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The Importance Of Call Accounting Software Continues To Grow
By Rito Salomone, Sat Dec 10th
There was once a time when there were no telephones, facsimilemachines, personal devices, computers or the Internet. Todaymost people cannot phantom such a primitive existence.Communication is the link that allows our world to function atits torrid pace. Business must continually adopt moderntechnology to successfully compete in a world that demandsinstantaneous results. The proper management of communicationinfrastructure is crucial in the success of any organization.
The entry points into every organization usually include acombination of auto attendant, custom call routing (CCR), voicemail, interactive voice response (IVR), automated calldistribution (ACD), wireless and countless other devices. Manyorganizations are turning to communication servers overconventional PBX systems to deploy VoIP based pipelines thatreduce cost and maximize flexibility. Voice and datacommunication can now co-exist and flow freely through the samebandwidth. Calls can easily be configured to simultaneously ringmultiple devices, hunt to wireless or home phones, route tovoice mail or forward to another call center.
Communication management is now a multi-pronged approach thatcombines statistics from various facilities to identify billingirregularities, misuse, bottlenecks, inactivity, productivity orworkforce expense.
Billing reconciliation is often overlooked since carriers alwaysbill based on contracted tariff plans, right? According toanalysts at Gartner, "Organizations can routinely save more than10% of their annual telecommunications expenses bysystematically checking their carrier bills against equipmentand services in use." But it is no longer effective to lookexclusively at your traditional telephone invoices and comparethem to the call accounting system in the back room.
The old adage rings true today "you cannot manage what youcannot measure". Call accounting is no longer the killerapplication of current times but it is certainly a necessarycomponent. Leading edge communication management systems nowcollect system logs, Internet usage reports, router statistics,voice mail logs, CCR, hunt group information and variousdevice-dependent logs as well as traditional call detail records(CDR).
Have you ever called your favorite electronics store to inquireabout the latest digital cameras but got trapped in a series ofnever-ending prompts about store hours, hard drive specials andvideo games? Many companies are taking advantage ofcommunication management systems (CMS) that study activity fromautomated attendant and custom call routing trees. These reportshelp pinpoint whether calls are being prematurely dropped,abandoned or misdirected. It is imperative that customers arequickly and efficiently routed to their desired destination. Thecustomer experience with your communication facilities willdictate whether they return.
Cost allocation to various corporate
levels has been a basicfunctionality of most robust call accounting system for years.The downward trend of long distance expenses due to fallingcarrier rates, bundled services and VoIP competition haslessened the importance of this feature. This has resulted inthe misconception that call accounting is no longer relevant.However many companies forget that there are many hidden coststhat can be highlighted through proper use of call accounting orcommunication management software.
If Jimmy in sales spends half his time talking on the phone,management might be thrilled at his dedication. However if Jimmyis spending half his time talking to his girlfriend, perhapsmanagement should take a second look. Call Accounting can be akey indicator of misuse and employee productivity. Employeeproductivity recovery is one of the primary reasons to own asystem today!
Often fraudulent calls may be routed through corporatefacilities without the knowledge of the company. Hackers canfind faults in improperly designed networks, infrequently usedextensions, voice mail ports and tandem trunks. A callaccounting watchdog should always be monitoring activity forirregular patterns. Modern call management systems utilize SMS,pager, email and web interfaces for instantaneous reporting.
Communication management is imperative in providing the propermetrics for migrating to IP. Most companies do not even have aproper migration strategy. Call accounting can help ease thetransition by highlighting traffic volumes, peak hours, grade ofservice, abandoned calls, blocked calls, calls to reception andvarious other peg counts. These statistics will help determinethe bandwidth needs and requirements for auto attendant,wireless, IVR and other services.
Some communication management systems have been establishedinteroperability with major manufacturers such as Nortel, Ciscoand Avaya. These systems often provide more tight knitintegration through third party call control. These solutionsoften enhance the hardware by adding such features as: forcedand verified account codes, call trace, set locking and realtime emergency notification.
Often companies forget about the need for pinpointing the sourceof a telephone call in case of an emergency. Many callaccounting systems have built-in real time alarm triggers thatwill alert authorized personnel of an emergency call. Thisfeature is crucial when seconds could mean life or death.
Call accounting has definitely evolved and matured intocommunication management. The need for this software is moreimportant than ever.
About the author:
Rito Salomone is the president of Resource SoftwareInternational Ltd. (RSI). He has 17 years experience in thefield of communication management solutions.
For more information you can review: http://www.telecost.com orcontact the author at rsalomone@telecost.com.
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