> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.operata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Collect

> Collection is where Operata data starts. Four collection types run in the agent's browser and in the cloud, emit timestamped measurements, and apply your redaction policy before anything crosses the boundary to Operata.

Collection is where Operata data starts. Collectors run where the data is made — in the agent's browser and in the cloud — and emit [signals](/docs/concepts-signals-and-observations): single timestamped measurements of what happened.

## How it works

Four collection types feed Operata. Each covers measurements the others can't produce. Two read the real traffic your contact center handles; two generate synthetic traffic so you find a fault before a customer does.

| Collection type                                       | Runs in                                                     | Emits                                                                                                                                |
| ----------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| [Cloud Collector](/docs/concepts-cloud-collection)    | Your cloud account, or Operata's, depending on the platform | Contact records from your platform's own event stream                                                                                |
| [Cloud Synthetics](/docs/concepts-cloud-orchestrator) | Your AWS account, on Amazon Connect                         | Results of [Heartbeat](/docs/heartbeat-setup) checks and [Virtual Agent](/docs/virtual-agent) calls placed through your contact flow |
| [Agent Collector](/docs/collector-overview)           | The agent's browser                                         | Headset audio levels, network quality, microphone state, page focus, softphone CTI events                                            |
| [Agent Synthetics](/docs/help/agent-readiness-test)   | The agent's browser                                         | Results of a readiness test the agent runs on demand against their own device, network, and browser                                  |

Synthetic contacts carry the same signals a real contact does, so they land as observations on a contact and raise the same insights.

Signals flow one way. A collector emits, Operata ingests, and nothing downstream reaches back to change what a collector reports.

## Why redaction runs here

The collectors run inside your boundary, so your [redaction policy](/docs/privacy-and-redaction-overview) applies before any data leaves it. A field you redact is never transmitted, which means Operata never stores it and the API never returns it. Redaction at the collector is the only place that guarantee holds.

## Platform specifics

What each collector reads depends on the platform you run.

* [Amazon Connect](/docs/integrations-amazon-connect-overview) — Contact Trace Records (CTRs) from Kinesis, Contact Lens output, and contact-flow logs.
* [Genesys Cloud](/docs/genesys-overview) — conversation records and analytics.
* [NICE CXOne](/docs/integrations-nice-cxone-overview) — interaction records.

## Related

* [What cloud collection adds](/docs/cloud-collection-benefits) — why browser data alone leaves gaps.
* [Choose your integration](/docs/integrations-overview) — the platforms Operata collects from.
* [Collection frequency](/docs/resources-data-collection-frequency) — how often each collector reports.
* [Data collection — Amazon Connect](/docs/resources-data-collection-amazon-connect) — the field-level coverage for Amazon Connect.
* [Privacy and redaction](/docs/privacy-and-redaction-overview) — what you can suppress, and where.
* [Monitor](/docs/core-overview) — what happens to a signal after collection.