VoIP Call Accounting Software for Every Enterprise

OSHAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA - Resource Software International Ltd. (RSI) announced today that its call accounting portfolio has been enhanced to provide VoIP communication management solutions. These new offerings include support for Cisco Call Manager, Nortel BCM, Avaya IP Office, Asterisk, Talkswitch, Adtran and many other popular manufacturers. RSI announced concurrent general availability of their latest versions of Shadow CMS, Revolution Web Call Accounting and Visual Rapport.

RSI president Rito Salomone stated, "RSI strives to provide scalable solutions for every communications managers needs. We pride ourselves in providing dynamic cost-effective, user-friendly solutions that can be offered to all businesses. We provide robust interoperable solutions to customers of virtually any equipment provider — analog or IP. Channel partners and customers now have the option of selecting a system that has been lab tested in many popular environments. We offer true seamless integration for multi-vendor environments. Our call management portfolio spans a broad range of industry sectors including retail, government, professional, hospitality and general business environments. In vertical markets, we provide unique integration to hotel property management systems and professional accounting packages."

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. This technology takes analog audio signals and converts them into digital form for transmission. Transactions are much more efficient since analog lines remain connected even during periods of no communication. VoIP packets are sent and received whenever there is activity. The information packets are send over any open rather than a dedicated line making communication much more effective.

Most companies can recognize huge savings using this technology. The compression of the information and mode of delivery across multiple channels and routers makes packet switching more efficient, quicker and less expensive. The volume of simultaneous communication can be significantly increased using packet switching over circuit switching.

Call accounting software is a system that records, translates and reports on telephone call activity. The software is used by most corporations to control expenses, allocate cost and increase productivity. Hotels, hospitals and other hospitality environments utilize call accounting to resell telephone calls to their clientele.

RSI offers multiple flavors of call management for every industry sector including hospitality, general business and professional environments.

The advent of VoIP service providers has caused the cost of long distance calls to be dramatically reduced. Long distance metered charges being replaced by flat rate packages that give callers unlimited calling privileges. Does the cost of long distance really matter anymore? Why keep track? Does this render call accounting irrelevant?

The old adage rings true today “you cannot manage what you cannot measure”. Call accounting may no longer be the killer application of current times but it is certainly a necessary component. Leading edge communication management systems now collect system logs, Internet usage reports, router statistics, voice mail logs, CCR, hunt group information and various device-dependent logs as well as traditional call detail records (CDR).

Communication management is now a multi-pronged approach that combines statistics from various facilities to identify billing irregularities, misuse, bottlenecks, inactivity, productivity or workforce expense.

Billing reconciliation is often overlooked since carriers always bill based on contracted tariff plans, right? According to analysts at Gartner, “Organizations can routinely save more than 10% of their annual telecommunications expenses by systematically checking their carrier bills against equipment and services in use.” But it is no longer effective to look exclusively at your traditional telephone invoices and compare them to the call accounting system in the back room.

Have you ever called your favorite electronics store to inquire about the latest digital cameras but got trapped in a series of never-ending prompts about store hours, hard drive specials and video games? Many companies are taking advantage of communication management systems (CMS) that study activity from automated attendant and custom call routing trees. These reports help pinpoint whether calls are being prematurely dropped, abandoned or misdirected. It is imperative that customers are quickly and efficiently routed to their desired destination. The customer experience with your communication facilities will dictate whether they return.

Cost allocation to various corporate levels has been a basic functionality of most robust call accounting system for years. The downward trend of long distance expenses due to falling carrier rates, bundled services and VoIP competition has lessened the importance of this feature. This has resulted in the misconception that call accounting is no longer relevant. However many companies forget that there are many hidden costs that can be highlighted through proper use of call accounting or communication management software.

If Jimmy in sales spends half his time talking on the phone, management might be thrilled at his dedication. However if Jimmy is spending half his time talking to his girlfriend, perhaps management should take a second look. Call Accounting can be a key indicator of misuse and employee productivity. Employee productivity recovery is one of the primary reasons to own a system today!

Often fraudulent calls may be routed through corporate facilities without the knowledge of the company. Hackers can find faults in improperly designed networks, infrequently used extensions, voice mail ports and tandem trunks. A call accounting watchdog should always be monitoring activity for irregular patterns. Modern call management systems utilize SMS, pager, email and web interfaces for instantaneous reporting.

It is true, traditional call accounting systems may no longer cut the mustard. You will need to have a comprehensive solution that integrates communication statistics under one umbrella. When researching call accounting software, you will need to focus on a vendor that provides an end-to-end communication management solution (CMS).

Communication management is imperative in providing the proper metrics for migrating to IP. Most companies do not even have a proper migration strategy. Call accounting can help ease the transition by highlighting traffic volumes, peak hours, grade of service, abandoned calls, blocked calls, calls to reception and various other peg counts. These statistics will help determine the bandwidth needs and requirements for auto attendant, wireless, IVR and other services.

RSI is recognized as an industry leader in the field of communication management. The call accounting product portfolio includes tailored integration to the most popular switching and network manufactures. RSI has been granted Nortel Developer Partner status with recognition for its core portfolio as Compatible Products. RSI is a Cisco Technology Partner, Siemens HiPath Ready Standard certified, Avaya DeveloperConnect Member, Mitel MiSN Member, Adtran Complementary Solutions Provider, NEC Univerge Partner and Alcatel Applications Partner.

For more information contact us at rsi@telecost.com or visit www.telecost.com!