouts or surges. The unit should be protected from power dropouts
and surges. The chosen location should have line power available that is not
on the same circuit as equipment that draws a large current on start-up,
such as electric motors or compressors or banks of fluorescent lights. Line
voltage fluctuations, brown-outs, and power outages can result in loss of
data and damage to the unit. An Uninterruptible Power Supply is required to
mitigate these problems. For a list of approved UPS units, see Section
2.4.6. Connecting AC Power and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) on page
20.
Spilled liquids. Liquids spilled on the unit can damage it. The location should
not encourage people to place coffee cups on the unit, for instance.
Vibration and Shock. Vibrating or physically shocking the unit while the hard
drives are operating could damage the hard drives. The location should not
be subject to vibration or jolting while the unit is operating.
2.4.4. Mounting Options
As normally provided, the unit can be mounted on any flat, non-sloping surface
that can bear its weight. It can be rack mounted if the rack has a shelf to
support it, and the supplied mounting ears can be attached to the rack with the
rack screws provided, in order to prevent casual removal. The unit must not be
mounted solely with the mounting ears and rack screws!
If no rack shelf is available, a rack-slide rail install kit, which includes slide
rails, rear slide supports, brackets, and mounting hardware, can be ordered:
4-post Rack-Slide Rail Kit for the NexLog 740: Eventide Part# 324430
4-post Rack-Slide Rail Kit for the NexLog 840: Eventide Part# 108112
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 19
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Alternatively, a center rack mounting option is also available:
2-post Center Rack Mount Kit for the NexLog 740: Eventide Part# 108109
2-post Center Rack Mount Kit for the NexLog 840: Eventide Part# 108110
2.4.5. Other Considerations
NexLog 740: The recorder is shipped with two keys for locking and unlocking
the front door of the recorder. One key should be kept in a safe place as a
backup spare. You should consider preventing casual access to the other key as
well. The switch behind the front panel should be used to power up the recorder
only and not be used to power down the recorder unless absolutely necessary.
The logger should be shut off using the SETUP/Power Off option. Otherwise,
data corruption could occur. If it is necessary to use the switch to shut down
the recorder, hold it for one second and release. Do not continue holding it until
the recorder shuts down.
NexLog 840: The recorder is shipped with two keys for the power key-switch on
the front panel of the recorder. One key should be kept in a safe place as a
backup spare. You should consider preventing casual access to the other key as
well. The power key-switch should be used to power up the recorder only and
not be used to power down the recorder unless absolutely necessary. The logger
should be shut off using the SETUP/Power Off option. Otherwise, data
corruption could occur. If it is necessary to use the key-switch to shut down the
recorder, insert the key, turn it for one second, and release. Do not keep the key
turned until the recorder shuts down.
2.4.6. Connecting AC Power and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)
The recorders use “universal” power supplies. This means you can plug the
recorder into any line (mains) voltage from 100 volts to 240 volts nominal.
However, to prevent unplanned shutdowns caused by power glitches or
interruptions, Eventide strongly recommends the use of an Uninterruptible
Power Supply (UPS) unit that meets certain minimum characteristics:
The UPS must provide power for a long enough period to allow orderly shutdown
of the recorder in case of power failure.
If your facility has a backup generator, the UPS should provide power long
enough to operate the recorder until the generator becomes operational
following the start of a power failure (typically a minute or less) PLUS a period
long enough to allow orderly shutdown of the recorder in case of generator
failure.
The UPS should be an approved model, i.e., one that can communicate its
status to the recorder. This isn’t strictly necessary if your facility is manned and
personnel are trained to shut down the recorder using the appropriate
procedure in case of power failure before the UPS battery drains. However, an
20 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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approved UPS will keep the recorder running and automatically signal to the
Manufacturer
Rating
Rack
Height
APC / Tripp-Lite
1500VA, 940W, 120V
2U (3-1/2 inch)
APC / Tripp-Lite
1500VA, 940W, 240V
2U
APC / Tripp-Lite
750VA, 120V
2U
APC / Tripp-Lite
750VA, 240V
2U
APC / Tripp-Lite
3000VA, 2700W, 120V
2U
APC / Tripp-Lite
3000VA, 2700W, 240V
2U
Manufacturer
Model
Recommended for
APC
Back-UPS ES 500
NexLog 740
APC
Back-UPS ES 725
NexLog 740, NexLog 840
recorder to perform a safe shutdown when its battery power gets low.
Eventide offers commercial-grade, heavy-duty rack-mount UPS units. Eventide
has tested the following units and confirms they work with the recorders.
In addition, consumer-grade UPS units may be available locally and are suitable
for more casual installations and shorter run-times. Eventide has tested the
following units and confirms that they work with the recorders.
To connect your recorder to a UPS, simply plug the UPS into an AC socket, and
plug the recorder into the UPS using the power cords provided. If you use an
approved UPS, also connect the UPS to one of the recorder’s USB connectors on
the rear panel using the cable provided with the UPS. This communication link
will perform a safe shutdown when necessary, and also allow the recorder to
notify you (by display and optionally by email) if there is a power problem. The
NexLog 740 and NexLog 840 recorders are supplied with dual redundant power
supplies. To preserve redundancy, it is acceptable to use a separate UPS with
each power cord from the recorder.
2.4.7. Before You Connect Audio Signals to the Recorder...
Before you connect the telephone lines, radio outputs, or other signals to be
tapped and recorded, set the recorder’s internal clock, date, time zone, and
channel names. If you are installing new software on a currently operating
recorder, disconnect the audio inputs until you have restored the configuration
of the recorder, including channel selection and time zone. The reason for this is
that the recorder will begin recording as soon as it detects an input signal. Calls
with the wrong time, date, and time zone may get recorded and will likely
remain on the recorder for a long time. This might be confusing later when you
search, filter, and archive calls. Refer to Section 3 of this document for
configuration information including Date and Time settings.
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 21
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2.4.8. Connecting Telephone, Radio, and Other Analog Audio Signals to
the Recorder
This section applies to units equipped with one or more Analog Input Boards. If
you are not sure this board is installed, check the printed back-panel diagram
that was packed with your recorder.
WARNING To reduce the risk of fire, use only 26 AWG or larger telecommunication
wire.
The Analog Input Board handles interfacing to analog audio signals. The
number of channels per board will vary depending on which is ordered. Eventide
sells 8, 16, and 24 channels versions of the Analog Board.
A mating connector is provided for each board unless a Quick Install Kit has
been ordered (see Section 2.4.9. The Optional Quick Install Kit. The connector has
two rows of contacts. One row is numbered 1 through 25, and the other row is
numbered 26 through 50. Numbering is such that pin 1 is opposite 26, and 25
is opposite 50. Each audio input requires two wires, in what is known as a
“balanced” configuration. There is no “ground” connection. The channel and
connector pin correspondence is detailed in Appendix D: Channel Wiring for
Eventide Analog Input Boards.
Eventide offers a Quick Install Kit that, besides pulling together the parts you
will need for a convenient installation, brings Channel 1 to the white-blue pair
(see Section 2.4.9. The Optional Quick Install Kit).
To connect a telephone line to a given channel, simply connect the two wires to
the two pins for that channel. It is not necessary to check or observe polarity.
To connect an audio source such as the line output or recording output of a
radio, connect the “hot” lead to one pin and the ground or shield lead to the
other. Again, there is no distinction between input pins. Either can be connected
to the “hot” lead.
Any audio source may be connected, provided that the audio voltage is
nominally in the .1 - 1 Volt range and remains fairly constant. Differing voltage
levels are compensated for when setting up the board parameters from the
recorder front panel. Not recommended are sources with greatly varying levels,
such as “speaker” outputs. Also unusable are “microphone” signals, whose
levels are too low by far to be usable without pre-amplification.
2.4.9. The Optional Quick Install Kit
For each telephone recording board in the recorder, you will have received either
a mating blue-ribbon connector, or if ordered as an option, a Quick Install Kit.
The connections for the mating blue-ribbon connector are detailed in Appendix
D: Channel Wiring for Eventide Analog Input Boards. The pins are numbered on
the connector itself for reference.
22 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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The Quick Install Kit, Eventide part #109033-003 (3 meter cable) and #109033-
Cable
Connects the recorder telephony board to the punch
block. The rear-entry connector (right in photo) goes to
the recorder and is fastened to the telephony board rear
panel with small wire bails on each side. The end-entry
(left in photo) RJ-21 male connector goes to the punch
block and is held in place with a Velcro strip.
Note: This cable may have special wiring! Before
substituting a standard 50-pair extender cable for this
cable, confirm that the telephony boards in your recorder
do not have special connections. (See Appendix D:
Channel Wiring for Eventide Analog Input Boards). If you
need a greater length, you may use an extender cable in
series with the cable provided as part of the kit whether
or not it is one with special wiring.
Punch Block
The punch block is a convenient, industry-standard
appliance used to connect twisted pair telephone wiring
to the recorder. It provides a central location to connect
your physical wiring.
The 25-pair "Split 50" 66 Block has 50 rows and four
columns. Each row contains four connectors (contacts).
Each outside contact contains an electrical connection to
the one next to it, creating a pair of contacts, but the left
pair of contacts are electrically isolated from the right
pair of contacts (thus, they are “split”).
Using a punch-down tool (not provided), the telephone
wires are forced into a slit cut in the contacts in the
block, which makes a firm electrical and physical
connection. The blocks are usually mounted in the
orientation shown.
The right side of the block has a female RJ-21 connector
for the cable that goes to the recorder. The left side of the
punch block (opposite the RJ-21 connector) is used to
connect the telephone (or other audio) lines.
007 (7 meter cable), include the following components:
Figure 8—Quick Install Kit Components
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 23
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Bridging Clips
The right side (nearest the connector) has each column
connected to an associated connector pin-pair so that the
top row is connected to pin 1, the next row to pin 26, the
third to pin 2, etc. Thus, adjacent vertical rows form one
signal pair.
When you connect the first telephone line, you just start
at the top and connect the wire pair to the first two rows
on the left. The next wire pair would go to the next two
rows down, on the left.
Finally, to connect the telephone line to its associated
recorder input, slip two bridging clips over the two center
contacts in each row.
The purpose of the punch block system is to centralize your connections, as well
as to provide a clean way to isolate the telephone or radio system from the
recorder, should it become necessary. The components can be isolated by
removing clips, rather than removing wires.
2.4.10. Connecting Digital PBX Stations that are to be Tapped
NOTE: For tapping digital PBX telephones and T1/E1 circuits, maximum cable
lengths are extremely important, and can be different for different makes &
models of telephone systems. Contact Eventide technical support for digital-tap
cable length information for your particular digital phone system or T1/E1
circuits.
This section applies to units equipped with one or more Digital PBX Station
tapping Boards. If you are not sure this board is installed, check the printed
back-panel diagram that was packed with your recorder.
WARNING To reduce the risk of fire, use only 26 AWG or larger telecommunication wire.
The Digital PBX Station tapping Board handle interfacing to certain Digital PBX
Station makes and models (check with Eventide for compatibility). The number
of channels per board will vary depending on which is ordered. Eventide sells 8,
16, and 24 channels versions of the Digital PBX Station tapping Board.
A mating connector is provided for each board unless a Quick Install Kit has
been ordered (see Section 2.4.9. The Optional Quick Install Kit. The connector has
two rows of contacts. One row is numbered 1 through 25, and the other row is
numbered 26 through 50. Numbering is such that pin 1 is opposite 26, and 25
is opposite 50. For most Digital PBX systems (except Mitel Supersets, Avaya
Index phones, and ROLMphones), each Digital PBX Station requires two wires.
Eventide offers a Quick Install Kit that, besides pulling together the parts you
will need for a convenient installation, brings Channel 1 to the white-blue pair
(see Section 2.4.9. The Optional Quick Install Kit)
24 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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To connect a supported digital PBX telephone line to a given channel, simply
connect the two wires to the two pins for that channel.
2.4.11. Connecting to an Ethernet Network
Connect to an Ethernet network by attaching a network cable between the RJ45
jack on the back of the recorder and your hub, switch or router. The cable
should be CAT5 or equivalent with a male RJ45 plug for the recorder end and
with the connector pin wiring going straight through from end to end.
Alternatively, a crossover cable can be used to isolate the recorder from the
network and connect directly to a PC’s network connection without using a
router or switch. The NexLog 840 and NexLog 740 have two RJ45 jacks and can
be connected to multiple networks simultaneously. On the NexLog 840, the top
most jack is Device 1 in the NETWORK INTERFACE section. The bottom jack is
Device 2. On the NexLog 740, the jack closest to the input boards is Device 1,
and the jack furthest from the input boards is Device 2.
2.4.12. Connecting a Keyboard
A keyboard can be connected to a recorder to allow easier and faster data entry
and interaction than is permitted by the recorder’s optional front panel
interface. This can be useful for performing system administration tasks from
the front panel and for diagnostic work.
Note: The same configuration capabilities that are available on the Front Panel can be
accessed via a web browser from a PC, using the browser-based NexLog
Configuration Manager. Under most circumstances this will allow for a quicker
setup procedure.
The following methods are available for connecting a keyboard to the recorder:
Connect a USB keyboard to any USB connector on the recorder. This may be
done while the recorder is running and does not require a shutdown and
restart of the recorder.
