-- Call Detail Reporting Guide -- September 2000 -- Page 7 --
2.3 Call Detail Recording - Past and Present
AltiGen Communications has redesigned its CDR (Call Detail Recording) database in Release 4.0. It is
entirely different than prior releases, and the data schema for the database is provided below.
The objective of the new CDR database schema is to provide rich, accurate information covering different
viewpoints of the AltiServ system: incoming calls, outgoing calls, agents, workgroups, tenant use, billing,
account tracking, and other metric perspectives. Not all views will be of interest to you. Hopefully, we
have covered enough information for most of your objectives.
AltiWare 4.0 does not support rate tables unlike past releases. This function must now be obtained by
external applications found in reporting tools, such as the TriVium Call Analyst. The CDR database has
sufficient information to support rate and charge evaluation by external applications.
2.4 No OE 3.5 Migration Path
AltiGen customers using AltiGen’s 4.0 CDR will not be provided with any conversion tool for CDR
records stored under OE 3.5 or prior releases. Therefore, it is important that your dealer copy and save all
CDR (.dbf) files from a prior release before installing OE 4.0. Consider OE 4.0 and any supporting report
program as a fresh start. If you have a reporting package using AltiGen’s CDR or SMDR, then the
reporting package vendor will have to rewrite the reporting program to work with the new CDR database
schema.
2.4 No Reporting of Extension to Extension Calls
AltiWare 4.0 does not support reporting CDR records for internal calls between extensions, or from internal
extensions to workgroups. The CDR database only has information on calls entering or leaving the phone
system via a trunk.
2.5 Cautions Concerning SMDR
SMDR is a Mitel-defined data schema for delivering basic call information out the RS232 serial port to
external recording and reporting applications. While AltiGen has provided an SMDR interface, it has had
many problems in terms of accuracy and consistency of information delivery. SMDR is NOT CDR. CDR
is historical, and is a database containing call records. SMDR is a real time delivery of a subset of this
information. AltiGen recommends that customers use the new CDR, not the SMDR, for reporting and
billing applications. No improvements or corrections have been made to SMDR.
2.6 Real Time and Centralized CDR Applications
AltiGen’s OE 4.0 provides a new means for receiving CDR information from AltiWare in a real time
manner. AltiWare OE 4.0 comes with a software program found in the External Logger Service directory
on the OE 4.0 CDROM.
A separate server is required to use the External Logger Service. Basically, AltiWare OE 4.0 sends its
CDR records in real time (behaving as a client) to the External Logger Server over TCP/IP. On a separate
server, the External Logger Service receives the CDR record and writes the CDR record into a Microsoft
SQL 7.0 database. Hence the records in this SQL database are constantly being updated with the latest
information.
