Call Accounting - Forms

Forms

Call accounting capabilities can be acquired in several forms.

Stand-alone hardware device

Call accounting can be provided from a hardware device. Such solutions, especially ones with proprietary designed hardware buffers, have generally been static and with limited features, and are intended to support a single telephone switch. However some hardware solutions use a barebone PC or mini PC with software written to work within an operating system. These PC-based devices can support a wider range of PABXs depending on the software module written and is usually done by replacing or adding PABX specific software modules.

Stand-alone server software

Call accounting can be provided from a stand-alone server software product. Such solutions have more robust features and are intended to support a single or small number of phone switches and users. However these solutions also have a higher total cost of ownership by requiring management of one or several self-standing systems.

Centralized enterprise software

Call accounting can be provided from a hosted multi-property enterprise server solution. Such solutions provide more robust features and can support large numbers of distributed phone switches and users, all without the complexity of many distributing systems scattered across the enterprise. Enterprise call accounting systems centralize management and monitoring of call accounting across an enterprise. Such systems over an enterprise WAN, VPN, or over the public Internet, and eliminate distributed standalone distributed call accounting systems and as a result provide a lower cost of ownership and a consistent distribution of features and functions across an enterprise. Care should be taken to insure that such enterprise solutions operate from a single real-time truly multi-property data bases versus multiple duplicated/replicated copies of the software itself which mitigates the value of centralization. Hosted enterprise solutions are appropriate for anybody supporting more than one telephone PBX/PABX or anyone who seeks one central call accounting solution regardless of multiple possible PBX/PABX vendors. Given rapid changes in voice and more generally VOIP, centrally hosted solutions also make it easier to continuously adapt to changing requirements by providing one place for managing system change. Centralized call accounting solutions are easily justified if you compare it the total life cycle cost of ownership for the distributed technology.

Software as a service (SaaS)

Call accounting software functionality can be accessed as an online software service. Software services are typically hosted by the software vendor themselves. SaaS providers often include optional levels of systems monitoring, management, and analysis services atop the call accounting software itself. SaaS solutions (also sometimes called managed service solutions or application service provider (ASP) solutions) generally provide greater operational simplicity while actually providing more software capability and greater return on investment. Like hosted enterprise call accounting solutions, managed service providers eliminate distributed call accounting systems and with them the related management and attention required to keep multiple distributed systems operating, refreshed, and current. Like most software platforms SaaS software is justified by the total lifecycle cost of ownership versus a distributed software technology. But also by a more general business preference to acquire software as an operating expense (OpEx) versus a capital expense (CapEx).

Web services

The more recent approach to call accounting when using VOIP-enabled phone portals and devices is to embed call accounting information into telephony devices as part of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). This is not to be confused with embedding an entire call accounting software package into a voice solution but instead as embedding integration to a centrally hosted call accounting web service with your overall telephone solution. Web services is generally a very inexpensive way to get customized access to sophisticated call accounting features and eliminate the need to manage technology to get that capability.