SIPREC

VoIPmonitor is a powerful VoIP packet sniffer and call recording tool that now offers robust SIPREC (Session Recording Protocol) support as a Session Recording Server (SRS). This dual capability means calls can be recorded either by capturing network packets directly or by receiving SIPREC streams from SIP infrastructure, providing seamless, standards-compliant call recording. This guide explores SIPREC’s role in call recording compliance across industries (with examples from the US and beyond) and how VoIPmonitor can be leveraged for both technical integration and commercial advantage. We cover meeting regulatory requirements like U.S. CFTC, FINRA, SEC rules, European MiFID II, and public safety standards like NENA i3, as well as best practices for PCI-DSS. By implementing VoIPmonitor as a SIPREC recorder, organizations enhance interoperability, ensure data immutability for legal audits, and open new revenue opportunities with compliance-driven solutions.

What is SIPREC?

SIPREC is an open IETF standard (defined in RFC 7866, with an associated metadata model in RFC 7865) for recording SIP-based communication sessions. It allows a SIP proxy or session border controller (SBC) to fork copies of voice/media streams to a dedicated recording server without disrupting the original call flow.

• Key Components:
  • Session Recording Client (SRC): The network element (e.g., SIP proxy, IP-PBX, or SBC such as OpenSIPS, Kamailio, Cisco CUBE) that initiates the recording session. The SRC sends call metadata (in an XML format) and media streams (RTP/SRTP) to the recorder (SRS).
  • Session Recording Server (SRS): The recorder that receives, stores, and processes the duplicated session (for instance, VoIPmonitor when configured as the SIPREC server).

• Key Benefits:
  • Compliance-ready recording: Helps meet legal call-recording mandates in regulated sectors like finance, public safety, and enterprise. (For example, trading regulations or emergency service standards often require all relevant calls to be logged and retained.)
  • Non-intrusive capture: The SRS is a passive endpoint for recordings. The recording session runs parallel to the main call via SIP signaling, so it does not interfere with call quality or reliability.
  • Scalability for complex calls: Supports multi-party calls, conference calls, and rich metadata exchange. SIPREC’s metadata (XML) describes participants, call identifiers, timing, etc., enabling accurate reconstruction of complex call scenarios in the recordings.
  • Interoperability: SIPREC is supported by many VoIP platforms (OpenSIPS, Kamailio, FreeSWITCH, etc.) and commercial SBCs (Cisco, Oracle, AudioCodes, Avaya, etc.). This broad support means a VoIPmonitor SRS can integrate with various vendors out-of-the-box, easing deployment in heterogeneous environments.

In a SIPREC workflow, the SRC (e.g., a PBX or proxy) sends a SIP INVITE to the SRS (recorder), embedding call details in the body (XML metadata) and then forwarding the RTP media streams. This standardized method is ideal for use cases where regulations require call recording. It lets service providers or businesses adopt solutions like VoIPmonitor to meet compliance needs without proprietary integrations, ultimately increasing the appeal and deployability of their recording system.

SIPREC for Legal Compliance

SIPREC has become a key enabler for compliance call recording in regulated industries worldwide. Laws and regulations typically mandate the recording and retention of certain communications, but they don’t always dictate how. By providing a standard way to capture calls and metadata, SIPREC helps organizations meet these requirements in an interoperable manner. VoIPmonitor’s support for SIPREC makes it a valuable tool for companies looking to comply with regulations (and even turn compliance into a selling point for their services).

• Financial Services (CFTC, FINRA, MiFID II): In the U.S., the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requires retention of all oral communications leading to commodity trades (e.g., CFTC Rules 23.202 and 1.35). FINRA’s Taping Rule 3170 mandates that certain broker-dealers systematically record calls. Meanwhile, in the EU, MiFID II and related regulations require investment firms to record and securely store communications (typically for 5+ years) that may result in a transaction. VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC SRS supports immutable storage and audit trails — aligning with SEC Rule 17a-4(f) and CFTC Rule 1.31 (which call for tamper-proof records) — helping financial organizations meet these strict record-keeping requirements.

• Next-Generation Emergency Services (NG9-1-1, NENA i3): The National Emergency Number Association’s i3 standard in the US mandates SIP-based call logging for Next Generation 9-1-1. Specifically, SIPREC is used for delivering 9-1-1 call audio and metadata to logging recorders (the SRS) in Public Safety Answering Points. VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC functionality allows PSAPs to implement redundant, metadata-rich recording of emergency calls as required by NG9-1-1 standards. (Similar initiatives internationally are also adopting IP/SIP-based recording for emergency services.)