Connect a PS2 keyboard to the PS2 connector on the recorder back panel
(purple on the NexLog 740 only). This should be done while the recorder is
off, so if the recorder is running, it requires a shutdown of the recorder
before it is installed.
2.4.13. Connecting Headphones
Optionally, connect headphones to the 1/8-inch jack labeled “Headphone” on
the front panel. Suitable headphones are available from Eventide (part#
324200). Most headphones with an appropriate plug can be used and adjusted
to a comfortable level with the front panel volume control.
NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0 25
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2.4.14. Connecting Line-Level Equipment
A line-level audio output is available at the 1/8-inch jack labeled “Line Out” on
the front panel, if you wish to connect an external recorder such as a Philips
Cassette recorder to the recorder for excerpting calls to cassette. Most standard
cassette units with record capability can derive an appropriate signal level from
this jack.
26 NexLog Recorder User Manual v2.2.0
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3. The Front Panel User Interface
The optional NexLog touch-screen LCD front panel provides direct control over
your NexLog digital logging recorder, enabling you to listen to recorded audio
and manage recorded calls, without using an external display, keyboard, and
mouse. If your NexLog recorder has a blank front panel (no LCD Touch-screen),
then connect an SVGA 800x600 display, keyboard and mouse to the unit. To
select a menu option on your front panel, use the touch screen directly (if
installed), or use an attached USB keyboard and mouse; the SVGA 800x600
display will appear as described below for the touch-screen.
There are three main screens: Info, Replay, and Setup. In addition, a login
button may be displayed in the main menu. This allows multiple users to access
the Front Panel with different permissions. By default the recorder comes
configured to auto login the “Eventide” user.
3.1 Front Panel Step by Step Quick Guide
To use the NexLog Front Panel to monitor the logger for recording activity, click
(touch the screen directly or use a connected USB mouse) the Main Menu “e”
button at the lower left corner of the screen, and select "Info". This opens the
Front Panel’s Info screen.
Figure 9—Front Panel Info Screen
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The top section of the Info page shows any archives and drives currently
installed on the recorder. The middle section of the page shows a grid display of
the channels that are currently configured on the recorder.
If a channel is grey, it is not configured for recording.
If a channel is yellow, it has recording currently disabled.
If a channel is green, it is in an idle state, ready and waiting to record.
If a channel is red, it is currently recording.
To listen to activity currently in progress on a channel (referred to as "Live
Monitoring"), click (or push) a channel in the grid. A yellow oval indicator will
appear on the channel button, indicating that it is currently Live Monitoring.
Clicking the same channel again will stop Live Monitor for that channel.
Multiple channels can be Live Monitored simultaneously. Note that a user must
have Live Monitor permissions to use the Live Monitor feature.
If you are unable to enable live monitoring on any channels, the current user
probably lacks Live Monitor permissions. See "Section 3.7. Setup: Users and
Security" for information on granting Live Monitor access to users.
3.1.1 Query (Search for) Recordings
The NexLog Front Panel has several modes to assist you in finding recordings on
the logger.
1. Click the Main Menu “e” button and select "Replay" to go to the Front
Panel’s Replay screen. This screen includes search criteria, source
selection, a list of recordings matching the search criteria, and playback
controls.
Figure 10—Front Panel Replay Screen
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2. Select a recording source by clicking the list-box at the top of the page,
and then choose among available sources (by default, "Local Database").
3. Once a source is selected, click the Tools menu (upper right button with
a wrench icon) and then choose "Filter Query" to set criteria for the
search.
The default search mode is Calendar mode (indicated by the Mode button
marked "Cal").
Figure 11—Calendar Mode
4. Click within the calendar to select or deselect dates. You can also drag to
select multiple days quickly. The green arrows at the top of the calendar
change the month that is displayed.
5. Click the desired channels in the "Selected Channels" list to the left.
(Only the selected channels will be searched).
6. Optional: The "Fields" and "More" buttons contain additional criteria for
further refining the search.
7. When all criteria have been set, click "Go". The query will run for a
moment, and then the Replay record list will appear, containing the
recordings matching the set criteria.
To search instead by a known date range:
1. Go to "Filter Query" as before, and click the Mode button. It will change
from "Cal" to "Date" mode.
2. Click the "From" and "Through" down-arrows to select dates for the
query.
3. Click "Go" to run the query.
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To search instead by a relative time window:
1. Go to "Filter Query" as before, and click the Mode button. It will change
from "Date" to "Rel", for Relative mode.
2. Click the "Previous" down-arrow to select a timeframe ranging from the
present.
3. Enable "Update with Live Results" (the checkbox will turn yellow) to have
the query list continually and automatically update as new recordings
arrive. Or, disable it (the checkbox will be grey) to skip this feature.
4. Click "Go" to run the query.
3.1.2 Playback
The NexLog Front Panel can be used to playback recordings on the logger.
1. Click the Main Menu “e” button and choose Replay. This changes the
view to the Replay screen.
2. Search for recordings as described above
3. Click any row to begin playback of a single recording at a time.
The buttons in the scrub control and “transport” at the bottom of the screen can
be used to control playback.
Figure 12—Replay Transport
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The moving scrub can be used to set the exact point of playback. Click
and drag it to move it around.
The arrow keys to the left of the scrub area can be clicked to skip
playback forward or skip playback back by a configured interval.
The pointers just above the scrub control can be dragged for exact
placement of loop boundaries.
In the Transport area at the bottom of the screen, the Play/Pause button
begins or pauses playback,
The Next and Previous buttons can be used to jump to the next or
previous recording,
The Loop button is used to enable or disable looped playback.
The AGC button toggles the playback automatic gain control on/off.
If playback of more than one simultaneous recording at a time ("mixed
playback") is desired:
1. Create an Incident of the desired recordings as described below in the
“Incidents” section.
2. On the Working Incident page, an additional playback mode button
allows selection of mixed play.
3. Click on any recording in the working incident to begin mixed playback.
Incidents
Incidents are a useful way to handle collections of related recordings.
Figure 13—Incident
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Creating an Incident
To use the NexLog Front Panel to build an Incident:
1. Query recordings as described in “Query (Search for) Recording”, above.
2. Click the leftmost column (this column is indicated by an arrow pointing
down) beside any recordings you wish to mark for the Incident. A checkmark will appear next to each selected recording.
Note: recordings that are currently in progress (as shown by red text)
cannot be added to Incidents.
Figure 14—Selected Calls in Replay Screen
3. Click the Tools button (upper right button with the wrench icon) and
choose "Add marked to Incident"
The Front Panel will automatically switch to the Working Incident view, and the
marked recordings will be added to the incident.
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Figure 15—Working Incident
To remove any recordings that are not desired in the Incident, mark the
recordings as before, then click the Tools button (upper right button with the
wrench icon) and select "Remove marked from Incident".
Saving an Incident
To save the incident (a collection of recordings) on the logger:
1. Click the Tools button (upper right button with the wrench icon) and
select "Save Incident".
2. Enter a descriptive name for the incident.
3. Enable "Protect Records" if you wish to protect the recordings from
scheduled deletion from the logger, or disable the setting to skip this
feature.
To create a new Working Incident at any time, choose "Clear Incident" from the
Tools menu, and repeat this process. An Incident which has been saved can be
opened into the same Working Incident page by choosing "Open Incident" in the
Tools menu and selecting the desired Incident. To return to the Replay screen,
open the Tools menu and choose "Switch to Query".
Exporting an Incident
To export an Incident as data files to a CD, DVD, or USB stick:
1. Insert appropriate media to the logger. If a CD or DVD is desired, click
the Main Menu button and select "Info". Click the archive drive desired
for exporting, and then click "Eject". Confirm to eject, and the logger
DVD tray will open. Insert a CD or DVD and close the tray. If a USB stick
is desired for export, insert it into one of the logger's available USB slots.
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2. From the Replay page, create an Incident as described in “Incidents”
above, or open an existing Incident.
3. On the Working Incident page, click the Tools button (upper right button
with the wrench icon) and select "Export"
4. In the "Select a destination" dialog box, click the appropriate media for
the export, and click "OK". The recordings within the Working Incident
will be exported to the selected media. The Front Panel will indicate when
the process is complete.
5. If exporting to CD or DVD, when the tray opens, remove the disk and
then click OK.
Recordings exported in this manner are individual data files that can be played
in Windows Media Player, iTunes, some personal audio players, and similar
software and devices.
Figure 16—Create Audio CD
To export an Incident as an audio CD:
1. Click the Main Menu “e” button and select "Info". Click the archive drive
desired for exporting, and then click "Eject". Confirm to eject, and the
logger DVD tray will open. Insert a blank CD and close the tray.
2. From the Replay page, create an Incident as described in “Incidents”
above, or open an existing Incident.
3. On the Working Incident page, click the Tools button (upper right button
with the wrench icon) and select "Export"
4. In the "Select a Destination" dialog box, select the CD for export, and
then click to enable "Create Audio CD".
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3.2 Setup Screen
The SETUP screen allows you to view and modify various recorder parameters,
such as IP address, time and date, network parameters, user accounts, and
channel settings. Details about use of the Setup screen (and the nearly identical
NexLog Configuration Manager software) are provided below in Section 3:
“Recorder Configuration and Administration”.
5. Click "OK". The recordings within the incident will be exported in
Redbook Audio format to the CD. The Front Panel will indicate when the
process is complete.
6. When the tray opens, remove the disk and then click OK.
7. Recordings exported in this manner can be played back by any CD
player or software that plays standard Redbook Audio CDs.
Figure 17—Setup Screen
Important! If you are in the process of setting up a recorder, the very first thing you should
do is set the Date and Time Zone of the recorder, found under System->Date
and Time.
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3.3 Info Screen
Display
Description
No Disk
The drive is empty.
Loading
A medium has been loaded and the recorder is scanning it to learn
its status.
Unloading
A medium is being ejected.
Idle, Unformatted Media
An unformatted medium is inserted.
Idle, Blank Media
A formatted, blank medium is inserted.
Idle, Used Eventide Media
A medium with one or more recorded calls is inserted.
The INFO screen allows you to view and set parameters for your archiving tasks,
check individual channel status, and live monitor channel audio.
Figure 18—Info Screen
The top portion of the screen shows a summary status of your archiving drive or
drives. Each archive drive will have an individual status indicator that looks like
a brown rectangle with a white boarder. It displays the current status, the
archive drive type (DVD-RAM, USB, NAS, Removable Hard disk), and a green
line indicating the percentage full. Clicking or pressing on an archive drive will
pop up a box with more information and actions you can take regarding the
drive.
Table 4—INFO Screen Messages
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Idle, Full Eventide Media
A full medium is inserted.
Eventide Configuration Media
A medium containing recorder configuration information is inserted.
Eventide Call Metadata
A medium containing call metadata is inserted.
Preparing for Playback
The medium is preparing for browsing. “Browsing” means the
viewing, searching, and playing back of calls. While preparing, the
recorder is loading the calls from the archive into an internal
database.
Playback
The medium is ready for browsing.
Eventide Export
A data CD containing WAV files playable in a media player.
Audio CD
A CD with Redbook audio that is playable in a standard CD player.
The bottom half of the INFO screen displays information about live incoming
calls. Each small block represents a channel. Each channel displays its number
and a color:
Green – The channel is idle and ready for recording.
Red – Audio is being recorded.
Gray - The channel is not ready for recording. The audio interface board may
be missing or has not been recognized by the recorder.
Yellow – Recording on the channel has been disabled by the “Record Enable”
setting in Eventide MediaWorks or the recorder front panel.
Live monitoring a channel allows you to listen to audio being recorded in real
time. This is accomplished by pressing or clicking on the channel status
indicator. A yellow oval indicates that the channel is live monitoring.
Multiple channels can be selected for live monitor at a single time. To control
the volume at the Front Panel use the volume slider wheel below the display.
3.4 Archiving Controls
Eventide NexLog can permanently copy all recorded activity (including
recorded media) to an external archive for preservation. Archives can be
created on DVD-RAM media, on USB media and on network drives. You can
configure the available archives using setup mode on the front panel or via
the web Configuration Manager from your web browser.
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Figure 19—Archives and Drives Display
Field
Description
Status
Display the current archive status, including the availability for
continued archiving, or the current playback mode.
Type
Displays the type of archive drive (DVD-RAM, USB, etc.)
Media Type
Displays the type of archive media (DVD, network drive, etc.)
Queued
Indicates the position of the archive within the archive queue. If
another archive drive is filled to capacity, the next archive in the
queue is activated.
Record count
Displays the number of recordings on the archive, if available.
Capacity
Gives a rough visual representation of the remaining space left on
the archive.
Touch any archive in Info Mode to display detailed information and control
basic archive behavior for the selected archive. All common archive
operations can be performed from this dialog. Touch “Start” or “Stop” to
initiate or pause archiving on the device. Touching “Browse” will activate the
archive, making it available for searching and playback in Replay Mode.
Touching “Eject” will remove the archive from the drive (if it is on a physical
drive, the media will be ejected; if it is a network attached archive, it will be
detached from the network). Touch “Format” to re-initialize the archive
media (WARNING: all data on the archive will be lost if you choose this
operation).
