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I need to develop a system that will read SMDR data from a PBX machine. I need a basic Idea about the PBX standard in which it provide data to external user connecting that on a PC. I have few questions.

  1. Does all type of PBX have same standard so I can develop a common tool for that as most of them provide data on RS-232C port. What way should I use to get the SMDR data.

  2. Should I use a ready-made call accounting software and get data from the software API to cop with my system.

I want to use .Net technology to develop the system. I have heard about opensmdr (based on Perl and PHP) but it is not successful for all type of PBX.

Anybody have idea about this?

Thanks in advanced !!!

Acharya
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2 Answers2

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Some PBXes provide SMDR/CDR via RS-232C port, others via IP.

There is no standard SMDR format, even different models of PBXes from the same manufacturer may have different SMDR formats. Some SMDR feeds don't provide some or all of the date of the phone call, some provide the stat time of the call, others the end time of the call.

Some SMDR formats provide great reasons why the phone call terminated or was abandoned.

In summary parsing SMDR seems simple at first, more complex when handling multiple SMDR formats and increasing complex as you start to combine SMDR from multiple PBXes that transfer calls between eachother.

A ready built call accounting system may be the simple way to go, though I must admit I am biased as I work at TIM4biz, http://tim4biz.com.

Ralph Hosking
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  • Yes, you are correct but can you let me know the way to fetch SMDR data from the PBX or the drivers connect to that machine. – Acharya Nov 15 '10 at 11:29
  • Some PBXes may have a SMDR port supplied by default, sometimes it's an option. Once the SMDR hardware is avaiable the SMDR stream may need to be switched on via the PBX administration console. The admin console may be a a telephone handset, it maybe a software application. – Ralph Hosking Nov 17 '10 at 02:46
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SMDR/CDR software is more complex that you may think. This is happening because data from the PBX can contain errors and your software should be able to deal with them properly and another source of complexity is the taxation of the calls.

Considering that you do not have previous experience on this probably your best choise is to go for one of the cheap existing solutions, like PbxTools PhoneJournal.

sorin
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