[Asterisk-Users] Billing (itemized) in the UK

[Peter Hoppe]

Hello!

We are located in the UK, and we are planning to replace our old pbx with an asterisk based pbx. For 
outgoing calls our present pbx is connected to three PSTN lines which all have the same number. 
Internally, the pbx caters for quite a few extensions, and each extension can make outbound phone calls.

Our telecom provider (your communications) gives us monthly itemized bills that list all of the 
calls per extension, i.e. from the bill we are able to tell which internal extension made what call 
to which destination at which date/time, how long this call was in minutes and how much that 
particular call costs.

We would like to reuse the three PSTN lines with the asterisk system, and at present there are no 
plans to utilize other connectiviy (such as ISDN) - we would like to stick with the three PSTN lines.

My understanding is that when the asterisk system is running we won't get any itemized bills any 
more since the telecom provider has no way of telling from which extension a call originated.


Questions:

To give the extension information to the telco...

How can I configure Asterisk to do send extension information?

What signalling do I have to provide for outgoing calls to give extension information the telco?

Is there a standard for sending extension numbers (i.e. do I have to send some DTMF digits)?

Is there a software / asterisk extension (that works in the UK) that allows asterisk to send 
extension info?

Do I need to buy some equipment that can provide this info to the telco? Which?

Where could I find more information on that subject?



Thank you very much for your consideration.