2 questions - Clan board and S8700 Call Accounting 2

[heathersue]

Hi Everyone,

2 questions for you all...

1. What release of the PBX Software do I need to be at to use a C-LAN board?

2. Is there a call accounting feature that comes with the S8700/S8300 platforms, and if so does anyone find it to be good, bad, medium in terms of performance and ease of use?

Thanks all!
~Heather

 

[mikeydidit]

Hi Heather. I will do the best I can to help. I believe that V9 is the software load that you need for the C-LAN card. I am sure that is the minimum requirements for using ASA through a network connection. I don’t have the S8700’s yet, but I would imagine that it would be a standard call accounting system. AVAYA would like to sell you their product I am sure, but there are a lot of other choices out there for less money that as far as I am concerned work better. I am using a Microcall call accounting system behind my G3R and I am very happy with it. You could give them a call if you would like, and they could confirm that their system will interface with the S8700. Their number is 770-447-5408

Mike Jones
LSUHSC

 

[heathersue]

Hi Mikeydidit,

Thanks for the info. We are actually are looking into the Microcall software package to see if it will fit. Let me ask you this, does your Microcall interface via SMDR? I know they can interface via IP....

~Heather

 

[mikeydidit]

I believe it does Heather. I would highly recommend the Microcall system to you too. Their technical support people are second to none. Always polite and willing to help no matter how simple or complex the problems are. It is nice to call and get immediately transferred to a knowledgeable technician. We researched thoroughly before we bought our system and it is the best we have found for the money.

Mike Jones
LSUHSC

 

[Dunstan]

Just as an FYI it is release 9.5 that allows for RSP or reliable session protocal (C-Lan SMDR) It was supposed to be supported in rel 9 however it is not. So any release 9.5 or later will work.

 

[Old31V]

My two cents...

Heather, when you do go to S8700 do not allow them to sell you on the idea of the Perle IO LAN (terminal server - IP to serial). It doesn't work! The issue went back and forth between Tier III and IV and the IO LAN kept "falling asleep".

I ended up removing the IO LAN and assigning a static IP to my Microcall PC, and reconfiguring the ethernet options, SMDR related info, etc. in the PBX and connecting the PC and the CLAN to a hub with a network connections. Since then, I've had no problems.

 

[heathersue]

Thank you both for your input,

one other question... is it safe for me to say then that if I were to put a CLAN card in my R.8, and wanted to gather CDR data via IP instead of serial cable (SMDR) it wouldn't work?

Thanks ~ Heather

 

[Dunstan]

Yes Heather it is safe to say that. Prior to release 9.5 the Protocol used to spit SMDR via ethernet /c-lan is not an option. Post 9 it is simple and works quite well. I am using it (Clan CDR via rsp) for about 12 sites atm. It is less expensive to enable also then traditional buffer boxes et al via a SMDR port.