• Enterprise Call Recording & Contact Centers: Businesses must navigate various call recording laws and privacy rules. For instance, call consent laws differ by jurisdiction (some regions or U.S. states require one-party consent, others require all-party consent for recording). SIPREC facilitates easy integration with existing phone systems (SBCs or PBXs), whether for always-on recording or on-demand capture triggered by policy. VoIPmonitor’s recorder can enforce data privacy measures — e.g. providing options to announce or beep during recording for consent, and offering pause/resume or data masking to avoid capturing sensitive information (useful for standards like PCI-DSS). This ensures that enterprises can record calls for quality or compliance purposes without violating privacy regulations.

• Business Case for VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC Feature: As regulations drive mandatory call recording in finance, public safety, and other fields, having SIPREC capabilities boosts VoIPmonitor’s marketability. VoIPmonitor as an SRS can easily integrate with SIPREC-enabled platforms (from open-source proxies to commercial SBCs like Cisco CUBE or Avaya Aura), allowing solution providers to offer “compliance-ready” call recording services. Features such as selective vs. always-on recording, multi-tenant support, long-term archiving, and e-discovery interfaces add value for clients. By leveraging these, vendors or IT teams can increase adoption of VoIPmonitor in environments where compliance is a key requirement, both in the US and internationally.

VoIPmonitor as a SIPREC Server

VoIPmonitor can function as a fully compliant SIPREC recording server (SRS) while still performing its traditional packet-sniffing capture. When SIPREC mode is enabled, VoIPmonitor listens for recording sessions from one or more Session Recording Clients and handles multiple streams of SIP signaling and RTP media. This flexibility means you can deploy VoIPmonitor in parallel with your existing network capture setup or use it purely as an SRS, depending on your needs.

• Dual Recording Modes: VoIPmonitor supports both native packet capture (sniffing traffic on network interfaces) and SIPREC-based capture (receiving streams via SIP). These modes can run concurrently, so an operator can record some calls via SIPREC while still capturing others via a SPAN port or network tap. This dual capability provides maximum deployment flexibility.

• Full SIPREC Compliance (RFC 7866 & 7865): Implements the standard SIP-based recording protocol, including handling of SDP and recording metadata (per RFC 7865). VoIPmonitor as SRS accepts SIPREC INVITEs, parses the included <recording_metadata> XML to correlate recorded call legs, and receives the RTP/SRTP streams for each session. It can also operate in secure environments (with TLS/SRTP) if properly configured, ensuring compliance with modern security requirements.

• Retention and Immutability: Offers policy-based retention and write-once storage options to meet record-keeping regulations. For example, recordings can be stored in an immutable format or on write-protected media (such as using S3 Object Lock or other WORM storage) to comply with SEC Rule 17a-4(f) and CFTC Rule 1.31, which require tamper-proof archives. Audit logs and cryptographic hashes of recordings provide a detailed trail to prove data integrity.

• Selective vs. Always-On Recording: Supports both selective recording (e.g. triggered by an API call, user action, or predefined rules to record only specific calls) and always-on recording of all calls. VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC implementation can handle thousands of simultaneous sessions, and its multi-tenant architecture allows segregating recordings by client or department — useful for service providers or large enterprises.

• Privacy and Consent Features: Provides tools to help comply with privacy laws and obtain consent. For example, VoIPmonitor can log and/or enforce that call recording announcements or beep tones are used, and it allows integration of triggers to stop or skip recording when needed. Administrators can configure it to anonymize or omit certain data from records to align with regulations like GDPR or CCPA.

• PCI-DSS Safe Recording: In environments like contact centers handling payments, VoIPmonitor supports PCI-DSS compliance by preventing sensitive cardholder data from being stored. Features include DTMF tone suppression (so credit card numbers entered via phone keypad are not captured in recordings) and the ability to pause/resume or mute segments of the recording via API when agents handle sensitive information, ensuring no prohibited data is recorded.

• Compliance & E-Discovery Support: VoIPmonitor’s recordings include detailed metadata (caller/callee IDs, timestamps, call IDs, participant info, etc.), which simplifies search and retrieval for compliance audits or legal discovery. It provides secure export and playback of recordings with chain-of-custody tracking and can enforce legal hold (preventing deletion of specific records). These capabilities ensure organizations can readily produce recordings to regulators or courts, with confidence in their authenticity.

Enabling SIPREC in VoIPmonitor (Configuration)

To activate SIPREC functionality in VoIPmonitor, you will need to adjust its configuration file (typically /etc/voipmonitor.conf). At minimum, set the IP address and port on which the VoIPmonitor service should listen for SIPREC sessions. Below is an example of the relevant configuration parameters:

# SIPREC support - enable VoIPmonitor as a SIP recording server (SRS).
# This works in addition to VoIPmonitor's native packet capture; you can use either or both.
# Use SIPREC for standards-based recording (RFC 7866) to meet compliance needs (CFTC, FINRA, SEC 17a-4, NENA i3, PCI-DSS, etc).
# To enable, set at least siprec_bind and siprec_bind_port.
# Also configure your SIP proxy or SBC (e.g., OpenSIPS, Kamailio, Cisco CUBE, Oracle SBC) as the SRC to send recordings to this SRS.

