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The purpose of the VFC to WFE Metadata Integrator tool is to import call metadata, supported by switch platform and user data, from the VFC platform to the Verint v15V15.2 Workforce Engagement (WFE) suite. Once imported, the data is available for use by certain applications within the WFE suite. The Integrator continuously verifies the data in both VFC and WFE and carries out a one-way synchronization periodically.
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- Avaya DMCC/MR
- Cisco Network Based
- IPC Unigy
- IP Trade
- Zoom Meeting
- Zoom Phone
Minimum software version
- VFC Capture 9.7.7 or higher
- Workforce Engagement v15V15.2
Concepts and functionality
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The Integrator connects to the VFC Media Repository through API calls to gather system information and sets up an SQL connection to the VFC database to read in the data to synchronize. The Integrator communicates with WFE services and sends data to the WFE database using API calls.
The Integrator supports the following deployments:
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* Multi-tenant cloud VFC deployments are supported if each tenant has its own Integrator configured.
The Integrator must be installed on a VFC server. Only one Integrator can be installed on a single server.
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You must also manually create a parent WFE group that holds all groups of VFC synchronized employees, and the name must be added to the Integrator configuration.
| Notewarning |
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The parent group must not have employees assigned to it at any point in time and it must not be the Root group that is created during the WFE installation process. |
Under the parent group, a default group holds all individual VFC synchronized employees, regardless of what VFC groups those employees belong to. On the same hierarchical level, under the parent group, the WFE groups matching the VFC groups get automatically created by the integrator. They retain their VFC names, with the configured name prefix.
Changes to users or groups that happen in VFC are applied to their WFE equivalent the next time the synchronization process runs. Changes to users or groups that happen in WFE do not apply to their VFC equivalents. If conflicting information exists in VFC and WFE, the changes in WFE are overridden the next time the synchronization process runs. However, if a non-VFC user is manually added to any of the WFE groups representing a synchronized VFC group, the user is not removed the next time the synchronization process runs.
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To synchronize the required recording datametadata, the switch platforms for which the Integrator is configured must be specified in the appsettings.Production file of the Integrator.
The supported list of switch platforms is listed in the configuration file. The integration process does not run until one or more of the supported platforms is added to the list of configured platforms in the file.Data sources in WFE do not have to be created manually, the Integrator automatically creates them to represent the switches configured in VFC. You must configure the Integrator to Integrator supports the synchronization of metadata from:
- recorded switch platforms, and
- import sources, where VFC does not record the calls, but it ingests the recordings from the switch platform through the configured import source.
The list of supported switch platforms is listed in the configuration file, specifying the platform IDs or import source types, and the platform type that describes the WFE data source type of the platform. The integration process does not run until one or more of the supported platforms is added to the list of configured platforms in the file.
Data sources in WFE do not have to be created manually, the Integrator automatically creates them to represent the switches configured in VFC. You must configure the Integrator to create the right WFE data sources for your deployment and monitoring needs by supplying switch configuration details in the appsettings.Production file.
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- the VFC Recording Server addresses,
- the platform ID name, describing the platform ID or import source type of the switch,
- the time zone of the switch,
- optionally, the extensions configured for that switch platform.
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A data source object in the appsettings.Production file can only be of one platform type name, and it must be in a single time zone. However, it can represent multiple switches of the same platform typename, in the same time zone, being recorded by one or more VFC recorders. If the extensions are configured for the data source object, the specified extension numbers are associated to the WFE data source upon creation.
The extension parameter can be omitted or left empty for a data source object, which results in all extensions recorded by the specified recorders on the specified platform type name to be associated with that data source. The extensions can be configured as an array of individual alphanumeric values or number ranges, but do not support wildcard operators.
If multiple identical data source objects exist in the appsettings.Production file without extension values specified, extensions for that platform type name are associated with each WFE data source.
If multiple data source objects exist in the appsettings.Production file without extensions specified but different platform types names are set for them, extensions configured to record all platform types platforms are associated to each data source.
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| Note |
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| At a minimum, you must have one data source object without extensions per platform typename. If you have data source objects with extensions specified, it is still recommended to have a data source without extensions specified to ensure that no missed extensions get excluded from the synchronization. |
If a platform type name has been added to the Configured Platforms parameter, but no data source objects exist in the Data Mapping section, no corresponding WFE data source is created, and no related recording data is synchronized to WFE.