Table 5—Archive dialog information
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3.5 Information Bar
During operation, the Information Bar displays the current logger time and the
currently logged-in user. In addition, depending on the operating mode, it may
display other controls or information. The Information Bar is used to navigate
between the major operating modes (Info, Replay, Setup and Login) and provide
quick access to active alarms.
To switch operating modes, press the mode button and select an option from
the menu which appears.
When active alarms are present, the alarm button flashes. Press the alarm
button to view a list of the active alarms. Press the alarm button again to
return to the previous operating mode.
3.6 Alarm Status
Alarms can be viewed and acknowledged at the alarm screen viewable by
clicking the bell icon on the information bar.
Figure 20—Information Bar
Figure 21—Alarm Status
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Alarms indicate an active condition on the recorder. In some cases an alarm
condition can be automatically resolved by the recorder. An example of such an
alarm is losing time synchronization to a time source because it is unavailable
for a period of time. Some alarms will require user action before they will be
resolved. An example of such an alarm is a hard drive failure in a RAID system.
Alarms can be acknowledged from this screen, causing the alarm to be less
intrusive. Once all of the alarms are acknowledged or resolved, the alarm icon
will stop blinking red.
Some alarm conditions are configured by default to trigger an audio alarm on
the recorder. Acknowledging an alarm condition that causes an audio alert will
silence the audio.
To see a history of alarms and alerts go to Setup->Alerts and Logs->Alert
history.
For more information on alarms and the action to take, see the Alerts and
Alarms section.
3.7 Replay Screen (Detailed Information)
The Replay screen is where you view, search, and playback calls. It’s also where
you create incidents and export recordings in a format that’s playable in a PC
without Eventide client software. Calls are displayed as rows, one row per call.
You can specify which columns to display (the default set of columns is Channel
Name, Start Time, and Duration). Searches are accomplished by applying filters
to the main call list. Calls can be filtered on date and time, channel number,
and dialed DTMF digits, among other parameters.
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Figure 22—Replay Screen
Area
Description
Description
A brief summary of the current results are displayed at the top of
the screen. This includes the channels included in the current filter,
as well as the date and time ranges. The total number of queried
records is display, along with the number of records which are
‘selected’ for further processing. When monitoring live channel
activity, the ”[Live]” tag is also visible.
Data Source
Select the data source to be queried by touching this drop list. The
local database is always available, along with any browsed
archives (see Info Mode for information on browsing archives).
Refresh
Touch this button to refresh the current query.
Menu (wrench icon)
Touch this button to display a menu containing additional functions.
Results
Records matching the current filter are displayed here.
Playback Controls
When playback is started, these controls allow typical playback
functions (next, previous, pause, loop, etc.).
Table 6—Replay Mode information
Playing Audio Recordings
Do the following to play back a recording:
From the main Replay screen, touch or click on a recording. The audio recording
will play, and a timeline will display at the bottom of the screen showing the
recording’s playback status and general attributes.
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Press Next to play the next audio recording, in descending sequence. Press
Previous to play the previous recording. Press Pause to pause playback for the
current recording.
Press the Looping icon to toggle looping of the call playback.
Press the AGC icon to enable AGC.
Searching for Recordings
By default, Replay Mode will display all available recordings across all channels
for the last 24 hours. In addition, channels are monitored for activity, and new
recordings will automatically appear in the results list. Perform more advanced
searches by selecting “Filter query” from the menu button at the top of the
display.
Figure 23—Calendar Mode Search
Use a combination of all available filters to refine your search to find exactly the
set of recordings you’re looking for. A basic query involves two parts: a channel
filter and a date filter. Touch “Fields” or “More” to limit queries further by
specifying other additional filter parameters.
To select the channels for the query, simply touch the desired channel name in
the “Selected Channels” list. To deselect a channel, touch it again. Shortcut
buttons for selecting “All” or “None” are located below the channel list. Only
channels for which you have permission to view are included in the list.
Select date filters for the query in one of three ways. Change the date selection
mode by pressing the “Mode” button repeatedly until you find a date selection
method which works best for the query you are attempting.
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In “Calendar” mode, select days in a traditional monthly calendar by touching
individual days of interest. Select any combination or range of days. Change the
month or year by navigating with the controls at the top of the calendar.
Figure 24—Calendar
Note: When using the calendar selector you can only select days on the currently
selected month.
In “Date” mode, specify a starting and ending date. Touch the “From” date and
choose a starting date from the calendar which appears. Touch the “Through”
date and select an ending date (inclusive) for the query.
Figure 25—Date Mode
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In “Relative” mode, recordings are retrieved within a specified time period
relative to the current date and time. Touch the “Previous” list box and choose
one of the available options. Optionally, enable the “Update with Live Records”
option to continuously monitor channel activity for new recordings and have
them appear in the results. Enabling this option adds the “[Live]” tag to the
Replay Summary.
Figure 26—Relative Mode
Filtering
Optionally, add other standard filters to the query by touching the “Fields”
button. A dialog appears, allowing you to enable filters based on “Protection”,
“Duration” and “Direction” of recordings. Simply enable a desired option and
touch “OK” to add the filter to the current query. The “More” button allows you
to further limit the query by specifying values for custom database fields,
including Caller ID. Your installation of NexLog might have additional, custom
fields as well. Add as many filtered fields as needed; they will all be appended to
the filter.
Choosing Columns
Changing the default set of columns will allow you to see associated metadata
with your recordings. To change the column selection, navigate to the “Choose
Columns” menu option in the Replay menu. From the dialog which appears,
toggle the desired column names on or off by touching them. Touch “OK”, and
the selected columns are displayed in the results. Once recordings are displayed
from your query, sort the results using any visible column. Simply touch the
header section to sort the recordings. Touch it again to sort in the opposite
direction. Re-order columns by touching and dragging them to a new location.
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Figure 27—Replay Mode Menu
Creating Incidents
Incidents are a collection of recordings that can be managed separately from the
list of filtered recordings. Incidents can be saved and exported for future use
and shared with other users on remote clients like Eventide MediaWorks.
To add a recording to an incident you select the recording by pressing (or
clicking) in the left most column. Toggle check marks on and off for individual
recordings by touching the desired recordings directly. You can also mark and
unmark recordings en masse by touching “Select all” or “Select none” from the
Menu button, which adds or removes the selection checkmark on all recordings
at once. After recordings have been marked in this fashion, select an operation
from the Menu button at the top of the display. Selecting “Toggle Protection” will
enable or disable the “protected” flag for the selected recordings. “Protected”
recordings are preserved by the recorder and never marked for deletion.
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Figure 28—Selected Calls in Replay Screen
Once you have selected a group of recordings to form the Incident, touch “Add
selected to incident” from the Menu button, and all marked recordings will be
copied into a working incident. The Replay Summary will indicate “Working
Incident” so you know that the recordings which are now visible in the results
are those which you have specifically put there. An “incident” typically
represents a logical grouping of recordings, arranged according to whatever
criteria you desire. To remove recordings from the incident, first place a check
mark next to them, and then touch “Remove selected from incident” from the
Menu button; the recordings will be removed from the incident. To quickly
remove all recordings from an incident, touch “Clear incident” from the Menu
button.
Save, or open previously saved, incidents from the Menu button. To save an
incident select “Save incident” from the Menu button. A dialog will appear where
you will be asked to supply a name for the incident (and, optionally, to protect
the recordings contained within the incident). Saving an incident allows other
remote clients (such as Eventide MediaWorks) to view and open the incident
when connected to the same Eventide NexLog recorder. To open a previously
saved incident, select “Open incident” from the Menu button and touch the
desired incident name.
Touch “Switch to query” or “Switch to incident” from the Menu button in order
to move back and forth between the “working incident” and the current query.
This allows additional recordings from the query to be added to the working
incident. When viewing the query, any recording from the current query which
already exists in the working incidents is indicated with a grey color.
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Export the audio from all recordings collected into an incident by touching
“Export” from the Menu button. Before exporting audio, ensure that an
appropriate export destination is available (for example, insert a blank
recordable CD, or insert a blank, formatted USB thumb drive, into the recorder).
When exporting, all available export destinations will be listed in the dialog
which appears. Select the export destination. For recordable CDs, you will have
the additional option of creating an audio CD, which can be played back in any
CD player. Otherwise, audio data will be copied or burned to the destination
location directly.
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4. Recorder Configuration and Administration
This section discusses setup and administration of the recorder from the front
panel and the NexLog Configuration Manager tool. When utilizing the Recorder's
Front Panel's Setup Screen, you are actually connecting to the same
configuration interface that is accessible via a web browser. The Setup Screen
layout differs from the Web Configuration tool only in that it’s visually optimized
(via Blue background) for the usage on the Front Panel’s touch screen, but the
configuration functionality is identical. This section will cover both configuring
from the Front Panel and via the web-based NexLog Configuration Manager tool.
Figure 29—Front Panel Set-Up top level menus
4.1. The Welcome To NexLog Screen
To access the NexLog Configuration Manager, navigate to the recorder’s host
name (IP address) in a web browser, for example: http://192.168.2.1, which will
bring you to the Welcome to NexLog page. This page provides quick links to
useful online features: Configuration Manager and MediaWorks Express, as well
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as download links for the latest MediaWorks and MediaAgent clients, and PDFs
of the manuals for each NexLog product.
Figure 30—Web Browser Welcome Page
4.1.1. MediaWorks Express
MediaWorks Express is a streamlined web version of the MediaWorks desktop
software. To learn more, read the MediaWorks Express Manual (part number
141217].
4.2. SETUP: NexLog Configuration Manager
Eventide NexLog Configuration Manager has been tested with the following web
browsers:
o Mozilla Firefox 4 and above
o Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and 9
o Apple Safari
o Google Chrome 12 and above.
o Other web browser will most likely be usable as well, but you may
experience some visual glitches or missing functionality.
Logging into the Web Configuration Manager always requires authentication. By
default the username and password “Eventide”/”12345” are installed at the
factory. It’s always recommended that these defaults are changed to something
secure once the recorder is installed.
Once authenticated into from a web browser you will see the Eventide
Configuration Manager. On the Left side is a list of top level configuration
categories. Clicking on a category will expand it, so you can see the
configuration pages inside the category. Clicking on a link will take you to the
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corresponding Configuration Manager page. Each page is designed to allow the
user to configure or view the status of an aspect of the recorder's configuration.
The categories and their contents are listed below. Following the list is detailed
description of each page.
4.3. SETUP: System
4.3.1. System Info
Figure 31—Web browser System Info
This screen has 4 tabs labeled CONFIGURATION, IDENTIFICATION,
INTERFACES, and HISTORY. Clicking on a tab header will activate that tab.
CONFIGURATION
Recorder Serial Number: Assigned by the Eventide factory to identify a
recorder.
Current Firmware Version: Software version and build number running on the
recorder.
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IP Address: Address of the first Ethernet port in the system
MAC Address: Media Access Control address of the first Ethernet port in the
system
Total memory KB: Amount of usable RAM in the system
Current Time: Current local date and time of the recorder
Time zone: Time zone setting of the recorder
Storage Devices: List of the available storage devices in the recorder. (Hard
Drives, RAIDs, SAN, etc.) This list does not include archive devices.
In addition to all the information described above, this page contains two
additional important buttons, 'Import Configuration' and 'Export Configuration'.
Export Configuration allows you to export all of the recorder's configuration
settings for back up and safe keeping. 'Import Configuration' allows these
settings be re-loaded into the recorder. This is designed to allow you to back up
and restore your settings, for example, if you want to reinstall your recorder's
firmware. You can also use this option to Import the configuration from a
different recorder with identical hardware. It is not supported to Import
Configurations across different hardware (models, storage devices, Telephony
Boards). After performing a Configuration Import, it is important to immediately
reboot your recorder.
Identification
Recorder Name: The logger name that will be displayed by in remote clients.
Facility Name: The facility name (i.e.: location) that will be stored on archive
media.
Interfaces
This page displays a summary of the recording boards installed the system.
History
Recorder Run History: Displays a history of system startup and shutdown.
Also note that unplanned shutdowns are noted in this list and usually indicate
a power failure to the recorder. Unplanned Shutdowns can cause severe issues
and should be avoided.
Recorder Upgrade History: Displays a history of the first firmware install on
the recorder and subsequent updates.
4.3.2. Date and Time
This page allows you to configure your date/time and time sync settings. The
top two items are Time and Time zone. To modify these settings and have them
take effect when you click 'Save', you must first click the 'Edit' checkboxes. This
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is to protect you from accidental changes. Time and Time zone are very
important settings on a Recorder. Recordings generated during times when
these are incorrectly set, will be recorded on the wrong dates/times and may be
impossible to find or overlap other properly recorded calls. The configured time
zone is primarily used for displaying timestamps in Setup and on the front
panel. Regardless of the configured time zone, call records are actually stored in
the recorder's database in UTC time zone and converted for display and
querying. The time zone is also used for synchronizing with a time source that
provides Local Time rather than UTC (see below.)
