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REPORTING! REPORTING! REPORTING! Easy and MUST have feature

Started by yorktown, April 17, 2012, 09:08:22 PM

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yorktown

I am switching ALL my Vonage accounts for ALL my employees over to GV and OBI.   

GV's system to report the calls (from, to, time, etc) basically are the worst.    It lists only 10 call records on a page, with incomplete data.  If you want more details on the call, you click and open another page.  Using Google "Takeout", when you export GV records - you end up with a series of HTML files, with each call an individual HTML file.  That is utterly ridiculous.

You guys know the calls, the duration, etc.   PLEASE MAKE MY LIFE EASY.   A simple call report from the DASHBOARD that can be exported as a csv of:

Date   Time    Incoming/Outgoing    Origination #    Destination #   Duration (hh:mm:ss) 

If you can also add the charges for the call that would be great.

This would allow me to easily determine who is working and who is not.  Vonage reports this easy.  And we use it to monitor staff.

PLEASE DO THIS ASAP :-)

Ostracus

Understandable, but wouldn't you have better luck with this request over on the GV forums?

And in a similar vein, wouldn't it be nice if OBihai had set up call history to the way syslog works, then there would be unlimited history recording?

yorktown

Thanks

A) GV Forums:  They recommend TAKEOUT...  Go ahead.. give it a try http://www.google.com/takeout
Its made for stuff like Google Docs.  For GV, its an embarrassment.  If I did 100 calls, I end up with 100 HTML files, each a record of each call. 

With that, the only solution would be:  Concatenate the HTML files, use a macro to remove all the HTML commands, line it up, then save as a CSV.

...and that - is a lot of work compared to a solution that Obihai can do in their sleep.

B) I spoke to OBIHAI today:  They say you can with your machine type in the IP ADDRESS you are on and see the call record.  There was only one error in their thinking:  Most home cable modems are dynamic IPs  This means the call record will only list for that IP.  So your power went out last night, you type in your IP today and you only get the calls for the last 24 hours.

Also, my employees are all over the world.  I need to be able to see the data from a single source (ie: the dashboard)

Its real easy for OBIHAI to do this.  They have the data anyway.  It would be AMAZINGLY helpful.  All VOIP companies offer call reporting.

QBZappy

yorktown,

You can save the last 200 calls from the OBi "Call History". You can then use that file using M$ excel to view the file contents. If you want to change the file format, you can then use the "Save As" to convert to several other file formats which you prefer. You should get nice clean columns of info which you can use. You will have to repeat this with every OBi unit that you own.

The syslog approach would be ideal.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

yorktown

Thanks.

But in the OBI Dashboard....I see no history option:

QuoteDevice Configuration
OBi Dashboard
      Add Device
      Speed Dials
      Trusted Callers
Circle of Trust
      Requests & Invitations
Edit Profile
    Download OBiON
Support
      Set-Up Help
      Forum
      Docs & Downloads

I have right now 8 devices in multiple locations.  But I need to be able to access the call logs for all the devices.

yorktown

Also, some of my guys do a 2000-3000 calls a month.  200 is a small fraction of their work and will not allow me to see what the work they are doing within a month

QBZappy

yorktown,

On the portal you can only see the last 10 calls. That wont be of any use to you I think. If you look at the OBi unit web page, you will see the call history at:
Status->Call History

If the last 200 calls wont cut it for you, you will have to revisit the syslog method. OBihai adds and removes capability from that service without any notice to the users. There are a few on this forum that have developed processes based on the syslog output only to have it broken by changes made to the syslog output by OBihai. This method involved capturing text output to a file and then parsing the file to your specs. This would give you what you need. Worth a try.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

yorktown

Thanks.  My units are all over the world.  I am not in the same room as the units.  I would need the reporting on the dashboard.....

That's why I request it as a feature  :P

yorktown

I also looked at the expert config.  I don't see a syslog option.  If I need to be next to the device to get the syslog, its not an option.  Some of these are on different continents, let alone different states.

Its an easy feature for Obihai...like I said, they can do it in their sleep. The data already exists.