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- It has the same name as the data source platform name configured in the DataMapping section of the appsettings.Production file.
- The Type is Phone. matches the platform type associated with the platform name specified in the ConfiguredPlatforms parameter of the appsettings.Production file.
- The Switch/sub-type is External Recorder.
- The Organization associated with the data source matches the organization ID of the parent organization created as part of the Integrator deployment process.
If the Integrator finds an existing data source with matching details, it notes the switch_ID of the WFE data source. If the Integrator does not find an existing data source with matching details, it creates one. The data source name and the VFC platform are automatically added to the description of the data source.
| Note |
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| Do not delete the automatically generated data source descriptions. If you need to specify a data source description, add it after the automatically generated text. |
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| Info |
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| All data sources created as part of the integration are created with the switch/sub-type External Recorder. |
Recorders and call metadata
The Integrator synchronizes recording metadata to WFE by periodically checking the VFC database for new recording data and marking them for synchronization. Call marking is the process of reading in a call record from the database, evaluating it against the Integrator configuration, and sending it to the WFE database.
The Integrator only synchronizes recording metadata, not media files.
Each VFC installation is represented as a single recorder in WFE, and all synchronized call records get associated with this recorder, regardless of the number of distinct VFC recorders that captured the calls. Recorder servers in WFE are identified by a serial number that is automatically generated when the recorder is created. You must manually create an external recorder server in WFE for each VFC installation, and assign it a Serial Number that is unique to a VFC Media Repository. This serial number must be added to the appsettings.Production file of each Integrator that connects to the Media Repository described by the external recorder server. Refer to Create an External Server in Workforce Engagement for more information on adding an external server.
The Seating Arrangement property of the created data source is set to:
- Hybrid for phone types,
- Free for trader and application types.
The Contact Policy Type of all created data sources is set to Back office - Contact per call.
The Recorded Platform property of the created data source is set to the value of the data source platform specified in the Integrator configuration file.
| Warning |
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Do not change the Recorded Platform or Contact Policy Type of the data source in WFE. |
Recorders and call metadata
The Integrator synchronizes recording metadata to WFE by periodically checking the VFC database for new recording data and marking them for synchronization. Call marking is the process of reading in a call record from the database, evaluating it against the Integrator configuration, and sending it to the WFE database.
The Integrator only synchronizes recording metadata, not media files.
Each VFC installation is represented as a single recorder in WFE, and all synchronized call records get associated with this recorder, regardless of the number of distinct VFC recorders that captured the calls. The Integrator creates an external recorder server in WFE for each VFC installation. The Server Name of the external server must be specified in the appsettings.Production. It is recommended the Server Name matches the host name of the Media Repository the Integrator connects to.
The way calls are recorded and stored is different in VFC and WFE. Refer to Data models for more details on the VFC call data models, and see Contacts and Interactions for information about the WFE call data models.
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In WFE, every record in the search results under Interactions represents a single session from the WFE call model. In VFC, every record in the search results under Conversations represents a single conversation entry from the VFC call model.
If more than one record was created during a conversation, related records can be shown together by selecting the ellipsis (…) button on the record and selecting Show Related.
During the synchronization process, each VFC conversation is mapped to a WFE session, allowing for the WFE call search experience being the same as in VFC.
To maintain the Show Related functionality, sessions are related to contacts and associated records can be viewed when selecting a call record from the search results.
The call records originating from WFE remain unchanged and a single record in the Interaction search results still represents a single session.
| Note |
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| If the time interval between the start time of the first segment of a call and the start time of the last segment is longer than 12 hours, the created sessions in WFE are not associated with the same contact. |
Deployment process
The VFC to WFE Metadata Integrator deployment process requires configuration in the VFC and WFE environments before the installation of the Integrator. The configuration of the synchronization details is carried out in the appsettings.Production.json file of the Integrator tool after installation.