In addition to setting your time and time zone, this page allows you to set your
Time Sync settings. Time sync settings allow you to slave your recorder's
internal clock to an external source to make sure the internal time and all
recording timestamps remain accurate and synchronized across your
organization. Eventide highly recommends the use of Time Sync. When you
select a Time Source via the Time Source Radio buttons, all configuration
settings relevant to that Time Source will appear below. The Available Time
sources are:
None: No Time sync, only the recorder's internal clock will keep time
NTP: Network Time Protocol. You can configure the IPs of up to 4 NTP Timer
Servers. Only one will be used at a time, but others are back ups in case the
recorder cannot reach a primary time source. Normally, the recorder will slowly
“slew” the current time to the time source’s time if they do not match to prevent
large time jumps. The Force Sync option will save the current settings and
immediately set the recorder time. This is useful when first setting up a
recorder.
IRIG-B: Only relevant if you have purchased the optional IRIG-B time code
reader for your recorder. IRIG-B is a time source protocol provided over a coaxial
cable. You can select whether your IRIG-B time source is providing current time
in the UTC Time zone, or in the Local Time zone you have configured under
'Time zone'
RS232: Some Time sources provide time over an RS232 (Serial) Cable plugged
into the recorder. Here you can configure which serial port you have your time
source plugged into and which of the supported formats the time source will be
formatting the timestamps in. You also select serial settings to match your time
source such as Baud Rate, Parity, Number of Data bits and Number of Stop
Bits. Like IRIG-B you can configure whether your time source is sending time
stamps in UTC or Recorder Local Time.
Wharton: Wharton is a special case of RS232 time sync which does not have
any options about baud rate or format, as this is hard coded as part of the
protocol. In addition, only the first serial port can be used for Wharton.
Regardless of the time source you are attempting to sync to, as a precaution
against the recorder receiving an invalid timestamp from the time source, the
recorder will only take action on a timestamp received if it is within 5 minutes of
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the recorder's own clock. Therefore when first syncing to a new time source it
may be necessary to first manually set the recorder's time 'in the ball park' of
the time source's time. In addition, the recorder will not allow large jumps in
time due to a time source input, but will instead slowly 'slew' the recorders time
towards the time source time. The recorder attempts to avoid time ever moving
backwards, as this could cause overlapping recordings.
At the bottom of this page is some diagnostic information about your configured
time source, from which you can see information such as jitter and reach ability
of your time source. This information is useful for troubleshooting problematic
time sources. It includes information about which time sources are configured,
which are reachable, and which, if any, the recorder is currently synchronized
to. You must click the refresh button to see the most recent data. The
formatting of this information is identical to the standard UNIX / Linux
command ‘ntpq –p’. For more information on the data format used search online
for ‘ntpq’.
4.3.3. License Keys
License keys are purchased from Eventide to enable licensed functionality. Your
recorder will ship with one or more license keys installed, and you may also be
sent additional license keys if you upgrade or add new options to your recorder.
License keys are entered on this configuration page. Every recorder has one
primary license key. If this key is not entered, or does not match the hardware,
the system will run normally for 7 days during a grace period, and then certain
functions, such as archiving and call playback will become unavailable until a
valid key is entered. You cannot delete a primary key or add more than one, only
edit your primary key. Each license key is a long number provided by Eventide.
When you add or edit a key, you will see it in the list along with either the text
'Not a Valid License Key for this Recorder' or a description of which features the
license key enables. If the license key itself is valid for your recorder but does
not provide adequate coverage for your installed configuration (for example if
you add in an additional Analog Board beyond your licensed channel count), the
particular field which is not adequate will be marked as “INVALID”. For the
license to function on your recorder, it must be valid for the recorder itself, and
cover the installed features. If your license key does not cover your purchased
features, such as if you purchase an additional Analog Board, you must get a
new license key from Eventide.
In addition to the primary license key which contains information on number
and types of channels, number of client connections, hard drive size, etc. There
are Add-on Keys. Add-on Keys can be modified, added, or deleted from the
system and contain additional 'add on' features such as Metadata Feeds or
Radio-Over-IP channels. Each add-on key can provide up to three features.
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Figure 32—Example license display with a Primary key and one Add-on license
4.3.4. Storage Devices
This page presents information about hard drives, RAIDs, or SANs connected to
your recorder. You can visualize the amount of free and used space, the serial
number of disk drives, and RAID Configuration and settings. The "Refresh"
button is used to refresh the information provided on the page. After the page
loads, you will see at the top of the page a Hard Drive Icon representing your
RAID or SAN along with a description of what type of storage device your
recorder has installed (Hardware RAID, Software RAID, or SAN). To the right of
the icon will be a status indicator if the drive is degraded or rebuilding. The red
text DEGRADED is displayed if the RAID is currently running in a degraded
state. If the RAID is rebuilding, the yellow text 'REBUILDING' will be displayed
as well as the current percentage of the rebuild that is complete. When a RAID
is degraded, there is no data redundancy so it is important to replace the failed
drive as soon as possible. Also displayed is an indicator of how full the storage
device is. On a heavily loaded system or a system that has been running for
some time, it is normal for a storage device to appear as full or almost full at all
times. This is because the recorder is usually configured to remove older,
unprotected media records as new media records begin.
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Figure 33—Hardware RAID 1 storage devices
To the left of the icon is an icon that looks like a plus sign. Click this icon to
expand the storage device to see details about the device:
The detail view will display information about the sizes of each partition on the
drive, its size, and how much free space remains. Above this is a 'history'
button. Pressing this button will display the device history, which is a log of
important events that have occurred on this drive, such as RAID Degrades. The
'Disks' heading which is only displayed for RAID Systems displays disk drives in
the RAID. For each drive the Device ID and Serial Number of the Hard Drive are
displayed. In addition, the current status of the drive is displayed. The possible
status values are as follows:
ACTIVE: The drive is currently active and functioning in the RAID
DEGRADED: The drive is in the RAID but not providing redundancy, either
because it is failed or because it is still being rebuilt onto.
REBUILDING: A new drive has been added to the RAID or an existing drive is
being synced into the RAID.
REMOVED: There was a drive in this position (slot) in the RAID but it has been
removed. RAIDs with REMOVED drives are by definition degraded. A new drive
should be put in the REMOVED slot and added to the RAID as soon as possible.
FAULTY: On software RAIDs this state indicates an otherwise well-functioning
drive that has been forced into a failed state by a user. This state is the first step
in removing an otherwise functioning drive.
IDLE: The drive is not associated with the array in any way.
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The 'Options' button next to the drive status will give you a menu of options for
the selected drive:
History: View a history of important events that have occurred to the drive.
Remove: will remove the disk drive from the RAID if it's a hardware RAID or if
the device is already FAULTY or DEGRADED
Set Faulty: option to begin the removal process for a Software RAID system on
a drive that is currently ACTIVE
Add: A drive that is IDLE or REMOVED can be added into a RAID to be utilized
by the RAID
The serial number displayed for each drive in the RAID can be helpful in the
case of a failed drive, to verify which drive needs to be replaced.
4.3.5. Configuration Files
Here you can view and edit configuration files stored on the recorder. Most of
the features that are configurable via files would rarely need to modify by end
users. The contents for these files should be provided by Eventide or your
Eventide Dealer and simply pasted into the edit box. However some of these,
such as configuration files for VoIP Gateways are commonly edited by end users.
Select your configuration file from the list and press the 'View/Edit' button.
Figure 34—Configuration files
Make any necessary changes here and press ‘Save’ to save your changes.
Briefly, here is a description of the available files and their descriptions:
Metadata Integration Configuration: Configures Serial and IP Based Data feed
formats and actions the recorder should take upon receiving the data. Utilizing
this configuration file requires an Add-On Key for "Metadata feeds". This feature
is generally used when integrating the recorder to a data feed such as ANI/ALI
or SMDR which provides additional information about the calls being sent to the
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recorder. Generally, when you purchase a license key for a Metadata Feed, the
price will also include having Eventide write and provide the configuration file
for your feed for you to paste in, so you will only need to modify yourself this file
if the format of your Metadata feed changes or if Eventide or your dealer
recommends a modification to change a behavior or resolve an issue you are
experiencing with your Metadata feed.
Custom Script Source File: If you purchase a Custom Integration for your
recorder from Eventide, Eventide will provide a signed script that you load onto
the recorder by pasting it into this file. This script will implement the custom
behavior or integration purchased.
Custom Script Configuration File: If a custom integration purchased and
installed on your recorder has any user adjustable configuration parameters,
this file is where you would edit those parameters. The format and meaning of
any parameters would be specific to your integration.
4.3.6. Power Off
This screen allows a user to remotely power off or reboot a recorder. When
rebooting a recorder it’s recommended that the recorder be physically available
in case any issues occur. These actions are included in the audit history.
4.4. SETUP: Reports
4.4.1. Recorder Reports
This Setup Page provides access to the Eventide NexLog Web Reports Reporting
Package. Web Reports provides a list of available report types which can be run.
After selecting one of the report types and clicking the "Run Report" button, you
will be taken to a page where you can enter custom parameters for the report.
Which parameters are available depend on which report type you are generating.
Once you have selected all your parameters, click the 'Run Report' button to
continue, or the 'Cancel' button to return to the previous screen without
running the report.
Your report will be generated using the parameters you specified and will open
in a new browser window. On the top of this window will be a 'Close' button to
dismiss the report when you are finished looking at it. Note that reports may
take up to several minutes to generate and display, especially if you are running
a report over a large range of channels or dates, as the Web Reports engine
must sift through a large amount of data in the database in order to generate
the report. It is important to be patient and not click 'back' or 'refresh' in your
browser while waiting for a report to be generated. Each report consists of a title
followed by one or more charts or graphs. In your web browser, you can often
'mouse over' parts of the graphs to see additional information. If you wish to
print your report, you can do so by using your Web Brower's build in 'Print'
functionality, e.g.. File->Print or File->Print Preview in Mozilla Firefox.
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If the combination of parameters selected and data available in the recorder's
database does not provide enough information for Web Reports to draw a
specific graph or table, that graph will be replaced by a 'Not Enough Data'
Message in your report. These messages will occur, for example, if you attempt
to generate a Month-by-Month Report during your recorder's first month of
usage, or attempt to generate a channel-by-channel report and give a channel
range which does not have any recordings recorded on it.
Note that Dates and Times specified in Reports are generally in UTC and not
your local time zone.
Figure 35—Example report for Month at a glance
The remainder of this section will discuss some of the specific reports available:
Call Count by Metadata Field: The parameters are a month and year and a
Metadata field (Metadata Fields are configured under Recording->Custom
Fields). The report will contain a graph showing the call counts of the top 50
values in that metadata field. For example, if you select 'CallerID' as the
Metadata field, and January 2011 as your month, you will see a graph of the
call counts for each of the 50 most common numbers from which calls were
recorded.
Month at a Glance: For this report, you will choose a specific month, such as
'January 2011', and a set of channels on the recorder via a Multiselect List Box.
The Report will contain several graphs of call activity during the month on the
selected channels broken down in various ways. For example, you will see a bar
chart of call count per channel, and line graphs showing call volume by day and
call volume by hour-of-day. In addition, you will see a bar chart of "total record
time per day' showing how many channel/minutes of data were recorded during
a specific day of the specified month on the channels selected.
Duration Outliers: A troubleshooting or abnormality report to show you how
many very short or very long recordings were recorded. You select a Start Date
and End Date for the report as well as a list of channels to be considered. In
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addition, you must choose a number of seconds for a recording to be considered
'Too short' or 'too' long for the purposes of the report. You will see per-channel
bar charts showing how many calls on each channel were less than or greater
than your thresholds in duration as well as the average recording duration for
each channel.
Day at a Glance: For this report you select a single day as well as a set of
channels you wish to run the report on. The report will contain data such as call
count per channel, and call volume per hour of day for the day.
Total Call Records on Recorder per Day: This report shows information about
how many total recordings existed on the recorder's hard drives at the end of
each day. This takes into effect both new calls being recorded, and old calls
being removed from the recorder due to your configured retention settings.
Unlike the reports above, this report's statistics include Recordings that are no
longer present on the recorder. The only parameter is a date range of dates to be
considered for the report. It shows the total number of recordings in the
database each day as well as the total amount of disk space used by those calls
each day. In addition you can see a chart showing the date/time of the oldest
recording in the database each day. This can show you where your recorder
stands as far as deleting old call records due to your retention settings.
Unarchived Call Report: This shows the same data as the Total Call Records
Per day, but only considers call records on the recorder that have not been
archived to any Archive Media. It also shows how many hours back from real
time your archive pointer is lagging, and how much data is being archived each
day. This can help you visualize the progress and state of your Archiving.
4.4.2. Quality Factor Reports
This tab is part of the Eventide Quality Factor software add-on, and its use is
detailed in the Eventide Quality Factor Software Manual, (part number 141216.)
4.5. SETUP: Networking
4.5.1. System Identification
On this configuration page, information related to the identity of the recorder on
the network can be modified or viewed. The actual name of the recorder is
configured under System: System Information, not here, but the domain name
to be used is configured under Resolve Domain. Resolve Search is used to
indicate what domain name should be searched in the event of machine name
that is not provided with a complete domain. For example, if the "Resolve
Search" was set to "bar.org" and you added an SMTP host (see Alerts and Logs:
Email) of "foo", when the machine tries to resolve this name it will append
"bar.org" to "foo" making "foo.bar.org" if it cannot initially find the machine
under the simple name of "foo". Usually "Resolve Search" is just set to whatever
is in "Resolve Domain".