QBZappy

yorktown,

If you need a solution ASAP for business, I believe if you put an Asterisk PBX into the mix it may work. OBi and Asterisk can coexist. The Asterisk would provide the Call detail records, and the OBi could provide the calling trunk. All your OBi units would be connected to the Asterisk.

I suggest this because I think it very unlikely that OBihai will provide the bulk Call detail records that you are looking for. The OBi is a consumer device, and the OBi portal is designed to simulate as closely as possible the OBi unit web interface. Since the unit provides limited Call detail records, it is unlikely that the OBi web portal will have more capabilities than the unit.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

RFord

I can't believe someone would be bit*hing about using a free service for business purposes, a want OBiHAI to bend over backwards to meet their needs.  They are a large number of paid VOIP Providers that provide this data.  You are too cheap and think people owe you something.  In case you are not aware, GV was never design to be a free phone service, much less to be used by a business enterprise to avoid the cost of a phone service. 

Dude, you need to go pay for service for your business instead of trying to "mooch" off Google Voice.  Lastly, if you sign into GV, the call history for each DID is clearly available for all inbound/outbound calls, with the data in the form that your require.  I hope you now ignored with your unreasonable request.....you make be want to puke!

Stewart

Although I agree with RFord that your request is unreasonable, I wrote a simple perl script to format the output from Google Takeout as a CSV file.  Feel free to modify it as you desire, but if you fix bugs or add features, please post the modified script, so others can use it.

On Windows, if you don't have perl installed, download a free copy from ActiveState at http://www.activestate.com/activeperl/downloads .  On Mac or Linux, the preinstalled perl should be fine. 

Before running the script, your current path should be the 'voice' folder from Takeout, i.e. a command to list files should show the 'conversations' folder.  If successful, the script will write a calls.csv file in the current path.


#!/usr/bin/perl -w
$ncalls = 0;
$path = "conversations";
opendir(DIR, $path) or die "can't open $path folder";
open(OUT, ">calls.csv") or die "can't write CSV file";
print OUT "Date,Type,User,Number,Duration\n";
for $fname (readdir(DIR)) {
    next unless $fname =~ /\.html$/ && open(IN, "$path\/$fname");
    $date = $type = $user = $number = $duration = '';
    while (<IN>) {
        $user = <IN>, $user =~ s/<.+\n// if /Call Log for/;
        $type = $1 if />(Placed|Received|Missed|Voicemail) (call |from)/;
        $number = $1 if /tel:\+(\d+)/;
        $date = $1 if />([\w,: ]+)<\/abbr>/;
        $duration = '00:00:00' if $type eq 'Missed' && $date;
        $duration = $1 if />\(([\d:]+)\)<\/abbr>/;
        if ($duration) {
            print OUT "\"$date\",$type,\"$user\",$number,$duration\n";
            ++$ncalls;
            last;
        }
    }
}
print "processed $ncalls calls\n";


In return for this free software, please report some details about each of your eight OBi installations, which will be useful to the community:

1. City and country where installed.
2. ISP, type of connection (DSL, cable, FTTH, etc.) and speed.
3. Service providers configured, if any, other than Google Voice.
4. Any quality issues experienced, e.g. choppy outbound voice.
5. Any reliability issues experienced, e.g. incoming doesn't always ring phone, dropped calls, etc.
6. Any functionality issues, e.g. message waiting indication doesn't work correctly.
7. Any other problems, e.g. GV charging for calls to US.
8. Action taken that successfully corrected any of the above issues.

If in the future, you deploy additional OBi devices in new countries, I would appreciate it if you would also post this information about the new units.

QBZappy

With that volume of calls, the geography involved, and the attitude, it sounds like yorktown might be in the telemarketing business. I'm sure that we all love these people. Before being too helpful it might be interesting to know what kind of business we are advising on.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

Stewart

Quote from: QBZappy on April 18, 2012, 12:16:58 PM... it sounds like yorktown might be in the telemarketing business.
While it's likely some kind of sales or service function, one would be nuts to attempt classical telemarketing with OBi and GV.  For starters, the agents would be spending more than half their time dialing calls, waiting for setup and answer, and getting voicemail.  Virtually all telemarketers use predictive dialers, so agents spend >90% of their time talking to people.  Also, GV does not provide outbound CNAM, which would cause many prospects to ignore the call.  Finally, GV does not support Early Media, so instead of hearing that a number is not in service or has been changed, the agent wastes time hearing ring-no-answer, and may waste more time retrying the number at a later date.

