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BCM Call Logger: Complete Guide to Installation & Setup

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Troubleshooting BCM Call Logger: Common Issues and FixesBCM Call Logger is a widely used tool for recording, monitoring, and reporting telephony activity in businesses using BroadWorks/BCM platforms. While generally reliable, administrators sometimes face issues that disrupt recording, reporting, or integration with other systems. This article walks through the most common problems, diagnostic steps, and practical fixes — from service failures and missed calls to audio quality and database errors.

1. No Calls Are Being Logged

Symptoms

  • Log files show no new entries.
  • Dashboard shows zero or stale call counts.
  • Recent calls are absent from reports.

Common causes

  • Service/agent process stopped.
  • Incorrect SIP/CTI connection or credentials.
  • License expiry or invalid license.
  • Database connection failure.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Check the Call Logger service status on the server (Windows Service or Linux daemon).
  2. Inspect application logs for connection or authentication errors.
  3. Verify network connectivity and port access between the PBX/CTI server and the Call Logger.
  4. Confirm that license is active and not expired.
  5. Test DB connectivity (ping the DB server, attempt a manual connection).

Fixes

  • Restart the Call Logger service; set recovery options to auto-restart.
  • Re-enter and test SIP/CTI credentials; ensure the account used has adequate permissions.
  • Open required firewall ports (commonly SIP, RTP ranges, and the management ports) or configure ACLs.
  • Renew or reapply the license; contact vendor if license server unreachable.
  • Fix DB connection strings or credentials; ensure the DB user has read/write access and the database is online.

Example commands (Windows)

sc query "BCMCallLoggerService" netstat -an | findstr :5060

2. Partial or Intermittent Call Recording

Symptoms

  • Some calls record fully, others only partially or not at all.
  • Recordings start late or stop early.
  • Gaps or silence within recordings.

Common causes

  • Network packet loss affecting RTP streams.
  • High CPU, memory, or disk I/O causing process stalls.
  • RTP ports blocked or inconsistent NAT traversal.
  • Call forking or complex call routing (transfers, conferencing) that the logger doesn’t follow.
  • Time sync issues between PBX and logger.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Review system resource utilization (CPU, memory, disk I/O).
  2. Monitor packet loss and jitter between PBX and recording server (use ping, traceroute, or real-time monitoring tools).
  3. Check RTP port ranges and NAT/firewall behavior; examine router logs.
  4. Cross-check call signaling to see whether calls are being forked or transferred.
  5. Verify NTP/time synchronization on all telephony components.

Fixes

  • Increase server resources or move logger to a less-loaded host.
  • Prioritize voice traffic with QoS and reduce packet loss sources.
  • Open or forward the full RTP port range; configure static NAT or media relay if needed.
  • Configure the logger to capture all call legs or enable session forking support if available.
  • Ensure NTP is configured and synchronized across systems.

3. Poor Audio Quality in Recordings

Symptoms

  • Recordings contain distortion, clipping, echo, or low volume.
  • Audio is mono/stereo issues or sample rate mismatches.

Common causes

  • Incorrect codec negotiation between PBX and recorder.
  • Resampling or transcoding issues.
  • Microphone or endpoint issues (if logging local extensions).
  • Disk fragmentation or insufficient I/O throughput during write.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Check the negotiated codecs in call signaling (e.g., G.711, G.729).
  2. Inspect the logger’s recording format and sample rate settings.
  3. Test direct voice path outside of the logger to confirm endpoints are healthy.
  4. Evaluate disk performance and check for high disk latency.

Fixes

  • Prefer high-quality codecs (G.711) or enable transcoding support; configure matching sample rates.
  • Adjust logger settings to record in native codec without unnecessary transcoding.
  • Address endpoint hardware issues (replace faulty handsets) or adjust microphone gain.
  • Improve disk performance (use SSDs, increase RAID stripe, or dedicate disks to recordings).

4. Missing Caller ID or Incorrect Metadata

Symptoms

  • Caller ID fields empty or display “Unknown.”
  • Wrong extension, direction, or queue shown in reports.

Common causes

  • SIP headers or CDR fields not passed from PBX to logger.
  • Incorrect parsing rules or outdated field mappings.
  • Truncated or malformed signaling due to SIP normalization or SBC rewriting.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Capture SIP traces for problematic calls and inspect headers (From, P-Asserted-Identity, Remote-Party-ID).
  2. Review Call Logger’s field mapping and parsing configuration.
  3. Check SBC or SIP normalization rules that may rewrite headers.

Fixes

  • Update logger to support relevant SIP headers (P-Asserted-Identity, Remote-Party-ID).
  • Modify PBX/SBC configuration to preserve caller identity headers and pass CDR fields.
  • Edit parsing templates in the logger to accommodate header formats used by your PBX.

5. Database Errors and Slow Reports

Symptoms

  • Reporting queries time out.
  • Errors like “DB connection failed,” “deadlock,” or “slow query.”
  • Reports show incomplete or inconsistent data.