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This page also provides space to optionally configure to DNS (Domain Name
Server) IP addresses, which the recorder will use to look up domain names. If no
DNS Servers are configured then any external server configured for the recorder
to access, such as an NTP Server or email server, must be provided as an IP
Address and not a domain name.
Figure 36—System Identification
4.5.2. Network Interfaces
This page allows for the configuration of each Ethernet Port (NIC) installed in the
Recorder. You will see one entry on this page for each installed NIC. Depending
on your NexLog Recorder and purchased options, you will have between one and
Four NICs available for configuration. For each NIC, you have the following
options to configure:
Type: DHCP, Static, or SPAN: This determines how the recorder will acquire its
Network settings for the specified NIC such as IP address and Net mask.
DHCP: If DHCP is selected, the data will be automatically received from a
DHCP Server on the Network. If No valid DHCP server is configured on your
network, this option will result in no IP address being assigned to the
recorder and it will be inaccessible via the network. Note that since remote
clients such as MediaWorks and MediaAgent, as well as Web Browsers need
to know the IP address of the recorder in order to connect and interact with
it, if DHCP is to be used, it is important to configure your DHCP server to be
aware of the MAC Address of the recorder and to always assign the same
known IP Address to that MAC. If DHCP causes a dynamic IP Address
change, clients will no longer know what address to connect to in order to
reach the recorder and other recorder functionality may not function as
expected.
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Static: If the type is set to Static, NexLog Configuration Manager will allow
Net Mask
IP Address
Network or Subnet
255.255.0.0
123.45.67.89
123.45.0.0
255.255.255.0
123.45.67.89
123.45.67.0
you to manually enter all the networking settings for this NIC. This
information should be provided by your Network Administrator. The Address
field is the IP Address being assigned to the recorder. Netmask, gateway, and
broadcast should all be configured as well.
SPAN: The third possible option is SPAN. A SPAN Port is a Port on a Network
Switch or Router that is "transmit only". When a recorder's NIC is connected
to a SPAN port, it cannot send any traffic to that port, only receive any traffic
that has been configured on the router to be forwarded to the SPAN Port.
SPAN Ports are used for passive monitoring and recording of VoIP or RoIP
traffic.
If at least two NICs are present in your NexLog Recorder, you will also have a
'BIND' option in Type. If BIND is selected on two Ethernet devices, they will be
bound together into a single network link which is configured as a unit, rather
than separately. This feature is sometimes known as "NIC Bonding" or "Link
Aggregation" and is used to provide Network redundancy.
Considerations When Using a Static IP Address
When using static IP addresses, the network parameters must be set manually
from the front panel. There are some things you must consider when setting
these parameters:
The IP address must not be in use by another device. If it is, then the
address may not be accepted, and even if it is accepted, operation will be
unreliable.
If you need the recorder to communicate with other devices on the network,
such as an administration client, an NTP server, or the Internet, then the
devices must either be on the same subnet, or on a different subnet that can
be reached over a gateway. In the latter case, the address of the gateway
must be added to the recorder.
The subnet is determined by the Net Mask setting. Your subnet is the result
of an AND operation between the 4-octet net mask and the 4-octet IP
address. See Table 7—Sample Net Mask and Subnet Settings for two common
examples of net masks. Your facility’s network administrator should be able
to help you in assigning the proper IP address, net mask, broadcast address,
and if necessary, gateway address for the recorder. If the recorder will be
sending email, one or more DNS servers must be entered.
Table 7—Sample Net Mask and Subnet Settings
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Dual NICs with Bonding Operation
When configured with NIC bonding, the dual network interface devices provide
failover operation. Because they share the same IP address, if one of the devices
or its connection should fail, the other device will maintain the network
connection.
For NIC bonding operation, you have the same option of using DHCP. Only, in
this case, it is automatically applied to both the primary and secondary network
devices. With DHCP enabled, the other network settings for both network
devices are set automatically by the DHCP server and cannot be changed
manually. The settings remain readable since the information, the IP address in
particular, may be needed to access the recorder remotely.
To configure two network devices with NIC bonding, change the Type to Bind on
each device, then save.
Once you have bound two devices together, they will be presented as a single
device, with an additional menu for Bond Type. This will let you configure the
kind of device bonding used.
Note: After you have configured the network interface devices for NIC bonding
operation, if you change them back to separate operation, you will then have to
shut down and restart the recorder for the changes to take effect.
There are three types of NIC Binding available. Be sure to select the type that
matches the requirements of your network’s configuration.
0 (balance-rr): Round-robin policy: Transmit packets in sequential
order from the first available slave through the last. This mode
provides load balancing and fault tolerance.
1 (active-backup): Active-backup policy: Only one slave in the bond is
active. A different slave becomes active if, and only if, the active slave
fails. The bond's MAC address is externally visible on only one port
(network adapter) to avoid confusing the switch. This mode provides
fault tolerance.
2 (balance-xor): Transmit based on (source MAC address XOR’ed with
destination MAC address) modulo slave count). This selects the same
slave for each destination MAC address. This mode provides load
balancing and fault tolerance.
4.5.3. VNC Settings
VNC stands for "Virtual Network Computing" and is a standard protocol widely
used for accessing PC Desktops remotely over the network. If enabled, you will
be able to connect to the recorder over VNC using any standard VNC Client such
as RealVNC or TightVNC. When you connect to the Recorder via VNC, you will
be able to remotely view and interact with the Recorder's Front Panel. (Though
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you will not be able to hear audio over this link as the VNC Protocol does not
provide audio forwarding.) To use VNC, you must first enable the service by
selecting the relevant check box on this page, and enter a password that VNC
Clients will be expected to provide in order to gain access. The password must
be entered twice to make sure it is entered correctly.
4.5.4. VPN Settings
NexLog is capable of joining a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to make the
recorder accessible via the internet to Eventide technicians in the case
assistance is required. Here you can enable that setting and enter the port and
host, which would be provided by Eventide if necessary.
4.5.5. SNMP Settings
SNMP stands for “Simple Network Management Protocol” and provides a
standard mechanism for System Administrators to manage devices over an IP
Network. Many third party commercial and free utilities and consoles exist for
monitoring systems using the SNMP Protocol. Eventide NexLog provides a
simple subset of SNMP Functionality (with Linux and SQL notifications) which
can be configured here. First, you must choose to enable SNMP on the recorder
and provide a community to join. An SNMP community is similar to a
Workgroup. Only SNMP Clients in the same community will be permitted to
query the recorder via SNMP to retrieve information.
In addition to allowing third party utilities to monitor basic recorder status, you
can configure an SNMP Trap, upon receiving which, the recorder will shut down.
This can be used with a UPS which can be configured to generate a trap upon
power failure (Though Eventide recommends using one of the UPS’s listed earlier
in this manual which provides a USB connection to the recorder, since more
information is available to the recorder in that case). If this feature is used, the
system generating the trap must be a member of the same community as the
recorder. In addition, you can limit what IP address the recorder will allow the
trap to be sent from by replacing the ‘*’ (meaning any) with the IP address in the
“Trap from IP’ field. Finally you must provide the OID (Object Identifier) of the
trap upon which you wish the recorder to shut down upon receiving, in the
“Trap from OID” box.
4.5.6. Packet Capture
Packet Capture is a diagnostic tool that allows you to easily capture a record of
network traffic for analysis in a third party application such as Wireshark. You
may be asked to use this feature in the course of a support call in order to allow
Eventide to troubleshoot a networking or IP call situation.
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From the Configuration Manager, clicking Export Capture File will prompt you
to save the capture as a file. When using packet capture from the front panel,
Export Capture File will ask for an archive drive to write to.
4.6. SETUP: Recording
4.6.1. Boards and Channels
The Boards and Channels Setup page is where you configure the loggers
recording functionality. Because of the real-time nature of recording, and the
large number of editable parameters (A recorder could have over 200 channels
installed each with dozens of configurable parameters), special care has been
taken to streamline the workflow of editing boards and channel configuration.
Hence, this page does not follow the same convention that most of the other
pages follow. The primary difference is that instead of editing settings and then
having to click a ‘Save’ button to take effect, when you are on the main boards
and channels page, edits take effect live. Trying to adjust gain one decibel at a
time while viewing the results on a level meter, for example, would not be
possible without a live environment as it would take countless tweak , submit,
check cycles. Note that even if your Web browser does not support the dynamic
nature of editing directly on the live page, you will still be able to edit channels
using the 'Edit Channel' page for making changes.
Figure 37—Packet Capture
A Board on a NexLog recorder is another name for "Recording Interface". The
term comes because most Recording interfaces are exactly that, PCI Boards
installed in the recorder, but there are also "Virtual Boards" such as VoIP
Boards which are not physical boards in the system. Each board has its own
configuration settings, and one or more channels that exist on that board. For
example, an Analog board with connections for 16 analog channels (2 wires per
channel) would be considered a "16 Channel Analog Board". Physical boards are
constrained to a certain channel capacity via hardware. To change an 8 Channel
Digital board to a 24 Channel Digital board requires physically removing the
board and purchasing and installing a new one. Virtual Boards can often have
their channel capacity expanded simply by purchasing a license and
reconfiguring them, provided the recorder has enough capacity to handle the
additional channel load.
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View modes
There are two primary views of the main Boards page, which are toggled via the
"View by Channel" check box at the top of the page. If "View by Channel" is
disabled, the main view shows each board installed. Each board can be
expanded to show the channels within that board. If 'View by Channel' is
checked, the boards are not displayed at all, just all of the channels on the
system in a single list all at once, but there is no way to access the board
settings, only the status settings. Which view you use depends on what task you
are attempting to complete and personal preference. All options are accessible
with View By Channel Disabled, but for some tasks it may be more convenient
to View By Channel and see all the channels not grouped by boards in a tree
view. Note that due to the live nature of this page, some browsers may cause
high CPU load on slower PCs if the ‘View by Channel” option is enabled on high
channel count systems. If this occurs, simply disable the ‘View by Channel”
option.
Browser Support
Note that real time status displays of levels are not available on all browsers.
Internet explorer 8 and below will not display the level graphs as seen in Figure
23. In addition the detail level display will not update in real time in some
browsers.
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Figure 38—Boards and Channels page view by board
Navigation
With View By Channel disabled, the Boards Channel will show one Installed
Board Per row. The left most icon that looks like a Plus sign will expand the
board so that all of its channels can be viewed below it and the plus sign will
turn to a minus sign. Clicking that minus sign will "roll up" the channels into
the board. Clicking on the Boards row will bring you to the “Board
Configuration" page where board settings for the can be modified. The 'Edit
Board' page will be discussed in detail below. The next two columns display the
board type (e.g., Analog, or Voice over IP), and the number of channels on the
board. There will also be a column that tells if the board is enabled or disabled.
Boards that are disabled are not currently recording. For physical boards there
is an additional field that tells if a board is "Missing" or "Present". A Missing
board is one that was previously in the system, but has been removed. The
board configuration and all configuration settings for it remain in the database.
To remove the configuration settings and board entry for the missing board, you
can delete the board from the 'Edit Board' page.
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Expanding the board entry to display channels, or using the 'View by Channel'
option will display one row for each channel. Each channel row shows seven
configuration settings for the channel along with a "More" button for displaying
all options for the selected channel on one page. To see and edit all settings in a
non-live environment for a single channel, you can use the "more" button.
However, it is often more convenient to modify channels settings directly on this
page where they take effect immediately and you can see the values for multiple
settings at once. However, there is only space to display seven options on this
page and there are much more than seven available options. the seven fields
default to the most commonly configured options, but you can click on the
header above the table showing the channels to modify what field shows in that
column. When you click the header, the column description will become a
dropdown box which can then be modified. This way you can display and your
choice of column headers.
Editing values inline
To edit a value, simply click the cell you want to edit, for example, Channel 12's
channel name. The cell will change to an edit control and when you click out of
the cell or hit return, the value you changed will take effect immediately. Most
options are either edit boxes where you can type your value, such as a Channel
name, or a dropdown list where you select an available value from the list, for
example Detect Type. A few options are represented as checkboxes or sliders
where appropriate.
The down arrow key will submit the changes for the current cell being edited
and select the cell below for edit.
The escape key will cancel an edit and set the cell back to the original value
If you want to change a channel value for all channels in a board at once, a
shortcut is provided. Simply click on the header of the column you wish to
change, and scroll down to and select 'Set All'. The column header itself will
change to an edit control and changes made there will take effect for all
channels in the board, for example to change the VOX Threshold of all channels
on an analog board to the same value at once. In addition, you can select "Insert
Column" to insert an additional column into the table.
Doing a “set all” on certain fields trigger special actions other than setting all of
the channels to the value specified.
Name: Appends the channel ID relative to the board to the end of the specified
name
RTP IP: increments the last Octet of the address unless the value is “127.0.0.1
or “dynamic”
RTP PORT: increments the port number starting at the specified port. In
addition two ports can be specified to be mixed together delaminated by a “,”.
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In addition to all the editable parameters for channels, there are a few special
"read only" informational fields that are available for display Including the
Channel's ID, Board, and BoardID, as well as an Activity Indicator. The Activity
indicator is a real time indicator of the channels status. Grey means disabled,
Green is idle, and Red is recording.
