Configuring Dialogic® voice boards
IVR server requirements
In order to work with Phone Password Manager, your IVR server must be configured as follows:
Phone Password Manager requires Microsoft Windows Server 2012 at current service packs.
You must install both the hardware and the Dialogic® System Release 6.0+ PCI for Windows, including the latest service update. This System Release software is available from your vendor, though an evaluation version is also available.
For more information about the System Release contact your vendor or visit:
If you will be deploying biometric voice print verification on the IVR server, you must also purchase and install VoiceVantage software.
For more information about VoiceVantage contact sales@bravurasecurity.com .
Calculating the number and size of voice boards
The number of boards to install and the size of each board depends on the following factors:
On average, how long does each call take to complete?
How many calls must be processed at one time?
How many users are in your organization?
What features will be provided?
What is the expiry interval for passwords?
How many calls per day does the help desk currently receive for forgotten passwords?
What percentage of those calls are expected to be offloaded to Phone Password Manager?
We can calculate the number of phone lines needed by taking the average call duration, which we determined to be two and a half minutes, and determining how many calls a single line can handle in an hour:
calls per line per hour (CALLSPERLINE) = 3600 sec/hr X 1 call/150 sec = 24 calls/hr
We can then calculate the minimum number of required lines:
number of lines needed (NLINES) = number of calls received per hour / CALLSPERLINE
This formula is illustrated in the following example.
Global Enterprises has 80,000 users. Users are required to change their passwords every 30 days. We can estimate the number of calls received per hour based on the following assumptions:
If 10,000 users a month forget their passwords, and if the Phone Password Manager service handles all password change requests, a total of 90,000 calls will go through the Phone Password Manager service every month.
If there are 20 work days in the average month, there will be 4,500 password change requests every day.
If password change requests are distributed evenly throughout the 24-hour period, the Phone Password Manager service will receive approximately 188 password change requests every hour.
Using this example:
NLINES = 188 / 24 = 7.8 (round up to 8)
An 8-port board (or two 4-port boards) is the absolute minimum required to support 188 calls / hr. Keep in mind that this is the minimum requirement. To allow for growth within your organization, we recommend in this case that a 12-port board be used.
To make the example more applicable to the real world, the following facts must be taken into consideration:
Calls will not be evenly distributed throughout the day.
Users will also be performing other tasks (like unlocking accounts) at the same time.
Your organization will grow over time.
Your calculations can be made more realistic by changing the numbers in the formula to account for peak call times and adding in other requests that might have to be processed. For example, you might expect 50% of the calls in a single day to occur between 8:00 am and 10:00 am. That means you could receive up to 1,125 calls per hour. You might also receive 200 account unlock requests within an hour, thus bringing the number of potential calls in an hour to 1,325. In this case, you need to decide whether to buy the necessary hardware to support that volume of calls, or to allow users to be put on hold for a short time until a line becomes available.
Selecting a voice board
The Phone Password Manager service is able to interact with a number of Dialogic® boards. When selecting a voice board, you must consider the following factors:
The amount of load expected on the IVR server.
See Calculating the number and size of voice boards for more help with this.
Existing phone lines.
If you have a sufficient number of existing lines, you must purchase a board that matches your type of line (digital or analog) to avoid having to install new lines.
Warning
Using a digital line with an analog board, or an analog line with a digital board can permanently damage your telephony hardware.
The configuration of the PBX (private branch exchange) at your organization.
A PBX integration board provides all of the basic voice and call processing capabilities of standard voice boards, and adds hardware and firmware that eases integration with supported PBXs.
The PBX integration board connects directly to your PBX using a digital line. If you require this type of board, make sure to select one that is compatible with your PBX.
The PBX integration board must be configured to assign a phone number to the Dialogic® card.
Consult your PBX documentation for details.
Note
Bravura Security highly recommends that you install Dialogic® PowerMedia Host Media Processing (HMP) server on a physical machine rather than a virtual machine to avoid performance and inconsistency issues.
Phone Password Manager does not support Dialogic® Diva® products.
Assigning phone lines
The type and number of line that you must install depends on your voice board. Check your vendor documentation to ensure that you are installing the correct type of phone line.
A phone technician should perform the following tasks:
Ensure that the necessary number of phone lines are installed and tested for functionality.
If required, configure the telephone lines as a sequential hunt group.
If required, assign the lead line on the sequential hunt group a dedicated telephone number.
Warning
Plugging an analog line into a digital board and vice versa can damage the board.
Installing the hardware and IVR software
Once the physical lines are available, you can install the voice boards, drivers, and System Release software. Since some boards require the software to be installed first and other boards need to be installed before the software, it is recommended that you refer to the documentation included with the System Release before you install the voice board.
After you have completed the installation, test your system to ensure that it is functioning correctly and that the board is responding to external calls. Typically, the Dialogic® card drivers include software for testing that the card is picking up calls.
If you require drivers or troubleshooting information, contact your vendor.
If you will be deploying biometric voice print verification on the IVR server, you can install the VoiceVantage software after you have verified that your system is functioning correctly.
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