# IP address to bind the SIPREC server to (0.0.0.0 listens on all interfaces)
siprec_bind = 0.0.0.0

# Port to listen on for SIPREC INVITE sessions (default example here: 5099)
siprec_bind_port = 5099

# Optional parameters for media handling:
# Lower bound of UDP port range for incoming RTP streams (default: 10000)
siprec_rtp_min = 10000

# Upper bound of UDP port range for incoming RTP streams (default: 20000)
siprec_rtp_max = 20000

# Timeout (seconds) for inactivity on all RTP streams (call ends if media stops; default: 300)
siprec_rtp_stream_timeout_s = 300

# Maximum number of threads for RTP packet processing (default: 2)
siprec_rtp_streams_max_threads = 2

# Maximum RTP streams per thread before spinning up a new thread (default: 100)
siprec_rtp_streams_max_per_thread = 100

After updating these settings, restart the VoIPmonitor service (for example, systemctl restart voipmonitor on Linux). Once running, VoIPmonitor will listen on the configured siprec_bind:siprec_bind_port (in our example, all interfaces on port 5099) for incoming SIPREC calls. (Note: Enabling SIPREC does not disable VoIPmonitor’s regular interface-based capture; it simply adds an additional way to ingest calls.) With this configuration in place, VoIPmonitor is ready to accept recordings from your SIPREC-enabled endpoints – a setup designed to meet stringent standards such as FINRA Rule 3170 or CFTC Rule 1.35 for call retention.

Setting Up SIP Proxies/SBCs for SIPREC

In a SIPREC deployment, the Session Recording Client is typically your call-control element (the PBX, proxy, or SBC) that forks media to the recorder. You need to configure that device to send recording sessions to VoIPmonitor’s SRS. This usually involves specifying the recorder’s SIP URI (e.g. sip:VOIPMONITOR_IP:5099) in the SRC’s configuration and enabling SIPREC on the calls to be recorded.

Below are examples for configuring two popular open-source SIP proxies, OpenSIPS and Kamailio, to act as SRCs sending calls to VoIPmonitor. (For commercial SBCs like Cisco CUBE, AudioCodes, Oracle, Avaya etc., the configuration will be vendor-specific, but generally you set the “Recording Server” address to sip:your-voipmonitor-ip:5099 and enable SIPREC on the desired call policies.)

OpenSIPS Configuration

loadmodule "siprec.so"

# Set VoIPmonitor as the recording server (SRS)
modparam("siprec", "recorder_uri", "sip:192.168.1.12:5099")  # VoIPmonitor SRS (IP:port)
modparam("siprec", "media_server_uri", "rtpengine")  # Media proxy for RTP duplication

# Routing logic to start recording on certain calls
route[record] {
    siprec_start("both");
}

Kamailio Configuration

loadmodule "siprec.so"

modparam("siprec", "recorder_id", "kamailio-rec")  # Optional identifier for the recorder
modparam("siprec", "recorder_uri", "sip:192.168.1.12:5099")  # VoIPmonitor SRS destination

request_route {
    if (is_method("INVITE")) {
        siprec_start("both");
    }
}

In these examples, the SIP proxy uses a media relay (like RTPengine) to duplicate the RTP streams to the VoIPmonitor server. This ensures the call audio is forwarded to the SRS without altering the original call. Once such configuration is in place, the SRC will establish a second call leg toward VoIPmonitor whenever a call needs to be recorded, sending both SIP signaling (with recording metadata) and media. This fulfills the requirements for compliance recording (for instance, providing a record of 9-1-1 calls per NENA i3, or capturing trader conversations for CFTC/FINRA audits).

Testing SIPREC Integration

Once the configuration is in place, perform a test to ensure VoIPmonitor and your SIPREC setup are working correctly:

Start or ensure the RTP media proxy (e.g., RTPengine or RTPproxy) is running, since it will handle mirroring media to the recorder.

Launch your SIP proxy/SBC with the SIPREC (SRC) configuration enabled (as shown above for OpenSIPS/Kamailio, or per your SBC’s instructions).

Start VoIPmonitor (the SRS) and confirm it is listening on the SIPREC IP/port (check VoIPmonitor’s logs for a message indicating the SIPREC server is active).