Figure 39—Boards and Channels page view by Channels as seen locally on the Front Panel
The meaning of the editable fields will be discussed in the "Edit Channel" page
discussion below as the parameters there are the same.
Details level Graph
Clicking on channels “Input Level” parameter will expose a panel called the
“Detail Level Graph”. The Detail Level Graph will give a histogram of channel
levels. Note that this is only useful on certain recording interfaces.
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Figure 40—Boards and Channels Detail level graph as seen in the Chrome browser
The Channel Level Details view provides a precise way to configure recording
parameters. The yellow line indicates the current recording trigger point. The
current channel being viewed can be seen in the channel status indicator. Note
that changes to recording parameters take effect in real time, but do not effect
historical information.
Edit Board
This Configuration Manager allows all of the settings and information about an
individual board to be displayed and modified. To edit a board click on the row
describing the board from the main boards and channels page.
The first tab contains information and status about the board.
The Board Name: e.g. "16 Channel Analog Board"
Serial: The board's serial number. For a physical board the serial number is
actually burnt into the boards ROM. For a virtual board, this is a GUID (Unique
ID) created when the board was added to the system
Channels: The number of channels the board contains
Position: Boards added to the system are numbered starting at zero. This is the
number of the board. This is not the physical position of the board
Address: The physical location of the board. For a physical board it’s the PCI
Bus and Slot number, for a Virtual board it’s the IP address of the board
resource
Detected: For a Physical board, zero if the board is missing, 1 if it’s detected.
Undefined for a virtual board
Code: This is a status code for the board. The normal state should be “RI-FAIL-
NONE”.
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All boards also have an "Enable" checkbox to enable or disable a board. By
default when boards are added to the system they are enabled. Note that if you
disable a board it will not record. It may be necessary to disable a board if you’re
upgrading to a board with a higher channel capacity or if the board is
malfunctioning and needs to be replaced. In some installations it’s a good idea
to disable a board before making settings as to not make recordings before, for
example, naming your channels.
The remainder of the informational and editable fields on the 'Edit Boards" page
are dependent on the board type:
Digital PBX Tapping Board
(Audio codes NGX) 8-channel, 16-channel, and 24 channel versions
Firmware Version: The version of the firmware loaded onto the PBX card, for
diagnostic purposes only.
PBX Type: For a NGX Board to be able to record from a PBX, the PBX Type
configured must be set to the model of the connected PBX. For PBX Model,
version, and phone set compatibility, please contact Eventide.
Telco Encoding: This is the companding used on the digital voice sent between
the PBX and the Phone. This is the format of the voice actually sent across the
wire and is unrelated to any companding or compression codecs used to store
the data on the recorder itself. If this is set incorrectly for your PBX, the
recorded audio will sound scratchy and overdriven. MULAW is generally much
more common than ALAW.
Eventide Analog Boards
8-channel, 16-channel, and 24 channel versions
Encoding: With the Analog board, all channels on the board must be set to the
same Compression format. This setting is configured here. GSM 13Kbps will
produce recordings that use the least amount of disk space, while Mulaw
64kbps will provide the best audio quality at the expense of using approximately
five times as much storage space. Note that Mulaw recording is only supported
on systems with four or less Analog boards. 16kbps and 32kbps ADPCM will
provide intermediate compression options.
Notch Frequency: The Analog Board provides a Notch Filter to Notch out tones
in the input signal. The frequency to notch must be configured on a board wide
basis. In addition, the Notch Filter needs to be enabled for each channel on the
board, so you configure the frequency here, and then which channels on the
board it should be applied to.
Enable MDC1200: If enabled, this board will process MDC1200 Radio tones
which provide RadioID information (who is talking) on some Analog Radio
systems. In addition, an add-on license key must be installed to allow the
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feature to be utilized and a User Defined Field (Recording: User Fields) must be
added to the database to hold the RadioID. The field should be called RADIO_ID
Audiocodes T1/E1 Board Passive Board
These boards come in Single Port and Dual Port versions for recording one or
two T1 or E1 Trunks. The Dual Port versions simply provide the same
configuration options separately for each Port. For each port the options are as
follows:
Port Type: Whether the Trunk is a T1 or E1 (must be the same on both ports on
a dual port board)
Protocol: What Protocol is used on the T1/E1. Options are None (Recording is
VOX Only), ISDN, or CAS/RBS
Protocol Variants:
Line Coding: Whether the Line coding on the T1/E1 is AMI, B8Zs or HDB3
Framing Format: Whether the Framing format is SF,ESF, G704, or CRC4
Eventide Voice Over IP Gateway Virtual Boards
See Appendix F: Recording VoIP or RoIP Calls.
Eventide Local RTP / RoIP Virtual Boards
See Appendix F: Recording VoIP or RoIP Calls.
No changes made to settings on the 'Edit Board' page will take effect until the
'Save' button is clicked
Edit Channels
Clicking on the gear icon next to a channel allows you to set channel level
parameters. Note that most of the common parameters for a channel can be
configured in the main table channel table as well by clicking on a cell.
Figure 41—Editing the channel name inline
In addition to editing channel information inline you can also edit it by clicking
the gear icon.
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Figure 42—Editing the channel by clicking on the gear
Encoding: The field is editable and sets the encoding algorithm. For analog
boards all channels on the board are set to the same encoding. This is not the
case for digital and VoIP interfaces.
Choosing an Encoding Algorithm
The following encoding algorithms are available:
13 kbit/s GSM (factory default)
16 kbit/s G726
32 kbit/s G726
64 kbit/s Mu Law
The data rate indicates the amount of storage used per second of recording. The
default will give you the most channel-hours. Encoding algorithms always
represent a compromise between storage space and perceived quality. All the
algorithms listed are general-purpose, and are not restricted to voice. You might
want to select either the 32 or 64 kbps algorithm if your recordings are going to
be used by other decoding equipment, such as with fax recording. Fax in
particular is very sensitive to the compromises made in reduced-bit-rate
encoding. The human ear is much less so.
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You can experiment with these algorithms to get the best balance between
sound quality and storage space.
Name: Editable with an attached or on-screen keyboard.
The channel name can be up to 64 characters. It can identify the signal source
for each input channel. Telephone number, radio station call letters, ATC
frequency and function, or any other free-form data may be entered here. While
up to 64 characters of data may be entered and saved, display constraints
suggest that you choose the first few characters most carefully. There is no
requirement to modify these identifiers. The factory default “Channel 01” ...
“Channel nn” may be serviceable.
AGC: Activates or deactivates Automatic Gain Control for Analog channels.
Automatic Gain Control assures that recordings take advantage of the full
dynamic range of the recording process. If you record at too high a level, the
signal will “clip” and sound very distorted. If you record at too low a level, the
signal will sound very soft and have a poor signal-to-noise ratio. Enabling AGC
gives extra margin when recording telephone calls where the local party may be
much louder than the distant one-it will boost the gain by up to 24dB when the
distant party is speaking. AGC should be enabled in most cases. It can be
disabled in installations where audio levels are well-controlled (e.g., broadcast
radio stations).
BEEP: Enables a “Beep tone” to signify to callers that the call is being recorded.
Activating the beep places a short, distinctive tone on the respective channel of
the input connector. This tone is approximately 65 milliseconds in duration at a
frequency of 1455 Hz. It serves to indicate that the call is being recorded, and is
required by some state laws. Of course, the beep will only be audible to the
callers if the recorder is connected directly to the telephone line in question; if
an amplifier or other device is interposed it will serve no purpose. Beep tones are
only generated on Analog Input Boards, not on Digital PBX or T1/E1 interface
boards.
DETECT: This parameter determines when an input channel is active and should
be recorded. It establishes the primary recording control for the channel.
The following are valid values for this parameter:
VOX: (default) Starts recording if the voice (vox) or audio input signal is
above the configured Vox threshold setting, and stops recording if the signal
drops below that setting for the configured hold time.
TRUEVOX: [RTP only.] In regular VOX mode for RTP channels, the presence
of data on the line will trigger recording, but some environments will
transmit large durations of data that is actually silence, so this mode will
analyze the contents of the packets and evaluate recording based on the
volume of the contained audio.
TRV: Starts recording if the DC input voltage is lower than the configured
TRV (Tip-Ring Voltage) threshold, indicating an off-hook condition, and stops
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if the voltage rises above the configured setting for a period equal to or
greater than the configured TRV Hold time. Note that TRV detect is only
available for Analog boards and is only useful for audio sources that provide
this DC voltage in addition to the analog signal (such as standard analog
phone lines)
On: Records the channel continuously. For voice, audio, or call recording, it
records regardless of input signal or voltage conditions. (This is useful if
there are periods of silence that need to be recorded, such as dead air on a
broadcast station or long periods of dead silence in a courtroom.) For screen
recordings, the recording includes when the screen saver is on. This setting
is not affected by the Activity Timeout or Inactivity Timeout parameters.
Note: If recording Always, it can be helpful to break the recording into
smaller segments (such as 1-hour segments).
GPIO: Uses an input signal from an optional General Purpose Input/Output
(GPIO) board to trigger recording start and stop. The pin pair that carries the
input signal is specified in GPIO Pin column. Recording starts on a high
signal and stops on a low signal. This allows a variety of external devices to
trigger recording.
Scheduled: Uses Scheduled Recording to start and stop recording.
Script: Records based on start/stop requests from the NexLog Recorder
itself. This is used in conjunction with custom scripts or other specialized
programming created by Eventide Customer Engineering as a contracted
professional service. This setting is not affected by the Activity Timeout or
Inactivity Timeout parameters.
Disable: Disables recording for the channel.
Hook / Audio: These options are used for VoIP and Digital lines. They make
start / stop decisions based on the available signaling from the data source
connected to the channel. The exact behavior is dependent on the source.
For example on an ISDN PRI Channel, this causes the recorder to take cue
based on the ISDN Call Connection messages on the line. On Some PBXs
this will use the actual hookstate of the phone, while others (which do not
provide accurate hookstate), the recorder will use combinations of lights,
button presses, etc.
Note: Channels on T1/E1 boards may display a non-modifiable DETECT value of Data
Channel. When using ISDN Protocol over T1 or E1, one of the channels on the
trunk is reserved as a data channel and does not contain any voice data. The
recorder will automatically set that channel’s detect value to Data Channel and
grey out that channel on the front panel.
VOX Threshold: This sets the trigger level for recording when Record Enable
Mode is VOX. A value between -48dB and 0dB is typical. The factory default is 32dB. This setting is only used for Digital PBX, T1/E1, and Analog boards. For
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VoIP, VOX detect mode triggers off the presence or absence of RTP traffic, not
the actual levels.
VOX Hold: If Detect is set to VOX , this sets the number of seconds the channel
will continue recording after the signal drops and remains below the threshold.
The factory default is 8 seconds.
Setting this for too long a value will record long periods of silence at the end of
transmissions; too short a value may break a single call into apparent multiple
call records at pauses on the conversation.
TRV Threshold: This sets the DC voltage at which a phone line is assumed to be
in the off-hook state and eligible for recording. On a normal, clean telephone
line, this does not have to be set too finely. On-hook voltages are typically 40-55
volts, off-hook under 10 volts. The factory default of 28 volts will probably be
suitable.
Noisy telephone lines, lines at a great distance from the central office, and lines
that are recorded at one location but answered at another can have unusual
voltage profiles and may require adjustment. This setting is only available on
Analog boards.
TRV Hold: If Detect is set to TRV, this sets the number of seconds the call will
continue to be recorded after the telephone goes on-hook. The factory default is
5 seconds. The on-hook state is then considered to define the end of the
conversation.
With a line that has normal ringing voltage on it ( +/-105V at 20-30 Hz), TRV
will also respond to the ringing voltage. This means that, with a default of less
than four seconds, each ring will appear to be a separate call. By setting TRV
hold to five seconds or more, with a normal ringing cadence only one call will be
logged from the beginning of the ring to completion of the conversation.
If you have set a channel to TRV, a special (non-programmable) feature will
detect and flag a disconnected line if the tip/ring voltage stays below 3 volts for
1 minute. If this happens, it generates a severity 2 (warning) alert indicating
signal loss (Alert #9016). When the voltage equals or exceeds 3 volts, it
generates the corresponding “Resolved” alert for Alert #9016 to indicate the
signal is restored. TRV Hold setting is only available on Analog boards.
Input Gain: Gain (or attenuation) in dB of the input channel - used to set
recording level on analog boards.
Input Level: Real-time display of signal input level - useful for setting channel
gain. This is not an editable item. This information is very useful for diagnosing
recording problems, such as one call being broken up into multiple calls. Note
that depending on the detect type this can either be TRVolt readings or VOX
readings. Input level is available for Analog boards.
TRV Level: This non-editable item shows you the real-time minimum, maximum,
and current value of the DC voltage at the channel input. The current value will
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indicate if the phone is on- or off-hook; the Min and Max will show the highest
(on-hook) and lowest (off-hook) voltages seen by the channel input. If the
current value fluctuates over a wide range when you are not using the
telephone, it probably means that the line is very noisy. This information can
help you set the TRV Thrsh value or diagnose problems such as spurious calls.
This setting is only available for analog channels.
