[Asterisk-Users] VoIP Termination

[Shoval Tomer]

<snip>

> Fortunately, asterisk will do that for you to the second, looking at
> the cdr records and totalling up the duration column for a specific
> period will tell you what your bill would be at the few cents a minute
> you'll be charged.
> 
Actually not true, although a common mistake.

You do not pay to the provider by the second, so never, ever, ever total
the duration column.

Usually you don't pay by the minute either, but by some intermediate,
like in units of 12 seconds, but you need to check it with the provider.

This is a serious mistake, and it gets worse the more calls you total.

Let's say, that you pay by the minute.
Having made 6 calls of under ten seconds costs you as if you've made 6
calls of 59 seconds.
If you just total the duration of the calls, you'd think you're paying
for one minute and you're actually paying for six.
That's a big mistake.

Now imagine you had 12000 calls to total.

Always total the price for each call, never the duration.