QBZappy

Stewart,

Not saying that it is not a legit business, however keep in mind that GV numbers are disposable and can be setup from any location on the planet. Illicit telemarketers are known to have used disposable prepaid cell phones to make their calls. This is the same technique, just different technologies.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

Stewart

While certainly possible, it seems strange, given the original topic of this thread.  I'd think that someone using his phones in the course of commiting crimes would expend some effort to not have accurate call records.

QBZappy

I think were are going off topic, however this topic is interesting.

Anyone who has gone over to the dark side needs to manage his business like any other business. The fact that call records are of interest is for some form of management. The calling parties and the management downloading the calling records can easily remain anonymous.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

Everton

Stewart:

You might be pleasantly surprise.  There was a guy on the PBX in Flash Forum sometime ago who wanted to setup a Call Center using PIAF and with ONLY GV Trunks.  These individuals, IMHO, will make it difficult for the rest of us who maybe use 100-150 minutes per month.  2,000-3,000 calls per employee translates into a ridiculously high number of minutes to be channeling through GV.  This makes it difficult for the service to remain free for the average user.  I, like RFord, have a certain level of disdain for people like yorktown whose action could potentially lead to the end of free GV calling.


Quote from: Stewart on April 18, 2012, 01:16:19 PM
Quote from: QBZappy on April 18, 2012, 12:16:58 PM... it sounds like yorktown might be in the telemarketing business.
While it's likely some kind of sales or service function, one would be nuts to attempt classical telemarketing with OBi and GV.  For starters, the agents would be spending more than half their time dialing calls, waiting for setup and answer, and getting voicemail.  Virtually all telemarketers use predictive dialers, so agents spend >90% of their time talking to people.  Also, GV does not provide outbound CNAM, which would cause many prospects to ignore the call.  Finally, GV does not support Early Media, so instead of hearing that a number is not in service or has been changed, the agent wastes time hearing ring-no-answer, and may waste more time retrying the number at a later date.


yorktown

I leave for a day come back and.....wow...

Suddenly I am perceived as this super-svengali bad dude :-) 

So that you may choose to  like or dislike me more, here's a picture of me:


:D :D :D

(oh no, RFord just went back to the porcelain altar.....   :o  )

Stewart, thanks for the script.  I will give it a try.   QZappy - thanks for the advice.  As I said in my 2nd post, I thought the only solution was to concatenate the GV HTML files to a single file, then use a macro to clean it up.

The devices are in the following cities:

2 in Moscow (suburbs)
1 in Buenos Aires
3 in PA
2 in NY

So far every GV call is stellar and the bandwidth for all is over 1MB/sec.  Vonage used to be pretty good with it, except Argentina, where Vonage was touch and go once and a while.  Broadvocie was a disaster.  In US and outside.  They were dumped within a month.

I am still ordering more.  And no, its not to call you at night and sell you homeowner protection, or membership to the Fraternal order of Police (the police are not allowed to call you to solicit money). 

We do business with alot of companies. The business is 10 years old.  I have always kept an eye on lowering telecom costs and I test it out to see how close to Zero I can get.  Obihai could not be overlooked.   Each of my employees work at home.  It allows me to keep my costs down.   Prudence demands any conservative business owner evaluate cost cutting methods.

Stewart

Quote from: yorktown on April 17, 2012, 09:08:22 PMIf you can also add the charges for the call that would be great.
On your units in Russia and Argentina, are you being charged for US calls?

Or, if the charges are for calls to other countries (which?), you should consider using a different provider for them.  IMO, GV is not a good value to most international destinations.  The OBi can be set up to automatically select a provider, based on the country code dialed (for a few country codes).