Activity Timeout: Timeout value in seconds. When set, alert #3001 (“Channel
was active for more than X seconds”) is issued if a channel is continuously
active for longer than the timeout value. The factory default is to disable this
function. This setting does not affect the actual recording of the call. It simply
issues an alert.
Activity Timeout is useful for calling attention to open or defective telephone
circuits. When a channel is set for TRV detection, a LOW voltage activates it. If
the circuit is open due to a broken wire, the voltage will always be LOW, and the
recorder will issue an alert if this condition persists. If you are going to use this
feature, then you should set this value to one that is longer than any reasonably
expected call or message to avoid nuisance alerts.
Inactivity Timeout: Timeout value in seconds. When set, alert #3002 (“Channel
was inactive for more than X seconds”) is issued if there is no activity on the
channel for longer than the timeout value. The factory default is to disable this
function.
This setting does not affect the actual recording of the call. It simply issues an
alert.
Inactivity Timeout is useful for alerting you to circuits that should have signals
but do not. If you are monitoring a radio channel and the radio is turned off, the
inactivity timeout will eventually call this to your attention. Likewise, an unused
(but active and paid-for) telephone line can be identified with this feature. Of
course, legitimate inactivity can span weekends and holiday periods. Setting
periods too short can result in nuisance alerts.
GPIO Pin: Specifies a value indicating the input pin pair on the GPIO board that
is used for triggering recording to start or stop. (This field is used with the detect
GPIO setting.)
For the NI PCI-6503 24-channel GPIO board, values are as follows:
0: specifies pin pairs 47+48 (PA0)
1: specifies pin pairs 45+46 (PA1)
2: specifies pin pairs 43+44 (PA2)
3: specifies pin pairs 41+42 (PA3)
4: specifies pin pairs 39+40 (PA4)
5: specifies pin pairs 37+38 (PA5)
6: specifies pin pairs 35+36 (PA6)
7: specifies pin pairs 33+34 (PA7)
8: specifies pin pairs 7+8 (PC4)
9: specifies pin pairs 5+6 (PC5)
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10: specifies pin pairs 3+4 (PC6)
11: specifies pin pairs 1+2 (PC7)
PBX Digital Sync Errors: This column is only important for Digital PBX tapping
boards; it is used for installation and troubleshooting. The data will look like
this: 1.1 / 0.66 [2,1,0]. The first two numbers are signal levels in volts. The first
of the pair is the level of the signal coming from the PBX, and the second is the
signal level coming from the phone set.
The three numbers inside the brackets are the total error counts for the channel
since the last reconfiguration or restart:
Sync errors are more general errors on the channel as a whole.
PBX errors are errors in the signal from the PBX.
Phone errors are in the signal from the phone.
These errors can signify problems and can affect recording: if the errors are
increasing at a steady rate, it indicates that there is a problem with the
telephone line connected to the recorder. However, if the error counts aren’t all
zero but do not increase, it might not be an indication of a serious issue: for
example, someone may have unplugged and then plugged back in a phone.
Problems can be caused by:
Line issues (bad taps, multiple taps, line lengths, tap lengths, marginal
wiring between the phone and PBX).
Unsupported phone set or line card.
The wrong PBX is set in the board configuration.
Steps for Setting Levels, Thresholds, and Hold Times
It is undesirable for single conversations to be broken up into multiple calls.
There is a lag between each stop and start, so some of the conversation will be
lost. Setting levels and thresholds properly will help you avoid this condition.
This applies to channels set for VOX detect.
If you are seeing this condition, or if you simply want to check how well the
default parameters match your facility, try this procedure:
Disable AGC
Set the Input Gain. It should be set with signals that best match what will
be seen during normal operation. Watch the values and adjust the gain so
that the current value ranges between -6dB and -1dB while a signal is
present.
Enable AGC (if desired). Not recommended for broadcast recording,
recommended for communications or telephone channels.
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Using the Input level or the detail levels graph note the VOX Cur value with
no signal present, but with the cabling still connected to account for line
noise. Then note the VOX Cur value with the lowest-level input signal that
you are likely to see during use.
Set the VOX Threshold using the values from the previous step. The
threshold should be higher than noise but lower than your lowest signal.
Another possible cause for conversations recorded on multiple separate calls is
Hold time. This would apply to both VOX Detect and TRV Detect. Conversations
with pauses longer than the Hold setting will generate a stop-recording signal.
When the conversation resumes, a start-recording signal will create a second
call. To determine if this is happening, listen to the last several seconds of a call.
If you hear a pause in the conversation longer than the Hold time, followed by a
second separate call of the same conversation, then the length of the pause
caused the stop-recording signal. If you wish, you can increase the Hold time.
The downside is that longer periods of silence will be recorded at the end of
EVERY call on that particular channel. For example, a 15-second Hold time on
Channel 3 will cause a 15-second period of silence to be recorded on every call
on Channel 3.
4.6.2. Replace Board
This section allows you to swap boards in your system for similar boards. This is
necessary in the unlikely event of hardware failure (due to a power surge) or to
expand channel count by replacing an 8 channel analog board with a 24
channel board, for example. When selecting the board to be replace it must be
removed from the system. The board that you are going to replace it with must
be physically in the system and disabled. Disable the board by going to the
‘Boards’ setup page and selecting the replacement boards configuration. When
you have a possible replacement candidate the Replace Board setup page will
show a submit button. If you do not a valid replacement configuration the
button will not be present and the text at the top of the page will give an
explanation for why you cannot do a replacement.
The act of replacing a board transfers all settings to the new board. This
includes channel ordering, channel names, and parameters specific to the board
type.
4.6.3. Retention Settings
Eventide NexLog Recorders store call data on their storage devices and provide a
built in database for immediate retrieval and playback of recorded audio. Once
the hard drives fill up with data, the oldest data will begin to be deleted from the
system to make room for new data as new recordings are made. The Retention
settings allow you to customize when this data is deleted.
Note that any Call Record which has been marked as "Protected" in the Front
Panel or MediaWorks will not be deleted to make room for new recordings
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regardless of retention settings. If both "Limit retention time" and "Limit
recording count" fields are disabled, then call records will only be deleted if the
hard drives are too full to store new recordings. Enabling and setting "Days to
retain Media Records" will cause all call records older than the configured
number of days to be deleted. For example, if set to 60 days, the recorder hard
drives will contain a rolling history of the past 60 days of recordings (assuming
adequate disk space).
In addition Max Number of Media Records allows a maximum number of
Recordings to be specified, if this number is surpassed, the oldest recordings on
the disk will be deleted to restore this constraint. It is beneficial to keep your
stored recordings under 10 million records to maximize database and recall
performance.
Note that these settings have no effect on Archives. Eventide recommends
Archive settings be properly configured and archive media to be properly
maintained to put in effect a policy of making sure all recordings are archived to
one or more archive media before being deleted due to retention policy.
The Retention Filters tab lists all Resource Groups with Retention Rules
enabled. These groups are configured at the Resource Groups page, and the edit
Retention Groups button will take you to the Resource Groups page, with the
group filter set to show just Retention Groups.
Clicking the Advanced tab will expose some advanced configuration settings.
You generally would not need to change any of these settings unless
recommended by Eventide or your Eventide Dealer.
Delete parent Media Record: Some Custom Integrations purchased from
Eventide may be designed to break existing media records into multiple records.
When this is done, this setting determines whether the original media record is
also retained or deleted
Use Prefix on Ignore: Used with Some Custom Integrations for Motorola
SmartZone recordings where the same recording will be recorded from two
different towers. This setting will cause the secondary 'backup' recording to have
its channel name prefixed with DUP_ for 'Duplicate'
User Unknown as Channel name: Normally the channel name of a call will be
assigned with the configured name of the channel it is recorded on. This value
can then be overridden by a Metadata Feed or Custom Integration. If no value
comes in from these secondary sources, the name remains the name of the
channel. If this option is checked, and no value comes in via a Metadata feed or
custom integration, then the channel name for the recording will be set to
'Unknown' instead of the name of the channel it was recorded on.
4.6.4. Resource Groups
This page allows you to view and manage Resource Groups. A Resource Group
is a configured set of one or more resources available on the recorder, and the
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rules that apply to those resources. Resources are the call sources on a
recorder, and they are identified by channel name, physical channel id, and talk
groups. Leveraging these rules and groups allows you to gracefully administer
your NexLog recorders in more powerful and flexible way than before.
The Resource Groups feature is new in NexLog 2.2.0, and supersedes the
Channel Groups feature present in earlier versions. Resource Groups allows you
to manage all policy for a set of resources, instead of having a separate channel
group for each rule. For example, if you have a group of channels recording Fire
Department calls and another set for Police, you can now have a Resource
Group named Fire that contains all channels with names that start with Fire,
that grants permission to the correct users and follows the legal requirements
for keeping Fire recordings, all in one place.
Resource Group Rules
The rules available are:
Permission: Grant access to these resources to a list of users. The users can
then use these resources when browsing, exporting, searching, live
monitoring, etc., based on the other permissions they are assigned on the
User: Permissions page or are currently granted by being a member of a
User Group.
Archive: By default, an archive drive archives calls from all resources, but when
included in an archive rule, only calls from the group’s resources will be
archived on the drives configured. This way a recorder that is split between
Fire and Police duties can archive its Fire calls to one drive and its Police
calls to the other. Note that only one archive group can control a specific
archive drive at a time; when a new rule is configured using a drive in use by
another rule, it supersedes the previous rule.
Playback: Groups calls at record time such that they get played back
simultaneously in ‘group playback mode’.
Record: Recording on all resources in the group will start if the configured
“Master Channel” starts recording. The Master Channel must be specified by
Resource Name.
Retention: Specify duration that the calls from the resources in this group will
be retained before deletion. This number must be smaller than the global
retention setting for it to take effect.
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Figure 43—Resource groups
The main page is divided into two columns: the left displays all of the
configured groups, and the right shows all available resources. These lists can
be individually filtered at the top, so that you can look only at groups that have
Permission rules or Retention rules, or see only Named Resources or Physical
Channels. The full list of filters is shown below in figure 44.
Figure 44—Resource Group Filters and Resource Filters
At the bottom of the left column there is a summary of the currently selected
group, showing which rules are currently configured and active for that group:
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Figure 45—Resource Group Rules Status
Creating Resource Groups
There are three ways to create a new Resource Group. The easiest way is to use
the New Group button at the top of the left column on the Resource Groups
page found in the Configuration Manager under Recording. There also two ways
to create new groups in right-click menus that are detailed as we encounter
them in the discussion below. The New Group button will create a new group
and bring up the Group Edit window for that new group. Here you can name the
group, select which rules apply, and configure each of those rules.
Figure 46—Resource Group Edit: Permission Group View
Here we have a Resource Group named Front Hall, which has an active
Permission Rule, granting users DJones, KPark, NLanders and WKing access to
the channels in this group. A new group created with the New Group button will
have no resources, which can be added in the two column view. Rules can be
disabled by unchecking the checkbox; the rule’s configuration will remain saved
but not take effect while the checkbox is unchecked.
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Figure 47—Resource Group: Empty Group
Adding Resources to a Group
You can add resources to a group in a number of ways:
The named resources and physical channel numbers in the right column
can be clicked on to select them. Use Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click to select
more than one at a time. Highlight a group in the right column by
clicking on it. Then add the selected resources by clicking the leftward
facing arrows between the columns.
Select resources and a group in the right column as above, and then
Right-Click them to reveal a pop up menu that allows you to Add to
Selected Group.
That pop-up menu also allows you to create a new group with these
resources; it will open the group rules editor so that you can name and
configure this new group.
You can also select resources and click+drag them from the right column
into the group you want them to be added to.
You can right-click the name of the group and select from a menu, as
seen in the figure below. From this menu, you can add a Name Filter,
using * as a wild card to match multiple resources by name.
This menu also allows you to add a Channel Filter , with which you can
specify a range of resources by physical channel ID and their source,
which defaults to Local. The source field is only relevant to
configurations involving resources on the recorder originating from
Centralized Archive sources; if you want to group these, enter the serial
number of the Centralized Archiving source into this field. Click the X to
cancel and the Checkmark to save.
Figure 48—Resource Groups: Right Mouse Button Menu
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Deleting a Resource Group
You can delete resources from a group in two ways:
Select the Group in the left column, and click the X button between the
columns.
Right-Click on the group and select Delete Group from the pop up menu.
In both cases, you will be prompted to be sure that you really want to delete the
group.
User Groups and Default Resource Groups
Resource Groups integrates with User Groups, in that a User Group can be
configured to have User Permission Defaults. These defaults are a template
rather than an active rule set. Defaults are granted to users when they are
added to the group, but if the group’s defaults are updated, the changes are not
applied to the current members of the group.
Figure 49—User Group Edit
Following the behavior of previous NexLog versions the Browse, Exporter,
Researcher and Monitor groups by default have All Resources as a Default
Permission. Unless configured otherwise, all users in those groups will have
access to all local resources on the recorder.
User Specific Resource Permissions
In addition to permissions granted by a Resource Group with Permission Rules
including them, a User can be configured to have specific resource permissions.
A user may need to be given permissions to fewer resources than are granted by
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their membership in a user group, and by configuring it here you can narrow
those permissions down to the desired set by deleting the set granted by default
and recreating it with just the resources needed. Conversely, a user may have a
specific permission to access resources outside the normal scope of their user
group, in which case these resources can be added individually.
