This walkthrough provides an introduction to CDR2Cloud Authentication Code (Auth Code) feature and how to effectively use Auth Codes to identify which customer CDR calls should be billed to.
This walkthrough will cover the following steps:
- Reviewing the anatomy of a CDR file
- Creating a business logic for consistently identifying CDR records to customers
- Defining Auth Code(s) for your customer(s)
Anatomy of a CDR file
CDR files come in many different formats, sizes and field definition. Every PBX manufacturer has a different CDR file format, however we can safely say that every PBX produces a CDR file. CDR files are basically log files that contain a transaction record of calls that have been processed by your PBX, SIP Server or Network. When operating a PBX there are basically 2 accepted ways of producing billing records, RADIUS and CDR files. CDR2Cloud allows you to easily produce billing records from your CDR files by reading each line in the CDR file and bill that line to a customer. You must however define the logic that will be used to associate that line from the CDR file to a customer, but you must first understand what data is in your CDR file and how it relates to your customer.
Note
This walkthrough uses CDR files from the Brekeke SIP Server, however the concept is the same as applied to any CDR file from any other manufacturer.
Below is an extract of a CDR file as viewed in Edit Pad as well as Excel:
Brekeke SIP Server CDR File in EditPad Text Editor (click to display)
Brekeke SIP Server CDR File in Microsoft Excel (click to display)
Notice that there are 9 records (rows) with 9 fields (columns). If viewed in a Text Editor you will notice that each field is separated (delimited) by commas, however when viewed in Excel the columns are more clearly marked. Taking each record (row), one at a time you will notice that every field (column) contains different information such as:
- how long did the call last for - talking-length
- when did the call start - talk-start-time
- what phone number was called - to-uri
Step-by-step guide
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