9. Deploying Critical Insights AI¶
This chapter covers required CIAI Service Provider tasks to deploy the customer instance of Critical Insights AI. Once Eventide Communications technicians have completed their hosting and setup tasks, the CIAI Service Provider technician will carry out various administrative and setup tasks for the on-premises NexLog recorder and the CIAI user interface.
In addition to this deployment guide, the CIAI Service Provider technician should retain the following information/items on-hand:
Required connectivity information obtained from the CIAI SaaS Deployment Form that the customer will have completed and returned to the CIAI Service Provider. The form should contain all the information required to connect the NexLog DX-Series recorder to the CIAI Service host machine. Technicians should have this form plus the CIAI SaaS Deployment Card email on hand.
CloudSync License key required to be added to the NexLog DX-Series recorder.
All supplemental information concerning the type of calls that end users want to transfer to CIAI (for example, 911 calls, radio, admin, etc.). This also includes information concerning any custom configurations the customer may have requested.
9.1. Completing the Pre-Sales Checklist Form¶
The CIAI Service Provider fills out the Pre-sales Checklist. The information in this form advises EC on sizing and
which features will be used in CIAI. The CIAI Service Provider should contact EC for assistance in filling out this form if needed.
Email the form to broberts@eventidecommunications.com.
9.2. Placing the Purchase Order¶
The CIAI Service Provider places a Purchase Order (PO) by contacting loggers@eventidecommunications.com.
The PO must contain a reference to the customer who will use the CIAI service. CIAI is priced according to the volume of recordings to be analyzed with AI. So EC must be able to associate the Purchase Order (PO) with the Pre-sales Checklist Form. Once the PO is placed and processed, EC returns a confirmation email to the Service Provider that validates the PO against the associated Pre-sales Checklist Form. Attached to this email is the CIAI SaaS Deployment Registration Form for the next step. The PO confirmation email contains the CIAI SaaS Deployment form specific to this PO.
9.3. Completing the CIAI SaaS Deployment Form¶
After the PO for CIAI is processed, Eventide Communications emails a CIAI SaaS Deployment Form to the CIAI Service Provider, which the Provider jointly fills out with the customer. The CIAI SaaS Deployment form provides the technical details for the deployment of the CIAI instance.
The customer returns the completed form to EC at: loggers@eventidecommunications.com. This deployment form is associated with both the Pre-sales Checklist and the PO and is specific to each customer. It contains the NexLog serial number(s) for the associated recorder(s). For this form, the Service Provider will:
add email contacts and also contacts for automated alerts to the relevant form question fields, partially completing the form.
email the CIAI SaaS Deployment Form to the customer to supply their information, required to launch the CIAI instance. The customer then returns the fully completed form to EC.
The following table details the CIAI SaaS Deployment Form required information:
CIAI SaaS Deployment Form | |
|---|---|
Requested Information | Explanation |
Desired external address/URL | External address/URL used to access Critical Insights AI Service, i.e. <domainName.ciai.cloud>. This could either be the agency name or alternatively, a short abbreviation. |
Geographic location (U.S. State) of the source recorder(s) | The geographic location of the source recorder(s) that will be sending recordings to CIAI. EC will use this location to determine the hosting zones to which to deploy the instance. |
Source recorder(s) public IP address(es): | Providing this IP address is recommended to prevent access from unauthorized IP addresses to the customer’s CIAI instance. EC will create a firewall rule in the Cloud Infrastructure to restrict access. The source recorder’s public IP address can be determined and tested from the recorder’s Network Utility page. |
Source recorder(s) Serial Number(s): | The Serial Number(s) of the source recorder, the origin of recordings. This will be used to generate the license required to upload recordings. |
Public IP address(es) to be allowed to access the Critical Insights AI Service: | Public IP address(es) to be allowed to access the Critical Insights AI Service in case different from Source recorder public IP address(es). This could be a home address or geographic region. If not specified, EC will limit connections to those originating from inside the U.S. |
