|
Telecom Reseller – Series of Articles, entitled:
"Call Accounting Tips"
#3 in a series of articles on call accounting issues – July 2002
"Sync" your call accounting system database with
external databases
External databases, most notably those in PBX Administration systems can be
used to automatically update a call accounting system's database.
The objective is to make call accounting system reports' accurate and
believable. An inaccurate, out-of-date database produces reports which have
little credibility, therefore very little value. A secondary benefit of
automating this process is to eliminate the extra labor required to manually
input this data and also reduce the errors that are inherent in manual input.
Avaya's Terranova, DSA and ASA programs and Nortel's MAT and OTM are popular
software programs that perform adds, moves and changes in a windows program that
is easier to use and requires less technical training than directly accessing
the PBX. Other products include Unimax and PhoneMaster that can be integrated
with some call accounting systems.
Often these programs do not include all of the fields that are needed in a
call accounting system, such as; department, division, cost center, etc. This
"missing" data can be imported from other databases such as human resources.
Future articles here will include more tips on how to use a call accounting
system effectively and purchase it intelligently. We will explain how to use
this valuable tool more effectively, using real examples from our customers. (We
will be presenting a workshop at the 2002 INNMUG conference in Miami on this
topic. #BA09)
Your questions are encouraged. We will answer them personally and print them
in future columns.
|