Is there a report to view amount of calls coming into office? 2

[projectpete]

Hello,

We have the merlin magix system, is there a way to get a report or find a way of determining the number of phone calls coming into the office per day?

I dont have the software to connect to the box.

 

[glg01]

Personally, unless you are going to want to track calls all the time, I would have the local dial tone provider do a traffic study for a couple of weeks. They could tell you how many calls you are getting, how many busy signals you are getting, how many calls go unanswered, etc. The last time I checked it was very reasonable and would be cheaper than any Call Accounting Software (CAS) you could purchase. If you go the CAS route. Cost is based on the number of users and which type and there are several software vendors out there. lg

 

[tdaugirdas]

You don't need any software to connect to the SMDR (Station Message Detail Recording) port on the processor. You can use Hyperterminal - which is built-into all Windows program versions (under Accessories, Communication).

You will, however, need a special adapter (355 AF adapter or 355 A adapter). The connection is from a Com1 port on a PC or laptop using a 9-pin serial cable - to a 9-pin to 25-pin serial adapter - to the 355 AF adapter - then a LAN patch cable from the 355 AF adapter to the SMDR port.

OR - you can make your own cable (just google 355 AF adapter pinout).

Start Hyperterminal, choose new, choose connect via Com1 - configure settings to 1200 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, xon/xoff protocol. Set Hyperterminal to capture text to a file. Name the file something - it will show up on the desktop. Connect to the SMDR port. You will see an instant header line - and as each call ius placed/ends - a line entry will be made.

You can adjust what is printed out under menu, system program, start/exit, options,SMDR. I would change the report type to ISDN (if you want to capture caller ID) and adjust the call length to the minimum call length you want and entry for.

The report is in fixed column-width format - so it is easy to load into a spreadsheet for analysis. You can leave the connection on 24/7 and periodically make a copy to analyze in a spreadsheet.

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com

 

[projectpete]

wow, thanks for the detailed info tdaugirdas, i will try that out.