A call accounting system records information about telephone calls, organizes that information and prepares reports.  The information recorded or captured about telephone calls typically includes:

·                     which extension placed the call

·                     which telephone number is dialed (local or long distance)

·                     which circuit is used for the call

·                     when the call started

·                     how long it lasted

·                     which client or project is billable for the call

A call accounting system might also include information on incoming calls:

·                     which trunk was used

·                     where the call came from

·                     which extension took the call

·                     if transferred, which extension it was transferred to

·                     how long the call lasted

REASONS FOR CALL ACCOUNTING

1.    Controlling Telephone Abuse - Knowing who is calling where and how much each call costs is useful in controlling costs and stopping abuse. 

2.    Allocating phone calling costs among departments and divisions 

3.    Billing clients and projects for phone charges incurred on their behalf 

4.    Allocating costs for shared telephone systems 

5.    Motivating sales people - The more phone calls they make, the more they sell. Call accounting keeps track of the number of phone calls made per salesperson. Give prizes to those who make the most calls per day/month. 

6.    Evaluating Personnel - Which employees are better at being productive on the phone? Do you want them to get off the phone quickly or do you want them to stay on the line and coddle your customers? You can now correlate phone calls with income- from service or straight out sales. 

7.    Optimizing Your Telephone Network - A good call accounting system can determine if you have too many or too few trunks. Too many means you are wasting money. Too few means your customers are getting busy signals.
Identifying Faulty Lines - Is your phone system working as well as it should? Are all of the lines working? Are all of the circuit packs operational? Call Accounting Systems can tell you this information. 

8.    Verifying Your Long Distance Bill - Was the bill received from the long distance carrier accurate? 

9.    Tracking Advertising Effectiveness.  Once Caller ID identifies the person calling, Call Accounting Systems are invaluable for checking the effectiveness of regional ad campaigns, figuring the profitability of direct mailings and even figuring the profitability of individual customers.

WHAT BUSINESSES BENEFIT MOST FROM CALL ACCOUNTING
While all businesses can benefit from increased productivity and lower phone costs, the following businesses seem to benefit most from call accounting:

Law Firms - An attorney loses anywhere from five to seven billable hours per month of telephone consulting time.  For a law firm with approximately four attorneys, that amount represents a significant loss of revenue every month.

Small Businesses are trying to increase their bottom line by increasing sales and decreasing costs. Increased productivity, due to reduced personal time on the phone, can only lead to increased sales.

Professional Firms frequently have the need to place calls on behalf of their clients or assign calls to particular projects.  Many of these calls represent billable professional time.  These calls may result in hundreds of dollars of billable time.