Email address(es) for technical contact(s) and automated alerts: | Names of people to contact in the event of technical issues and automated alerts with respect to the AWS infrastructure. EC provides automated monitoring of CIAI and its connectivity status and will notify the provided addresses by email. |
Name/Email/Phone of reseller’s CIAI Administrator contact: | Name/Email/Phone of the CIAI Service Provider’s NexLog DX-Series Recorder Administrator Contact. This is where the response to this form will be sent with initial one-time credentials. |
9.4. Receiving the CIAI SaaS Deployment Card¶
After receiving the completed CIAI SaaS Deployment Form from the customer, EC issues a CIAI SaaS Deployment Card, which typically takes from 1-5 business days. This card contains the connectivity information and credentials required for the CIAI Service Provider to sign in to the CIAI SaaS instance and begin configuration, as illustrated in Table 9-2:
CIAI SaaS Deployment Card | |
|---|---|
Requested Information | Explanation |
Admin credentials: | User Admin credentials to access CIAI |
Connection credentials: | Credentials to be used for the CloudSync (CaaS) connection |
Domain address: | This is the address through which to access the CIAI instance. |
Client-side product license key: | The CloudSync/Centralized Archive (CaaS) transfer license key(s) to be added to the source recorder(s). |
Serial number: | This is the serial number of the source recorder. |
Fig. 9.1 CIAI SaaS Deployment Form and CIAI SaaS Deployment Card¶
At this point, the CIAI Service Provider technician can begin configuration of the customer’s source recorder to connect to the CIAI Service.
9.5. Configuring the Source Recorder¶
To configure the on-premises NexLog DX-Series source recorder that will be capturing recordings, the CIAI Service Provider technician must complete the following series of setup and configuration tasks:
9.5.1. Verifying Source Recorder Firmware¶
Verify the source recorder firmware version, which should be 2025.1. For more information, see Section 7.1.1.”System Info” of the NexLog DX User Manual.
9.5.2. Adding the CloudSync License¶
The next step is to add the CloudSync/Centralized Archive license key (client-side) to the source NexLog recorder to enable transfer of recordings.
DX936-NexLog CloudSync (Client-Side)
To add the CloudSync license to the recorder:
Sign in to the source NexLog DX-Series recorder’s Configuration Manager with your credentials.
Have the 20-digit CloudSync license key ready, as provided in the CIAI SaaS Deployment Card.
In the left navigation menu, select .
In the right pane, select the Add Key button.
Fig. 9.2 Adding the CloudSync License to the NexLog DX-Series Recorder¶
In the License Key field, enter the 20-digit license key for the Critical Insights AI Service and select Add.
Fig. 9.3 Entering the License Key¶
Repeat steps 3 and 4 to add any other required addon licenses as required.
On the page, in the License Key column, confirm that the product license(s) was successfully added. A separate license must be added for each recorder.
9.5.3. Configuring Networking for the On-Premises Recorder¶
Configuring networking for the on-premises NexLog recorder is a customer/end user task. However, the CIAI Service Provider should verify networking requirements with the customer and ensure that the on-premises source recorder can reach the CIAI Service over port 4024.
The CIAI Service Provider should communicate to the customer that they should open outbound access from the on-premises recorder to the CIAI Service on the following firewall ports:
TCP/4024 Secure transfer of recordings using the Central Archiving/CloudSync protocol
TCP/443 (HTTPS) for CIAI User Interface access
Note
HTTP is blocked by default. You can only access the recorder using HTTPS. All public IP addresses from which your organization’s users will access CIAI must first be whitelisted by Eventide Communications. This includes any IP addresses from which calls will be transferred and the IP addresses of Service Providers and technicians.
Eventide Communications will provide the destination CIAI service’s domain name in the CIAI SaaS deployment card.
9.5.3.1. Verifying Connectivity¶
To verify recording:
Confirm connectivity and that recordings are transferring to CIAI in real time, as per the Transfer Rate as shown in the following diagram.
Fig. 9.4 Verifying Connectivity¶
If there is no connectivity, or there is connectivity, but recordings are not being transferred, at this stage, refer to Section 12 - Troubleshooting.
