Cisco Webex is an app-centric, cloud-based service that provides a complete collaboration suite for teams to create, meet, message, call, care, white board, and share, regardless of whether they’re together or apart—in one continuous workstream before, during, and after meetings. It is built to help teams work seamlessly. It is simple, secure, complete, and open, and provides a space for people to work better. The core capabilities of Cisco Webex are Meetings, Messaging, and Calling. The Cisco Webex platform, app-centric design, hybrid services, and architecture of Cisco Webex create a unique and differentiated service. For more information on the solution, refer to Cisco Webex.
Cisco Webex Meetings provides a Messaging API that VFC is able to use to retrieve content from Webex Rooms. The Webex Import Source uses the Webex Messaging API to list and download available recordings, query and add participants prior to ingest. Separate recordings are created for each recorded Webex user. Each recording contains details of all meeting participants. Once triggered, Webex content is ingested indefinitely in near real-time. If the integration is restarted or the first recording start time reset, no duplicate content will be created within VFC.
For a general description of Verba Import sources, please refer to Import sources.
Recording is supported for the following modalities only:
- MP4 Video (includes audio only content)
- Audio only
1. Prerequisites
- Two components, a Cisco Webex integration application and a VFC Import Source are required.
- Firewall access must be arranged as two way internet communication is required between the Import Source and Webex.
- Incoming data to the Import Source server is specified in the Webex Integration redirect URI. The URL and port number is fully configurable and is secured by TLS over HTTP. The port number cannot be 443 as this is already used by the VFC Web Application.
- Outgoing data to Webex is on Port 443.
- API Access: Between https://webexapis.com/v1/ and the Import Source server.
- VFC video or audio recording licence.
2. Create a Cisco Webex Integration
To create a Webex integration, a Webex account backed by Cisco Webex Common Identity (CI) is required. If no Webex account is available, sign up. If you're using Webex Meetings, your site will must be on Common Identity. Typically, the user creating the API Integration needs to be the Compliance Officer on Webex. Navigate to https://developer.webex.com/my-apps and press the Create a new app button. Then press the Create an integration button to create an OAuth Integration.
Configuration Item | Description | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile SDK | (Webex iOS or Android SDK 3.0+) | No |
| Integration Name | Name of your integration as it will appear in Webex. | VFC WebEx Meetings Ingestion |
| Icon | Upload your own or select from our defaults. Must be exactly 512x512px in JPEG or PNG format. | Use VFC Logo provided. |
| App Hub Description | What does your app do, how does it benefit users, how do users get started? Does your app require a non-Webex account? If your app is not free or has additional features for paid users, please note that and link to pricing information. 1024 character limit. | VFC WebEx Meetings Ingestion. (Note the application will not be shared on the app hub at present.) |
| Redirect URI(s) | One or more URIs that a user will be redirected to when completing an OAuth grant flow. | http(s)://<VFC Hostname>:<VFC Port>/Webex/RedirectURI/OAuth VFC Hostname is the name of the VFC server VFC Port is the port opened in the customer firewall for Webex access. Make a note of this value as it is also required when configuring the VFC Webex import source. The port number cannot be 443 as this is already used by the VFC Web Application. |
| Scopes | Scopes define the level of access that your integration requires. | Select the following 3 scopes:
|
Once all the integration values have been entered, press the Add Integration button. Make a note of the two important values shown, Client Id and Client Secret. They are required during the next step, configuration of the VFC Webex Import Source.
3. Create a WebEx Import Source
Follow the steps in VFC to create a new Import source. All settings are mandatory, apart from TLS configuration.
Step 1 - Open the VFC Web interface then select Data > Import Sources from the top menu
Step 2 - Click on the Add New Import Source link on the top right.
