[asterisk-users] Is existing CDR in Asterisk is enough for complete billing

[Sherwood McGowan]

On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 11:42 PM, Nikhil <d.nikhil at cem-solutions.net> wrote:
> Hi
>     I have small query that if my phone set callerid and anonymous(both name
> and number in from header),and make a call to asterisk,then the CDR shows
> src: anonymous
> dst:9999
> clid:"Anonymous"" <anonymous>"
> and etc
>
> .Here the actual name of the src is missing,so how I bill for this call?.I
> planning to change the function that set src by parsing contact header
> instead of from,Is it fine?
>
> Thanks
> nikhil
>
> On 12/02/2010 09:31 AM, Nikhil wrote:
>
> Thanks,Now I understand the problem,Now I am trying to change CDR to fix
> these issues.
>
> Thanks
> Nikhil
>
> On 12/01/2010 08:31 PM, Steve Murphy wrote:
>
> On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 5:56 AM, Nikhil <d.nikhil at cem-solutions.net> wrote:
>>
>> anyone have a idea on this..
>>
>> On 11/22/2010 10:50 AM, Nikhil wrote:
>> > Hi everyone,
>> >     I am facing lots for problem with CDRs in 1.6 and above
>> > versions,its shows wrong records when I do transfer(caller side and
>> > calee side),callforward,call parking.Is the present CDRs in 1.6 is
>> > enough for Complete billing.?What I need to do to make it
>> > proper.Please help me on this.
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> > Nikhil
>
> Nikhil--
>
> Yes, there is a problem with CDR's in asterisk. There is a bug filed
> against the problem, but no practical solution for it.
>
> The cure: use the CEL interface instead, and generate your own
> CDR's (or whatever else you could bill from [it doesn't *have* to be
> CDRs])
>
> The cause of the problem: An interesting combination of 3 operations
> being performed on channels, namely masquerading, and
> forming local channels; add to that the hardwired 'roles' that channels
> are given (channel, and peer), and the final knockout: CDRs are stored
> on channels.
>
> The above 3 operations affect CDR's because parking and transfers
> can change the role that a channel plays (chan to peer or vice-versa);
> Transfers and parking involve the masquerading, and sometimes local
> channels--
> both these operations involve duplicating a channel.  CDR's are meant for
> the
> channel playing the "channel" role, and CDRs on channels playing the "peer"
> role are tossed out.
>
> Transfers turn the above into a complex mush in which the results vary
> depending
> on who transfers who, who is calling, and who is called, etc. Because the
> CDR's
> are stored on the channels themselves, they pass thru many filters and
> operations
> that vary based on the roles they play and the operations performed, which
> can change
> in subtle ways from release to release, from one bugfix to another, even.
>
> So, the best way to get around all this is to get the CDRs out of the
> channels,
> And to do that, you either use CEL, or you build your own event tracking
> mechanism, using
> whatever means available (I've seen folks use the manager event reports with
> their
> own logic in perl, or php, or whatever to do the parsing and storage). Then,
> you either
> turn the events into your own billing mechanism, or you generate CDR's to
> fit into your
> currently existing billing mechanism.  Doing this right
> and making it dependable is not an overnight sort of thing.
>
> I proposed a CDR generating backend for CEL (which I haven't completed yet).
> I even started it, but got layed off before I could finish it. I've
> generated a spec
> for CEL->CDR generation, involving something I call "simple CDRs".This doc
> has
> been evolving with time, and needs to be updated. I  previously described
> "complex"
> CDR's in the spec that provided more fine-grained event logging in CDR
> format, but I've convinced
> myself that the complex stuff can also be done via the "simple" method, and
> so I'm
> about half way thru the spec, expunging the "complex" stuff. All my examples
> have to be
> changed -- If you are interested in looking at my spec, you can:
>
> svn co http://svn.digium.com/svn/asterisk/team/murf/RFCs
>
> and look at the pdf there in that directory.
>
> murf
>
>
>
> Steve Murphy
>
> ParseTree Corp.
>
>
>
>
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Well, the first thing that pops into my head is, try setting
accountcode for your sip endpoints, so that you have something that
will identify the "customer" for billing purposes. You can also use
setvar to set a different variable (such as the phone number) which
can then be used in some way to update the CDR with an identifier
specific to the customer.

Proost,
Sherwood