- Install server certificates
- Create a parent organization in Workforce Engagement
- Create a parent group in Workforce Engagement
- Create API key in Workforce Engagement for each WFE Tenant
- Create a VFC API user account
- Configure file upload from Recorder Servers
- Enable External Recorder data sources in Workforce EngagementCreate an External Server in Workforce Engagement
- (optional) Enable AQS in Workforce Engagement
- Install the Integrator
- Configure the Integrator
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- In an on-premise or single-tenant WFE environment, sign in as Administrator. In a multi-tenant environment, sign in as Tenant Administrator.
- Follow the Create an organization topic in the WFE User Management Guide to set up an empty organization for the synchronized VFC data.
- Note the name of the organization created. You must enter the exact name in the appsettings.Production configuration file of each Integrator during the configuration process.
| Notewarning |
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Do not change the organization name once it has been configured for an Integrator. |
Create a parent group in Workforce Engagement
- In an on-premise or single-tenant WFE environment, sign in as Administrator. In a multi-tenant environment, sign in as Tenant Administrator.
Follow the Create a group topic in the WFE User Management Guide to set up an empty group for the synchronized VFC data.
Infowarning No users must be assigned to the created parent group, or the synchronization process fails.
- Note the name of the group created. You must enter the exact name in the appsettings.Production configuration file of each Integrator during the configuration process.
| Notewarning |
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Do not change the group name once it has been configured for an Integrator. |
Create API key in Workforce Engagement for each WFE Tenant
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- Sign in to VFC as an Administrator user.
- Follow the User Configuration topic to create a new user that is only used for submitting API requests to VFC.
- Set API Access Only to enabled.
- Note the user name and password of the created user. You must enter the exact values in the appsettings.Production configuration file of each Integrator during the configuration process.
Enable External Recorder data sources in Workforce Engagement
To enable External Recorder data sources that represent the VFC switch platforms, turn on the Data Marking API for External Recorder license item in WFE.
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| In a multi-tenant WFE environment, the service provider must carry out these steps. The tenant administrator cannot enable licenses or configure data sources. |
- In a browser, go to http://<wfo_app_server_address>/wfo/control/license_edit.
- On the License Data page, under Features, enable 2021R1 - Data Marking API for External Recorder.
- Click Save.
Create an External Server in Workforce Engagement
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Configure file upload from Recorder Servers
The Integrator does not process recordings that are stored on the Recorder Servers, so the upload of media and metadata files to a central storage location must be configured.
- Sign in to VFC as an Administrator user.
- Follow Configuring media file upload to configure policy-based or non-policy based file upload.
Enable External Recorder data sources in Workforce Engagement
To enable External Recorder data sources that represent the VFC switch platforms, turn on the Data Marking API for External Recorder license item in WFE.
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| In a multi-tenant WFE environment, the service provider must carry out these steps. The tenant administrator cannot view or manage External Servers. |
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- The Serial Number must be unique to both a VFC and a WFE installation. It must be a 6-digit number in the format XXXYYY, where the XXX is a 3-digit unique identifier for the VFC installation, and YYY is a 3-digit unique counter, incrementing for each Integrator.
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| enable licenses or configure data sources. |
- In a browser, go to http://<wfo_app_server_address>/wfo/control/license_edit.
- On the License Data page, under Features, enable 2021R1 - Data Marking API for External Recorder.
- Click Save.
(optional) Enable AQS in Workforce Engagement
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- Verify that the parent organization with the name specified during configuration exists in WFE.
- Verify that the parent group with the name specified during configuration exists in WFE.
- Verify that the VFC Synced group exists as a child of the parent group in WFE.
- Verify that the VFC user groups exist in WFE.
- Verify that VFC users are available in WFE, are associated with the same groups as in VFC, and have the right extensions associated to them.
- Verify that the data sources configured in the Integrator appsettings.Production file exist in WFE, and have the right name, time zone, recorded platform, contact policy type, and extensions associated with them.
- Verify that recordings are visible in the Automated Verification component of WFE.
- Verify that recordings are associated with the right users, extensions, and data sources.
- Verify that recordings are associated to the Serial Number of the external server that is specified in the Integrator.
- Verify that an external recorder server exists in WFE with the virtual Serial Number Server Name specified in the Integrator appsettings.Production file.
Resilience
The VFC Integrator achieves a resiliency model using an active-passive design. Multiple Integrators can be running and be configured to read from the same VFC database per VFC environment, but only one Integrator is reading at once.
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