Step 3 - Complete the configuration according to the requirements in the following table
Configuration Item | Description | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Mandatory. Name your Import Source. This name will identify the source across the system. | Recommended to include the import source type and purpose. |
| Type | Mandatory. Import Source type | Select WebEx (not Cisco Spark) from the Import Type drop-down |
| Webex Integration Client Id | Mandatory. Client Id value obtained during previous step of Webex creation integration. Used during OAuth authentication. | Example: M2lzY29zcGFyazovL3VzL0FQUExJQ0FUSU9OL0MzNWI4NmM0 ATg2Nzc3NmQxNzhiMjg1OGIwMTMzNTdiODJiMTFkZjVlNmM1N GhiZTlkOGNjNzYyMDcyMTU3M2Mz |
| Webex Integration Client Secret | Mandatory. Client Secret value obtained during previous step of Webex creation integration. Used during OAuth authentication. | Example: 0c2e71a7f2628596ad856a9e6ab7efddead07d6b272dc2a2ef3f9fc4cf74d0b7 |
| Webex Integration Redirect URI | Mandatory. URI called by Webex during authentication process. Same value used during configuration of the Webex integration. | http(s)://<VFC Hostname>:<VFC Port>/Webex/RedirectURI/OAuth VFC Hostname is the name of the VFC server VFC Port is the port opened in the customer firewall for Webex access. The port number cannot be 443 as this is already used by the VFC Web Application. Must be exactly the same value used to configure the Webex Integration Redirect URI. Note case sensitivity and port restrictions. |
| Compliance Site URL | Optional. Compliance Officer's Webex site from which to retrieve recordings. If not specified, the user's default site will be used. | Example: abc.webex.com or normally leave blank. |
| TLS Certificate File or Thumbprint | Optional certificate file / certificate thumbprint used for the Webex connection. | The default VFC CA Certificate can be used for HTTPS/TLS communications between Webex and the VFC Import Source by setting HTTPS in the Redirect URI and leaving all of these TLS settings empty: TLS Certificate File or Thumbprint TLS Key File TLS Key Password TLS Trust List |
| TLS Key File | Optional file system location where the certificate key is stored. | |
| TLS Key Password | Specify the password for the file that contains the certificate keys. | |
| TLS Trust List | Certificate chain (or Chain of Trust) is made up of a list of certificates that start from a server's certificate and terminate with the root certificate. If your server's certificate is to be trusted, its signature has to be traceable back to its root CA. | |
| Transcode Video to Audio | Optional. Store audio-only version of recording. | Select required audio codec. |
| Recording Timezone | Mandatory. VFC Server timezone. | Example: GMT +09:00 - Japan |
| Webex Recording Start Timestamp | Mandatory. Timestamp of the earliest WebEx recording to be ingested. This can be a timestamp in the past, e.g., 2020, if historic Webex content is required to be ingested. The Import Source will gradually catchup with real-time as it is run by successive Data Management Policies, but will take longer to catch up depending on the number of historic recordings and the Recording Import Batch Size (see note below). | Example: 2023.01.29 07:00:00 |
| Recording Import Batch Size (minutes) | Mandatory. Every time the Import Source is run by the Data Management Policy, it attempts to retrieve Webex content dated from the Webex Recording Timestamp to the Webex Recording Timestamp plus the Recording Import Batch Size in minutes. IMPORTANT: The maximum number of recordings that can be retrieved within the time period above is 100. If Webex recording usage is high, reduce the Recording Import Batch Size so there are no more than 100 recordings during the period. No alert is currently raised if more than 100 recordings are present. | Example: 60 |
| On Completion Delete Recordings Stored in Webex | Optional. Allows VFC to become the single repository for Webex content. The recording deleted from Webex cannot be recovered. If a Compliance Officer deletes another user's recording, the recording will be inaccessible to regular users (host, attendees and shared), but will be still available to the Compliance Officer. Only recordings of meetings hosted by the authenticated user can be deleted. | Tick to delete recordings from Webex immediately after VFC ingestion or leave unticked to have recordings both in Webex and in VFC. |
| Authentication Keep-Alive (minutes) | Mandatory. Webex Authentication cannot be completed unless the VFC Import Source is running because it depends on an OAuth HTTP(S) callback from Webex to the Import Source. This is why the VFC Import Source must be saved and an Active Data Management Policy created. The callback provides VFC with an Access Token that Webex content ingestion depends upon. The Authentication Keep-Alive setting is a temporary configuration value which ensures the installation engineer has enough time to press the Authenticate Now button and authenticate with Webex before the VFC Import Source terminates inline with the VFC Data Management Policy. Once the engineer has completed Webex authentication, the Authentication Keep-Alive can be reduced to zero because the Access Token has been obtained and saved locally on the server where the VFC Import Source is run. The Access Token is securely encrypted. This value can be changed at any time during production hours. The updated value will be used the next time the Data Management Policy runs the Import Source. | Example: 99 - During initial installation 2 - If a periodic check of the VFC Webex Token/Authentication status web page is required during production. 0 - During normal operation to avoid delay in completing processing of the Import Source. The value can be updated at any time if an adhoc check is required. |
Webex
| Do not press this button until an active Data Management Policy has been created. Until the VFC Import Source has been saved with settings for all of the above values and an active Data Management Policy created, this button will not authenticate the VFC Import Source with Webex and content will not be ingested. | N/A |
4. Create an active Data Management Policy
Follow the steps below to configure the Data Import action. Note, the policy must be active before proceeding to authenticate the VFC Import Source with Webex.
