nhdjoseywales

My company is being sold and i am being asked to look into locking down long distance access and maybe doing some call accounting. Is CDR a function of my switch or or do i need a computer with specific software set up to use CDR. Is there a good primer i could look over to explain the concepts and implementation of CDR? I think i understand how to implement the auth codes but keeping track of who made what calls is not something thats clear to me. I have a definity g3i and cms v12.

Thanks

martinyoung

The call accounting data is collected by the PBX but there is no way to see it from the PBX alone. You need an external computer running call accounting software. The PBX will dump the raw data to the computer which then massages the info and adds the costs for each call to it.

If you add auth codes to your users you will then know that Joe Smith made a 30 minute call to a Seattle phone number, without auth codes all you know is that phone number 1234 made that call to Seattle. You also can control long distance calls by using CORs and route patterns.

Avaya does have some info in their documentation about CDR but it is generic. The call accounting package you get will have specifics about that program and that will be more useful to you. Each package is different, for the six G3r's that I deal with we use Veramark eCAS.

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Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech

PBXtech.info

 

nhdjoseywales

So can i see any auth code information withour CDR or is it only thru the CAS software? It sounds like currently i could limit long distance access but we wouldnt be able to track usage until we get cas software in place.

Thanks again marty, im sure you dont hear that enuff :)

martinyoung

You can assign and implement auth codes with out CAS, neither one requires the other to work. I would do CAS first because auth codes may not be necessary. You have no way of knowing what, if any, abuse there has been

There is no data base in the PBX to keep track of auth codes, that you must do externally. You can list auth codes but there is no way to see who is assigned auth code 123456. The PBX will report to CAS that auth code 123456 made a call from station 5678 but you will have to refer to the spreadsheet you keep to find out who that is.

You are also right that there is no way to ask the PBX how many calls auth code 123456 made and where they were made to, all that is a function of CAS.

There are some caveats to successfully implement authorization codes in a system that has been running for a while without them. Get back to us when you are ready and we can go over that.

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Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech

nhdjoseywales

we are pretty sure the cleaning people use the phones at night, we have had a lot of issues with various cleaning companies including stolen cell phones so they are more concerned with securing things than determining how bad the issue really is, but i see your point definitely

let me know any issues i may run into and things i need to look out for with auth codes

martinyoung

You will need to maintain a spreadsheet outside the PBX, mainly so that you know which auth codes are assigned and who has which auth code.

Make sure everyone knows that each person has their own auth code and there will be no sharing. Do not give out group codes (such as, all of accounting uses the same auth code). Folks are not used to auth codes yet and may try to find ways around them. You might tell them that if they tell someone else their auth code will result in the cancellation of that code and the ability to call outside the system.

You will need to decide if all calls outside must use an auth code or if local calls will be permitted. Local calls will not cost you anything so you might allow those. The Avaya docs about setting up auth codes is pretty good, read and understand it before beginning. Auth codes deal with assigning FRLs to people, so make sure you understand that.

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Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech

PBXtech.info

 

nhdjoseywales

i admit the FRL stuff is confusing me some. can you give me an overview of how it functions in a single pbx environment with 2 local and 1 ld trunks?

peter65

Frl numbered 0 through 7 and are associated with the AAR and Ars Features, 7 has the highest level of privileges.
An Frl is assigned to a cor that is associated with user authorization codes.
Look in the cor which FRL number and Time of day chart number is assigned.
In the time of day table [command: display time-of-day x (where x is the time of day chart number in the cor)] you can setup and activate times to redirect calls.
The PGN assigned to the route pattern number and in the route pattern [ command: display route pattern X} you can see your trunks with the FRL.
The system checks the time of day plan number assigned to the cor, according to the time of day routing plan.
Setup a time of day routing plan with 2 route pattern numbers (PGN) 1 route pattern during the day time and 1 route pattern after work time, and make sure that the FRL in the route pattern for after work time is higher than the FRL assigned to the cor.
gr

nhdjoseywales

Peter,

i understand what you are telling me to do in concept, but i dont really understand route tables yet and dont know how to set one up, i will try to read about it sometime today but we have visitors and i have some down desktops i have to fix

currently i think all our cors use the same time of day plan and it has nothing set up in it

it looks like i need to go into the first column and set the time i want our normal routing to start each day and leave that set to the route pattern its currently using, then i need to go into column 2 and set that to the time our phone people go home so the alternate route pattern starts then.
then i would need to create a route pattern 2, and duplicate everything in route pattern 1, but give it a higher FRL so the stations cant use it without entering a code, right? do i kinda sorta get it maybe?

Thanks for being so patient with my retarded ass :P

martinyoung

I have to take care of a problem right now, but I will get back later with a more detailed definition of FRLs. The main point of confusion will be the interaction of station and route pattern FRLs.

For stations the FRL goes from 0-7 with 7 being the least restricted, however the route pattern FRLs go from 7-0 with 0 being the least restricted.

For stations I would avoid using FRLs 0,1,6,7. The reason for this is now you will have open FRLs at each end for different future uses. Two examples would be the CEO wants exclusive, unlimited access for calling out or you might want to add a lobby phone that can only receive calls. If you are using all your FRLs already, you would need to modify everything to add either of these options.

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Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech

martinyoung

Ok, a little more about FRLs. If the FRL on the route pattern is 0 then there is no restriction to the trunk groups, any station FRL (0-7) can make calls. Subject to other restrictions that you can set elsewhere, of course.

If the route pattern FRL is 2 then stations with an FRL of 2-7 can make calls, stations with an FRL of 0 or 1 cannot. If the route pattern has an FRL of 5 then stations with an FRL of 5-7 can make calls, stations with an FRL of 0-4 cannot. I think you get the idea now.

The FRL is set in the COR and every auth code has an associated COR. When you activate auth codes, if a caller does not have a native FRL high enough to make a call then they will be challenged for an auth code. After entering the auth code their native COR will be replaced by the one belonging to that auth code. If that COR has a high enough FRL then the call will be allowed.

Now we assume all your phones are using FRLs 2-4 and we implement peter65's time-of-day plan. During the day you will use a route pattern with an FRL of 0 so that all calls are allowed and your users will not be challenged for an auth code. At 5PM (or whenever) your plan will shift to another route pattern that has an FRL of 5. Since that is higher than any of your phones have, all calls will be challenged for an auth code.

Note: Before you go any farther in this direction, you need to verify that you have authorization codes available. Type "display sys cust" and find the entry "Authorization Codes". That must have a "y" there to use auth codes.

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Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech

nhdjoseywales

Ok, its getting clearer now. Let me ask this, could we combine the best of both worlds and have a system that challenges any long distance call, while allowing local calls during the day but challenges local calls after hours?

Also i suspect im going to be writing some route patterns for this so i guess my next questions will revolve around what do all the things on the route pattern screen mean

martinyoung

You would direct all long distance calls to a route pattern with an FRL higher than any phone FRL thus all long distance calls will be challenged.

You would use time-of-day tables to make it variable for local calls. One route pattern for day use and another for after hours and weekends. Peter65 touched on this in message 8.

__________________
Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech