Mitel Callcost Service Manual
Call Costing TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0
Table of Contents
TASKE CALL COSTING PROGRAM.................................................................. 2
Call Costing Concepts.................................................................................................... 2
Public Network Numbering Plans...................................................................... 2
Telecom Carrier Services.................................................................................. 3
Account Codes.................................................................................................. 3
Rate Tables....................................................................................................... 4
How Costs are Apportioned............................................................................... 4
OVERVIEW OF THE CALL COSTING INTERFACE...........................................5
Menu Bar........................................................................................................................5
Tool Bar.......................................................................................................................... 5
Main Window.................................................................................................................. 5
Status Bar....................................................................................................................... 6
USING THE CALL COSTING PROGRAM........................................................... 7
Step 1. Allocate Trunks to Trunk Groups....................................................................... 7
Step 2. Define Cost Intervals......................................................................................... 8
Step 3. Setting up Rate Tables.................................................................................... 10
Step 4. Generate Call Costing Reports........................................................................ 13
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Call Costing TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0
TASKE Call Costing Program
The TASKE Call Costing program is an accounting system that enables you to
apportion telecom costs among departments, projects and/or employees. This program
does not provide a precise breakdown of spending, but provides a percentage dispersal
to allocate telecom usage among departments. The Call Costing program assists in
identifying the efficient usage of outgoing calls.
The Call Costing program enables you to:
Ÿ produce reports for any range of dates,
Ÿ specify 3 billing rates for each service a carrier provides,
Ÿ organize data into pre-defined reports,
Ÿ consolidate your accounts into meaningful groups—service, department, region,
or project, and
Ÿ store report templates to be used at a later date.
Call Costing Concepts
The following is a brief summary of basic call costing concepts and terminology.
Public Network Numbering Plans
Public network numbering plans enable the users of a network to dial anywhere
in the world. In the North American Numbering Plan, subscribers are assigned a
unique number string of up to 10 digits, such as:
The area code defines a geographic telephone region, and provides the basis for
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Call Costing TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0
billing customers. The office code identifies a central office (CO) within the
region, and the subscriber number identifies the user of the CO. The area code
prefix is used when calling (voice/data) subscribers outside of the geographic
telephone region.
Telecom Carrier Services
Long distance carriers provide telecom service between major locations at a
reduced rate. The rates vary depending on the geographic telephone region
being dialed and the time of day. Some carriers provide flat rates, usage discount
rates, and discounts for the most frequently dialed number. In addition, carriers
offer various methods of routing calls over the public network, each of which has
a different cost format.
The incoming and outgoing trunks of a business are allocated for telecom
services including: incoming and outgoing telephone calls (voice), fax machines,
ISDN lines, and modems (data). Customers generally select the carrier who
offers the best rate for a given telecom service; a customer may use one carrier
for calls to the Eastern United States, a second carrier for calls to the Western
United States, and a third carrier for calls to Europe. The switch is programmed
to select the trunk that offers the best rate for the long distance number being
dialed, and can be programmed to notify the caller if the trunk is currently in use.
Account Codes
In a business, one or more Account Codes may be assigned to:
• departments,
• projects,
• devices (Extensions and Trunks),
• telecom services (voice/data communication),
• and/or employees.
If an Account Code is included in the database record when a long distance
number is dialed, the call is therefore tagged. Call records tagged with the
Account Code are stored by the TASKE Toolbox . The Call Costing software
sorts the call data, stores it, and retrieves it when producing user-defined reports.
Reports can be generated that include all call records tagged with the Account
Code number.
Account Code numbers can be assigned to any of a number of people or
services. For example, lawyers typically assign Account Codes to each client.
Long distance calls and faxes made on behalf of a client are tagged with the
Account Code. This enables lawyers to allocate long distance charges among
clients, and bill back clients accordingly.
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Rate Tables
Rate Tables are defined in the Trunk Group Cost Information dialog box. Each
Call Costing Trunk Group has a Rate Table that lists long distance rates for userspecified area codes. The carrier sets the rates. The rates typically vary across
time intervals of the day, such as Day, Night1, and Night2.
If an area code prefix (1), and/or a Trunk access number (generally 8 or 9)
appear in the Leading Digits field, you can specify that they be suppressed. This
ensures that the search for call records is conducted on the area code only,
when the Call Costing program runs reports.
How Costs are Apportioned
The bills received by a subscriber of the network are based on telephone switch
activity. The telephone switch activity is based on a department/project’s call
activity, which is based on the call activity of Extension Groups in the
department/project, and the call activity of individual employees. The TASKE Call
Costing program provides a breakdown of call expenses at the following levels.
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Call Costing TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0
Overview of the Call Costing Interface
To use the TASKE Call Costing program, click on the Call Costing icon in the TASKE
ToolBox. The TASKE Call Costing program reads the TASKE Main Database and lists
the current Trunks and Trunk Groups defined in the Call Costing window when the Call
Costing program is opened. The features available in the Call Costing program window
are described below.
Menu Bar
In the Menu Bar (top of window) of the TASKE Call Costing program, a set of dropdown menus is displayed.
The five menus include File, Edit, Costing, View and Help, and are for creating and
editing Call Costing criteria, saving settings, changing the display or view of the report,
and accessing the online help.
Tool Bar
In the Tool Bar (top of window, below Menu Bar) of the TASKE Call Costing program, a
set of tool buttons is displayed. The buttons include New, Open, Save, Copy, Font,
Print, About and Help. These tools are to help create and edit Call Costing criteria, save
settings, print Call Costing Reports, change the display or view of the report, and
access the online help. Also located on the Tool Bar is the Page selector, which is used
to choose a page to look at in the generated Call Costing report.
Main Window
In the Call Costing program Main window, the Trunks and Trunk Groups are listed. If a
Trunk belongs to more than one Trunk Group in the TASKE Database, the Trunk
Groups are listed numerically. The TASKE Call Costing program assumes the first
Trunk Group listed is the one from which the rate information is extracted. For example,
if a Trunk is listed as being in Trunk Groups 1 and 10, the TASKE Call Costing program
will extract costing information from Trunk Group 1.
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Any reports generated are displayed in this window.
Status Bar
The Status Bar (bottom of window) of the TASKE Call Costing program displays
statistics about the status of the report being displayed or generated. The Status Bar
displays the current page number being displayed, and the current date and time.
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