Common causes

  • Large volumes of stored recordings/records without maintenance.
  • Missing indexes, inefficient queries, or outdated statistics.
  • Backup or maintenance jobs locking tables.
  • Insufficient DB resources (RAM, CPU, disk I/O).

Diagnostic steps

  1. Check DB server health — CPU, memory, I/O, and specific DB logs.
  2. Run explain plans on slow queries to identify missing indexes.
  3. Inspect table sizes, index fragmentation, and autogrowth settings.
  4. Look for long-running transactions or blocking sessions.

Fixes

  • Archive or purge old records and recordings per retention policy.
  • Add or rebuild indexes; update query statistics.
  • Move DB to more powerful hardware or allocate more resources.
  • Schedule heavy maintenance tasks during off-peak hours and use transactional best practices to reduce locking.

6. Integration Failures with CRM or Third-Party Systems

Symptoms

  • Calls do not pop in CRM or CTI events fail.
  • Failed webhooks or API authentication errors.

Common causes

  • API credential changes or expired tokens.
  • Network/firewall blocking outbound calls to third-party APIs.
  • Schema mismatches or unexpected payloads after an update.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Check API credentials, tokens, and refresh mechanisms.
  2. Review application logs for HTTP error codes (401, 403, 404, 500).
  3. Use curl or Postman from the server to test API endpoints.
  4. Compare expected vs actual payloads the logger sends.

Fixes

  • Update/renew API credentials and ensure secure storage.
  • Allow outbound traffic to the third-party API endpoints; whitelist IPs if required.
  • Adjust payload format or mappings; handle API version changes.

7. License or Activation Problems

Symptoms

  • Feature locks, expired-license warnings, or disabled modules.
  • Calls stop being recorded after a grace period.

Common causes

  • License server unreachable.
  • Host ID or server fingerprint changed (hardware/cloning).
  • License file corruption.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Inspect license status in the admin UI and vendor portal.
  2. Confirm the server’s host ID matches the license.
  3. Review logs for license validation errors.

Fixes

  • Reconnect or reconfigure license server settings; contact vendor to reissue keys.
  • If the server was cloned, re-generate host-specific license data.
  • Replace corrupted license file with a fresh copy.

8. Time Stamp or Timezone Discrepancies

Symptoms

  • Calls appear at wrong times in reports.
  • Cross-system correlation (PBX vs logger) mismatches.

Common causes

  • NTP not configured or drifted clocks.
  • Timezone configured differently across systems.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Check system time and timezone on PBX, logger, and DB servers.
  2. Verify NTP server reachability and synchronization status.

Fixes

  • Configure NTP on all systems and point them to reliable time sources.
  • Standardize on UTC for systems and convert in the UI if needed.

9. Permission and Access Issues

Symptoms

  • Admins cannot view recordings or change settings.
  • Errors like “permission denied” in logs.

Common causes

  • Misconfigured user roles or missing privileges.
  • File system permissions restrict access to recordings.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Review application roles and permissions for affected accounts.
  2. Check OS-level ACLs on recording storage directories.
  3. Inspect authentication backend (LDAP/AD) mappings.

Fixes

  • Update role mappings and grant necessary privileges.
  • Fix file system permissions and ensure the application runs under an account with access.
  • Sync or update LDAP/AD group mappings.

10. Unexpected Restarts or Crashes

Symptoms

  • Service crashes with unhandled exceptions or out-of-memory errors.
  • Frequent restarts logged by system journal.

Common causes

  • Memory leaks or resource exhaustion.
  • Third-party library incompatibilities after updates.
  • Corrupt application files.

Diagnostic steps

  1. Collect application crash dumps and analyze stack traces.
  2. Monitor memory and handle counts over time.
  3. Review recent updates or patches applied to the system.

Fixes

  • Apply vendor patches or roll back faulty updates.
  • Increase memory or tune JVM/.NET settings as recommended by vendor.
  • Reinstall application components if files are corrupt.

Useful Diagnostic Checklist (Quick)

  • Confirm Call Logger service is running.
  • Check network connectivity and RTP port availability.
  • Verify DB connectivity and license status.
  • Ensure NTP time sync across systems.
  • Inspect logs for repeated error patterns and timestamps.
  • Run SIP/RTP traces for problematic calls.

When to Contact Vendor Support

  • You’ve exhausted basic diagnostics and the issue persists.
  • Reproducible crashes with no clear configuration cause.
  • License server or vendor-side activation issues.
  • Data corruption or missing recordings requiring vendor tools.

When contacting support include: software version, server OS/version, recent changes, relevant log snippets, SIP traces, DB error messages, and reproduction steps.

Preventive Best Practices

  • Keep Call Logger and PBX firmware/software up to date.
  • Implement monitoring for service health, disk usage, and call success rates.
  • Enforce retention/archival policies to control DB size.
  • Use dedicated network paths or VLANs for voice traffic with QoS.
  • Regularly test restores of recordings and database backups.

If you want, I can produce a troubleshooting playbook tailored to your specific BCM Call Logger version and environment (OS, DB, PBX model) — tell me those details and I’ll create step-by-step runbooks.

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