Step 1 - In the Verba web interface, navigate to Data > Data Management Policies
Step 2 - Click on the Add New Data Management Policy button at the top-right corner of the page
Step 3 - For the action, select Data Import
Step 4 - Under Available Import Sources, select the Import Source that you created, then click on the Add button just below the text field
Step 5 - Configure the policy details, based on the information that is shown in the configuration items summary table below
Step 6 - Set up how frequently the Import should be run in the Scheduling section
Step 7 - Click on Save
Configuration Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable Recording Rules | Specifies if all data should be processed in the imported data set or just the records of the recorded users as configured in VFC. |
| Execute Only on Selected Servers | If enabled, a specific server can be chosen that will run this policy |
5. Authenticate the VFC Webex Import Source with Webex
Webex
| Once all previous steps have been completed, press this button. A popup window appears which allows the Compliance Officer to authenticate the Import Source via Webex logon. Once authenticated, an encrypted token is stored on the VFC Import Server. The token is automatically renewed when required by the VFC Webex Import Source. After authentication, token status information is displayed as shown below. Token status information can also be checked by entering the first part of the Redirect URI: http(s)://<VFC Hostname>:<VFC Port> VFC Hostname is the name of the VFC server VFC Port is the port opened in the customer firewall for Webex Once Webex has Authenticated, reduce Authentication Keep- |
6. Validate Webex Authentication
OAuth token status information can be displayed by entering the first part of the Redirect URI in a web browser.
http(s)://<VFC Hostname>:<VFC Port>
VFC Hostname is the name of the VFC server
VFC Port is the port opened in the customer firewall for Webex access.
7. Configure Users in VFC
Follow the steps below to configure users in VFC:
Step 1 - In the Verba web interface, navigate to Users > Users
Step 2 - Click Add new User
Step 3 - Enter the user's e-Mail address is in lower-case and set to the same e-Mail address the user will join Webex with
Step 4 - Add user information as normal, making sure the user's validity extends to cover the range of their Webex recordings
Step 5 - Click Save
8. Configure Extensions in VFC
Follow the steps below to configure extensions in VFC:
Step 1 - In the Verba web interface, navigate to Users > Extensions
Step 2 - Click Add new Extension
Step 3 - Set the extension in lower-case to the same e-Mail address the user will join WebEx with
Step 4 - Set the Type to User/Agent Id
Step 5 - Set the Recording Settings to Voice and Video
Step 6 - Click Save
9. Resilience
In the event of failure to ingest Webex content, it is possible to retry using these steps:
Step 1 - In the Verba web interface, disable the Data Management Policy associated with the Webex Import Source
Step 2 - Open windows explorer and navigate to Program Files\Verba\work\cdrimport\webex\laststate\policyId_importSourceId
Step 3 - Open the policyId_importSourceId.cursor file in notepad - it is one line and will look similar to:
c84f2f698fc9d64d64ed161d87b00c25_I_251182078220051266_19d0243a-9fd0-11d1-ac11-13453884b96c;2023.02.02 07:00:00.000
Step 4 - Set the highlighted date to a date and time before the failure and save the file
Step 5 - Re-enable the Data Management Policy associated with the Webex Import Source
10. Folders used by Webex Import Source
| Folder Location | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Program Files\Verba\work\cdrimport\webex\work\policyId_importSourceId | Token storage, temporary Webex content download. |
| Program Files\Verba\work\cdrimport\webex\laststate\policyId_importSourceId | Cursor file containing current import status so that import source can be stopped and restarted from previous Webex Recording Start Timestamp value. |
11. Types of alerts raised by the Webex Import Source
| Alert Message | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Could not parse configuration of source | Problem with Import Source configuration setting. |
| Unable to List Webex recordings | External Webex server connection problem check firewall permissions.
|
| Unable to List Webex participants | External Webex server connection problem check firewall permissions. Check metadata received from Webex. |
| Problem retrieving media | External Webex server connection problem check firewall permissions. Check media available from Webex. |
| Detected no recorded parties in a recording | No recording owner found in customer custom metadata. To be implemented in a future release. |
| Unable to find expected Webex metadata | Webex call metadata could not be extracted. To be implemented in a future release. |
12. Webex Content Ingestion Status Reporting
No report files are generated, however at the end of each batch, a notification alert is raised containing details of recordings migrated from Webex into VFC.
Example alert:
13. Webex Metadata
| Metadata Field | Description | Template | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
Start Date | Start date of the conversation | Standard | Yes |
| Start Time | Start time of the conversation | Standard | Yes |
| End Date | End date of the conversation | Standard | Yes |
| End Time | End time of the conversation | Standard | Yes |
| Duration | Length of the conversation | Standard | Yes |
| User | Name of the recorded user | Standard | Yes |
| From | Subscriber | Standard | Yes |
| From Info | User / contact name | Standard | Yes |
| Conference Participants | Participant details, join and leave timestamp | Standard | Yes |
| Native Id | Unique VFC conversation identifier. | Standard | Yes |
| Meeting Id | Unique Webex conversation identifier. | Standard | Yes |
| Source Platform | WebEx | Standard | Yes |
| Conversation Type | Video or Audio | Standard | Yes |