4.6.5. Custom Fields
By Default the NexLog Recorder Database stores several pieces of information
about each Record, such as the Channel Number and Name it was recorded on,
the Date/Time it started, and it’s Duration. In addition to these standard fields,
some optional features and custom integrations can fill in additional
information. Since there is no preset field in the database to hold this
information, you must configure a Custom Field to store the info. These fields
are populated by various optional and standard subsystems, or by custom
integrations. For example, upon a fresh installation, three custom fields are
automatically added: DTMF, Calling_Party and Caller_Id. These fields are
automatically filled in for calls which enter the system via certain board tasks.
For example, a call received on an Analog card which contains DTMF Tones will
have those tones automatically processed and the corresponding numbers
entered into the database record for that recording as long as the DTMF custom
field has not been deleted. If you are not using those fields they may be deleted
for your convenience.
In addition to the three preset Custom Fields, Certain optional features, both
licensed and base, may utilize a preset custom field and for those features to
operate, a custom field by the indicated name must be added. Examples of such
custom fields are MF_ANI for storing the MFR2 ANI Number transmitted on
some analog CAMA trunks, and RadioID for the ANI transmitted via MDC1200
on some analog Radio systems. Custom Metadata Integrations may require
additional custom fields, for example, an ANI/ALI Spill for a 911 Call Center
may contain information such as Customer_Name and Street_Address. These
custom fields could be added to the system, and the Metadata Integration
configured to populate them. Note that just adding a new custom field without
an integration to populate it will not provide a useful function, just empty fields.
Custom Fields can be enabled as columns in the Front Panel's Replay screen
and MediaWorks / MediaAgent clients to view the metadata associated with a
call.
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Figure 50—Custom fields for NG911 event logging
The Main Setup page for Custom Fields shows a list of all fields currently
configured, as well as a button to add a new custom field, and a button to Edit
or Delete a selected custom field. Simply select the desired field, and then the
desired action button. Each Custom Field has several options which can be
configured and viewed. These are:
Field Name: This is what the field will is called in the MediaWorks/Front Panel
Column and also how it will by identified by the Server. Any field name can be
used with a custom integration, but certain field names have specific uses on
the server. For example DTMF, CALLING_PARTY, CALLER_ID, MF_ANI,
MDC_ANI, and USER_ID are special fields. If these fields exist on the recorder
and the corresponding back end configuration options are enabled and
configured, they will be populated by the systems. Other fieldnames will only
ever be populated via Custom Integrations or manually by users using client
software. Field names are limited to alphanumeric characters and must start
with an alphabetical character. Underscores are also allowed and will be
translated to spaces for display purposes.
FieldType: What type of data the field will be designed to hold in the database.
This can be either TEXT or INTEGER. Text is generally always used unless
efficient database searching based on "greater than" or "less than" will be
utilized.
Verifier: Only used by Custom Integrations. Currently has no effect on a
standard recorder configurations.
Indexed: If this field is enabled, the recorder database will maintain an index on
the metadata field. This index will make searching on the field in Front Panel
and MediaWorks more efficient and fast, at the expense of additional CPU load
on the server to maintain the index. Fields that will commonly be searched on
should be indexed
Editable: If true, users will be able to edit the value of this field in MediaWorks,
Otherwise only the Recorder itself will be able to control the value of the custom
field for a call.
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When adding new custom field the above options can be configured. However,
when editing an existing custom field, only the Verifier and Editable options can
be changed. This is because the Field Name, Type, and Indexed Status end up
in the database schema and cannot be efficiently changed. Changing these
values would require deleting and re-adding the custom field, which would have
the side effect of deleting any information stored in this field for any recording
on the recorder.
Deleting a custom field using the 'Delete' Button will also delete any data stored
in the custom field for any recording in the database.
4.6.6. Call Suppression
The Call Suppression form provides the means to suppress, or prevent, calls
from recording (audio data will not be recorded, but the recorder retains nonaudio data about the calls). This feature can be used for a variety of purposes,
including implementing a legally mandated attorney-client privilege, or assuring
privacy for undercover officers or high-ranking officials.
Two mutually-exclusive suppression methods are provided:
Suppress on match (Blacklist): Suppresses recording for all calls that match a
telephone number in the list. The recorder discontinues recording a call as
soon as the telephone number is recognized.
Record on match (Whitelist): Suppresses recording for all calls except for
those that match a telephone number in the list.
The suppression method applies to the entire list of telephone numbers rather
than to individual telephone number entries. To select a suppression method,
click on the radio button next to it.
The Suppress DTMF feature applies to all call suppression. When recording is
suppressed for a call and this feature is enabled, the recorder will not store a
record of the telephone keypad dialing tones (Touch-Tones*) that occur during
the call. This can be useful to prevent the storage of sensitive data transmitted
by DTMF during a call, such as social security numbers, passwords, and
personal identification numbers. Click the Suppress DTMF checkbox to enable
this feature.
To suppress recording, you must select a suppression method and create a list
of telephone numbers. Then you must enable record suppression on a channelby-channel basis via the boards setup page. The following instructions describe
how to create and manage a list of telephone numbers.
To add a new entry to the list of numbers, click Add Pattern button. This allows
you to enter in Suppression Digits, and a Description.
Enter a full or partial telephone number. A call containing this numeric
sequence within its telephone number will cause a match. For example, if you
enter 800-555-1234, any calls from this number will cause a match, but if you
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enter only 555, any calls with this sequence within the number will cause a
match.
A partial number allows you to specify all calls from an area code or exchange.
Whereas the Blacklist method is typically used for very specific telephone
numbers, the Whitelist method is often used with a partial number sequence.
For example, if you want to match on an area code and exchange, you can enter
800-555. (Note that a call from 900-880-0555 will also match this number.)
Enter a description and click Add. The new should appear in the suppression
list.
Note that Blacklist or Whitelists affect all channels on the recorder and are not
configurable per channel.
4.6.7. NG911
This page allows you to easily configure your recorder to comply with the NG911
recording and event logging specification as published in NENA 03-008. Note
that you must receive licensing from Eventide before enabling the various
NG911 components.
The NG911 components are as follows
Create NG911 SIP Trunk: standard sip trunk with the addition of the ability
to receive geo location information in the form of Longitude and Latitude
coordinates.
Event “logging” interface for NG911 enabled PSAP components.
RTSP server for web based media retrieval.
4.7. SETUP: Archiving
4.7.1. Archives
In addition to the online storage that NexLog provides for recordings on its Hard
Drives (System: Storage Devices), the system also provides for archiving of
recordings. An Archive is a separate medium (DVD-RAM Disk, USB Hard Drive,
etc.) onto which calls back be archived for back up purposes. Archives also
provide a method to retain recordings that are deleted from the Recorder's Hard
Drive due to Retention settings (Recording: Retention) or disk space availability.
The NexLog Archives page allows you to view the status of and perform actions
on your archive drives.
NexLog supports three types of Archive Drives. The first drive type is physically
part of the recorder, such as DVD-RAM multi-Drives. These archive drives are
purchased with and licensed for use with your recorder. Since they are part of
the chassis, these archive drives will always show up in your list of archive
drives, regardless of whether or not media is currently present. Secondly, are
Archive drives that are physically connected and disconnected dynamically to
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the recorder, for example, external USB Hard Drives or USB Keychain drives.
These archive drives will only show up on the setup page when they are
physically connected to the recorder. A final class of archive drives are those
which are accessed via the network. Because these are not physically connected
to the recorder, the recorder has no way to auto-detect these. They must be
manually added to the recorder's configuration and configured. These archive
drives include Network Attached Storage Devices and Centralized Archives,
which is where one NexLog or Eventide Atlas Recorder archives call records to
another NexLog Recorder's database over the network.
At the top of the Archives Page, is a list of all the current Archive Drives in the
system. To the left is the archive drive name, consisting of the drive type and the
number of the drive on the system (e.g. DVD 1). Next is a box showing the
current status of the drive as well as a status bar giving a quick at-a-glance
indication of how full the drive is.
Figure 51—Archive display in web Configuration Manager
Note that this display is redundant when using the Front Panel locally. Info
screen has a similar implementation with the same functionality.
To the right of the status indication is a count of how many calls are currently
archived to the archive drive. If the drive is one that supports removable media,
the number of calls on the currently inserted media is displayed. In order to
perform an action on an archive drive, you must first click the drive to select the
one you wish to take action on, and then click the action button below which
corresponds to the action you wish to perform. Actions that are not applicable to
the currently selected archive drive, due either to the drive type or to the current
status of the drive, will be grayed out.
The available actions are:
Start Archiving: Enable archiving to the selected drive. Call Records will
begin transferring to the archive oldest-first beginning at the timestamp
indicated by the current archive pointer for that drive (see 'Configure' below).
Call Records that meet the criteria for archiving to this drive will continue
transferring one at a time until archiving is stopped (either manually or due
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to a condition set under 'Configure'), the drive fills up or another exception
occurs (such as an error writing to the media). Once the archive pointer
catches up to the current time, calls that meet the configured archive
criteria will be transferred as they are recorded.
Stop Archiving: Stops archiving to the selected drive. Call Records will
cease transferring until archiving is started again.
Eject: For an archive drive with removable media, such as a DVD-RAM, this
button will cause the CD Tray to open so the media can be removed. For
other archive drives, such as a USB Drive, this action will render the drive
safe to be unplugged without the risk of losing or corrupting data on the
drive.
Browse: For Archive device types which do not contain a live database for
call searching and retrieval such as DVD-RAM Drives, this command readies
the current media in the archive drive for playback/retrieval from both the
Front Panel and MediaWorks. It does this by constructing a temporary live
database on the recorder for the call records on the drive so they can be
efficiently searched. When an archive drive is in browse mode, new calls
cannot be archived to it until it is first taken out of browse mode.
Period Archive: Period archive allows you to manually archive a time range
to an archive. It also allows you optionally select only protected media to be
archived. Media must be formatted without any calls on it before period
archiving can be used.
Format: For archive types that can be formatted by the recorder, this action
will perform a format. Formatting the media will delete all existing data
currently stored on the drive, whether it is an existing NexLog Archive, or
data belonging to some other device or operation system. Always double-
check the media before you format it.
Media Info: Displays additional information about the media currently
inserted into the drive.
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4.7.2. Archive Configuration
This section has the same basic display as ‘Archiving: Archives’ but has different
control buttons:
Figure 52—Archive Configuration
Add Archive:
Archive drives which cannot be detected must first be added to the recorder so
that they show up as selectable drives on the Setup Archives page. Once added,
they can then be configured using the 'Configure' button. As will all archive
drives, the recorder must also have the correct license keys installed to be able
to access the archive drives. After clicking this button, you must select which
type of addable archive drive to add to the system. The options are Network
Attached Storage (NAS) which are also sometimes known as 'Network Shares', or
'Centralized Archive', which is another NexLog recorder which will be acting as
an archive device for the current recorder. You will be able to configure archive
parameters specific to the NAS or Catapult here, these options are identical to
the ones provided under 'Configure Archive' for the archive drive and will be
described below.
Delete Archive:
Archive drives that have been previously added (NAS or Catapult) can be deleted
via this button.
Archive Transfer:
If you insert previously–recorded archive media into a drive, this button can be
used to perform a restore operation, i.e., copy the calls from that medium back
to RAID. Several checks are performed before transferring the data:
Does the serial number of the recorder that recorded the archive medium
agree with that of the destination recorder?
Are the channel names of the recorder the same as the destination?
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Does the format of the data on the archive conform to that of the
destination?
Is there any problem with or damage to the archive medium to be
transferred?
Are all (or some) of these calls duplicates of calls already on the recorder?
If none of these are appropriate for the medium, or if you indicated that you
wish to proceed, the archive transfer will commence. All drives operate
independently. You can restore archive media in all available drives, or you can
even record archives on one medium while restoring from another.
Important! The restoration process cannot continue once the RAID is full, so unless you
have a special reason for doing otherwise, always restore from the most recent
archive backwards.
If you are restoring archives after a new installation, use the Set Archive Time
facility to make sure that new archives are only recorded from the present
forward. If you don’t set this and begin new archiving after you have restored
your archives from a previous installation, you might find yourself “re-archiving”
the restored archives.
Configure:
This screen allows you to configure your archiving drive. The archiving
parameters are as follows.
Settings
Drive Type: specifies the type of drive.
Data Archived: Specify the amount of data archived since install. This number
is in Bytes.
Archive Mode: Archive drives mounted inside the NexLog recorder are set to
sequential by default. Sequential means that after the current drive finishes
archiving it will start archiving on the next drive in the chain, assuming the
media is inserted and formatted without any data on it.
Auto Resume: A recorder that is turned off while an archive medium is being
recorded will automatically continue recording that archive from where it left off
when the recorder is restarted. If it isn’t enabled, then any archive media in the
recorder when power is applied will appear as they would if they were simply
inserted in the drive. This setting also controls auto resuming on NAS and
Centralized Archive drives after a network disconnect.
Auto Eject: Ejects the media after it’s full. This is only applicable for DVD
drives.
Format Protection: Protects the media from being accidently formatted until
the time on the recorder is greater than the oldest call on the media plus the
configured protection seconds. Note that this option only prevents you from
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