DB Connector

DB Connector is a Windows-based, encrypted service that acts as a gateway between the NICE CXone platform and your corporate database, working over TLS 1.2. It's commonly used to retrieve information from a private database and provide it to the agent. For example, you could pull a customer number or order number based on the caller ID and use it in a screen pop for the agent to reference. You can also be use DB Connector to write information obtained during an interaction to the private database, although this is less common.

When a Studio script performs a SQL action, the query is directed to DB Connector for processing. DB Connector then passes the query through to the corporate database using a configured OLE DB account. The OLE DB driver passes the query to the database and then returns the result to CXone via DB Connector.

CXone does not store information retrieved from a private database by DB Connector. However, the information may appear in agent messages, log files, and similar places specific to how the information is used. You should take this into consideration if you plan to use DB Connector to retrieve protected private information, such as information subject to HIPAA regulations.

Studio Actions Used with DB Connector

Use these actions with DB Connector:

DB Connector and Load Balancers

DB Connector can run on a load balancer, however, it is not officially supported. If you choose to run DB Connector on a load balancer: 

  • Download and run the DB Connector client on your load balancer.
  • Set the client ConnectString to the load balancer's IP address.
  • Keep the port number at its default: 1433.
  • DB Connector closes each SQL connection upon successful completion.

Requirements

The following technical requirements apply to the DB Connector server:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008/2008R2 or later.
  • .NET framework 4.5.2 at minimum
  • Internet access to a handful of IP addresses that constitute access points to the NICE CXone platform. For more information, see the Connectivity Requirements help page.
  • Visibility to the database. If the database runs on an MS Windows server, DB Connector can run on the same machine, but this is not required.
  • The appropriate database driver (for example, ADO or ODBC). The driver must have the appropriate credentials to access the database. For security reasons, the database user account should have the minimum required access. For example, if CXone only needs to read from the database, use an account limited to read-only permissions.
  • If an Oracle database is being used, you must download an Oracle OLE DB Driver. Visit the Oracle website and search keyword 64-bit ODAC download.

Key facts about DB Connector

Take note of these important key facts about DB Connector: 

  • Setting up and using DB Connector requires both the web interface in CXone and the DB Connector executable.
  • DB Connector is installed on a server with access to your private database. This computer is referred to as the DB Connector server.
  • The DB Connector application is named DBCCFG.
  • If you have any issues with DB Connector being falsely identified as infected, contact your antivirus vendor.
  • DB Connector has been validated against Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. However, DB Connector uses the standardized OLE DB technology from Microsoft. Other database types are compatible as long as the database vendor's OLE DB-compliant drivers have been installed on the DB Connector server.
  • DB Connector does not work with MySQL.

DB Connector Architecture

The following diagram shows how the DB Connector initiates and maintains a connection with the NICE CXone platform.

The connection between your database and the NICE CXone platform is initiated by clicking Start in the connector application. This connection is maintained forever unless it's interrupted. When it's interrupted, you can restart the connection by clicking Start in the connector application. As long as the connection is maintained, CXone can send queries to your database without needing an IP or DNS name to connect.

Connectors are created and assigned to groups for easy management. A DB Connector group can contain a single connector. Groups can be used to provide a fail-over pattern for multiple databases. The following examples show two options for redundant DB Connector architecture.

Failover Option 1

In this example, Group 1 has three connectors. Each connector is a separate instance of a connection to a single database.  A single connector could fail, and traffic would be re-routed through the second connector.  If the second connector failed, the third connector would take over.  If the database itself failed, the system would be down.

Failover Option 2

In this example, Group 1 has two connectors, with the first pointing to the primary side of the database and the second pointing to the secondary side of the database.  A single connector could fail, and traffic would be re-routed through the other connector. An instance of the database could fail, and the traffic would be re-routed to the replicated copy of the database.