VoIP Call Accounting Software - how is it different?

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In the near future all call accounting systems will be VoiP call accounting systems. The traditional TDM based PBX's have been around for over twenty years and they have now reached the end of the line. They are rapidly being replaced by VoIP phone systems and they require a new approach to PBX call accounting.

VoIP call accounting systems must address not only the telecom expense management issues that call accounting solutions have always focused on, they must also address new issues specific to VoIP PBX technology and today's more competitive business environment.

Telephone Expense Management (TEM)

TEM continues to be a subject of interest, despite increased competition between carriers and cheaper calls resulting from the use of VoIP. In fact the cost savings associated with VoIP relate mainly to calls between "internal" extensions, whether local or long distance. Calls to parties not connected to the network typically incur the normal PSTN charges. It is for reasons such as this that traditional telephone call accounting remains a subject of interest to business.

VoIP Call Accounting - a tool to improve customer service

Businesses now have a greater interest in monitoring customer service and productivity metrics than in the past. In evaluating a VoIP call accounting systems, in-bound call statistics are of particular interest to management. They want to see a real time analysis of how long it takes to answer calls across an enterprise and then drill down on locations, cost centers, departments and individual extensions by time of day and day of the week. They also require statistics on the number of calls that are not answered and drop out.

VoIP Call Accounting - a tool that can increase sales

In organizations where the business phone system is used intensively to generate new or repeat business there is increasingly an interest in the analysis of outbound calls for reasons other than telecom expense management. In these situations call management software is typically integrated with a CRM application. The objective is to maintain a focus on the top twenty percent of customers who do eighty percent of the buying or trading. By logging call destinations and talk time the productivity of sales staff or traders can be dramatically increased when combined with appropriate guidance. The logical extension of this approach is to automate the process and use a predictive dialer system.

In these examples the value of the VoIP call accounting system has less to do with "call accounting" than improving the effectiveness of management. As the expression goes:

"You cannot manage what you cannot measure."

VoIP Call Accounting - detecting phone fraud and hackers

While the VoIP business phone system delivers innumerable features and benefits not available from earlier TDM technology, it potentially increases exposure to phone fraud and hackers. Before VoIP, voice and data lived in separate domains and had little or no contact with on one another. That is no longer the case as VoIP phone systems are designed to share the same networks as computers. Both voice and data traverse the same networks as indistinguishable packets of data. A hacker with the right skills and tools can use a VoIP phone call to obtain access to an unprotected network and the servers attached to it. Firewalls and antivirus software can provide a high level of protection, but there can be no guarantees.

By identifying anomalies and exceptions in the use of VoIP phone system, a current generation PBX call accounting solution can detect fraud and hacking attempts in real time detection.

Common examples of phone fraud and hacking include:

• Dial through fraud
• Calls to maintenance ports
• War Dialing
• Breakout calls
• DISA (Direct Inward System Access
• Calls to irregular destinations
• Telephone abuse
• Premium rate calls

VoIP call management, unlike traditional telephone call accounting is required to provide proactive alarms and alerts in response to a whole range of issues. In addition to fraud detection they may also include other user specified conditions. Examples include: unanswered calls above a specified level, average answer times increasing above a nominated level, calls from or to specified numbers, in-bound calls numbers increasing above a threshold etc.

See also: Web Based Call Accounting and Free Call Accounting Software

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