Place a test call through the system that should be recorded. For example, use two softphones (or SIP endpoints) to make a call through your proxy/PBX that triggers SIPREC. Verify that the call is captured by VoIPmonitor – you should see the SIPREC INVITE with metadata in VoIPmonitor’s console or logs, and afterwards find the call’s details and audio in VoIPmonitor’s storage. (Tip: Tools like sngrep or Wireshark are helpful to watch the SIP signaling. Running sngrep on the proxy or VoIPmonitor server will show the SIPREC INVITE being sent and the recording session being established.)

Architecture Diagram (PlantUML)

FAQ & Common Pitfalls

• How does VoIPmonitor help with FINRA/CFTC compliance? VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC recordings can be stored with immutability and detailed audit logs, which helps firms meet requirements like SEC Rule 17a-4(f) and CFTC Rule 1.31. By capturing all trader calls (per FINRA 3170 or CFTC 23.202 rules) and storing them in tamper-evident form, it ensures regulators can later review communications if needed.

• Can VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC recording meet PCI-DSS requirements? Yes. VoIPmonitor includes options to avoid recording sensitive authentication data. For example, you can use the API or triggers to pause and resume recording during credit card number entry, and VoIPmonitor can mask DTMF tones (or detect patterns that resemble card numbers) so that protected data is not stored in call audio or logs.

• What if my PBX/SBC doesn’t support SIPREC? SIPREC is optional – if your telephony platform cannot act as an SRC, you can still use VoIPmonitor in its native capture mode. By mirroring traffic (e.g., using a switch’s port mirroring or network tap), you can capture and record calls without SIPREC. In other words, VoIPmonitor can always record VoIP calls via packet sniffing; SIPREC is just an additional method when available.

• Why use SIPREC instead of port mirroring for call recording? Deploying SIPREC can be simpler and more informative in many scenarios. It doesn’t require network-level mirroring configuration, which is useful in cloud or multi-tenant environments where packet sniffing might be difficult. Additionally, SIPREC provides call metadata (identifiers, participants, timestamps) automatically, whereas raw packet capture might require additional processing to extract that information. In compliance terms, using the standard protocol ensures compatibility with various systems (e.g., a Cisco or Avaya SBC can directly push recordings to VoIPmonitor) and captures all required details of the communication.

• Can VoIPmonitor capture via SIPREC and network sniffing at the same time? Yes. Enabling SIPREC in VoIPmonitor does not disable its normal packet-capture functionality. You can, for example, have VoIPmonitor sniffing on a telephony trunk or mirror port for some calls while also receiving SIPREC recordings from a cloud PBX – all concurrently. The system will manage both sources and store calls uniformly in its database.

• Do I need to open firewall ports for SIPREC? Make sure that the SIP port you configured for SIPREC (5099 in our example) is reachable by the SIPREC clients, as well as the UDP ports for RTP (e.g., the 10000–20000 range by default). If VoIPmonitor is behind a firewall or in the cloud, you'll need to allow inbound SIP on the SIPREC port and inbound UDP on the RTP range. Without these ports open, the SRC won’t be able to send the recording sessions to the SRS.

AI Summary for RAG

Summary: This guide covers how to integrate VoIPmonitor as a SIPREC server (SRS) for compliance-focused call recording. It explains SIPREC basics and its importance in meeting legal requirements globally (with examples like U.S. CFTC 23.202/1.35, FINRA 3170, SEC 17a-4, and EU MiFID II), as well as standards like NENA i3 for NG9-1-1 and PCI-DSS guidelines. We outline the business case for VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC feature (in finance, emergency services, enterprises), detailed steps to configure VoIPmonitor (voipmonitor.conf) and SIP proxies (OpenSIPS, Kamailio, Cisco, etc.) for SIPREC, testing methods, an architecture diagram, and FAQs. VoIPmonitor supports both native packet capture and SIPREC, enabling flexible, immutable, and scalable recording solutions that meet strict regulatory demands.

Keywords: SIPREC compliance, VoIPmonitor SIP recording, VoIPmonitor SRS, CFTC call recording, FINRA Taping Rule 3170, SEC 17a-4 retention, MiFID II call recording, NENA i3 NG9-1-1 logging, PCI-DSS voice recording, legal call recording solution, SIPREC business case, RFC 7866 recorder, VoIPmonitor packet capture vs SIPREC, compliance call recording tool

Key Questions:

• How does VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC support help financial firms comply with regulations (CFTC, FINRA, MiFID II)?
• What is the advantage of using SIPREC in VoIPmonitor compared to traditional packet sniffing for call recording?
• How do I configure VoIPmonitor as a SIPREC server to meet standards like SEC 17a-4 or NENA i3?
• Can VoIPmonitor’s SIPREC feature ensure PCI-DSS compliance for call recordings (e.g., not storing credit card data)?
• What are the steps to integrate a SIP proxy (OpenSIPS/Kamailio) or an SBC (Cisco, etc.) with VoIPmonitor using SIPREC?