Rethinking Call Accounting

By Harris, Robert Lee
Publication: Business Communications Review
Date: Monday, August 1 2005

Why do most enterprise customers still have and use traditional call accounting systems?

About six years ago, I knew a telecom analyst at a large investment company who printed monthly reports on extension

activity for about 100 departments. One month, the system crashed and she called the department heads to let them know the reports would be delayed until the database could be restored from backup. In all but a few cases, the replies she got from each contact were along the line of, "Don't worry about it." Or "What reports?" She'd been going through the motions for years, not realizing this monthly process was generating unwanted information.

With long distance calling so inexpensive, has call accounting become obsolete? A communications manager with a large IT equipment company recently told me, "It's funny that everyone keeps asking that question: I just did a presentation to senior management because they want to know why we are still supporting call accounting."