Designing a Cloud-Native SIP Recording Architecture with SIPREC and AWS Chime SDK

How-To-Articles
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Designing a Cloud-Native SIP Recording Architecture with SIPREC and AWS Chime SDK

What This Guide Covers

  • Architecting a high-availability external call recording solution for Genesys Cloud using the SIPREC (SIP Recording) protocol and AWS Chime SDK Voice Connector.
  • Configuring the media fork from Genesys Cloud BYOC to an AWS-hosted recording stack for real-time compliance monitoring, secondary storage, or custom AI transcription.
  • The end result is a highly scalable, secure, and vendor-neutral recording pipeline that eliminates the need for expensive on-premise recording servers.

Prerequisites, Roles & Licensing

  • Licensing: Genesys Cloud CX 1, 2, or 3 with BYOC (Cloud or Premise).
  • AWS Account: Active account with Amazon Chime SDK and S3 enabled.
  • Permissions: Telephony > Trunk > Edit and AWS Console > Chime > Voice Connector > Admin.
  • Infrastructure: A Genesys Cloud BYOC Trunk configured to support SIPREC.

The Implementation Deep-Dive

1. The SIPREC Architecture: SRC vs. SRS

In a SIPREC environment, Genesys Cloud acts as the Session Recording Client (SRC), and the external recording server (AWS Chime) acts as the Session Recording Server (SRS).

Architectural Reasoning:
SIPREC works by “forking” the media. When a call is established, Genesys Cloud sends an INVITE to the SRS (AWS Chime) containing the same media streams (audio) as the original call. This happens transparently to the caller and the agent, with no impact on call quality or latency.

2. Configuring AWS Chime SDK Voice Connector

AWS Chime SDK provides a managed SRS that can receive SIPREC streams and automatically save them to an S3 bucket.

Implementation Steps:

  1. Create the Voice Connector: In the AWS Console, create a New Voice Connector.
  2. Enable Media Streaming: Under “Logging” and “Streaming,” enable “Media Streaming.”
  3. Configure S3 Sink: Select the S3 bucket where the recordings should be stored.
  4. Whitelist IPs: Add your Genesys Cloud Edge/BYOC public IP addresses to the Voice Connector’s “Termination” whitelist to allow incoming SIPREC INVITEs.

The Trap:
Forgetting to configure the IAM Role for the Voice Connector. If the Chime service doesn’t have s3:PutObject permissions for your bucket, the SIPREC stream will be accepted, but the recording will never appear in S3, leaving you with “Ghost Recordings.”

3. Configuring the Genesys Cloud Trunk for SIPREC

You must tell Genesys Cloud where to send the forked media.

Implementation Steps:

  1. Trunk Settings: In the Genesys Cloud Admin UI, navigate to your BYOC Trunk settings.
  2. Recording Section: Enable “External Call Recording (SIPREC).”
  3. SRS Endpoint: Enter the FQDN of your AWS Chime Voice Connector (e.g., [id].voiceconnector.chime.aws).
  4. Codec Alignment: Ensure your trunk is configured to use G.711 MU-LAW or G.711 A-LAW. While AWS Chime supports multiple codecs, G.711 is the most reliable for SIPREC handshakes across different regions.

The Trap:
Using UDP for SIPREC signaling. SIPREC INVITE messages are often large because they contain complex XML metadata (the “Recording Metadata”). These messages can exceed the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) of a UDP packet, leading to fragmentation and signaling failure. Always use TCP or TLS for the SIPREC trunk connection to AWS.

Validation, Edge Cases & Troubleshooting

Edge Case 1: Metadata Disconnect (Recording without Context)

  • The Failure Condition: You have the audio files in S3, but you don’t know which interaction ID or agent they belong to.
  • The Root Cause: The SIPREC metadata XML is not being parsed or stored correctly.
  • The Solution: AWS Chime provides a companion Kinesis Video Stream (KVS) for the metadata. Use a Lambda function to subscribe to the KVS stream, parse the XML, and update the S3 object tags with the Genesys-Interaction-ID.

Edge Case 2: One-Way Recording (Missing Caller or Agent Audio)

  • The Failure Condition: The recording only contains the agent’s voice, not the customer’s.
  • The Root Cause: Incorrect SDP negotiation. The SRS (AWS) only successfully negotiated one of the two media streams in the forked INVITE.
  • The Solution: Check the SIP Ladder in the Genesys Cloud diagnostic logs. Verify that the 200 OK from AWS Chime includes both media descriptions (m=audio) in the SDP response.

Official References