Typical Workflow

All sites use the system a little differently so there is no single workflow that applies to everyone. Below is the typical workflow for most users. Please contact [Support] if you have any questions. There is no charge for this type of assistance. We will notify you ahead of time if any service you are requesting is considered billable.

1. Enter your customers into the system

All of your customers must be in the system before we can rate calls for those customers. See [CustomerMaster] for more information. Customers can be added directly into the [CustomerMaster] table or through the 'Customers' link on the main page of the PHP Admin Portal. If the customer type is 'Wholesale' then need to import their wholesale using the 'Customer Rates (Wholesale) link on the main page. If the customer type is 'Retail', you will need to select which plan they are on using 'Customer Plans (Retail)' link on the main page.

2. Import rates into the system

In order to rate a call we need the rates for your customers imported into the system. Click the links below to see how to import rates for each type of call. Call types include:

[Interstate]
[Intrastate]
[International]
[Toll-free Origination]
[Termination of Indeterminate Jurisdiction]
[Simple Termination]
[Tiered Origination]
[Retail Origination]
[Retail Termination]

3. Enter IP Addresses

If you bill for wholesale termination, you can enter all the IP addresses that you accept traffic from. This makes it easy to match CDR to the appropriate customer. Use the 'IP Address' link on the main page of the [PHP Admin Portal] or mass-dump records right into the [IPAddressMaster] table.

4. Enter DIDs

If you bill for origination or retail termination, you can enter all the DIDs you own into our system. This information is used to match CDR to the appropriate customer. Use the 'DIDs' link on the main page of the [PHP Admin Portal] or mass-dump records right into the [DIDMaster] table.

5. Configure Recurring Charges (optional)

If you bill your customers for fixed-fee services, you can configure them in [Recurring Charges].

6. Import CDR

The method used to import CDR depends on what switch, PBX or carrier you are using. Our Home page on this site describes all the pre-built integrations we have. Please refer to the details on the main page for each type.

7. Categorize and Rate CDR

Categorizing the CDR is the process of determining what type of call it is. i.e, interstate, intrastate, international, toll-free origination, etc. We need to determine what type of call it is before we can rate it.

Once a call has been successfully categorized, we can attempt to rate it.

These actions are performed by the following postgres functions. We recommend scheduling them to run on a regular basis. You can also execute them manually during your testing.

fnCategorizeCDR

(This function can be run using the 'Categorize CDR' button on our 'Uncategorized CDR' page of your OpenCDRRate instance.)

fnRateIndeterminateJurisdictionCDR

fnRateInternationalCDR

fnRateInterstateCDR

fnRateIntrastateCDR

fnRateSimpleTerminationCDR

fnRateTieredOriginationCDR

fnRateTollFreeOriginationCDR

(All these functions can be run manually using the 'Rate Calls' button on the 'Rating Queue' page of your OpenCDRRate instance.)

8. Billing your customers

If you just want to see how much each customer spent but plan use another system to deliver the invoices to the customer then you can refer to the Reports link on the main page your instance of OpenCDRRate. These reports will only show calls that were successfully rated.

If you want our system to generate the actual invoices for the customer, use the 'Billing Batches' link off the main page of your instance of OpenCDRRate.

Support Contact [Support] with any questions. There is no charge for support unless we notify your prior that a particular service is billable.

Follow us on twitter to receive new feature notifications: http://www.twitter.com/opencdrrate/

Join our LinkedIn group to open discussions on features you would like to see in the system. http://www.linkedin.com/groups/OpenCDRRate-4381972

-The OpenCDRRate team from DTH Software, Inc