9.5.4. Configuring Recording¶
The Service Provider technician should verify that recording is correctly configured for accurate recording. To this end, Stream Recording Mixing Mode should be configured (where supported) if not already configured. This ensures that call audio from caller and call-taker is separated. This feature is configured from Web Configuration Manager within the customer’s existing data integration template.
To configure stream recording mixing mode:
In the left navigation menu, under , select the Template tab.
Fig. 9.5 Configuring Stream Recording Mixing Mode¶
In the section, select Keep Separate, if not already selected.
Select to re-save the template.
9.5.5. Verifying Recording¶
To verify recording:
Verify that recording is occurring correctly on the source. Some configuration changes may be necessary to remove ‘echo’ or call breaks from recordings.
Correct any echo issues on call installation equipment. Echo in calls negatively affects the quality of transcription and the quality of the AI analytics that can be performed.
9.5.6. Configuring the CloudSync Connection¶
CIAI Service Provider technicians will configure the connection from the agency’s on-premises NexLog DX-Series recorder to CIAI. This connection is established from the CIAI Service Provider’s local administrator account within Web Configuration Manager on the customer’s on-premises recorder. When activated, this connection enables the transfer or replication of call recordings and metadata from the on-premises NexLog DX-Series recorder to the cloud-hosted CIAI Service machine.
This is made possible through a function called Centralized Archive, which is enabled after the required CloudSync license is added to the recorder. Once this connection is established after the prior recorder tasks have been carried out, subsequent recorder configuration is performed from Web Configuration Manager from the CIAI user interface.
The following procedure provides the steps to configure a NexLog DX-Series recorder to connect to the cloud-hosted CIAI Service, which sets up and initiates the transfer of recordings.
To connect to the CIAI Service:
In the left navigation menu, select –> NexLog Cloud Sync.
Select the Add Cloud Sync button.
Fig. 9.6 Adding NexLog Cloud Sync¶
In the fields provided, fill in the appropriate connection information as provided in the CIAI SaaS Deployment Card, namely:
In the field, enter CIAI Connect or name of your preference.
In the , type the domain name of the (cloud-based) CIAI Service, i.e. <domainName.ciai.cloud>
In the field, type ciai_connect (username is case-sensitive).
In the field, type the password for the ‘ciai_connect’ account.
TLS: This checkbox will be selected by default. Leave as-is.
Fig. 9.7 Configuring the NexLog Cloud Sync Connection¶
Select the calendar icon for the setting (<Time Zone>) and select the for the time period the CIAI Service machine. Set this to the current time (presumably).
Select the time of day in hours, seconds, and minutes (hh:mm:sec) from each of the three drop-down fields to the right.
Fig. 9.8 Configuring the NexLog Cloud Sync Transfer¶
One of two recording transfer scenarios will be the case: the customer will be either transferring all call recordings or a sub-set of recordings on a specific channel.
If transferring all recordings:
leave the Enable Channel Group checkbox un-selected. This means all call recordings on all channels will be replicated to CIAI.
If just transferring a sub-set of call recordings:
select the checkbox.
This latter action will enable the setting, which will activate the channel selected for the calls in the drop-down menu to the right. This means that all calls on that selected channel will be transferred.
Audio Only (Exclude Video/Screen): Select this checkbox (video/screen should be excluded).
Select the Save button.
As soon as these settings are saved, recordings automatically start to transfer and replicate to the CIAI Service host machine, based on the configured Transfer Time and Time of Day settings.
Verify that the destination CIAI instance is successfully deployed by signing in into the cloud-based CIAI user interface. Note that firewall restrictions can limit connectivity.
Confirm connectivity to the CIAI SaaS user interface. This includes verifying that the customer’s CIAI Service is accessible from approved locations, as may be specified in the CIAI SaaS Deployment Form.
Note
Note that incidents, QA Evaluations, and annotations are not automatically transferred across to CIAI along with recordings during deployment. If you need to transfer any of these items to CIAI, contact Eventide Communications to schedule a request to synchronize this data/metadata over CaaS (referring to the CloudSync or the Centralized Archive transfer technology that EC uses to transfer recordings and metadata from one NexLog recorder to another).