We have just installed an 8 channel ISDN2 call recorder onto a BT Versatility phone system and whilst demonstrating it to the customer we realised that the SMDR output from the Versatility doesn’t provide the DDI number, but the call recording hardware did collect the DDI number from the ISDN line š
So we modified the converter code to bring in the DDI number from the trunk side and place it into the call records database.
And there it is, Call Recording for BT Versatility with added DDI bonus.
What does SMDR mean?
SMDR is a data stream from the phone system that contains details about completed phone calls. The format varies from system to system, but it usually includes Date, Time, Extn, Number, Duration etc
SMDR stands for Station Message Detail Record, sometimes referred to as CDR (Call Detail Record).
Telestat 7 Call Logging Software processes the SMDR into a user friendly database which then allows customers to see what is happening in their business, run reports, schedule email reports and much much more.
The Customer
The customer, a Cheshire based firm of Solicitors, is delighted with their new Call Recording system, not only because it exceeds their business needs but also now they have the DDI number they can generate more detailed incoming call reports to see which numbers their callers are actually dialing, this is really useful for analysing incoming calls.
What is a DDI Number?
Some businesses have more then one phone number, examples are:
- Sales Number
- Customer Services Number
- Accounts Number
- Individual numbers per person or key personel within the business
- Different numbers in adverts to track response rates
With Telephony Services becoming more affordable and full of features, many business now have several incoming business numbers but many phone systems do not provide the number that the caller actually dialed in the SMDR data, so no matter how many 000’s you spent on a Call Logger it can’t tell you which numbers receive most calls.
With the Telestat 7 Call Recorder we were able to provide the DDI numbers to the Call Logger so the customer can now report on these. (We could do this for other phone systems that don’t report the DDI Number also).