Audio Collector

Product: Prepared
Audience: PSAP Technical Leads, IT Teams, Call Handling Vendors, Supervisors, Administrators, and Technical Implementation Managers (TIM)
Last Updated: 03/17/2026

After reading this guide, you will understand how to install, connect, validate, and activate redundant Prepared Audio Collectors for Assistive Call Taking (ACT), including hardware setup, network requirements, and required data feeds.

Prepared provides on-premise Audio Collectors to support Assistive Call Taking (ACT).

The Audio Collector is a passive system that:

• Receives mirrored SIP (signaling) and RTP (audio) traffic

• Ingests CDR and ANI/ALI (CAD Out) data

• Sends data securely to Prepared over outbound connections

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The Audio Collector does not modify calls, route traffic, or act as a proxy. It is passive only.
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A standard deployment includes two collectors for redundancy.

Prepared provides the following hardware:

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Each unit is ~3.8 in tall. Plan space if stacking both collectors.
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The Audio Collector requires three inputs:

• SIP (call signaling)

• RTP (audio media)

➡️ Delivered via SPAN / port mirroring

Provides:

• Call start/end time

• Duration

• Call taker ID

Provides:

• ANI (caller number)

• ALI (location data)

• Timestamp

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Do not split serial feeds using Y-cables.
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• Minimum: 50 Mbps per collector

• Outbound only (no inbound rules required)

• Disable SSL inspection

• Ensure DNS resolution

Prepared uses BeyondTrust for:

• Activation

• Configuration

• Troubleshooting

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No inbound firewall rules are required.
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• Install 1U shelf in 19” rack

• Place both collectors

• Label:

  • Collector A

  • Collector B

Each collector requires:

1. Power (C13)

2. Monitor, keyboard, mouse (temporary)

3. Management NIC → internet network

4. Capture NIC → SPAN port

5. Serial/TCP → CDR and ANI/ALI

Collector A

• SPAN Primary

• CDR A

• ANI/ALI A

Collector B

• SPAN Secondary

• CDR B

• ANI/ALI B

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Label both ends of all cables.
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Complete on both collectors.

nslookup api.prepared911.com
Test-NetConnection api.prepared911.com -Port 443
Test-NetConnection audio-server.prepared911.com -Port 443
Test-NetConnection releases.prepared911.com -Port 443
Test-NetConnection rp.prepared911.com -Port 31092

Use Wireshark:

• Confirm SIP packets

• Confirm RTP packets

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If RTP is missing, SPAN is likely incomplete (wrong VLAN or switch).
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Serial:

• Confirm COM ports

• Validate readable output

TCP:

• Confirm IP/port

• Confirm data flow

Email: prepared-implementation@axon.com

Include:

• Agency name

• Technical contact

• SPAN mappings

• CDR / ANI/ALI details

• Photos of cabling (recommended)

Prepared will:

• Connect remotely

• Configure system

• Validate ingestion

• Both collectors online

• SIP/RTP visible

• CDR + ANI/ALI active

• Data reaching Prepared

• Disable SPAN Primary → Secondary continues

• Disable one CDR feed → backup continues

• Power off one collector → failover confirmed

Calls may arrive via:

• Analog (POTS)

• PRI/T1

The collector captures internal RTP traffic, not the telco circuit.

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Recorder admin ports do NOT carry audio.

You must mirror internal RTP traffic.
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